Apple wants $600 for 1TB SSD while Samsung's 1TB m.2 sells for $229

[LeeW]

To all those suggesting an external SDD, Why?
You buy a Mac Mini to have the smallest possible foot-print on your desk.
Adding external peripherals just defeats the purpose of buying a Mac Mini.

I didn't buy the MM for the smallest footprint, I am sure that is not the primary reason for many, not wanting an AIO I suspect (without anything to back that up) will still be the primary reason.

I have a very small enclosure with an M.2 SSD, it hangs off the back out of sight so has no affect on the footprint anyway. It has a lot files I use frequently, some are quite large and it allows me to get access to them quickly by switching it to any of my devices. It provides another 500GB of space for not a lot of money.

 

[PJivan]

TLC vs MLC, samsung controller vs T2

 

[Tom80112]

Gosh, why all the anal retentive people trying to bicker or "correct people" like they
are on some high horse? We all love OSX so learn how to play nice.

I do think Apple charges too much for upgrading RAM and SSD and most would agree.
I do not like that Apple limits your upgrade options by soldering the SSD. The HP
SLICE offers a socketed M.2 SSD which is an awesome feature.

The HP Slice can run Mojave and is smaller, cheaper, has a socketed M.2 connector.
You can actually install 2 SSDs inside. There is a 2.5" slot to hold a second SSD drive.
So with the Slice you can install 10 TB of SSD internally. That's Awesome.
(One 2TB m.2 SSD and one 8TB 2.5" SATA SSD)

Samsung 970 PRO and EVO SSDs might both be faster than the Toshiba SSD apple uses.

The Single Core performance of the I7 Slice GeekBenches close to the 2018 I5 single core.
I only need 4 cores so I doubt the 2018 Mini I5 would feel any faster CPU wise in normal real
life use. So CPU performance is a wash for me. I don't need synthetically measured 5%
better bragging rights.

The Slice back AND side ports are convenient for head phones and USB-C. Very Cool.

The Slice can power itself from a compatible monitor via the USB-C. One power cord!
Super Cool.

The Slice offers both HDMI and a proper Display Port. The display port connector is the
one that most monitors use so you won't need to buy some dorky MAC-To-DisplayPort dongle
to convert the plug. I hate dongles!

The HP Slice is smaller and pretty sexy to my opinion:

HP Slice I7 with 16GB Ram $1169 (no tax)
1TB Samsung 970 EVO SSD $230 (no tax) (Read speeds up to 3,500MB/)
$1399 total

Apple I5 16GB/1TB is 1,899 + Tax
$2,022 total

Slice is $600 cheaper, smaller, side ports, better video connection ports, and is more expandable.
I can add an 8TB Micron 2.5” SSD inside when it gets cheaper.
I am leaning 70% in favor of buying a Slice I7 to run Mojave but have more research to do.

 

[LeeW]

If that works for you then great, you will need to replace the wi-fi card as a minimum if it can be replaced. Assuming you want full functionality under macOS.

 

[Tom80112]

I just learned the CPU is socketed on the Slice. More Awesomeness!
I can buy the cheaper Slice i3 model and drop in an i7-7700T for a lower cost.

The Slice is smaller than the Mac Mini so there is no reason Apple couldn't
socket both the CPU and SSD.

 

[PJivan]

No one is on high horse but your are just comparing the ssd on a size to sizebase, at least compare it with samsung pro ssd, that would be a bit more fair since it should also use mlc memory module and have a similar lifespan.

Not too sure about the rest, they are very different hardware if you like the hp go for it you don’t need macrumors approval

HP don’t have thunderbolt, not a single one don’t have internal psu ( off course is smaller) slower ram, older cpu, slower igpu, no egpu allowed, nothing that ensure full compatibility with mac (I use airdrop a lot!) If these are not important factors or simply budget comes first then just go for it what are you waiting?

 

[harriska2]

At first I was shocked at the prices. Then I thought I could get away with 256. Then I saw write speeds go up the bigger the drive. So I decided on 512. Then I looked at my 12 tb of data and thought, “hmm, to move from my pc to mac I’ll need more.” I also found that a fast ssd at 1 tb externall costs an arm and leg. So I finally decided to make the stupid long term investment for 1 tb, shut up and take it in the shorts, and slowly move my junk from one platform to another. I’ll be spending lots of time deciding what to keep and archiving crap and leaving it on the pc. I’m also format shifting 4 tb of home movies in imovie to .mov or whatever format that allows me to clip out segments with fcp. Finally I need to format shift 4 tb of scanned docs from abbyy to pdf/text. The 1 tb will help give just enough room to work with these files and make my data storage reasonable enough to stick on 1 large external drive in the near future.

