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Apple's M4 Mac Mini Hits $499 Low Price on Amazon

Circa1984 said:
Fantastic deal on a nearly useless 256GB storage option - it’s essentially a bait and switch. Apple needs to stop making this base configuration! MacOS alone needs about 50GB, install any pro app (many perform much better to be installed on internal drive), and you are wiping out all storage, and have no choice but to buy slower external drives. If you do pro audio, video or gaming - forget about it. 1TB should be the minimum base, sell that for $499 and you will dominate marketshare.
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You can buy extremely fast external NVMe drives and connect via Thunderbolt if you really need speed.
 
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ignatius345 said:
Huh? The mini went down in price when it was redesigned. Do a tiny bit of research and you’ll see that all Macs have steadily dropped in price over the past 20+ years. And it’s not like SJ was exactly averse to high prices either 🙄
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Some people on this site just don't have a sense of humor. Carry on.
 
DEMinSoCAL said:
WOW. $380 for a 2TB from this company. And, they're backordered! Just as soon get a TB4 enclosure and put my own SSD in it and make it primary and not have all the issues. Wait...that's exactly what I did! For half the price and no DFU process needed! 🙂
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That is what I did, was able to get a Samsung 990 EVO Plus 4TB before they went up to crazy high prices, threw it in a Thunderbolt 4 enclosure and have a nice large speedy external drive.
 
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Macaholic868 said:
Buying an M4 makes no sense with the M5 just around the corner. Do you really want a machine only good for 4 more years to save a little $?

It would be different story if Apple were less greedy and less into forced obsolescence, but they aren’t so you’d have to be a fool to buy anything with an M4 now unless your existing machine died and you have to have a new one.
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4 years? My Air M1 has 5 years now and works perfectly.

There are people with MacBooks Pro 2015 working fine. If you think that a M4 will last only 4 years is because you are a victim of consumerism.
 
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killhippie said:
Maybe grab a M4 now and just be happy with it, its a good chip, and it will last years. If you can get one at a bargain price or wait for a M5 I would get it at a bargain price, because even with AI Apple speak on the GPU cores the M4's ML accelerators work well, Its no slouch. Just my thoughts on this chasing the next best thing all the time, as many companies are cutting back on build quality including Apple to make more profit, and that's worth taking into consideration.
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They are not just cutting back on build quality, they are actively redesigning for shrinkflation. Case in point, the extra minification of the mac mini this gen. We will never get another non-thermal-throttling M-pro mini. Ever.
 
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killhippie said:
I find it odd how some people are updating computers yearly now! I bought a M4 Max Studio, 16 core CPU and 40 core GPU. Now yes the M5 is powerful with those AI accelerators on its GPU but Apple forgot to mention loudly the M4 has ML accelerators on the M4, on the CPU and GPU, and both M5 and M4 also have a neural engine.

The M5 has more more power and better bandwidth but its still 3nm. Updating from 3nm to 3nm seems pointless for a spec bump you may or may not need each year, unless your company is paying for it or you have unlimited disposal income. Also Apple this year are rumoured to split CPU and GPU on the Studios, maybe on the Mac Mini too, it would make sense to rake in more revenue. More choice for us and more cash to pay for sure. Clever but it means Apple style prices for a CPU and GPU!

Maybe grab a M4 now and just be happy with it, its a good chip, and it will last years. If you can get one at a bargain price or wait for a M5 I would get it at a bargain price, because even with AI Apple speak on the GPU cores the M4's ML accelerators work well, Its no slouch. Just my thoughts on this chasing the next best thing all the time, as many companies are cutting back on build quality including Apple to make more profit, and that's worth taking into consideration.
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I have several Apple products and would say they are all top notch quality, they are all M4 generation so very new. MacBook Pro M4 16”, MacBook Air M4 13”, and a Mac Mini M4 base model. I may look at M5 Max possibly since I am needing more GPU performance, but I will need to think long and hard about that.
 
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Amazingly, there is now a Micro Center in Santa Clara. I drove right down and picked up a Mac mini. I've been wanting to get one for a while but could justify the cost.
Since I'm using it as a media center connected to a Synology set up, I really don't need to upgrade the unit. Maybe in a few years if I need it for other functions.
I have it hooked up to my TV but view the content via the Apple TV. The set up is working very well.
 
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RowellE said:
I’m thinking about buying the Mac Mini and would love to upgrade the SSD but I just saw that they’re soldered on. Are they easy to replace with higher capacity SSDs? Did you guys get them installed by a service? Are the RAMs also replaceable with the new Mac Minis?
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Comment #20 addresses internal SSD upgrade, several subsequent ones the DFU issue associated with it.
 
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riverguide said:
The Mac mini is indeed a great deal at this price. But it is well known that turbineseaplane has a general “Mini” bias …😊😄😜 . (I am with you, let there be an iPhone 18 mini … do you have an iPad mini?)
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Typing on my beloved iPad mini 5 right now!

I also use an iPod nano at the gym!
 
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Those running an external drive as a primary drive on the Mac mini ignoring Apple intelligence does it all work smoothly? Just need another Mac to back up my iPhone and iPad with. MacBook screen has been smashed! I always thought the back ups would go to the internal drive only.
 
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Adam-Jobs said:
Those running an external drive as a primary drive on the Mac mini ignoring Apple intelligence does it all work smoothly? Just need another Mac to back up my iPhone and iPad with. MacBook screen has been smashed! I always thought the back ups would go to the internal drive only.
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I use my mini as a file server, pretty much headless. It’s works fine for this application. I can backup to it if needed. It was pretty easy to set it up to share the drives I have connected to it. Just need to search setting up a Mac file server and the instruction are readily available and very easy to understand, no need to be an expert. You don’t need to run the Mac on an external drive. If using it as a server the base model has enough storage. You will want to use cheap external drives for mass storage, don’t spend the excess cost for internal storage.
 
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$399, $499 … whatever, it’s a deal. Ah, if only I could recycle my 27”2019 iMac as a Mac mini monitor — then it would be a steal. Apple, there is room for improvement on the environmental sustainability score …
 
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jole said:
How one is expected to prove that they are eligible for education pricing?
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Prove? Apple doesn’t ask. You just go to the Education store and buy everything at its actual price. I have had zero association with any education institution in 13 years and still buy every mac and iPad and everything else from the edu store no questions asked. You’re a sucker if you pay more than edu pricing, it’s not even lying there’s literally zero attempt to even check if you “qualify” beyond if you know the url for the edu store
 
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