Ripping records advice

Focusrite is a good choice, although there are plenty of others. One thing to consider is that with the Focusrite you have to have your computer connected to record through the usb. Other A/Ds like the Tascam DR-05  or DR-60D record to a SD card which you can then move to the computer to copy the files. The SD card system takes a little more manipulation, but it does free up the computer for use while you are recording and it avoids potential usb issues.  I usually am cleaning up one album on my computer while recording another one to a stand alone A/D. All of these will handle 24/96.  There are, of course, other A/D options at higher prices if you so desire. A lot depends on the rest of your system.

For software, I would look at Vinyl Studio. It is designed for digitizing so its work flow is easier than with Audacity. It also allows lookup of albums from online databases, like discogs, so it greatly simplifies splitting tracks and adding track names and other tags. This is a huge time saver. It also does a very good job on click removal, hum and hiss filtering. I have only used it on a PC, but it is available for Mac. It is only $29 and has a free trial. Don't worry about the low price - it is a really good product.

Thanks for your reply. I should have put this in the PC audio section but live and learn. 
I'm now looking at Thunderbolt enabled boxes like the Zoom TAC2 and the Resident Audio T2 and Sternberg UR22.
I will be getting VinylStudio for sure. 

I am not familiar with the Zoom or the Resident Audio. I looked at the Zoom Tac 2. On Amazon there is a comment that it does not work with the 2015 Macbook, although that is a year old comment.  Also, the description sounds like it may create higher sample rates by upsampling rather than by actually sampling at the higher rate. Just a couple of things to check. Steinberg is a good name.