 

[pl1984]

Thread Title: Apple wants $600 for 1TB SSD while Samsung's 1TB m.2 sells for $229

First, that is a sale price that ends tonight (see photo), in case you didn't already know that when you posted this.

Secondly, that is not even Samsung's fastest flash drive, let alone as fast as the drive in the Mac mini. Indeed, I looked at this sale yesterday and decided that I wasn't interested, even at $229.

FYI it is now after the deadline and you can still purchase it for $229:

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-970-...542558711&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+1TB+evo+970

As for speed I think you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference in daily use. Is a slight speed increase (assuming there is one) worth an additional $370 to you?

 

[Sarpanch]

Why does apple need to rip us off for upgrades?

The SSD is soldered so we don't even have a choice other than
buying a PC and going the hackintosh route.

Has anyone built or seen a hackintosh with a PC case smaller than
the mini? I would consider it if the case was smaller and cooler looking.

Actually Apple wants 800$ for 1TB SSD. I saw this post and got my hopes up for a 600$ upgrade from 128GB to 1TB SSD, but nope, 800$ is what Apple wants.

Personally, I think I will go with 256GB SSD, and add a Mediasonic RAID 0 USB-C enclosure and put 2 1TB Samsung EVOs.

 

[Tom80112]

your are just comparing the ssd on a size to sizebase, at least compare it with samsung pro ssd, that would be a bit more fair since it should also use mlc memory module and have a similar lifespan.

Not too sure about the rest, they are very different hardware if you like the hp go for it you don’t need macrumors approval

The 970 EVO advertises "Read speeds up to 3,500MB". What does the Mac Toshiba SSD
advertise for speed? The Samsung EVO may be faster than the Toshiba SSD Apple
uses since Samsung seems to blow everyone out of the water with both the PRO and EVO.
The $230 price for the Samsung 970 EVO seems to be a regular price on Amazon.
(Someone said it was a limited time deal) It will probably get cheaper for the holidays.

And I'm not looking for approval from anyone. Did you really need to say that?
I was sharing what I was finding out with other MacOS users because that's what
people do on forums so everyone can learn. I guess some people want to take
shots at other people so ok, whatever.

This started as a "why does apple charge so much for upgrades" thread. It made me
want to explore other options. Turns out there are other options. The other options
do some things better. I've bought probably 10 Macs over the years and I think
Apple just convinced me to buy a non-apple product by soldering the SSD and CPU
then overcharging for upgrades as if it were ransom.

There may be other people like me who like the idea of an even smaller Mini running
MacOS that gives similar everyday use performance but is $600 cheaper, has a better
upgrade path, more ergonomic ports and port locations, and allows you to house up 10TB
of SSD in it's case. That's utterly amazing.

The Slice does not have thunderbolt. Very True. I have 2 macs now and have never had
a need or use for thunderbolt. One of my Macs is a 2017 MacBook Pro 15" loaded up pretty well.
I plug in a USB 3 external drive and a monitor. Have no need for thunderbolt. I can however
make great use of the things the HP Slice does better.

Oh, and the Slice CPU is socketed so I can buy the cheaper I3 model and drop in a Kaby Lake
7th Generation Core i7-7700T 2.9ghz CPU with the same Intel 630 GPU. I haven't priced it
out but Hp Slice may be $700-$800 cheaper now by starting with the i3 model and swapping
the processor. If the HP Slice wasn't able to run MacOS then I wouldn't waste my time but it
does and it has some real good advantages over the Apple product.

 

[PJivan]

The 970 EVO advertises "Read speeds up to 3,500MB". What does the Mac Toshiba SSD
advertise for speed? The Samsung EVO may be faster than the Toshiba SSD Apple
uses since Samsung seems to blow everyone out of the water with both the PRO and EVO.
The $230 price for the Samsung 970 EVO seems to be a regular price on Amazon.
(Someone said it was a limited time deal) It will probably get cheaper for the holidays.

And I'm not looking for approval from anyone. Did you really need to say that?
I was sharing what I was finding out with other MacOS users because that's what
people do on forums so everyone can learn. I guess some people want to take
shots at other people so ok, whatever.

