The "I just ordered / bought / got my new/refurb Mac mini" threads, merged

[arkitect]

My Mac Mini (Late 2014) 2.6 i5, 16GB has been a very reliable workhorse the last 6 years. But lately it has been struggling as my projects get more ambitious and larger. (Mostly Photoshop A1 size with layers and layers…)

So I needed to upgrade and that brought a whole lot of soul searching: "What I want vs what I need."

I wanted to buy a Mini M1, but some research highlighted a few concerns such as limited RAM, finicky external drive speeds and of course the dangling carrot of a brand new designed Mac Mini later this year…

So for now I went for a refurb Mini (Late 2018) i7, 32 GB. It will do me fine I think until the silicon transition waters settle.

Something else I considered was just staying with my current i5 and adding a 12.9" iPad Pro for some of the workload. But that just wouldn't cut it…

 

[inmnbob]

I have been using 2TB i7 with 32 gb since launch and it is still fast and does all I need for music production. The 4 thunderbolt ports are a must for me. When I do video work I have the Blackmagic eGPU which still works well. At some point I will get another Mac Mini but it won’t be immediately.

 

[InuNacho]

My Mac Mini (Late 2014) 2.6 i5, 16GB has been a very reliable workhorse the last 6 years. But lately it has been struggling as my projects get more ambitious and larger. (Mostly Photoshop A1 size with layers and layers…)

So I needed to upgrade and that brought a whole lot of soul searching: "What I want vs what I need."

I wanted to buy a Mini M1, but some research highlighted a few concerns such as limited RAM, finicky external drive speeds and of course the dangling carrot of a brand new designed Mac Mini later this year…

So for now I went for a refurb Mini (Late 2018) i7, 32 GB. It will do me fine I think until the silicon transition waters settle.

Something else I considered was just staying with my current i5 and adding a 12.9" iPad Pro for some of the workload. But that just wouldn't cut it…

Good choice on the 2018. I'm not sure what software you are running but I got the 2018 i7 64GB last year because I have a fairly dependent workflow on the CS6 suite although I am transitioning to Affinity Photo.
I'm not a 100% sure how newer versions of Adobe software work with the gpu but Affinity will take full advantage of the hardware at hand. I was pleasantly surprised to see my eGPU RX580 being taxed by Affinity Photo when working with large files and multiple layers.

 

[arkitect]

Good choice on the 2018. I'm not sure what software you are running but I got the 2018 i7 64GB last year because I have a fairly dependent workflow on the CS6 suite although I am transitioning to Affinity Photo.
I'm not a 100% sure how newer versions of Adobe software work with the gpu but Affinity will take full advantage of the hardware at hand. I was pleasantly surprised to see my eGPU RX580 being taxed by Affinity Photo when working with large files and multiple layers.

I am also transitioning from Adobe to Affinity! 😀

On this 2018 Affinity Photo runs a heck of a lot smoother than Photoshop.

While I have been sticking with Illustrator up to now, with my latest project I am trying to run 100% Affinity so fingers crossed not too many "workarounds" needed.
The buy once vs monthly subscription is just so much better for me.

You mentioning the eGPU RX580 has now got me intrigued again so I may well look in to it. Thanks! 👍

 

[InuNacho]

I am also transitioning from Adobe to Affinity! ?

On this 2018 Affinity Photo runs a heck of a lot smoother than Photoshop.

While I have been sticking with Illustrator up to now, with my latest project I am trying to run 100% Affinity so fingers crossed not too many "workarounds" needed.
The buy once vs monthly subscription is just so much better for me.

You mentioning the eGPU RX580 has now got me intrigued again so I may well look in to it. Thanks! ?

Yes Affinity is pure bliss as an artist where I can actually see how things look before sending into a minutes long render session only to decide I didn't like it after all. The way the files actually shrink down is also quite nice! I've been tinkering with some existing .PSB files and its amazing how Affinity can put them down to a 1/3 their original size.

I don't have Designer yet but I know that going from InDesign to Publisher was a breeze!

Realistically I cannot recommend anyone buying a RX 580 during the chip shortage due to its high price. I bought mine years ago on sale for $175 and now they hover around $375! The RX 570 is a pretty good alternative and there are now plenty of options for inexpensive eGPU enclosures. They show up used all the time.

 

[CtotheP]

Just grabbed a refurb M1 mini 16/512 from apple’s refurbished store

 

[mauka]

Traded in my iMac i5 8/256 to Apple and ordered a refurbished M1 16/512 with Applecare.

I already have a mini, i5 64/512 (upgraded myself). Planning to keep both.

Also upgraded my monitor to a MSI Creator Series 32" UHD IPS panel (PS321URV), which is very nice so far.

 

[stlsports]

I purchased an apple refurb m1 Mac mini in November. Very happy with it, as I struggle to familiarize myself with MacOs.
M1/16gb ram/256gb storage with 2 external HD.,one for time machine, one for data...

