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Thankful for base M4 Mac mini

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macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 1, 2023
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Even though I’ve been trying to practice less gratitude lately, it’s hard not to appreciate this lovely M4 Mac Mini. It sits quietly beneath the cheapest possible 42-inch 4K TV from Costco on my oversized desk, running so fast and so silently.

Its limited storage has actually been a blessing in disguise, forcing me to keep everything on an external drive. This has introduced a level of organization I’ve never had before, unlike with every other Mac I’ve owned where I let Apple’s “optimize storage” feature handle things, only to face chaos when it inevitably didn’t work quite right.

Starting off with the rule that anything not using a web browser goes on the external drive has been a game-changer. Apps stay on the internal storage, keeping everything lean and efficient.

The only thing I miss is having easy access to old iMessages, but I’ve got those saved on other machines, so it’s not a dealbreaker.

Highly recommend it for anyone who doesn’t absolutely need more RAM or internal storage right now.
 
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ivnj said:
It's a great machine. I got mine for half price. Only thing is I hate the power button on the bottom so I ordered this.

www.amazon.com

HumanCentric Thin Client Mount Bracket, Mount a Mini PC or Computer to a VESA Monitor Arm or Stand, Pole, or Under Desk or Surface

HumanCentric Thin Client Mount Bracket | Mount a Mini PC or Computer to a VESA Monitor Arm or Stand, Pole, or Under Desk or Surface. mac mini mount under desk, mac mini mount behind monitor, mac mini holder
www.amazon.com
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How'd you get it for half price? Pray tell!
 
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ivnj said:
230 trade in old m1 mini base
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The few times I've traded in, I just wanted an easy transaction and a gift card, so never tied it to a new purchase. So when I later decided to trade in my 2018 mini after all, at the store a couple days after buying a new mini, I was expecting to only get a gift card for the trade in amount. But when they determined that I'd bought the new mini a couple days earlier, they offered to connect the trade in to that purchase. I was expecting to see the trade in amount refunded, but was surprised when I also got back the sales tax on that amount, which is pretty high where I live, so lesson learned.
 
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ivnj said:
230 trade in old m1 mini base 256gb ssd and 8gb ram. And 100 edu discount. My nephew is graduating in 2 weeks so while he still enrolled he flashed is student id and that was another 100 off. So 295 dollars and 90 cents with tax total USA dollars.
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That’s not half price. You still paid for it (real discount was only $100).
 
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ivnj said:
230 trade in old m1 mini base 256gb ssd and 8gb ram. And 100 edu discount. My nephew is graduating in 2 weeks so while he still enrolled he flashed is student id and that was another 100 off. So 295 dollars and 90 cents with tax total USA dollars.
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Brilliant. My niece is back from college for thanksgiving and I've got a M2 Mac Mini to trade in, but Apple only wants to give me $260 for it. A fella on marketplace is willing to pay $300, so I'll do that, and with the edu discount, it'll be a nice upgrade. Thanks!
 
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EugW said:
You don't use iCloud for iMessage?
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I do. But only save the last 30 days worth on the Mac. Otherwise you need to force iMessage to save externally through terminal but I’m guessing this breaks it somehow or will eventually.
 
Lift Bar said:
I do. But only save the last 30 days worth on the Mac. Otherwise you need to force iMessage to save externally through terminal but I’m guessing this breaks it somehow or will eventually.
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Doesn't iMessage on my Mac download older iMessages from iCloud as you scroll back in time? I just tried this with one iMessage thread with only more recent messages available, that seemed to only go as far back as only October. I continued to scroll back and then older messages showed up after a couple of second delay, although I don't now if they had just been there all along or if they had to be redownloaded.
 
EugW said:
Doesn't iMessage on my Mac download older iMessages from iCloud as you scroll back in time? I just tried this with one iMessage thread with only more recent messages available, that seemed to only go as far back as only October. I continued to scroll back and then older messages showed up after a couple of second delay, although I don't now if they had just been there all along or if they had to be redownloaded.
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Gosh I dunno. If it does actually load them all there it’s gonna break this pathetic little hard drive. I may have spoken too soon in my lauding of the base model. Or perhaps I should remove iMessage completely?
 