This started as a "why does apple charge so much for upgrades" thread. It made me
want to explore other options. Turns out there are other options. The other options
do some things better. I've bought probably 10 Macs over the years and I think
Apple just convinced me to buy a non-apple product by soldering the SSD and CPU
then overcharging for upgrades as if it were ransom.

There may be other people like me who like the idea of an even smaller Mini running
MacOS that gives similar everyday use performance but is $600 cheaper, has a better
upgrade path, more ergonomic ports and port locations, and allows you to house up 10TB
of SSD in it's case. That's utterly amazing.

The Slice does not have thunderbolt. Very True. I have 2 macs now and have never had
a need or use for thunderbolt. One of my Macs is a 2017 MacBook Pro 15" loaded up pretty well.
I plug in a USB 3 external drive and a monitor. Have no need for thunderbolt. I can however
make great use of the things the HP Slice does better.

Oh, and the Slice CPU is socketed so I can buy the cheaper I3 model and drop in a Kaby Lake
7th Generation Core i7-7700T 2.9ghz CPU with the same Intel 630 GPU. I haven't priced it
out but Hp Slice may be $700-$800 cheaper now by starting with the i3 model and swapping
the processor. If the HP Slice wasn't able to run MacOS then I wouldn't waste my time but it
does and it has some real good advantages over the Apple product.

I said that because you are willingly skipping the part were I’m comparing more espensive MLC modules to less expensive TLC modules, pluss T2 chip does more than the samsung controller and you are comparing a discounted price on amazon vs a retail price.

Yes Apple is expensive, so buy a a samsung x5 thunderbolt SSD if you prefere that way, but what has the HP computer have to do with all id this. Is it all an exercise to tell us that Apple is expensive? No ****! Also that HP is expensive tho for what it offer to be fair.

 

[pl1984]

I said that because you are willingly skipping the part were I’m comparing more espensive MLC modules to less expensive TLC modules, pluss T2 chip does more than the samsung controller and you are comparing a discounted price on amazon vs a retail price.

What do you mean discount versus retail? Is Amazon not a retail seller? I can purchase the 1TB EVO 970 for $230:

 

[Cashmonee]

The 970 EVO advertises "Read speeds up to 3,500MB". What does the Mac Toshiba SSD
advertise for speed? The Samsung EVO may be faster than the Toshiba SSD Apple
uses since Samsung seems to blow everyone out of the water with both the PRO and EVO.
The $230 price for the Samsung 970 EVO seems to be a regular price on Amazon.
(Someone said it was a limited time deal) It will probably get cheaper for the holidays.

And I'm not looking for approval from anyone. Did you really need to say that?
I was sharing what I was finding out with other MacOS users because that's what
people do on forums so everyone can learn. I guess some people want to take
shots at other people so ok, whatever.

This started as a "why does apple charge so much for upgrades" thread. It made me
want to explore other options. Turns out there are other options. The other options
do some things better. I've bought probably 10 Macs over the years and I think
Apple just convinced me to buy a non-apple product by soldering the SSD and CPU
then overcharging for upgrades as if it were ransom.

There may be other people like me who like the idea of an even smaller Mini running
MacOS that gives similar everyday use performance but is $600 cheaper, has a better
upgrade path, more ergonomic ports and port locations, and allows you to house up 10TB
of SSD in it's case. That's utterly amazing.

The Slice does not have thunderbolt. Very True. I have 2 macs now and have never had
a need or use for thunderbolt. One of my Macs is a 2017 MacBook Pro 15" loaded up pretty well.
I plug in a USB 3 external drive and a monitor. Have no need for thunderbolt. I can however
make great use of the things the HP Slice does better.

Oh, and the Slice CPU is socketed so I can buy the cheaper I3 model and drop in a Kaby Lake
7th Generation Core i7-7700T 2.9ghz CPU with the same Intel 630 GPU. I haven't priced it
out but Hp Slice may be $700-$800 cheaper now by starting with the i3 model and swapping
the processor. If the HP Slice wasn't able to run MacOS then I wouldn't waste my time but it
does and it has some real good advantages over the Apple product.

We are all aware of the Apple Tax, and no one here is really denying it. You are trying to exaggerate the cost differential by speccing out a slower machine that you are suggesting heavy modification (your processor swap) and a hack to put it on equal footing with the mini. That's a tad disingenuous. Spec out something reasonable (who is putting 1 TB internally?), and you will see the difference is not nearly as stark as you make it out to be for a more modern, faster machine, with better connectivity and a warranty.

