$469 is an insane value for a machine of that performance level...... you can add a cheap monitor/keyboard and mouse and your in business..... it will also run Windows on ARM easily and smoothly under Parallels or VMWare. great for any average computer user......
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Amazon Takes Up to $150 Off M4 Mac Mini With New All-Time Low Prices
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Some comments are indeed bizarre ...... Correct..The new M4 MacMini was never sold with 8GB........I have the base M4 MacMini and is plenty fast, capable and I've never had a storage issue with the 256GB model. And I have numerous apps loaded...... I also have a 1TB external storage drive permanently connected which takes care of any storage needs easily and transparently.
The reason 256 is limiting isn't entirely due to how little of what you create can be left on your internal. It used to be that temp file swapping of moderate size mostly only happened for average users with applications like image editors, and if you used consumer versions, like Apple's bundled app instead of higher level apps like Photoshop you'd be spared most of that. But now Apple's system does more temp file writing to disc and in larger amounts, regardless of how you set it, so that leaving more "headroom" on the drive is not only good policy for the drive's health but necessary for system smoothness. And this isn't especially intuitive to a new user or explained by Apple. Anyone who has ever gotten a call from a friend to troubleshoot their sluggish Mac and found that they have been running it at 300 megs of free space knows that drill. 
It's not impossible to use a 256 internal and nothing else, but it does require adapting how you work and scrimping on file and app accumulation. I had a MBP with 256 as a backup laptop and got rid of it a month later. It required a different approach and was frankly a pain in the butt to keep thinning out local files and apps, external storage aside.
I'd say anyone getting one of these base M4 mini's should budget for one or two external 2T SSDs, which fortunately these days are $140-ish. And still keep that headroom at at very least 15G, preferably 25g.
It's not impossible to use a 256 internal and nothing else, but it does require adapting how you work and scrimping on file and app accumulation. I had a MBP with 256 as a backup laptop and got rid of it a month later. It required a different approach and was frankly a pain in the butt to keep thinning out local files and apps, external storage aside.
I'd say anyone getting one of these base M4 mini's should budget for one or two external 2T SSDs, which fortunately these days are $140-ish. And still keep that headroom at at very least 15G, preferably 25g.
Most people never fill the 256GB of space. Seriously, most people don't generate any content at all and few even install 3rd party apps. Other than photos taken with an iPhone and those live on iCloud.
People reading this forum are a VERY biased sample.
Great deal on the base model!
I love mine, especially once I added third-party 2TB internal storage.
Sorry Tim
No cookie for you.
😘
I love mine, especially once I added third-party 2TB internal storage.
Sorry Tim
No cookie for you.
😘
I’d given up on Apple and was either going to go Windows or Linux. Then the M4 mini pulled me back in, I love this thing.
The M4 Mini is such an incredible machine. Desperately trying to find an excuse for a third. If it had 4+ monitor support (niche, I know), I'd do it...
I cannot recommend this enough. Such a powerful little computer. If you're concerned about storage, pick up a one or two terabyte external Thunderbolt 4 SSD.
The Mac mini would be a great Mac if it wasn't for its poor limitations in storage capacity and RAM (24 GB !! is that the most it can have?).
Edit: I just noticed the M4 Pro model can go up to 64 GB RAM.. that's not bad at all.
Edit: I just noticed the M4 Pro model can go up to 64 GB RAM.. that's not bad at all.
i was thinking of this or a used m1 mbp pro for $350
i didn't want to have to spend x of dollars to find a monitor good enough to to edit photos on plus k&m
i ask myself if i need all this power but i was told m1 is good enough
plus i'm only editing photos and doing basic streaming
i didn't want to have to spend x of dollars to find a monitor good enough to to edit photos on plus k&m
i ask myself if i need all this power but i was told m1 is good enough
plus i'm only editing photos and doing basic streaming
Everyone commenting 256 GB is not enough somehow miss the two links for 512 GB models?
