Apple Mini M2 or iMac 24’’

[Benthegirl]

Hi everyone,

I want your opinion on something.

My old mid 2014 iMac broke down last week, so I am now looking for a new desktop.

I’m in doubt between an Mac Mini M2 and an iMac 24”

Now I am thinking about getting a M2 Mac Mini, since I already have a keyboard, mouse and speakers which still work great.

I would just need a new display. The Apple studio display is too overpriced in my opinion, so I’m looking for a good alternative.

Price wise the entry level Mac mini costs €710 over here, while the entry level iMac costs €1700, so like €1000 more expensive.

Is there any good display I can get for that money, that would make it worth buying the M2 Mac Mini over the iMac 24”?


The Mac Mini has higher specs, I could also get a 16gb model for €950.



I do already have a MacBook Pro M1 (2020)

 

[Jwinnin]

Hi everyone,

I want your opinion on something.

My old mid 2014 iMac broke down last week, so I am now looking for a new desktop.

I’m in doubt between an Mac Mini M2 and an iMac 24”

Now I am thinking about getting a M2 Mac Mini, since I already have a keyboard, mouse and speakers which still work great.

I would just need a new display. The Apple studio display is too overpriced in my opinion, so I’m looking for a good alternative.

Price wise the entry level Mac mini costs €710 over here, while the entry level iMac costs €1700, so like €1000 more expensive.

Is there any good display I can get for that money, that would make it worth buying the M2 Mac Mini over the iMac 24”?


The Mac Mini has higher specs, I could also get a 16gb model for €950.



I do already have a MacBook Pro M1 (2020)

I had to replace a 2013 27 inch iMac. I went with an M2 pro Mini (also got another M2 mini). I also think the Apple Studio Display is over priced. I went with Dell 2723QE monitors. I am happy with them. But they are not 5k monitors and they do not have speakers and webcams built in. You have the speakers and would just need a decent webcam.


I like the clean setup of an all-in-one device, but I hate that I have to throw away a perfectly good monitor because the CPU is no longer supported.

 

[sracer]

I recently replaced my 2017 21" iMac with an M2 Mac Mini (base model) I'm glad that I went that route rather then 24" iMac. I paired the Mini with a 21" Samsung monitor which is working great. With the money I saved (over upselling to 16GB RAM or 512 GB storage, or buying an iMac) I bought a Satechi base for the Mini and a 2TB SSD that I installed in the base.

 

[russell_314]

Is there any good display I can get for that money, that would make it worth buying the M2 Mac Mini over the iMac 24”?

There's a lot of good displays out there, but whether it's worth saving the money it's up to you. You're not going to get an equivalent display to the iMac and save money. The question you have to ask yourself is will a slightly inferior display bother you enough to make it worth spending that much money?

Basically you pay for what you get so you're not going to get $1000 display for $400. Perhaps go to a local electronic store and take a look at some of the displays. If you find one that seems good then go with that. I think a lot of people go with a nice 4K display and call it a day.

 

[ovbacon]

There are multiple threads for displays.... way better to check them out instead of starting a new one since you already answered you own question about what to choose. There are tons of great displays depending on your needs and size while the iMac only has one size. https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...u-using-on-your-mini-m1-2-and-beyond.2386772/

 

[jasnw]

As one of those who went "with a nice 4K display and call it a day" I can recommend it. I had a 27" 2011 iMac (still going strong) and have replaced it with an M2Pro Mini and two 27" Benq monitors (one landscape, one portrait). OK, so my desktop doesn't look sleek and clean (or thin) - it works well (except for Ventura) and is highly flexible.