Slice (6th-gen quad core i7/512/16): $1329
mini (8th-gen 6 core i5/512/16): $1499

The 1 TB is the one that really pushes the price over the top, but again that drive will be far faster than what comes in the Slice, especially write speeds. However, there is no real reason to have 1 TB of storage internally, so the only reason one would spec that is if there was a specific need. $170 is easily worth it for a native macOS machine that is better in every aspect.

 

[pl1984]

The 1 TB is the one that really pushes the price over the top, but again that drive will be far faster than what comes in the Slice, especially write speeds. However, there is no real reason to have 1 TB of storage internally, so the only reason one would spec that is if there was a specific need. $170 is easily worth it for a native macOS machine that is better in every aspect.

That's your opinion, personally I think 1TB is quite reasonable.

 

[LeeW]

I went for 512GB, that is overkill, but future proofing. I mean that is everything just about the way I want it, been at it all day on my new MM and I have used 110GB total. That said I have a small external SSD that I use which has 300GB on it but I move that from device to device to save copying files all the time.

All works fine for me.

 

[Cashmonee]

That's your opinion, personally 1TB is quite a reasonable amount.

Fair enough. The point is still valid. $1899 for the mini (i5/1/16) vs $1479 for the Slice (i7/1/16) is a difference of $420. That is admittedly high, but you are still talking about a mini that would smoke the Slice in every possible measure. And if you "need" 1 TB of internal storage, I would suggest the Slice is really not going to be the machine for you with its processor from 2 generations ago and an SSD from who knows what company or its speed. I would argue the Slice is a worse value than the mini.

I hate car analogies, but you are comparing a Corolla to a BMW 3-Series here.

 

[pl1984]

Fair enough. The point is still valid. $1899 for the mini (i5/1/16) vs $1479 for the Slice (i7/1/16) is a difference of $420. That is admittedly high, but you are still talking about a mini that would smoke the Slice in every possible measure. And if you "need" 1 TB of internal storage, I would suggest the Slice is really not going to be the machine for you with its processor from 2 generations ago and an SSD from who knows what company or its speed. I would argue the Slice is a worse value than the mini.

I hate car analogies, but you are comparing a Corolla to a BMW 3-Series here.

I'm doing no such thing. I didn't say anything about a Mini versus Slice comparison. I merely said that I think 1TB is a reasonable amount of internal storage.

 

[PJivan]

What do you mean discount versus retail? Is Amazon not a retail seller? I can purchase the 1TB EVO 970 for $230:

View attachment 805013

You can google retail price vs street price you don’t need me to do that for you, retail price of an MLC samsung drive is 400 dollars.

 

[pl1984]

You can google retail price vs street price you don’t need me to do that for you.

I don't need to do anything. All I need to do is head over to that obscure, unknown company called Amazon and order one for $230.

 

[PJivan]

I don't need to do anything. All I need to do is head over to that obscure, unknown company called Amazon and order one for $230.

Yes you can buy a TLC memory for less, next in the news a mechanical hd is less expensive than an ssd, who would have thought that.

 

[pl1984]

Yes you can buy a TLC memory for less, next in the news a mechanical hd is less expensive than an ssd, who would have thought that.

TLC what??? Ask me if I care. But in the event I do I can buy the pro version for less:

 

[PJivan]

TLC what??? Ask me if I care. But in the event I do I can buy the pro version for less:

View attachment 805034

Hallelujah

 

[brentsg]

TLC what??? Ask me if I care. But in the event I do I can buy the pro version for less:

View attachment 805034

Meanwhile if Apple used TLC NAND this forum would melt down.

Regardless, you can go build yourself a PC for less money. You should just do this.

 

[pl1984]

Meanwhile if Apple used TLC NAND this forum would melt down.

Regardless, you can go build yourself a PC for less money. You should just do this.

What is Apple using for the SSD in the Mini? I did a quick search and didn't find anything but then it was a quick search. Regardless the 970 Pro is one of the fastest consumer SSDs. The 970 EVO is considered one of the fastest, value SSDs in existence. I believe the TLC speed of the 970 EVO is > 1.2GB/sec, plenty fast for the target market. SLC cache speed is > 2.5GB/sec. The vast majority of Mini owners are not going to benefit from SLC, the higher capacity of TLC is of more benefit.

 

[cube]

The Corsair MP510 has more endurance and it is cheaper than the Samsung EVO.