I wonder ... has there ever been an Apple product iJustine has been just sort of "lukewarm" about?
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Mac Mini With M4 and M4 Pro Reviews: Smaller Design and Pro Performance Make for Major Upgrade
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"It still starts at the same $599 price—even if its base 256GB of storage is a bit paltry—but making the jump to the $799 512GB configuration is not unreasonable."
Yes -- it IS unreasonable to charge $200 for an additional 256GB of storage
That's an additional amount of storage that's about $30 on Amazon at retail pricing ... so basically "nothing" for Apple
Just pure profit taking -- flat out stealing from people quite honestly
I really wish these sites would draw a more honest conclusion and not softball Apple like this
And in 6 months you would be kicking your self for not waiting to to get the lowest baseline M4max Studio instead.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
But how do you solve that "problem?" As is, these people get paid well by "playing ball" with Apple. If "everybody breaks this" so they can speak freely, how do they get paid as well to create the motivation for that break? Few doing tech "reviews" for a living would do keep doing it for no comp (because there's no living in free).
So come up with a model where they get paid at least as well and some would very likely opt to speak the truth vs. maximize their income by compromising their actual opinions. Such options exist- we consumers wanting that objectivity can PAY for various vehicles to then be the business model that compensates reviewers as well. But so many of us scoff at having to pay for any informational service when "I can just get the 'same' information for free online."
Solve the compensation "problem" to get what you want. You'll find few volunteers willing to spend their days doing objective reviews on their own dime.
No they would not. They would be hit with the sanctions allowed by the NDA they signed to get the device, and never get another Apple product (from Apple) for review.
Really hard to figure if you are actually being serious.
Seems Ars review is out as well: https://arstechnica.com/apple/2024/...inis-are-probably-apples-best-mac-minis-ever/
Sanctions? They're doing shill reviews which doesn't provide credibility. Do you want to be a shill where Apple gets to approve your review before publishing, or does one want to be part of the Apple PR machine.
How do they "get paid" well? Are you saying they're PAID Apple shills?
I don't pay for Youtube videos and never will. There is no scoffing going on so much as looking at these as nothing more than Apple-sanctioned ads.
Well the above just isn't true. Plenty of Youtubers don't kiss Tim Apple's corporate ring for freebie handouts. Plenty of them are forking out their own cash independent of Apple's PR machine.
No, not even close.
Agree. It’s pretty clear. I thought that was an odd comment to make in the review.
If you can "sell my m2 Pro and buy the m4 while keeping a few bucks in my pocket" you should go for it. Personally I would be surprised if anyone will pay more for an M2 Pro [same RAM of course] than the cost of an M4 base. The M4 competence has already been heavily publicized.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
- Youtube advertising is lucrative when eyeball numbers are high.
- Eyeball numbers are high when they get to "review" new tech from Apple before everyone else.
- Keep those reviews good-to-great to keep the (relationship strong to keep the) money flowing.
- Repeat Step 1 with the next advance "review" of a product.
Yes, you do (indirectly). When you watch a video and see an ad, the creator/owner of the video gets paid.
Yes due to the model referenced above.
Yes, but they can't own the device before it is released. Compare "views" numbers. By the time those who have to wait and BUY a new Apple something can do so, create their more objective review and post it, the masses have already watched this set of reviews. Typically, the legit ones will have far fewer views.
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You want to pay less, we get it. That does not make Apple's product pricing "flat out stealing from people quite honestly.""It still starts at the same $599 price—even if its base 256GB of storage is a bit paltry—but making the jump to the $799 512GB configuration is not unreasonable."
Yes -- it IS unreasonable to charge $200 for an additional 256GB of storage
That's an additional amount of storage that's about $30 on Amazon at retail pricing ... so basically "nothing" for Apple
Just pure profit taking -- flat out stealing from people quite honestly
I really wish these sites would draw a more honest conclusion and not softball Apple like this
Simply do not buy, no one is stealing from you. There are cheap computers in the world for people who want cheap computers.
Can anyone help me with some Mac mini buying advice?
I currently use a 2018 Mac mini - 3.2 Ghz 6-Core Intel Core i7, 32 GB of RAM, and a 1 TB SSD. It's been a real workhorse for me, but it's time to upgrade. I mainly use it for writing/editing documents (sometimes very large ones) and editing photos, videos, and audio (podcast production).
I'm leaning towards the Mac mini with the M4 Pro chip (mainly due to Thunderbolt 5), but is that overkill? And is the 24 GB of RAM adequate for my needs? Or would I want to bump that up? I plan to add a 2 TB Seagate One Touch SSD to avoid Apple's ridiculous storage upcharge. But any other advice? I've squeezed a really solid six years out of my old Mac mini, and I'd like to try and do the same with the new one.
