[Poll] What would you change about the $799 base model Mac mini?

[redheeler]

Let's assume this poll applies to the 2019 Mac mini, not the 2018, and that Apple has recouped most of the R&D spending on the 2018 refresh. What single thing, if anything, would you change about the $799 base model, and why?

This thread will hopefully serve as a place to consolidate concerns about the price, storage, and processor of the base model Mac mini, as different people seem to be disappointed by different things (in my case it was the processor), and feedback from those who bought a base model 2018.

But all things considered, the 2018 Mac mini refresh wasn't too bad, and definitely could've been worse.

 

[StellarVixen]

Bump in storage, that’s all. It doesn’t lack anything more at that starting price, really. 1099 shall offer you i5 and 512 GB of flash storage. I hope Apple is done with their fusion crap once and for all, and I hope that we will soon see Fusion go away in iMac soon.

 

[redheeler]

Bump in storage, that’s all. It doesn’t lack anything more at that starting price, really. 1099 shall offer you i5 and 512 GB of flash storage.

Or i7 + 256 GB at $1,099 as a BTO config. I'd be happy with that as an option.

I hope Apple is done with their fusion crap once and for all, and I hope that we will soon see Fusion go away in iMac soon.

As someone who has never owned a Fusion drive iMac, but instead an all-SSD iMac with external storage, I tend to agree. Apple can utilize that space for a better cooling system, and perhaps even a full desktop GPU, as in the iMac Pro.

I will concede one advantage of the Fusion drive, which is likely why it has stuck around for six years: convenience. The average home user doesn't have to spend time shopping for external storage (which could be confusing for a novice user), the storage they need is there right out of the box. Having to deal with two separate drives can also be very confusing, especially when most of the applications default to the boot drive for file storage and must be changed manually.

 

[archer75]

Bump to the i7. 256gb internal storage at a minimum. Upgrade ram on your own.

 

[Cashmonee]

The i3 is a bit of an embarrassment. It is a fine processor, I actually have one in a PC I built this year, and I have been happy with it, but for $800, it is way out of place. It puts the Mac mini at about double the cost of an equivalent PC, and I know that it isn't always fair to compare the two, I just think we may be venturing into the realm of the ridiculous with the pricing. And to make matters worse, the storage cost is pretty over the top. A Samsung 1TB SSD can be had for well under $200 these days.

The $799 should be the i5 with 256 GB SSD.

For perspective, I spent about $650 this summer for this PC I built:
i3 8100
8GB RAM
8GB Radeon RX580 GTS
1TB Spinning Drive

Take away the RX580 (About $300 at the time) and add in an SSD instead of the spinning drive and you are looking at about $400.

 

[pl1984]

I went with other but I'm in the 128GB SSD to 256GB camp (I didn't select it because the question was in relation to the $799 base configuration but that selection also referred to changes in the $1,099 model configuration too.

 

[redheeler]

I went with other but I'm in the 128GB SSD to 256GB camp (I didn't select it because the question was in relation to the $799 base configuration but that selection also referred to changes in the $1,099 model configuration too.

The $1,099 model would have to offer i5 + 512 GB (or i7 + 256 GB as the base model BTO with an i7). The $300 difference for the i5 otherwise doesn't make sense, unless you have something else in mind like 16 GB RAM.

 

[Boyd01]

Let's assume this poll applies to the 2019 Mac mini, not the 2018

LOL, we waited four years for a Mini update and now you want to know what should be changed in the next model? Starting a thread in 2021 would still give us plenty of time to discuss that.

I'm pretty much decided on giving my daughter's family a base 2018 Mini to replace their 2012 Mini that died recently. It will be such a big upgrade for them, the only thing I'd change would be the price. But that is already in line with what Apple charges for other current machines.

 

[pl1984]

The $1,099 model would have to offer i5 + 512 GB (or i7 + 256 GB as the base model BTO with an i7). The $300 difference for the i5 otherwise doesn't make sense, unless you have something else in mind like 16 GB RAM.

I understand why you added that part. However the question asked what I would change about the $799 base model but the answer also forces me to comment on changes to the $1,099 base model.