2020 vs. 2023 Mac Mini Buyer's Guide

[ELman]

Dell U2723QE/U3223QE. I use the second with M1.

Do you experience occasional flickering with any of these displays and your M1?

I have the Dell U2722DE that I use with my M1 Mac Book Pro. The flickering issues seems to happen to quite a few MacBook users. Just wondering if the Mini has the same issue.

The display never has this issue when I'm using it with a PC.

 

[tubular]

I have been absolutely shocked how many people are still chugging away with the 2012 minis. Myself included, however this is the time I finally upgrade.
That 2012 was a real workhorse and will remain plugged in for a variety of things in our house.

Got a headless 2012 quad-core running my iTunes library, acting as TimeMachine host, and my local git repository. I bought it in 2014 just before Apple dumbed it down.

 

[Hopefully Smarter]

this is the kind of article, appears every time a model changes, which could have been written by ChatGPT

 

[azentropy]

Costco has discounted the 8/512 M1 configuration to $619. No drop on the base model yet though, so it is actually listed as higher ($669.99 although they did have it recently on sale for $569). Figure other vendors will follow suit shortly.

 

[goodcow]

I have been absolutely shocked how many people are still chugging away with the 2012 minis. Myself included, however this is the time I finally upgrade.
That 2012 was a real workhorse and will remain plugged in for a variety of things in our house.

Still use my 2012 mini with Sonnet Thunderbolt enclosure, and a Blackmagic card as a dedicated video game capture system. Can capture 1080p60 ProRes.

 

[JoeCanadian]

RE: HDMI 2.1

It's my understanding the M2 has only HDMI 2.0 and the M2 Pro has HDMI 2.1. That would explain the difference in monitor support between the two.

 

[marclondon]

As usual the 8GB ram/256GB SSD on the base model is miserable and as usual the upgrade prices are high - £200 for just going to a 512GB SSD in the UK and I wouldn't buy a machine without at least 16GB ram so that's another £200 for just 8GB.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

I have that display for work and while I like it overall the display wobbles pretty easily.

Edit:
By ”that” I mean the U2723QE.

Get a vesa mount. They typically work better than whatever low quality stands OEMs include with their displays.

 

[Cyprusian]

Any recommended monitor for the new Mac mini without breaking the bank on the Studio Display.

I’m very happy with the HP M27fq 27” QHD which provides an excellent display for a very affordable price

 

[FSMBP]

Any recommended monitor for the new Mac mini without breaking the bank on the Studio Display.

Yes...I'd say a budget Studio Display would be Samsung's M8. Current M8 is 32" (4K, webcam, speakers) usually priced on sale at $599 but they just announced a 27" variant (same features) coming soon. I imagine that would be priced at $499 on sale.

Other than, that I can't seem to find a decent looking display in 4K, 27", and 'decent' speakers*.


*Yes, I know if I want good speakers to get standalone speakers. However, desk space is not available. I just want similar quality to the iMac's speakers (which are surprisingly good).

 

[star-affinity]

Looks like a good screen with great colors. Maybe not the best brightness and not 5k.
Do you still like it or any regret?

Yeah, it's good. It has many ports (even USB-C) which is nice for an IT-technician to have.

I have also hardware calibrated it and I am currently using it in a ”medium lit” room with some daylight coming in from a big window next to me. Brightness is set to 77% and it shouldn't be higher according to the calibrator (i1Display Pro) I used. The display has meany features such as ”Smart HDR” which lets me choose ”DisplayHDR 400” and ”Game HDR” etc. These I don't use. If I switch to one of these modes the display needs a re-calibration as ICC profile I have for the display won't fit these (way too green for DisplayHDR 400).

Maybe you can calibrate it in ”DisplayHDR 400” and it becomes even better? 🤷‍♂️
Sorry, this is beyond my current knowledge.

Anyway, I don't really use the display for color critical work, but it seems pretty capable and the reviews I've read says it has good color accuracy.

Here for example:

Dell UltraSharp U2723QE monitor review

Dell's latest 27-inch 4K monitor packs just about everything you could possibly want for image or video editing

www.digitalcameraworld.com

+Excellent color accuracy

But also:

-AdobeRGB coverage could be better

Would also be nice if it did 5K and 120 Hz refresh rate.
5K on 27" is really nice (although 4K pretty good too) and 120 Hz (and up) refresh rate makes a tangible difference also for desktop usage – not only when gaming.

Still a good display that I can recommend for general use. I like the clean look on the front (no logo on the bezel) and the LED in the lower right corner of the bezel can be turned off.

