I would not consider a mac at your price point, Apple machines are just not for users operating on a budget, but if you need one I'd only consider a MacBook Pro (starting at $1500 - not only are apple expensive to begin, with but you need to sink a lot of money in before they even start being worthwhile), or an iMac if you'll consider a desktop, the rest just aren't at all cost effective and the other two laptop lines in particular are underpowered and not suitable for professional work. I'd also recommend purchasing direct from the apple website and not a reseller unless there's a significant price cut somewhere, as apple let you customize your hardware. The mac mini has been mentioned and is affordable, but also overpriced and underpowered. The mac mini line actually used to be fantastic but hasn't been updated since 2012, save for a slight processor upgrade in 2014.
Macs, other than just being aesthetically nice machines don't have any genuine advantage over Windows PCs for work though, fanboys on both sides drastically exaggerate the differences in each OS. I never owned a mac but I used a 27 inch iMac at college, using several adobe programs (photoshop, audition, premiere, illustrator), and the only differences in working there and working at home on my significantly lower-specced windows PC were purely peripheral. Yes, MacOS is very sleek and smooth and doesn't need anitivirus software, but that won't magically make your designs any better than using the same program on a machine encased in plastic rather than aluminium.
Unfortunately I don't know many laptop models off the top of my head, but as the users above me said, look for something with a minimum of 8 gig of ram and an i5 or i7. Microsoft, Lenovo, Asus and Dell are all very solid brands to look into. HP are known to be a bit shit in reliability and longevity, and in my experience (of fixing other people's computers) Acer aren't great either. The Dell Inspiron line has served me well in the past, and their XPS line looks really impressive if pricey,
If you want you could also look into "hackintosh". That is, a custom built or non-apple computer that's been forced to run an unofficial version of Mac OS. It actually works great, but Mac software is designed to run on a very narrow selection of hardware which will limit your options, and the vast majority of laptops won't be able to do this without modifying the machine to some degree. Here's a list of some almost-compatible laptops.
One last point: one advantage macs definitely have is in retaining their value for much longer than windows machines. It's a big initial investment, but when it comes time to upgrade you can get decent money back from selling the one you have. With windows PCs, even a high end computer diminishes in value quite rapidly in comparison. The reason being that anyone can afford a windows computer, but apple is always sought after and drives the aftermarket prices up.