Lift Bar said:
Gosh I dunno. If it does actually load them all there it’s gonna break this pathetic little hard drive. I may have spoken too soon in my lauding of the base model. Or perhaps I should remove iMessage completely?
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Hmm... I see than in my iCloud settings that I have Messages set to store longer than 30 days. I presume you have it set to keep them only 30 days.

However, in iCloud, my Messages database is 71 GB, but on my local 512 GB Mac mini, there is only 32 GB, so obviously it storing some of it offline.
 
EugW said:
I see than in my iCloud settings that I have Messages set to store longer than 30 days.
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whew! Seems like it works then. Mine are sent to “keep forever” on my iPhone 512GB. And only 30 days on the Mac.

The issue with Macs is there is all this clever optimizing storage which I have managed to screw up massively with every Mac I’ve owned. All of it stems from Photos libraries and iMessage and all because it is done in the background by Apple in a clever way until it is isn’t clever at all and just basically breaks the over-stuffed internal ssd.

I’d rather not erase all my old iMessages and Photos libraries many of which I hold onto for nostalgic reasons.

For actual work with photos from a real camera and SD cards or phone videos which are transferred to a ssd (and any other files) it’s super simple because you just store everything on regular old externals and cloud storage using other programs. But Photos and iMessage isn’t really for work, but more as an archive of life, it works super well as a simple and easy solution. Until it doesn’t when you run out of space. Then it’s really just the worst.
 
lazd said:
Brilliant. My niece is back from college for thanksgiving and I've got a M2 Mac Mini to trade in, but Apple only wants to give me $260 for it. A fella on marketplace is willing to pay $300, so I'll do that, and with the edu discount, it'll be a nice upgrade. Thanks!
Click to expand...

260 is only 40 less. Take it to apple. By the time you F**** with FB market place and if it get damaged while shipping or he does not like it and wants a refund. Apple straight off and then applied to the new mini. No messing with eBay or Facebook or craigslist.
 
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ivnj said:
The Charge on my credit card was 295 dollars and 90 cents. So it was half. More than half.
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@Gloor is counting the value of the trade-in, which I also tend to count instead of just my out-of-pocket expense, since I could have gotten an Apple gift card for my old mini --and then use that money for future Apple stuff or services.
 
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Tradein counts because they don't just take anything. They don't even take PCs. Only macs. Pc get recycled.

And old mini is useless sitting there not being used. So might as well tradein.
 
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TSE said:
I think you all should have gotten the yellow iMac.
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Thought about it but it’s so much smaller than most much cheaper 4K monitors (and then you have to put it closer to get the benefit of that extra half a K) and it’s so much more expensive as a computer.

500 bucks at Costco for a newly designed chassis with that’s extremely fast and with all the necessary ports, it’s just such an incredible deal.
 
TheWraith said:
?????
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Everywhere you turn it’s “gratitude this gratitude that” gotta “practice more gratitude.” Well, someone has to take a stand! Alas I’m remain grateful for this Mac mini, but wanted to put the disclaimer for other dissidents.
 
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lazd said:
Brilliant. My niece is back from college for thanksgiving and I've got a M2 Mac Mini to trade in, but Apple only wants to give me $260 for it. A fella on marketplace is willing to pay $300, so I'll do that, and with the edu discount, it'll be a nice upgrade. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Personally I consider the extra hassle and risk to be way more than $40. So I would go with Apple at $260, but that is just me.
 
Lift Bar said:
whew! Seems like it works then. Mine are sent to “keep forever” on my iPhone 512GB. And only 30 days on the Mac.

The issue with Macs is there is all this clever optimizing storage which I have managed to screw up massively with every Mac I’ve owned. All of it stems from Photos libraries and iMessage and all because it is done in the background by Apple in a clever way until it is isn’t clever at all and just basically breaks the over-stuffed internal ssd.

I’d rather not erase all my old iMessages and Photos libraries many of which I hold onto for nostalgic reasons.

For actual work with photos from a real camera and SD cards or phone videos which are transferred to a ssd (and any other files) it’s super simple because you just store everything on regular old externals and cloud storage using other programs. But Photos and iMessage isn’t really for work, but more as an archive of life, it works super well as a simple and easy solution. Until it doesn’t when you run out of space. Then it’s really just the worst.
Click to expand...
AFAIK this setting follows the lowest setting across all devices - you better check if your iPhone is stuff older than 30 days.
 
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