Are the base models becoming scarily good propositions?

[aoaaron]

Are the base model devices becoming scarily good? I thought about buying a new MBP or Mac Pro mini.. then realised why don't I just buy 5x Mac mini base models for the cost of 1 MBP and have a Mac mini in every room in my house.

Similarly. I was considering an iPad Pro... then thought why not buy for the price of an iPad 12.9 pro 5 iPads and have one in each room.

Just seems to pretty awesome that if you want, for the price of one pro level device, you can kit out an entire room with its own Mac based device. IMO this is a fantastic, phenomenal direction to go in rather than over-speccing the devices. beyond what you need them for.

 

[Alameda]

Yes, especially that new base model Mac Mini M4... WOW!

Apple sells low margin, entry level products in order to stock the shelves of Costco and Best Buy, while hoping people buy the models with upgraded RAM and storage. But the 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage is quite a lot of power.

 

[aoaaron]

Yes, especially that new base model Mac Mini M4... WOW!

Apple sells low margin, entry level products in order to stock the shelves of Costco and Best Buy, while hoping people buy the models with upgraded RAM and storage. But the 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage is quite a lot of power.

Its incredible. Even iPad... I'd take an iPad in every room of my house everyday over one pro iPad. IT'd make my house a true smart home.

I'm going to wait for them to refresh it to so it packs apple intelligence then likely buy a bunch of them.

 

[Ben J.]

Also, a lot of people might be getting a really good deal on apple silicon machines on the second hand market. Those M1,2,3's are powerhouses and dropping in price, so you could get one of those with maybe a 'pro' processor or more ram.

 

[aoaaron]

Also, a lot of people might be getting a really good deal on apple silicon machines on the second hand market. Those M1,2,3's are powerhouses and dropping in price, so you could get one of those with maybe a 'pro' processor or more ram.

I bought my MBP from Costco. It's still under return window. I'm contemplating trading it in and getting 4x M4 Mac minis.

I can have one in my cinema, one in the office, one in my front room and one in a bedroom! That kind of beats having laptop in some respects. Then use my Vision Pro to access them if I need a portable screen within the house.

I know this sounds silly but the only use case I truly need it is adult content lol.