The 2018 minis are selling for as much or more than the M1s since they can run Windows or Linux and at least the RAM is upgradable.
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What will lose more value?
- Thread starter waloshin
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Did you see that Youtube video? Two base M4 minis is one dollar less than one base mini upgraded to 32/512. So the actual price of a M4, case, and power supply is -50 cents. 😂
Yeah, that's why i've held onto my 2018 i5 mini. I upgraded the RAM myself to 32GB. The other option could be OpenCore if it gets support after Apple drops support for the 2018 mini.
And if you indeed sell it for $300 in 5 years, your net cost of ownership will have been $0.93 per day, which actually sounds like a good value.
In terms of M series Mac Minis...the base model is what I would go for. But then again I prefer the Intel mini for the expandabilty if you are in need for windows with egpu setups. Notice the price of the 2018 i7's. They have been consistant in price all these years.
This is so true. In November 2021, I paid over US$ 3,100 for my 14-inch M1 Max MacBook Pro with the 512 SSD, 32GB of RAM, and the 24 core GPU. When I decided to move to an M4 Pro mini + MacBook Air combination, I sold my MBP for just over $1,400.
I ended up selling it for over $1,700 less than I paid for it. In my area, I saw similar MBPs but with the M1 Pro sell for just under what I sold mine for, meaning the M1 Max was not getting that much of a premium over the M1 Pro.
Over the three years I had it, I never ended up using the M1 Max to its fullest, and the M4 Pro mini is perfect for my needs. This time, I decided against speccing it up and just got the base model M4 Pro mini and combined with a 4TB external SSD I haven't noticed any difference compared to my old MBP (the mini is faster in a lot of tasks).
What I've found with this experience is I've previously purchased more than I needed, and for me I will do minimal upgrades for future Mac purchases (probably only RAM if I feel it's needed for my main machine).
Base model will always lose least $ amount, but the absolute resale value will still be lower than a higher spec.
Part of the price of new machines is demand. Higher spec machines tend to be used for making money, and no-one buys 5-year-old equipment for that.
EXAMPLE:
New base: $500
New top spec: $2500
5-year used base: $200
5-year used top spec: $1250
...it's just how it is.
In reality, a top-spec machine will sell for ~50% of its new price.
Part of the price of new machines is demand. Higher spec machines tend to be used for making money, and no-one buys 5-year-old equipment for that.
EXAMPLE:
New base: $500
New top spec: $2500
5-year used base: $200
5-year used top spec: $1250
...it's just how it is.
In reality, a top-spec machine will sell for ~50% of its new price.
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