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Mac mini M4 is the best value computer…. I think even Apple cannibalised their M4 MacBooks and older M3,M2,M1 product MacBooks with this
- Thread starter Mistletoe66
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For the base M4 Mini it’s true. For the base M4 Pro Mini imo not, it’s too expensive compared to the Base M4 Pro 14” MBP. The difference is only 550 (CHF) in my country with EDU pricing. Especially since there seems to be no advantage of the Mini over the MBP when it comes to performance and thermals.
I’m getting this as my main desktop. Just simple gaming and entertainment. But would look into video editing for casual purpose.
I returned my Mac mini m2 back when iPad released m4 chip earlier this year. No regrets ever since….
These Windows mini PCs are not in the same league as the Mac Mini. In 2020 I bought a Minisforum mini PC with a Celeron CPU and it even could not boot. It was defective OOB and I returned it. Then I bought the Chuwi Herobox with Celeron N4100 and 8GB DDR4 RAM. The original 180GB Intel m.2 SATA SSD lasted one year, then I had to change it. I use it for Netflix, Prime etc... Windows 10 does not feel comfortable on it so I prefer using it with Debian+OpenboxDE which feels more comfortable. A year and a half ago I bought a Trigkey mini PC with Ryzen 5800H and 16GB of RAM with Windows 11 preinstalled. This is even smaller but also noisier. The fan spins too much (and obviously it is a small fan so it needs more rpm-s). I also own some older Intel NUCs with 2 core Celerons. These struggle with 4GB of RAM and Windows10. Debian with Mate or XFCE does not feel so clumsy like Win10 on these NUCs. Now I am reforming an ACEPC GK3V mini PC with 4-cores Celeron J4125 and 8GB of RAM. The original fan is so loud that I can not stand it. So I moved it to the case of an old Digital Terrestrial Television receiver and put a 12VDC power supply board into it. Also I installed a PC power cord so it now has a power ON/OFF switch but the more important - earthing. The plan is to use it without a fan (pasive cooling) as a media consimption device. I use the original power switch and the ON button of the DTT. I have just installed Windows 10 and Debian 12 + Openbox. With Windows the heat is much more.
One important note: Some mini PC brands were caught with infected default Windows installations. So be careful!
One important note: Some mini PC brands were caught with infected default Windows installations. So be careful!
Mini PC maker ships systems with factory-installed spyware
This isn't a mini PC thing, this is buying from the absolutely lowest bidder from TEMU, Alibaba, etc.
Yes, cheap off-brand crap (Misinform? Chuwi? wtf are they) is trash, you get what you pay for. If you're lucky.
New Mac mini set-up at home ... iPad is for coffee shop visits. If I travel for an extended time I am packing the new Mac mini plus my iPad.
You can see the post above the mine (which you quoted) that there is recommended minisforum.com. I bought all of them from Amazon. If you want a known brand mini PC here you are - WorkStation HP Z2 Mini G9, i7 13700, 16GB, 512GB SSD, Nvidia RTX A2000 6GB, W11 Pro 1.749 €
No, thank you, I would prefer a Mac mini (2024) M4 Pro, 24GB, 512GB SSD, GPU 16 Cores, macOS, Silver 1.669 € .
I was looking around the second hand market price for Mac mini m2. It’s outrageous that people are selling base m2 or 16gb m2 at around $400 when you could get a m4 mini at $499 student price lol.
Well, maybe if you have the right monitor, keyboard, and mouse the M4 Mini would be, as you wrote, a "best value computer." The host of the following video presents a thorough analysis that is worth watching. I have been thinking of buying the base M4 Mini, choosing 48GB RAM, and then moving the Home Folder to an external SSD, but I decided to wait some time because buying the 27" to 32" monitor I want would make the setup too expensive. It's not just the cost of the Mini, but the total cost for the entire package. To me it makes no sense to buy a cheap screen for photo editing with the Mini, plus the cost of a good quality keyboard, mouse or maybe a trackpad, and so on.
I did. I had my M1 Pro MBP plugged into my Studio Display all day. So when it came to upgrade I just bought the M4 mini. The M1 Pro MBP is going on ebay after Christmas. I use my iPad when out and about so I don't need two portable machines.
Since I picked up an iPad M4, surprisingly how little use my MacBook Pro is getting. Mini makes sense for multi-location in the home (drop and insert, I have multiple monitors). Only use case for MacBook of any kind for my own situation is portable + power outside of the the home / home office.
Desktop/ laptop is an easy use-case driven decision. Everyone has different needs and there is enough in the Mac offering space to satisfy those. The endless logorrhea around « which is better » is an old and very stale, never-ending circular debate. The choice sounds simple, and it often is.
Desktop/ laptop is an easy use-case driven decision. Everyone has different needs and there is enough in the Mac offering space to satisfy those. The endless logorrhea around « which is better » is an old and very stale, never-ending circular debate. The choice sounds simple, and it often is.
Agreed
I would have liked an M4 Pro Mini, but the jump from base to base is way too much
They are listing them at those prices ... not selling them
I know what you mean ... Sort of almost feel bad for these folks asking prices nobody is going to pay
Macs these days, and the fairly high pricing depending upon config, REALLY require getting a great price up front of you end up taking it in the shorts.
For me, I only pulled the trigger on the M4 Mini because the base config works for me.
The only actually great deal on these is the base M4 Mini
Thank goodness for Apple Intelligence, which forced Apple to up the base RAM finally.
Came to post something similar.
$599 for an M4 chip mini with 16GB memory, in today's world, is very good value.
You're getting the latest M-chip processor which is faster (on macOS with native apps) than much more expensive and higher end Intel/AMD chips running on Windows with native apps.
You're getting 16GB memory which seems to be the new minimum expectation for any new computer, and it seems accepted that a 16GB unified memory chip on an Apple device performs as well as more memory on a PC.
Essentially, you're getting the equivalent to a $1200+ ready built PC for $599.
$599 for an M4 chip mini with 16GB memory, in today's world, is very good value.
You're getting the latest M-chip processor which is faster (on macOS with native apps) than much more expensive and higher end Intel/AMD chips running on Windows with native apps.
You're getting 16GB memory which seems to be the new minimum expectation for any new computer, and it seems accepted that a 16GB unified memory chip on an Apple device performs as well as more memory on a PC.
Essentially, you're getting the equivalent to a $1200+ ready built PC for $599.
Well, except for the part where you have a tiny ssd. Other than that, I do agree.
Yeah 256GB is probably viewed in the same way 8GB memory is now...most people want 512GB to feel they have minimum/future-proofed. Still, $799 ain't too shabby for 512GB either.
I'm in the camp where I'll choose the lowest base storage possible, so 256GB is fine for me, as I mostly use cloud storage and for video editing use external SSDs, just keep the software installed on the internal SSD.
It would be quite a "very good value" if one would not need to buy a screen, keyboard, and mouse for it. The cost for a 27" to 32" 5k screen should be from $1,000 non-Apple to perhaps $2,500 (includes the Studio). Then the keyboard, mouse, an external SSD and enclosure, and so on.