 

[_TheTick_]

I purchased a refurb 2018 Mac Mini to replace my mid-year 2011 iMac 27" with a faulty graphics card (got tired of taking the system apart to bake the video card). I yanked my 1TB SSD out of the iMac and now it's in an AGPTEK port expander connected to the Mini. I replaced the factory 8GB RAM with 64GB(2x32) kit. Primary monitor is a Dell U2713HM, secondary monitor is an HP 23es. I use the wireless touchpad and a Logitech G400 wired mouse. Keyboard is a MACALLY ergonomic wired keyboard.

It's a Frankenstein's monster of different pieces, but it works for me. lol

 

[Devvy]

Sold my 2018 i3 / 16GB / 256, and bought a second-hand M1 8GB / 256 back. The most noticeable difference is the graphics speed; I use a 27" 4K IIyama monitor and the Intel HD630 could not really handle that smooth enough - I had to disable the fancy graphics effects or use a low-resolution scaled mode.
With the M1 that's all gone. I can use the "looks like 2560x1440" mode with all bells and whistles and it looks stunning.
Another - weird - difference is that the 2018 model didn't play nice with the Apple TV app in combination with the IIyama monitor. Movies would always black out completely (audio would continue to play). I thought it had to do with the monitor not being fully HDCP compliant, but for some reason the M1 has no issues playing stuff back on the same monitor.

 

[George Dawes]

Just ordered a 16/ 2tb , was looking at the studio but from research the thing makes too much noise and takes up too much space , it’s also extremely ugly , arguably the worst looking Mac of all time imo.

 

[pshufd]

Just ordered a 16/ 2tb , was looking at the studio but from research the thing makes too much noise and takes up too much space , it’s also extremely ugly , arguably the worst looking Mac of all time imo.

I think that the mini looks nicer but mine is in a corner behind two monitors so I can't see it at my desk. For some reason, the Mac Studio under the Studio Display looks unbalanced to me. Perhaps it's because the height is so close to the bottom of the Studio Display or it's off to one side under the display. I do like the specs of the base model but I think that they could have put the Studio Max in a shorter case.

I'm not sure that the base Studio makes a lot of fan noise. I was a bit surprised that you can hear it as I have never heard the fans on my M1 mini.

 

[George Dawes]

I agree , lot of wasted space in the studio considering the efficiency of the m1 chips , seems it’s down to them putting the power supply internal that’s causing issues . Whatever it is , the thing looks like it was designed externally by an engineer not a designer . Haven’t seen a mac this ugly ever , it’s really awful looking . The rear and bottom are more interesting than the front ?. That alone put me off . Apple have always been known for their stunning designs . This ain’t one of them .

The fact it won’t fit under my tv etc doesn’t help it’s cause . It’s a missed opportunity imo .

 

[Miat]

The Studio is ugly. No way around that. But it is also small and powerful, and can actually fit on a desk (as opposed to being so big it has to go under it, making ports less accessible).

Cute is nice, but well below those features on my checklist.

 

[George Dawes]

Fair enough

Where I’m putting it it wouldn’t fit , I needed something very low profile

Its basically going under my tv , the studio while small compared to most computers is enormous compared to the mini

 

[fishingfromakay]

Just F.Y.I I ordered a new Mini and it was to be delivered on 3/25.. it was pushed off to now be delivered on 4/5-4/7
Got it today 03/30/22

 

[espnfanco]

Well i was hoping the Mac mini was upgraded this month, but I can’t wait any more lol. Upgraded my 2013 iMac to 16gb M1 Mac mini. Delivery is expected April 6-8. Looking forward to using the latest OS.? I have a Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 for my gaming laptop and will be using a USB-C to DP cable for the M1 mini. I read from an old post the max hz is 120 from the mini and won’t be able to utilize 240hz. Still true?

 

[George Dawes]

Amazed by the speed of the M1 and impressed by the Monterey os - although it does have a few odd behaviours - not being able to drag things directly to the Mac hd icon is weird ...

 

[phrenologist]

Just ordered a refurb M1 Mac mini w/10Gb Ethernet. Should be here tomorrow!

 

[emmab2006]

Just ordered my M1 Mini , Base Spec, looking forward to its arrival tomorrow.

 

[Simon89]

I’ve so far has 2 Mini’s this year. Originally I went for a 8GB/512GB model as the 16GB had a wait. But after a few days and for the slight difference I decided to order then16GB/512GB model which arrived a week ago and it now sits nicely in my desk above a Satechi dock. The dock was mainly for SD card convenience as I’ve a Satechi TB3 enclosure for additional 512GB storage ?

 

[celadon]

Well, good news! My Mac cleared customs and is on its way to my home in the USA. I ordered an almost-maxed out Mac Mini with 1 GB of SSD and 16 GBs of RAM. I'm sooooo excited to get it! It's due to arrive on Monday.

 

[Guacamole]

I bought today a refurbished Mac mini M1 8gb 512 ssd and new magical keyboard.. arriving tomorrow

 

[chrisf60647]

Really want to pull the trigger on an Mac Mini but with WWDC looming...tough call.

 

[arpd1971]

I’ve had my new mini for a couple of weeks now. Finally got a 8/256 model… my first Mac after 30 years of Windows and Linux.

Was a bit worried about the 8GB but it runs everything I need all at once, even Teams and OneNote, with about 10 tabs open in Edge. Not touching a swap file…

Now to see how many years I get from it!