Apple is Now Selling a Refurbished Mac Mini for Just $319 (!)

[MacRumors]

A few days ago, we reported that Apple's refurbished Mac mini pricing had a problem, and it appears that Apple has taken note.

Apple was offering a refurbished Mac mini with the M2 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage for $559, which was $50 more than a refurbished Mac mini with the M4 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. All other key specifications were equal.

That's no longer the case.

As noted by Tech God on X, Apple has since revised its refurbished Mac mini pricing, and the latest prices are quite impressive. In the U.S., you can now get a refurbished Mac mini with the M2 chip, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage for just $319. And the model that previously cost $559 is now priced at $459.

Problem solved.

Article Link: Apple is Now Selling a Refurbished Mac Mini for Just $319 (!)

 

[ignatius345]

Very clickbait-y image/headline combo IMO. Why not put up a picture of the actual Mini that's for sale for $319, instead of the M4 Mini?

 

[TigerNike23]

As someone else mentioned, this is the M2 mini on sale.

 

[Corefile]

The 319$ M2 Mini only has 8GB of RAM which is half the amount of new Macs. So it's something that will probably be limited to Sequoia and even that causes compressed memory just upon booting the thing.

 

[StoneJack]

Very good machine.

 

[jimmirehman]

Click bait!!! Not the M4 Mac mini that’s pictured.

 

[JPack]

At 2/3 the price of M4 Mac mini, this is an excellent deal. Some people prefer those USB-A ports.

Would 16GB be better? Of course. But for students, seniors, and light users, this is perfectly fine. The tens of millions of 8GB M1/M2/M3 MacBook Airs out there prove that.

 

[TigerNike23]

The 319$ M2 Mini only has 8GB of RAM which is half the amount of new Macs. So it's something that will probably be limited to Sequoia and even that causes compressed memory just upon booting the thing.

I seriously think looking back, the 8 GB base will be considered one of the more anti-consumer things Apple has ever done.

In one year they’ve gone from “8 GB is enough” and “8 GB is like 16 on Windows” to 16 GB is the minimum and practically giving away 8 GB Macs.

 

[turbineseaplane]

FANTASTIC for server / plex usages

Or a simple computer for basic/normal needs

The whole world does not need, nor want, Apple Intelligence
(whatever that even "is" at this point)

Edit: I was corrected below in the thread by @Lounge vibes 05 , thank you!

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

The 319$ M2 Mini only has 8GB of RAM which is half the amount of new Macs. So it's something that will probably be limited to Sequoia and even that causes compressed memory just upon booting the thing.

Absolutely wild assumption.
Apple introduced a machine with 8 GB of RAM (the M3 MBA) in March 2024.
That computer will absolutely not be limited to Sequoia, in fact, it will probably receive the latest software updates until 2031 at the earliest, with an additional two years of security fixes. That’s nine years.
And by the way? Sequoia supports computers going all the way back to 2017. That was… eight years ago.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

I seriously think looking back, the 8 GB base will be considered one of the more anti-consumer things Apple has ever done.

In one year they’ve gone from “8 GB is enough” and “8 GB is like 16 on Windows” to 16 GB is the minimum and practically giving away 8 GB Macs.

..because of Apple AI needing a significant amount of of ram. That is the only reason Apple moved it up.

 

[adamw]

Sounds good for a M2 Mac Mini!

 

[turbineseaplane]

I seriously think looking back, the 8 GB base will be considered one of the more anti-consumer things Apple has ever done.

In one year they’ve gone from “8 GB is enough” and “8 GB is like 16 on Windows” to 16 GB is the minimum and practically giving away 8 GB Macs.

Yep - So many of us knew it at the time too ... and were routinely fed the complete nonsense of "special Apple RAM / engineering, etc" -- all bollocks, to no surprise

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

FANTASTIC for server / plex usages

Or a simple computer for basic/normal needs

The whole world does not need, nor want, Apple Intelligence
(whatever that even "is" at this point)

And it’s ironic that you bring that up anyway because… The M2 Mac Mini runs Apple Intelligence just fine.
As does the two years and two months older M1 Mac Mini.

 

[turbineseaplane]

And it’s ironic that you bring that up anyway because… The M2 Mac Mini runs Apple Intelligence just fine.
As does the two years and two months older M1 Mac Mini.

Even better! No compromises!
"Genmoji ready"

 

[EugW]

The 319$ M2 Mini only has 8GB of RAM which is half the amount of new Macs. So it's something that will probably be limited to Sequoia and even that causes compressed memory just upon booting the thing.

No. 8 GB Macs should be supported with new OS versions until around 2029.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I seriously think looking back, the 8 GB base will be considered one of the more anti-consumer things Apple has ever done.

In one year they’ve gone from “8 GB is enough” and “8 GB is like 16 on Windows” to 16 GB is the minimum and practically giving away 8 GB Macs.

It's not anti-consumer. It was simply a matter of different people have different use needs with a Mac. The MR rhetoric of I don't need or want 8GB of RAM, nobody else does, is really getting old. That is essentially what you talking point is.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

I seriously think looking back, the 8 GB base will be considered one of the more anti-consumer things Apple has ever done.

In one year they’ve gone from “8 GB is enough” and “8 GB is like 16 on Windows” to 16 GB is the minimum and practically giving away 8 GB Macs.

On the contrary, I think the fact that Apple was still selling 8 GB ram in 2024, while absolutely not a very good purchasing decision, at least means Apple will have to optimize macOS for those machines at least until 2031.
If macOS 21 still runs decent enough on 2024 hardware, just like the current macOS15 runs fine on 2018 hardware, means that not only will those 8 GB machines be fine for years to come, but the current 16 GB machines will continue to be optimized as well.
The days of macOS or iOS updates destroying old devices has really been over for quite a while now.
The 2018 Macs still run Sequoia just fine, the iPhone XS and XR with 3GB of RAM still run fine today.

 

[jayducharme]

This is an impressive deal, even with 8 gb of RAM. With that amount, it can run Apple Intelligence! 😉

 

[turbineseaplane]

On the contrary, I think the fact that Apple was still selling 8 GB ram in 2024, while absolutely not a very good purchasing decision, at least means Apple will have to optimize macOS for those machines at least until 2031.

There is no such rule, just FYI, especially the "optimize" part..

 

[jz0309]

I seriously think looking back, the 8 GB base will be considered one of the more anti-consumer things Apple has ever done.

In one year they’ve gone from “8 GB is enough” and “8 GB is like 16 on Windows” to 16 GB is the minimum and practically giving away 8 GB Macs.

That is your opinion and that’s fine. You do seem to forget that not everyone is a power user and those folks are quite happy with that RAM.

 

[turbineseaplane]

The days of macOS or iOS updates destroying old devices has really been over for quite a while now.

Hard to fully agree with this, as a 13 Mini and iPad Mini 5 user

I guess it depends upon the subjective definition of "destroying"

 

[dannyyankou]

The 319$ M2 Mini only has 8GB of RAM which is half the amount of new Macs. So it's something that will probably be limited to Sequoia and even that causes compressed memory just upon booting the thing.

It’s $319 though. If a parent is looking for a computer to get their kid to do schoolwork on, this would be a suitable choice.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I'm not sure there's ever been a better value Mac than this particular refurb offering

 

[AlexESP]

I guess when people hear that 8GB is enough for basic tasks they're thinking about basically browsing, but it's perfectly usable for personal photo and video editing, programming, etc., so it covers 90% of the population.