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

[August West]

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.

Exactly. My M1 MBA is 8/256 and works just fine for the light duty tasks I use it for. It is a surfing/email machine that seldom leaves the sofa so even if I had it to do over again I wouldn't spring for 16GB at an extra $200 since I doubt I'd ever notice any difference.

 

[raythompsontn]

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.

You want to see something even crazier. HSN is selling HP laptops with 4GB of memory, a 128GB SSD, Windows S mode. The laptops do have a touch screen. The on-air hosts explaining how the machines are fast, will handle high workloads, lots of apps open, etc., with swirled color plastic cases. And HSN is selling thousands of those machines each week. PT Barnum is still being proven correct today.

 

[Plutonius]

I'm think that Apple looks at MacRumors (along with other sites) so there is a good chance that the article led to Apple lowering the price.

 

[Fuzzball84]

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 will be supported for several releases of the OS yet but just without all of the features that require more RAM, like certain Apple intelligence features.

Mac’s still run amazingly good on limited memory. The OS is super efficient, as is iOS on iPad/iPhone etc

 

[brofkand]

You want to see something even crazier. HSN is selling HP laptops with 4GB of memory, a 128GB SSD, Windows S mode. The laptops do have a touch screen. The on-air hosts explaining how the machines are fast, will handle high workloads, lots of apps open, etc., with swirled color plastic cases. And HSN is selling thousands of those machines each week. PT Barnum is still being proven correct today.

Those laptops better not cost a dime over $200. I buy those machines around Black Friday every year for $100 at Best Buy. I harvest the free year of Office 365 they ship with, then reload them with ChromeOS Flex and pass them down to family that need a basic laptop.

 

[hooptyuber]

A $319 dollar Mac mini is a better option than an Apple TV. It's a bit more expensive but it's far more capable, versatile, and useful as a home entertainment device.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

A $319 dollar Mac mini is a better option than an Apple TV. It's a bit more expensive but it's far more capable, versatile, and useful as a home entertainment device.

It's really not. I don't want to fuss with a computer connected to my tv. If my wife or kids want to download a new streaming app, it's easy as pie, and doesn't require a browser, keyboard, mouse, Remote Desktop or the like.

 

[ChrisA]

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

These older Minis are VERY usfull for specialized usecases. I have a 2014 Intel Mini with 8GB RAM running headless (no monitor and keyboard) as a small server. I can get to it using screen sharing. They can also run a virtual machine and use Linux on that. I use this to develop software that will eventually go in a Raspberry Pi, the virtual machine on the M2, runs MUCH faster than an actual Pi.

And of course, if your main use of a computer is web browsing the base M2 is overkill, connect it to a cheep 4K monitor and you are good to go for a toal price well under $600

 

[atonaldenim]

They haven't really solved the problem, yet, on higher spec M2 Pro Mac Mini refurbs.

Example:
$1359 - M4 Pro, 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD
$1509 - M2 Pro, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD

Even though that M2 Pro option would have 16GB extra RAM, the M4 Pro with less RAM would still spank it in most tasks. (The M4 Pro isn't made with a 32GB option, and they aren't selling refurbs of M4 Pro with 48GB / 1TB yet.)

EDIT: Ah, they do offer a 48GB M4 Pro with 512GB storage. Comparison:

$1529 - M4 Pro, 48GB RAM, 512GB SSD
$1339 - M2 Pro, 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD

 

[hooptyuber]

It's really not. I don't want to fuss with a computer connected to my tv. If my wife or kids want to down a new stream app, it's easy as pie, and doesn't require a browser, keyboard, mouse, Remote Desktop or the like.

No, it really is. You can use the remote app on your iPhone/iPad to stream music if you're too impaired to use a trackpad and keyboard. It's easy to connect a disk drive full of movies and videos. If an up-and-running Mac connected to a flat screen is that difficult to deal with, then....

 

[TigerNike23]

I'm think that Apple looks at MacRumors (along with other sites) so there is a good chance that the article led to Apple lowering the price.

Well because the whole thing was stupid.

The writers were correct. A Mac with a processor 2 generations old should not be almost the same price as a current processor.

 

[raythompsontn]

Those laptops better not cost a dime over $200.

I think it was about $299 the last time I remember. HSN throws in a crappy mouse, maybe some really low end headphones, and a year of tech support. HSN lists the retail at $799, normal HSN cost of $499, and a special sales price of $299. People jump all over them.

HSN also sells one model back of the iPad, minimum configuration, throwing in earphones, a case, and a cheap keyboard. About $40.00 worth of accessories. Then sells the package for $100.00 than the iPad alone costs at Apple.

Apparently a good business model for HSN, probably QVC included, as the two companies remain in business and continue to sell the machines.

The funny part of the entire presentation is listening to the hosts brag about the machines, how great they are, use them for business, traveling, college, etc. If you want to get laughed at a business meeting pull out your HP laptop with swirling colors and matching mouse.

 

[TigerNike23]

A $319 dollar Mac mini is a better option than an Apple TV. It's a bit more expensive but it's far more capable, versatile, and useful as a home entertainment device.

Eh, it depends. macOS is not designed for a 10 foot interface like tvOS is.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

No, it really is. You can use the remote app on your iPhone/iPad to stream music if you're too impaired to use a trackpad and keyboard. It's easy to connect a disk drive full of movies and videos. If an up-and-running Mac connected to a flat screen is that difficult to deal with, then....

