How much Mac Mini do I need? (RAM, storage)

[hky740]

I have a mid-2020 Intel iMac that's on borrowed time as an Intel machine.

I can get up to $210 in trade-in credit through Apple. I've been thinking about trading the iMac in for M4 mini, especially since I'm looking at a move and the iMac is a beast to move.

When I got the iMac a little more than five years ago, it came with 16 GB RAM, and I upgraded it myself to 32 GB RAM. I've never used that much RAM, but even doing basic office tasks, Spotify, and having maybe a handful of tabs open, I can get near 13-15 GB according to Activity Monitor.

My iMac came with a 512 GB SSD, and I'm sitting at around 449 GB empty. I just don't store a ton of stuff on there.

Because I'd hope to have the machine for 3-5 years, and RAM is soldered, I'm thinking the $999 24 GB/512 GB SSD is the way to go. A trade in would bring that down to as low as $789.

But maybe I'm overestimating my needs. Any opinions?

 

[richmlow]

Hello hky740,


From the description of your usage, I think that the Mac mini M4 (24GB RAM, 512GB SSD) is indeed the way to go! Good luck on your decision.


richmlow

 

[Fishrrman]

If you have your eyes "on the future", get an m4 Mini with 32gb of RAM and a minimum of 512gb SSD. 1tb would be better.

These are available at the Apple online refurbished store for 10-12% discount.
That's where I got mine. Both my last Mini and the m4. Good deal both times.

 

[!!!]

a minimum of 512gb SSD. 1tb would be better.

No reason to give Apple $400 for 1TB of storage when we can easily find a 4TB USB-C SSD for less than that. OP doesn't seem to use very much at all, so it'd be a waste to buy so much, especially when considering the fact that the mini is a desktop and you don't need to worry about lugging around an ext drive.

 

[hky740]

Appreciate the responses. After my post, I realized I have an aging 9th gen iPad I'd be willing to trade in. Apparently, it's worth up to $135. That, plus my iMac, would get me up to around $345.

I'm wondering if I apply both trade-ins to the purchase of a new Mac Mini, along with using the educational discount? I've gotten mixed signals from Apple - a chat person said yes, a phone call said no.

If not, could I send my wife in with the iPad, let them give her a gift card for it, then give me the gift card to use towards the Mini?