Is it time to buy, i3 $699?

[Heat_Fan89]

Amazon dropped the price of the i3 Mini to $699. What are my SSD options? Can I run Mojave from an external SSD?

Edit: Write and Read speeds not that important. I currently use a 2012 Mini with a 5400rpm drive.

 

[KrisLord]

Install the OS on the internal 128GB and use the external storage for your data.

I think that’s the best option unless you’re spending loads on thunderbolt external drives.

 

[ElectronGuru]

Amazon isn’t running a sale. Amazons auto price matching system is following B&H. Who have been running the same deal most of the month. Here’s the current form:

https://appleinsider.com/articles/1...book-airs-from-799-up-to-900-off-macbook-pros

It’s not likely to get cheaper but it is likely to go away or get less generous in January. And Amazon will go back up as well.

 

[solidify]

I bought mine from Apple for $799 :-(

 

[dogslobber]

It’s a great price, IMO. I bought the i5 for 999$ (no tax in DE!) and am thoroughly happy.

 

[WC7]

Amazon dropped the price of the i3 Mini to $699. What are my SSD options? Can I run Mojave from an external SSD?

Edit: Write and Read speeds not that important. I currently use a 2012 Mini with a 5400rpm drive.

I will likely buy the 250 GB Seagate USB-C SSD drive ... cheap. It will go with my theme of setting up the lowest cost Mac mini desktop configuration. People are buying thunderbolt 3 SSDs but I don't think they make sense for the non-pro users. (The write speed on the 128 GB internal drive is the slowest of the all the configurations but plenty fast for my work flow ... I am only using the included Mac applications.)
[doublepost=1545916464][/doublepost]

I will likely buy the 250 GB Seagate USB-C SSD drive ... cheap. It will go with my theme of setting up the lowest cost Mac mini desktop configuration. People are buying thunderbolt 3 SSDs but I don't think they make sense for the non-pro users. (The write speed on the 128 GB internal drive is the slowest of the all the configurations but plenty fast for my work flow ... I am only using the included Mac applications.)

I am sorry I didn't pay attention to you post ... it was for the older Mac mini! Haha. I don't read well!
[doublepost=1545916558][/doublepost]

I will likely buy the 250 GB Seagate USB-C SSD drive ... cheap. It will go with my theme of setting up the lowest cost Mac mini desktop configuration. People are buying thunderbolt 3 SSDs but I don't think they make sense for the non-pro users. (The write speed on the 128 GB internal drive is the slowest of the all the configurations but plenty fast for my work flow ... I am only using the included Mac applications.)
[doublepost=1545916464][/doublepost]

I am sorry I didn't pay attention to you post ... it was for the older Mac mini! Haha. I don't read well!

Still don't read well ... you are using the 2018 model! So my original reply, applies!

 

[sers]

Picked up a base i3 (128 ssd) and a 2tb WD external hd. Works perfectly. Was using Windows 10 for the last year and a half. Very happy to be back to Mac OS.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I will likely buy the 250 GB Seagate USB-C SSD drive ... cheap. It will go with my theme of setting up the lowest cost Mac mini desktop configuration. People are buying thunderbolt 3 SSDs but I don't think they make sense for the non-pro users. (The write speed on the 128 GB internal drive is the slowest of the all the configurations but plenty fast for my work flow ... I am only using the included Mac applications.)
[doublepost=1545916464][/doublepost]

I am sorry I didn't pay attention to you post ... it was for the older Mac mini! Haha. I don't read well!
[doublepost=1545916558][/doublepost]

Still don't read well ... you are using the 2018 model! So my original reply, applies!

Nope, I only have a 2012 Mini.
[doublepost=1545927450][/doublepost]

Picked up a base i3 (128 ssd) and a 2tb WD external hd. Works perfectly. Was using Windows 10 for the last year and a half. Very happy to be back to Mac OS.

Are you booting from the 2TB external HDD and is Mojave installed on that external HDD? I can't decide whether to buy as the soldered storage only has limited writes or reads on it and afterwards you have to buy a new motherboard which will probably equal the price of the i3 Mini. Selling a Mini these days with a fixed storage of 128GB is like selling an iPad with 16GB of storage.

