Mac Mini M4 256GB vs 512GB?

[picpicmac]

MicroCenter has the M4 24GB/512GB configuration for $850:

https://www.microcenter.com/product/688172/apple-mac-mini-mcyt4ll-a-(late-2024)-desktop-computer

Costco sometimes has similar prices.

IMO it's the config to buy, at that price, for a better experience.

Years ago I used a 17" PowerBook with only 2GB of RAM while traveling overseas and yes I could use PhotoShop and the Canon utilities, the first version of DXO, etc.

It worked... but eventually the digital images just became too big.

Just because one can make a base config "work" does not mean it's the best choice for you.

And you are not doing yourself a favor by playing rogue and trying to fight the man (Tim Cook). After all, you're still giving him your money even if you buy the base model.

Buy the best model for which you have funds on hand to spend.

 

[EugW]

MicroCenter has the M4 24GB/512GB configuration for $850:

https://www.microcenter.com/product/688172/apple-mac-mini-mcyt4ll-a-(late-2024)-desktop-computer

Costco sometimes has similar prices.

IMO it's the config to buy, at that price, for a better experience.

Good deal. I bought that SKU too (and I don't even edit video on this thing), although I bought off the edu store. I'm in Canada, but in the US, it's $899 edu, so that Microcenter price is even better.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

MicroCenter has the M4 24GB/512GB configuration for $850:

https://www.microcenter.com/product/688172/apple-mac-mini-mcyt4ll-a-(late-2024)-desktop-computer

Costco sometimes has similar prices.

IMO it's the config to buy, at that price, for a better experience.

Years ago I used a 17" PowerBook with only 2GB of RAM while traveling overseas and yes I could use PhotoShop and the Canon utilities, the first version of DXO, etc.

It worked... but eventually the digital images just became too big.

Just because one can make a base config "work" does not mean it's the best choice for you.

And you are not doing yourself a favor by playing rogue and trying to fight the man (Tim Cook). After all, you're still giving him your money even if you buy the base model.

Buy the best model for which you have funds on hand to spend.

Of course we used old apps, including PS, on old Macs with less RAM. That points out the reality that apps/OS demand more and more RAM over time. Many here seem to think that if x amount of RAM works today then x amount of RAM will work 5 years from now.

 

[throAU]

Of course we used old apps, including PS, on old Macs with less RAM. That points out the reality that apps/OS demand more and more RAM over time. Many here seem to think that if x amount of RAM works today then x amount of RAM will work 5 years from now.

Yup, ram requirements will inevitably increase. 25ish years ago the following was drilled into us as computer science undergrads: "hardware is cheap and gets cheaper, programmer time is expensive".


This was true back then and is true today. high level languages make programming easier, at the cost of resource consumption. But hardware cost is always falling, and the end user only has to buy the new hardware once, to get the benefit of every new program being possible to write with the additional resources.

This is how we can have things like internet browsers today, but they were just not feasible in 1990. Part of it is the libraries that have been created, but another part is the use of high level languages and "waste" in terms of resource consumption to make the programming job easier.

There's only so much you can do before going insane or otherwise failing hard at the task in low level highly optimised code written in say, assembly or C. Programming low level is hard. It's like say, building a car with sticks and stones.

Building a car is much easier with modern tools, but those tools don't come for free!

 

[EugW]

Yup, ram requirements will inevitably increase. 25ish years ago the following was drilled into us as computer science undergrads: "hardware is cheap and gets cheaper, programmer time is expensive".

Generally I agree with you, and I future proofed my 12" MacBook purchase back in 2017 with 16 GB RAM instead of 8, but then shortly afterwards I changed jobs and stopped traveling with a laptop. (I do most of my work on a desktop.) I guess the good news is since I haven't used it much, my battery is still in great condition. Only 86 charge cycles on it!

 

[landshark2]

Have been using a base m4 Mini 16/256 as a media server for over two months now; it just runs homesharing for my AppleTV's with a media library on a 4tb external SSD. It's connected to my home stereo with speakers in different rooms and I also directly use the Music app and stream Sirius/XM audio in Safari. That's really all I do with it. No opinion on whether it would meet your needs as a general purpose computer (certainly wouldn't meet mine) but you might find this interesting.

Here's how much of the 256gb ssd is used for a (more or less) plain vanilla MacOS install with no user files. That should give you an idea of how much space you'd have for your apps and essential files.


View attachment 2480316

Home entertainment is also my current main usage, and like EugW my macOS storage size is ~20 GB. Do you have an explanation for why your macOS size is 31.59 GB?

 

[Boyd01]

Sorry, no idea. Maybe an update waiting to be installed? I'm always reluctant to do that. 🤣

However, I remember that number was much smaller when I first setup the m4. IIRC it was only about 18gb. But that's not something I look at now since all my files are on a 4tb USB SSD.