Bought a Macbook Air M3, should I get a mac mini too?

[jjfeltham]

Bought a macbook air m3 recently and am loving using it, so much so that I've started to use it to replace the chromebox as a desktop.

I'm concerned that using it plugged in all day is going to degrade the battery etc, so wondered whether it was worth investing in a mac mini m2 for my day to day use.

It's fairly basic office work etc that I use so I don't think I'll need anything more than the basic mini but wondered what others thoughts were. Am I overkill?

I should add that I can get the education discount and also the free £80 giftcard which is on offer at the moment.

 

[varezhka]

Without knowing your everyday workflow it’s hard to say, but it does seem like an overkill. After all, the battery replacement cost for a MacBook Air will be much less than buying a new Mac mini (especially if you have an Apple Care+). With the M series chip you don’t even need to be plugged in all day so less strain on your batteries, too.

 

[dmr727]

I'm a big fan of fewer devices, so I don't see any need to get a mini. The battery *is* replaceable, and it'll be a long time before you get to that point anyway. I don't baby the battery on my M1 Air, and it's still providing all day power after 3+ years.

 

[jjfeltham]

Without knowing your everyday workflow it’s hard to say, but it does seem like an overkill. After all, the battery replacement cost for a MacBook Air will be much less than buying a new Mac mini (especially if you have an Apple Care+). With the M series chip you don’t even need to be plugged in all day so less strain on your batteries, too.

Good point re the battery replacement being cheaper.
I don’t have AppleCare+, maybe I should think about adding it.
I have to keep it plugged in as I’m using an external monitor.

 

[Basic75]

If you are using a laptop plugged in all the time macOS will eventually recognise that and not keep the battery at 100%. You can also install Al Dente from https://apphousekitchen.com/ and take manual control. If you keep the battery somewhere between 20% and 80% while plugged in you'll reduce battery degradation to the minimum.

 

[Dave Braine]

I'm concerned that using it plugged in all day is going to degrade the battery

Batteries work on cycles. A complete discharge and recharge is one cycle. A discharge to 50% and recharge is half a cycle. Keeping your laptop plugged in all the time results in zero cycles. It won't damage the battery.

 

[Basic75]

Batteries work on cycles. A complete discharge and recharge is one cycle. A discharge to 50% and recharge is half a cycle. Keeping your laptop plugged in all the time results in zero cycles. It won't damage the battery.

No! Sorry, but that's not the whole truth as charge cycles are not the only source of degradation. Keeping a li ion battery at 100% all the time is worse than keeping it somewhere below 80%. https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-808-how-to-prolong-lithium-based-batteries

 

[jdb8167]

Bought a macbook air m3 recently and am loving using it, so much so that I've started to use it to replace the chromebox as a desktop.

I'm concerned that using it plugged in all day is going to degrade the battery etc, so wondered whether it was worth investing in a mac mini m2 for my day to day use.

It's fairly basic office work etc that I use so I don't think I'll need anything more than the basic mini but wondered what others thoughts were. Am I overkill?

I should add that I can get the education discount and also the free £80 giftcard which is on offer at the moment.

Turn on optimized battery charging and then just don’t worry about it. Your battery will last years.

 

[Ben J.]

Then, there is this: scenario one: you unplug everything and put the laptop in your bag, and go to work. When you get home, you get it out of the bag and plug in everything on your desktop. Scenario two: You get up and grab your bag containing the laptop. On your way to work you pull out the laptop and all the work you did last night on your Mini, is perfectly reflected on the Air, because they're sync'ed through iCloud. Coming home from work, you just sit down at your desktop, which is in a permanent state of tidyness because it's not full of loose cables, chargers, drives etc. You might even choose to leave the laptop at work sometimes and not worry about it. More freedom.

You can even consider having two macs as a sort of safety net. If something breaks on one, you always have the other. Doesn't have to be the latest Mac Mini either. A second hand M1 Mini would be fine.

 

[organerito]

I started with an iMac, then got a MacBook Air for teaching. I was really frustrated with the slow computer they gave me. My wife wanted the iMac for the kitchen to watch videos and study since she's back in school. I tried to manage with just the MacBook Air, but the screen was too small for working at home. I'm definitely a desktop kind of person, so I ended up buying a dock, monitor, and keyboard. I used that setup for a couple of weeks, then decided to get a Mac mini since I already had a keyboard and monitor.

If you're into big monitors and desktops, having both will definitely be worth it!