Buy the model that fits your needs. That’s why Apple sells different models.
Buy the model that fits your needs. That’s why Apple sells different models.
I think the average user will also want to sync their photos from their phone to their computer. These people will quickly find out that 256gb doesn’t cut it.
This is exactly why the base is 256gb. Cause apple wants it to not be enough. Then they can be pushed to icloud.
I think your statement is correct if you replaced the words “average user” with “I”. I take quite a bit of photos and I’m up to 32 GB so far. I’m not sure how many GB the average user has, but I can’t believe it’s that many.
I have relatives that have the base model M1 MacBook Air, which can’t even open up a single chrome tab according to people here because it only has 8 GB RAM. I think with the 256 GB storage, it may not even be enough to connect to the Internet but they’ve seemed to be able to use it without any problems.
I always say buy the computer that suits your needs, but it feels like there’s so much elitism and computer forums. If you don’t have this minimal spec, you might as well throw your computer in the dumpster because it’s useless.
Eh. Not good enough for a lot of folks, but in my experience doing amateur IT for my family, I've been surprised to see how many of them are fitting decades of photos, messages, and videos into well under 256GB.
Me personally, not even a terabyte is enough just for my photo library and my phone and old digital camera are just 12MP and 10MP
But I have seen regular non tech people with an apple genius asking for help cause their mac is out of space. Like they don’t even know that it’s out of space or what ram or an ssd is. They just know it’s not working the same anymore so something might be broken and go to a genius. This is the type of user that I’m thinking of and I believe they are more common than you think.
I did a one-day photo shoot last week. That used a mere 116 GB of storage. That's all stills and no movies. So far, this year, I have used almost 554 GB of storage on my M1 MBP with 2 TB of storage. Modern cameras use a lot of storage.
As a fellow photographer, I think we should recognize that we are highly atypical users (and for that reason, many of us barely use internal storage at all aside from current projects).
A machine that can play Resident Evil games beautifully for under $500 beats the consoles. Consoles have actually gone up in price so you've still got room to buy a nice controller.
Of course the consoles have just a smidge more AAA games.
Of course the consoles have just a smidge more AAA games.
Here's the thing, you only see people with problems at the Apple stores. For everyone person with a storage space problem you're probably not seeing 1000 or even 10K people with no such problems. If it's not "Frequency illusion" it's probably something closely related to it.Me personally, not even a terabyte is enough just for my photo library and my phone and old digital camera are just 12MP and 10MP
But I have seen regular non tech people with an apple genius asking for help cause their mac is out of space. Like they don’t even know that it’s out of space or what ram or an ssd is. They just know it’s not working the same anymore so something might be broken and go to a genius. This is the type of user that I’m thinking of and I believe they are more common than you think.
I would guess you're in the top 0.001% while I'm in the bottom 0.001% of photo users.
The fact that you did a "one-day photo shoot" immediately puts you in the minority. You probably took more photos on that single day than most people do in a year or two and even possibly a decade's worth of photos for those who rarely take any photos at all such as myself.
There has been a lot of talk about the "decline" of Apple recently. It's funny, because many of Apple's products the best running, and the most affordable, that I can ever remember right now. All of the base M4 computers (Mac mini, MacBook Air, iMac, MacBook Pro) are excellent machines that can be found for $100-$200 off regularly on a consistent basis. They all will be powerhouses for years. They all have 16GB RAM, and both the 256GB and 512GB storage options are also always on sale. The M4 iPad Pro, while too expensive, is probably the best technological product Apple has made in years. The base iPad and iPad Airs are also extremely cabaple, and will come with great windowing soon. The iPhone 16 Pro is basically free at all US carriers (oddly, it can be cheaper to get an iPhone 16 Pro or Pro Max from a carrier than an iPhone 16 or even 16e). Overall, customers can buy new iPads, Macs, iPhones from Apple today at the best value I have really ever seen.