 

[Bazza1]

I have a 2017 MacBook Air which I had been clamshelling when at home, using a wireless Logitech mouse and keyboard, their simplest webcams and a very simple (but perfectly fine) Acer monitor, and I had been considering a replacement to the at-home situation. Looked at iMac and Mini M2, I decided to go with the Mini. A few reasons -

a) It was M2, while the iMac was M1 - tech that's 2.5 years old.
b) Base M2 Mini (which is all I needed) has an ethernet port, base iMac does not. Requires an additional ($) dongle. While I currently use Wi-Fi for my internet connection, I preferred to have the free option.
c) From a casual ADHD point-of-view, I could understand the attraction of the iMac's all-in-one design, but I had all the peripheral bits already and managed to stash most the cables in a very tidy way.
d) If ever there's an issue and the Mac needs to go in for diagnostics or repair, well, there's the Mini vs the iMac.
e) Eventual upgrading - you can keep the peripheral bits that continue to work and serve you well, and just replace the Mini. Less tech waste.

Insofar as you have all the bits but the monitor - the Mini offers you the opportunity to choose the size of the monitor to serve your needs, unlike the iMac. For my part, I went with 22". Space and actual needs a part of that choice. It also helped that it was on sale for around $CDN100. But if 24" or whatever size (or a curved screen) works best for you, then you can make that choice. Apple not imposing a size restriction on you. And you're not paying the Apple Tax on a (admittedly attractive but insanely priced) Apple Studio monitor.
Save the money on the Mini over the iMac and use some of the money to get the monitor you really need.

ADDENDUM: And regardless of Mini or iMac, always check out Apple's own Refurbished products site (if it's available in EU?) on their website. Save some money there, and products come will same warranties and are eligible for AppleCare+


(Oh, and that 2017 Air I still maintain as my away / work Mac. Has all the ports - particularly useful when not every location has Wi-Fi enabled peripherals - runs on current Monterey, and runs all the apps I need it to do for that purpose)

 

[Fishrrman]

I'd suggest an M2pro Mini, base model (comes with 16gb of RAM and a 512gb drive). If you can afford it, bump up the SSD size to 1tb (it's faster than the 512gb).

If you have access to Apple's online refurbished store, these have just started to show up there -- good deals.

For a display, I'd recommend a 27" 4k.
Don't buy the cheapest, but don't over-spend, either.

 

[dwig]

I prefer the more modular config of using a Mini (or Studio) and monitor(s) to an All-in-One (e.g. iMac).

For me, dual monitors is a requirement and you can't have dual matching monitors if one is an iMac, the external just won't match.

 

[lie2me]

Hi everyone,

I want your opinion on something.

My old mid 2014 iMac broke down last week, so I am now looking for a new desktop.

I’m in doubt between an Mac Mini M2 and an iMac 24”

Now I am thinking about getting a M2 Mac Mini, since I already have a keyboard, mouse and speakers which still work great.

I would just need a new display. The Apple studio display is too overpriced in my opinion, so I’m looking for a good alternative.

Price wise the entry level Mac mini costs €710 over here, while the entry level iMac costs €1700, so like €1000 more expensive.

Is there any good display I can get for that money, that would make it worth buying the M2 Mac Mini over the iMac 24”?


The Mac Mini has higher specs, I could also get a 16gb model for €950.



I do already have a MacBook Pro M1 (2020)

Never had an Imac.
I am using Mac Mini M1 16gb/2tb and a Mac Studio M1 64gb/2tb both with external monitors.
Mac Mini M1 will support 2 monitors. Mac Studio will support 3 monitors.
Hard for me to use a single monitor anymore.
If you are buying new, max out DRAM memory to 24GB and 1TB at least for a mac mini m2.
The max memory will speed up your system. If you need a larger SSD, an external may be used or look to use a cloud drive. The larger the SSD the slower it will wear out from writes.

 

[Jwinnin]

I prefer the more modular config of using a Mini (or Studio) and monitor(s) to an All-in-One (e.g. iMac).

For me, dual monitors is a requirement and you can't have dual matching monitors if one is an iMac, the external just won't match.

This is my use case as well.

One thing I dislike is the need to have a separate webcam and speakers. It adds to the clutter, and I prefer a clean look. I went with dual Dell 2723QE monitors. If it were cheaper, I might have gone dual apple studio displays. Though two webcams and two sets of speakers seems like such a waste.