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 MacBook – offer a significant total economic impact and improve staff retention.
Sudesh Pillay, executive head of iStore Business, says the MacBook has long been the device of choice for creatives and DevOps professionals, but it is also the ideal workhorse for any role within a corporate environment. “Thanks to its rugged design and closed ecosystem, the MacBook is more secure and reliable, performs faster and requires 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 Mac 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, in which choice of work technology was a crucial factor for employees when selecting where they work, with almost nine 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. Ninety-one percent 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.
Mac is the top choice for many. An IBM study found that employees who use Mac 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 Mac itself is sleek, aspirational and a pleasure to use, the set-up, 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 roll-outs and life cycle management and supports Apple’s Automated Device Enrolment and User-Initiated Enrolment to access company resources like e-mail and other apps.
Because Mac 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, the organisations 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, a considerable number of employees chose Mac, making the organisations more secure and their IT teams more efficient as a result. At the same time, employees who switched to Mac 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 is cheaper to maintain and manage and experiences 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 does not require the additional purchase of an OS licence, it requires fewer security applications and consumes 56% less energy than PCs. Security was also enhanced, with the risk of a data breach reduced by up to 90%. With Mac 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 also offers 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 despite the evidence proving solid ROI and business benefits, there is still a perception in the market that Mac is 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 Mac results in fewer support tickets, less downtime and the devices have a longer lifespan and higher residual value, choosing Mac is a sound financial decision.
He notes: “iStore Business lowers the barrier to adoption by offering flexible financial solutions – including leasing, trade-ins and life cycle 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 Mac offers, it also contributes to ESG goals, Pillay says. “Mac has 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 life cycle – from acquisition to secure disposal of Apple devices for enterprise,” he says.
Future-proofing competitiveness
Empowering people with advanced technology like Mac drives retention, productivity and performance – all while saving time and money across the life cycle. “In 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.
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