I currently use a 2018 Mac mini - 3.2 Ghz 6-Core Intel Core i7, 32 GB of RAM, and a 1 TB SSD. It's been a real workhorse for me, but it's time to upgrade. I mainly use it for writing/editing documents (sometimes very large ones) and editing photos, videos, and audio (podcast production).
I'm leaning towards the Mac mini with the M4 Pro chip (mainly due to Thunderbolt 5), but is that overkill? And is the 24 GB of RAM adequate for my needs? Or would I want to bump that up? I plan to add a 2 TB Seagate One Touch SSD to avoid Apple's ridiculous storage upcharge. But any other advice? I've squeezed a really solid six years out of my old Mac mini, and I'd like to try and do the same with the new one.
I don't see any ads on Youtube due to ABP.
The Russian Youtubers deflated the Apple bubble by getting the MBP in October. The shill reviews are the unboxing variety and see who can make the weirdest faces at the same time. Even the so-called tech press are spewing out the Apple PR with a few boring Geekbench runs thrown in for good measure. It's just so boilerplate and same old, same old. It's only when you get ifixit and others ripping the machines apart do we get interesting reviews. Things like Max Tech exposing to the world the NAND chip issue in the M2 base model machines is an example of real reviewers doing the un-Apple playbook.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
- Writing/editing documents: Base mini could probably cover it.
- Editing Photos: if this is just as a consumer/average Joe and not part of a career: Base mini could probably cover it.
- Editing Video: if this is just basic stuff/average Joe and not part of a career (like editing big movies, long 4K/8K and/or weaving many streams of 4K/8K together, etc): Mini with plenty of RAM should cover it... probably PRO if you also need huge, fast storage to hold lots of video while editing a project.
- Audio podcast production: again for a living or as a side/hobby?: Base mini could probably cover it.
But if all of these needs is "hobbyist," you can probably fly with Base Mini... though basic video editing certainly benefits from "more RAM."
If any of that is prosumer+, you might want to consider a Mac Studio... certainly if you are going to "load up" a Mac mini as the load will soon be in that price territory- especially if you would consider refurb or Education Store pricing. For example there is an M2 MAX with 32GB RAM and 512GB SSD for $1699 in the Refurb Store right now.
Yes, Studio is 2 M-chip generations behind but rumors of an upgrade is only months away but the existing one starts with a MAX chip. Or if you can't bear to buy any chip with a number < 4, maybe a MBpro to then use as a desktop with something like a Brydge dock or similar. Again, compare prices of a loaded Mini vs. a MBpro and it might offer a better choice. And again, if you could consider a M3 over M4, check Refurb and Edu store pricing vs. new Mini with high configurations.
For Apples STEEP markup on internal storage, you can buy much more storage from third parties and stick it in a fast enclosure. Thunderbolt 4 and/or now 5 is plenty fast for fairly complex video editing scratch discs. The other 3 things you list should all be less demanding than video editing.
If you believe you need more RAM, you have no choice: competition-free company store at company store markups... AKA "But who sells the most profitable RAM & storage..."
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Maybe on the aluminum cases? I've never had it leave residue on plastic or other materials unless they are sitting in high heat conditions. I'd be surprised if a little electrical tape left anything that couldn't be easily rubbed or wiped off. Someone could instead put one of the screen cleaning stickers over the light or any other no/low residue material. Or just flip the machine around if the light will be an issue.
Exactly. The truly independent reviewers aren't the ones that publish their reviews the soonest, since those are the ones that have gotten pre-release product from Apple. They know if their review is too negative they won't get that privilege in the future.
Instead, the truly independent ones are those that keep themselves entirely separate from Apple, and purchase the review samples with their own funds. As a consequence, rather than publish their reviews sooner than most, they will be publishing theirs later.
Sure, I think the power button on the bottom sucks, but power buttons on the Mini and Studio have sucked for a long time... just like the cylindrical Pro. I can't tell you how much time and effort I've spent trying to get reliable ways to power these things up in a rack. I actually think the button on the bottom might be a bit BETTER for this, as it will be mechanically simpler and more reliable to constructy a mechanism for this than for pushing a button from the back. Of course, if Apple would come up with a simple solution for a remote start button or - gasp! - just put the darn button on the front, it would be 1000 times better.
Please, Apple? Please?
Please, Apple? Please?
As mentioned, some of these influencers (formerly known as tech reviewers) are in just for the money and dont care about facts.
Apple (and currently Ngreedia) for the longest time, have hardware fans that will never dare criticize anything done by them and instead, all that you will hear are praises and excuses on their behalf.
I need a Mac because of my career and in my particular case, I can get away with a base Mac Mini, but make no mistake, ram and storage upgrade prices are highway robbery and the included 256 gb of storage is simply an insult to their customers.