 

[dstew201]

With these annual M series chip upgrades, is Apple hoping for people to upgrade their macs the way they do their iPhones? It used to be that people would buy a mac and keep it for several years before upgrading. Now, I bet people will be tempted to upgrade more often. I know Apple is in the business of making money, but this seems to go against their "environmental" ethos.

Yes! Best Buy has a program with Goldman Sachs same as the IUP for macs! Upgrade+
🤣🤣🤣

 

[MattA]

Yes...I'd say a budget Studio Display would be Samsung's M8. Current M8 is 32" (4K, webcam, speakers) usually priced on sale at $599 but they just announced a 27" variant (same features) coming soon. I imagine that would be priced at $499 on sale.

Other than, that I can't seem to find a decent looking display in 4K, 27", and 'decent' speakers*.


*Yes, I know if I want good speakers to get standalone speakers. However, desk space is not available. I just want similar quality to the iMac's speakers (which are surprisingly good).

I just bought my wife one of these to go with her M1 Pro MBP. It's actually a very nice monitor for the money. Got it on sale for $450 in white. They had some of the other colors for $399 over the holidays. It's well worth the cash, and it's quite a better value for money than the ASD.

 

[v0lume4]

With these annual M series chip upgrades, is Apple hoping for people to upgrade their macs the way they do their iPhones? It used to be that people would buy a mac and keep it for several years before upgrading. Now, I bet people will be tempted to upgrade more often. I know Apple is in the business of making money, but this seems to go against their "environmental" ethos.

I’m sure Apple certainly wouldn’t mind if folks upgraded their Macs every year or two. And I agree with you about their virtue signaling in regard to the environment.

But, in this case, it’s a matter of Apple keeping their offerings competitive so that when folks go to upgrade, Apple has a competitive product from which to choose. These upgrades are not for the current M1 owners — they are for the buyer shopping right now on their years old computer.

 

[CaptainBlue]

Article Link: 2020 vs. 2023 Mac Mini Buyer's Guide

Now can you compare a spec'd-up M2 Mac mini vs a base Mac Studio?

 

[FSMBP]

I just bought my wife one of these to go with her M1 Pro MBP. It's actually a very nice monitor for the money. Got it on sale for $450 in white. They had some of the other colors for $399 over the holidays. It's well worth the cash, and it's quite a better value for money than the ASD.

Good to hear! Do you find the speakers are acceptable? I know they don't have a lot of range but I'm unsure if they sound tinny.

 

[MattA]

Good to hear! Do you find the speakers are acceptable? I know they don't have a lot of range but I'm unsure if they sound tinny.

The speakers are what you'd expect from a monitor - not great. She has a set of JBL Creatures that she's had since forever that sound way superior, so she uses those. We also don't use the smart monitor features, and never connected it to the internet. It's just a monitor, and it works perfectly for this.

 

[raindogg]

Nothing is worth updating from he previous version, unless you're rich AF and can care less.

 

[DailySlow]

Sorry to hear that!

Well I HAVE heard of buying one in another jurisdiction (even with Applecare) and not firing it up until you get back home.

 

[DailySlow]

I have been absolutely shocked how many people are still chugging away with the 2012 minis. Myself included, however this is the time I finally upgrade.
That 2012 was a real workhorse and will remain plugged in for a variety of things in our house.

Myself too - with a late 2014 stuck in Monterey (not a bad PLACE but not the latest OS)

 

[DailySlow]

I use a 2012 Mini to run my wide format printer (Epson 9900). It has one task to run the RIP aka software that runs the printer. I replaced the hard drive some years ago with an SSD and it just keeps going and going. I love the form factor and price of the Mini's. If it did not cost me $5K to update the software for my printer I would replace it with a new Mini just to keep with the newest OS

Me too - late 2014 Min - replaced fan (twice) and swapped in a 2TB SSD and life went on better.

 

[STC1709]

i have the m1 and i love it so far. will attempt to hold this one for 5 years at a min

 

[Sorrel]

I have a 2012 Mini (but with a 1TB SSD in there, which speeds things up somewhat, and 2018 Mini. Certainly looking at these 2023 ones...

 

[MaddMacs]

I was waiting so long for this.... I bought a Mac Studio.
Not sorry. The similarly spec'd Mini is $2999 I paid a referb price of $1979 for my Studio. And no bluetooth or sleep issues.

 

[currocj]

Horrid: Apple trade in values

Great: A $499 (edu price) Mac Mini M2 can finally drive not 1 but 2 6K/5K monitors (dual 5K or 6K + 5K).