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No price drop for Intel minis?

rjalex

rjalex

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 27, 2011
275
63
Rome, Italy
Would you expect the prices of Intel based minis to drop? I am trying to buy one now to start working immediately and have too much Intel SW to run to be tempted to buy the new M1 based machines.
The price on the Apple store is just as before.
Would hate to buy now and see that in a few months the price would drop significantly.
Opinions? Thank you
 
rjalex said:
Would you expect the prices of Intel based minis to drop? I am trying to buy one now to start working immediately and have too much Intel SW to run to be tempted to buy the new M1 based machines.
The price on the Apple store is just as before.
Would hate to buy now and see that in a few months the price would drop significantly.
Opinions? Thank you
Click to expand...
Check out MacSales.com. They do offer some savings with their own RAM upgrades. Also, the Apple Refurbished store sometimes has some 2018 MacMinis, but not always.
 
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There are 19 refurb 2018 Mini's on Apple's site right now - that's a lot! But the prices are no lower than they were when I got my refurb back in June.

www.apple.com

Refurbished Mac - Mac mini

Save up to 15% on a refurbished Mac mini. Tested and certified by Apple including a 1-year warranty. Free delivery and returns.
www.apple.com

I got my 2012 quad Mini from MacSales, it was like new and has been completely trouble-free. Price was certainly not a bargain, but Apple no longer had 2012 refurbs at that point and I wanted to buy from a place that offered a warranty, so I'm a happy customer.

Just looking quickly now, a new 2018 i5/8gb/256gb Mini from MacSales is $899 yet an Apple refurb with the same specs is only $759. A new 2018 i3/8gb/128gb Mini from MacSales is $649 and an Apple refurb is $599. IMO, the Apple refurbs are a no-brainer, they are the same as new with the same warranty.
 
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rjalex said:
Would you expect the prices of Intel based minis to drop?
Click to expand...
I very much doubt it. Apart from making RAM/storage upgrades cheaper, Apple tends not to cut the prices of a model over the course of their lifecycle. It's one reason why I try to buy models at the beginning of their cycle.

That being said, this might be a great time to pick up a second hand or refurbished model - I'd definitely look at the suggestions from the above posters, and another similar retailers in your area.
 
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Yes. In our geography buyers are entitled by law to a 2 year warranty, while refurbs only have 1. A detail but still ...
Thank you
 
Apple refurb are excellent and always my first choice. Just bought new Mini i5/16/512 - and can upgrade to 32/64 RAM. VERY capable machine. Will last.

My last was 2015 MacBook refurbished from Apple. Got $240 in trade toward Mini

Review showed M1 beating 16” MBP

Have to see how Rosetta 2 handles x86. MS Office with support for the M1 will be out today.
 
Thank you. So far my only real drawback is the lack of homebrew support which I really need.
PS The mini refurbs here on Apple Italia are almost as expensive as brand new ones
 
They should of lowered prices, the M1 is 3x the speed of the i3 and it beats the i7. Only difference is the RAM
 
15% cheaper is way too high. The i7 isn't worth $500 in my opinion now. The M1 overpowers it by far
 
I think their reasoning for this is twofold:

No pricedrop for Intel Mac Mini’s is actually perfect marketing for Apple.
This is to show the people how much they’ve been paying for Intel hardware and not only is the M1 faster it’s cheaper too.
It does set a precedent for cheaper Macs in the long run which they can only overcome if the M2 models are leaps better. They’re still multiple years behind in the graphics department if they decide to ditch AMD completely, but by lowering the prices this much they’re purposely setting the bar really high for themselves.
 
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Hessel89 said:
No pricedrop for Intel Mac Mini’s is actually perfect marketing for Apple.
This is to show the people how much they’ve been paying for Intel hardware and not only is the M1 faster it’s cheaper too.
It does set a precedent for cheaper Macs in the long run which they can only overcome if the M2 models are leaps better. They’re still multiple years behind in the graphics department if they decide to ditch AMD completely, so by lowering the prices this much they’re purposely setting the bar really high for themselves.
Click to expand...
I don't quite follow your logic - Apple replaced the lowest-end Intel products with the lowest-end M1 products and kept the prices about the same. It would then follow that when they eventually replace the higher-end products they'll maintain roughly the same higher-end price points, thus not actually demonstrating any customer savings based on the architecture switch itself, in the specific products customers are interested in. In other words, no lower price points for Apple to demonstrate, as you seemed to suggest.

For instance I'm still not interested in purchasing a cheaper M1 Air or Pro compared to a more expensive (future) Apple Silicon iMac, even though the M1 laptops are hinting at a level of performance I would be perfectly fine with.

It's possible you meant that this is Apple showing how much more performant and power-efficient they can be at the same price points as before, thanks to the new architecture?
 
Hessel89 said:
I think their reasoning for this is twofold:

No pricedrop for Intel Mac Mini’s is actually perfect marketing for Apple.
This is to show the people how much they’ve been paying for Intel hardware and not only is the M1 faster it’s cheaper too.
It does set a precedent for cheaper Macs in the long run which they can only overcome if the M2 models are leaps better. They’re still multiple years behind in the graphics department if they decide to ditch AMD completely, but by lowering the prices this much they’re purposely setting the bar really high for themselves.
Click to expand...
Uhhhh, no. That's not quite how Apple's business model works. Have you ever noticed their profit margin? The new M1 computers are the lower end (but with very impressive specs) so I doubt Apple would shoot itself in the foot and stop being a 'premium' product.
I sure as heck don't see the powerful iPhones getting any cheaper...
 
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