 

[WC7]

Picked up a base i3 (128 ssd) and a 2tb WD external hd. Works perfectly. Was using Windows 10 for the last year and a half. Very happy to be back to Mac OS.

That was the HDD I was going to get, too! Figured the 128 internal, then the 250 Seagate SSD, and finally the 2 TB Western Digital for back-up. All the space I need! So, $799 for the mini, seagate $87, WD $60. Got a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Done.

 

[bigfatipod]

Nope, I only have a 2012 Mini.
[doublepost=1545927450][/doublepost]
Are you booting from the 2TB external HDD and is Mojave installed on that external HDD? I can't decide whether to buy as the soldered storage only has limited writes or reads on it and afterwards you have to buy a new motherboard which will probably equal the price of the i3 Mini. Selling a Mini these days with a fixed storage of 128GB is like selling an iPad with 16GB of storage.

Wouldn’t the write SSD pretty much be the same for any Mac you’d buy today?

 

[WC7]

Wouldn’t the write SSD pretty much be the same for any Mac you’d buy today?

I think the 256 GB internal SSD is two 128s ... so the controller writes in parallel ... therefore the 256 is twice the write speed of the 128.
[doublepost=1545932493][/doublepost]

I bought mine from Apple for $799 :-(

Same here.
[doublepost=1545932613][/doublepost]$699 or 799 is cheap for a Mac ... if you have the peripherals ... and don't need a 4K monitor in your work. This is for office work.

 

[sers]

Nope, I only have a 2012 Mini.
[doublepost=1545927450][/doublepost]
Are you booting from the 2TB external HDD and is Mojave installed on that external HDD? I can't decide whether to buy as the soldered storage only has limited writes or reads on it and afterwards you have to buy a new motherboard which will probably equal the price of the i3 Mini. Selling a Mini these days with a fixed storage of 128GB is like selling an iPad with 16GB of storage.

Booting from the internal SSD. All of my pics, movies, music and docs is on the external HD. So far it's working well and I find the Mac Mini just sings with this setup. It would be even quicker with an external SSD, however I can't justify the price right now plus the external WD HDD is fast enough for my needs. I also TimeMachine to another external 2TB HDD as a backup. My family's computing needs are very basic so this works for us. For what it's worth, my Windows 10 desktop was also setup like this - OS and system files on the internal SSD and all other user files on a the internal HDD.

 

[opeter]

I found an external USB-C 250 GB SSD for 50 EUR.
Not bad for the price, when the average here is about 100 EUR.

https://www.transcend-info.com/Products/No-757

 

[Ploki]

Wouldn’t the write SSD pretty much be the same for any Mac you’d buy today?

no.
128gb 600mb/s
256gb 1200mb/s
512 1900mb/s
1tb 2500mb/s
2tb 2700mb/s

~ roughly

 

[StellarVixen]

That’s closer to what it’s price actually should be...so get it if you want it.

 

[F-Train]

As @StellarVixen says, that is an excellent price. If you don't need a faster CPU or more than 128GB of internal flash drive, go for it. My operating system and applications (Logic, Final Cut, Motion, Compressor, Lightroom, Photoshop, etc) take less than 17GB. Even though I have a 512GB drive, I treat my internal drive as a workspace (I sometimes deal with very large files) and put all of my data on external drives. If you want fast external drives at reasonable cost, check out Samsung's T5 drives.

Read speed will be as good as any mini and write speed differences are irrelevant unless you are one of the very few people who actually need superfast write speed, in which case I think that you'd know that already.

 

[bigfatipod]

I’m sor

no.
128gb 600mb/s
256gb 1200mb/s
512 1900mb/s
1tb 2500mb/s
2tb 2700mb/s

~ roughly

I’m sorry - I meant, would the writes before the SSD (sectors?) start wearing out be the same, roughly? Or does having a larger size mean you potentially won’t be writing over the same areas repeatedly