Issuing employees with top quality devices isn’t just a ‘nice-to-have’ perk – it’s a strategic move that boosts return on investment, productivity and staff loyalty. These are the findings of multiple studies carried out in recent years, which illustrate that issuing staff with high end laptops – specifically Apple Macs – offer a significant total economic impact and improve staff retention.
Sudesh Pillay, executive head of iStore Business, says Apple Macs have long been the device of choice for creatives and DevOps professionals, but they are also the ideal workhorse for any role within a corporate environment. “Thanks to their rugged design and closed ecosystem, Mac devices are more secure and reliable, perform faster, and require far less maintenance than most other PCs,” he says.
Tools for keepers
Pillay says: “When you’ve gone to a great deal of trouble to hire great people, you need to give them great tools they actually want to work with. Employee empowerment isn’t just about flexible hours or dress codes — it’s about enabling your people to work productively, securely, and comfortably. And the single biggest enabler is technology that works for them, not against them.”
Pillay notes that it’s crucial to give top skills tools they want to work with. “This boosts a positive workplace experience and encourages employees to stay longer,” he says. Offering device choice signals trust, autonomy, and respect for how people work, and in industries competing for skills – such as finance or IT – offering Macs gives organisations a talent advantage, he says. Device choice is also important in sectors recruiting Gen Z and Millennial employees, who expect consumer-grade digital experiences at work.
This is underscored by a 2021 global study by Jamf and Vanson Bourne, is which choice of work technology was a crucial factor for employees when selecting where they work, with almost 9 out of 10 respondents surveyed saying choosing their work device was important to them and they’d even be willing to sacrifice part of their salary (89%) to be empowered to choose their technology. 91% of respondents report benefits from an employee-choice programme in terms of productivity, positivity and feeling more valued.
In contrast, employees who are forced to work on unfamiliar or inefficient tools lose time and focus, and may feel undervalued.
Apple Mac devices are the top choice for many. An IBM study found that employees who use Mac devices exceed the performance of PC users, have a higher net promoter score than Windows users, and are 17% less likely to leave the company. The company now has over 290,000 Apple devices in use in the organisation.
While Apple Mac devices themselves are sleek, aspirational and a pleasure to use, the setup, maintenance and renewal experience underpins the employee experience. To enable this, the right Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform and Apple business partner is needed. iStore Business manages MDM and support for key blue-chip companies across South Africa, ensuring seamless rollouts and lifecycle management and supports Apple’s Automated Device Enrollment, and User-Initiated Enrollment to access company resources like email and other apps.
Because Apple Mac devices and the Apple ecosystem are designed for reliability and simplicity, users spend less time logging IT tickets, and more time doing actual work.
Total Economic Impact wins
Forrester’s 2024 Total Economic Impact™ Of Mac In Enterprise report assessed organisations that had switched to Mac and found that prior to using Mac devices, the organizations struggled with inefficient device provisioning, suboptimal security posturing, and poor device user experiences. After the organisations invested in a device choice programme that offered Mac devices, a considerable number of employees chose Mac devices making the organisations more secure, and their IT teams more efficient as a result. At the same time, employees who switched to Mac devices benefited from increased performance, improved battery life, and more reliability.
The economic impact was significant: the organisations reduced device support and management costs by almost one-third because Mac devices are cheaper to maintain and manage and experience fewer security incidents. Organisations also reduced and avoided millions of dollars in hardware, software, and energy costs. These savings were due in part to the fact that Mac devices do not require the additional purchase of an OS license, they require fewer security applications, and consume 56% less energy than PCs. Security was also enhanced, with the risk of a data breach reduced by up to 90%. With Macs delivering a 3.5% increase in employee productivity due to device performance and reliability, the saved end user time is worth millions over five years.
Uniquely, Mac devices also offer three times the device residual value after four years of use, when the organisation retires them to an asset recovery programme. According to the interviewees and Forrester research, the average cost of an enterprise PC is $1,100, and it maintains a 15% residual value after four years. The cost of an enterprise MacBook Air is $1,299, and it maintains a 30% residual value after four years.
Strengthening the financial case for Mac
Pillay says that despite the evidence proving solid ROI and business benefits, there is still a perception in the market that Mac devices are more expensive. He says: “It’s a mistake to look only at the upfront cost and not the lifetime value of the device. Because using Macs results in fewer support tickets, less downtime, and the devices have a longer lifespan and higher residual value, choosing Macs is a sound financial decision.
He notes: “iStore Business lowers the barrier to adoption by offering flexible financial solutions — including leasing, trade-ins, and lifecycle management. Empowering employees with choice doesn’t mean losing control of the budget — in fact, it can save it.”
Bonus Benefits
In addition to the productivity and savings benefits Macs offer, they also contribute to ESG goals, Pillay says. “Macs have a longer usable life, reducing the need for frequent replacements – resulting in less e-waste and a smaller carbon footprint. iStore Business supports the full lifecycle — from acquisition to secure disposal of Apple devices for enterprise,” he says.
Future-proofing competitiveness
Empowering people with advanced technology like Apple Macs drives retention, productivity, and performance — all while saving time and money across the lifecycle. “2025, that’s not a luxury. It’s a competitive advantage,” Pillay says.
Let’s talk about how to implement employee choice in a way that works for your IT and finance teams. With flexible financing, integrated support, and Apple-first solutions — iStore Business makes it easy.