I have plex and a synology. I'm not going to get my 10 year old, who doesn't even have a phone or tablet, to do all that to watch Disney plus when a simple Apple TV or Roku will work, and for much cheaper.

Simple = better.

 

[raythompsontn]

Those laptops better not cost a dime over $200.

As an example of HSN markup. HSN is offering a 24" iMac, 16GB, 256GB for $1529, a savings over the $1699 retail. Of course HSNs retail includes wired headphones (really crappy, probably worth $50 maximum) and 3 webcam covers (worth $20 maximum), with free shipping. HSN does include some software, probably mostly freeway, and a voucher for support, such support available at Apple for nothing. The price of the same machine from Apple is $1169 with free shipping. A price difference of $530. And HSN sell hundreds of these machines.

 

[Mity]

No one should reward Apple's bad sales practices - I don't recommend the base 256GB model.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/new-256gb-mac-mini-and-512gb-macbook-pro-have-slower-ssd-speeds-than-previous-models.2378187/post-31907090

 

[johnsawyercjs]

This is also destroying…

Odd, I used my iPhone 4s (which I still have on a shelf), running the last version of iOS (9.3.6), and I didn't have nearly the kinds of awfulness that this video describes, though it wasn't totally immune.

 

[hans1972]

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.

No, without Apple Intelligence 8Gb would still be standard.

For people who don't intend to use Apple Intelligence, 8Gb will still be good for simple use for several more years.

I mean I can run a Windows virtual machine on a MBA with 8Gb of RAM without any problems.

 

[hans1972]

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

Where maOS shines when it comes to memory usage for 8Gb of RAM on Apple Silicon is when you don't have a single application which uses a lot of RAM.

If you're memory usage is 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1 = 12Gb the new Macs had a perceived performance almost similar to earlier Macs with 16Gb of RAM due to agressive preemptive swapping.

If your memory usage was 6+4+1+1 = 12Gb, then 8Gb wasn't good. That's why you would hear complaints from Adobe users and others. This is also the case with Apple Intelligence which probably will use 2-3 Gb of RAM which needs to be present in memory almost all the time.

Fortunately for a lot Mac users before Apple Intelligence, their usage was more like the first one.

 

[EugW]

Where maOS shines when it comes to memory usage for 8Gb of RAM on Apple Silicon is when you don't have a single application which uses a lot of RAM.

If you're memory usage is 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1 = 12Gb the new Macs had a perceived performance almost similar to earlier Macs with 16Gb of RAM due to agressive preemptive swapping.

If your memory usage was 6+4+1+1 = 12Gb, then 8Gb wasn't good. That's why you would hear complaints from Adobe users and others. This is also the case with Apple Intelligence which probably will use 2-3 Gb of RAM which needs to be present in memory almost all the time.

Fortunately for a lot Mac users before Apple Intelligence, their usage was more like the first one.

That's not quite how it works. Like most modern OSes, macOS uses memory compression. If your total memory usage is 12 GB total, then 8 GB physical memory plus memory compression usually can easily handle it without resorting to much swap. That's why with the same usage on two machines with different amounts of memory, my 8 GB machine might have 2.5 GB swap but my 16 GB machine might have 0.5 GB swap. 8 + 2.5 = 10.5 GB, whereas 16 + 0.5 GB = 16.5 GB, even though they are running the same apps.

The difference here is the 8 GB machine is using much more memory compression, but the good news is that usually memory compression doesn't have a significant impact on perceived speed.

 

[Johnny907]

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.

Or it means they’ll start to stratify features in future updates like they have iOS with version 18, releasing one build with all the latest bells and whistles for iOS devices packing at least 8GB of RAM, and a much more limited version for everything else.
It’s a dangerous precedent that makes it clear Apple now views its user base as a two tier structure, something Apple sycophants used to criticize Android products for not so long ago.

Funny how those same critics have all been silent now.

 

[hooptyuber]

I have plex and a synology. I'm not going to get my 10 year old, who doesn't even have a phone or tablet, to do all that to watch Disney plus when a simple Apple TV or Roku will work, and for much cheaper.

Simple = better.

That's cool. But for those adults not adjusting their household gadget-functioning down to that of a 10-year-old I think the Mac mini is better. Bone simple is not always better.

 

[theorist9]

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?

This is more likely due to a simple mistake than a deliberate attempt to be clickbait-y.

First, the headline itself isn't clickbait.

Second, MR churns these articles out in high volume to generate traffic and thus revenue, and they are often produced without much care or editorial oversight. Whoever put this together thus probably grabbed a recent image of a Mini without remembering the cases had changed between generations.

 

[EugW]

That's cool. But for those adults not adjusting their household gadget-functioning down to that of a 10-year-old I think the Mac mini is better. Bone simple is not always better.

IMO macOS sucks for a TV streaming device.

This is more likely due to laziness and a lack of care than a deliberate attempt to be clickbait-y.

First, the headline itself isn't clickbait.

Second, MR churns these articles out in high volume to generate traffic and thus revenue, and they are often produced with a lack of care.

It's already been fixed. It was indeed apparently an oversight.

 

[KPOM]

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.

This could be useful as a personal cloud server. Anyway to set one up as a NAS hub, perhaps with an external Thunderbolt SSD? After all most NAS are just Celeron PCs running Linux.