I wanna see you upgrade the RAM on this bad boy. Please make a video about it. It will be a fun one.
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Review: Apple's M4 Mac Mini is the Best Desktop Mac
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'Cause you can get twice the max storage at double the speed for less than half of the price, maybe?
Buy what you want but don't act like it's good consumer advice
The Studio (when it's M4-refreshed) is a better value than a highly-spec'd Mini, I think.Even the 256 GB seems to be fine so long as you have something external for media storage, games, etc. and just use the internal for installing software. Right now I have a T7 1TB that I got for about $70 for all that stuff. C$250 for a 256GB bump to internal storage is crazy... can buy a whole 1TB gen4 NVME drive for $C80 -- the 512GB are C$40.
The Mac Mini has a built-in speaker. It’s not amazing sound quality (of course), but certainly useable if you don’t have any external speakers.
Acasis 4TB cost to me (since I had the drive) $215+ tax
Apple 4TB cost to me (just the SSD upgrade), assuming I won lottery, $1200
cost difference+ $980. Now.....
All you have to do is go into settings and set "Startup automatically after after power failure" and put the monitor, your computer sound system, and the mac on a power strip. Turn them ALL on and off with one button. You don't need the button on the Mini itself.
Apple intelligence does not download until you enable it.
Which is why I had to wait for it to download after turning it on with my m4 max MacBook Pro.
I opened the box, updated from 15.1 to 15.2, and AI downloaded.
Siri and AI are disabled but it's still there. I even followed some instructions on force deleting it from recovery terminal and it did -- but immediately started downloading it again when I logged in next.
Are you on 15.2?
The M4 mini might be the best desktop Mac, until as the illustration shows, rocket flames burst out from its underside and then it disappears somewhere above your head
I used to think the same way, but then something happened the other day. Oh yeah, I got an mmM4 Pro and brought it home, but I had trouble with the GPU. When I returned the Mac Mini, the Apple Store employee said, “Well, there are the ones we ‘carry…’” if you want one now... And I was like "Oh, these are the basic models you always have?" He said, "Yep."
Then a lightbulb went off!
I was like, “Man, when we get these BTO mmM4s, these things are seriously CUSTOM BUILT.” I mean, I know that sounds like a “No $#!+” moment, but think about that for a moment…
We’re telling Apple, “We don’t want a basic $499/599 whatever, that they ‘mass produce.’ We want them to go in and do some ‘soldering’ and ‘spark’ something up fresh metal!’
So yeah, I am happy paying the tax for “Custom Metal.”
It does if you’re showcasing it as a museum piece or your OCD about a “minimalist” desktop setup. Otherwise, the mini is a hub for work and play in a compact package that you accessorize as you need. It’s sure beats those silly ginormous ATX cases that gamers use to heat a room with during the cold winter months. It’s a Swiss Army knife you outfit as you see fit.
Who's the one dishing out consumer advice here? Not me.'Cause you can get twice the max storage at double the speed for less than half of the price, maybe?
Buy what you want but don't act like it's good consumer advice
Even the 256 GB seems to be fine so long as you have something external for media storage, games, etc. and just use the internal for installing software. Right now I have a T7 1TB that I got for about $70 for all that stuff. C$250 for a 256GB bump to internal storage is crazy... can buy a whole 1TB gen4 NVME drive for $C80 -- the 512GB are C$40.
I was the one saying we should be able to buy what we like without the patronising lectures.
Buy what you need and what you can afford. I did.
If buying cheap, and finding work arounds for your budget, works for you - good. Pat on the head.
I love the power button on the bottom of my M4 Mini.
I forget it's there because I never need to use it.
Which is probably why I love it's location and why Apple put it there.
I forget it's there because I never need to use it.
Which is probably why I love it's location and why Apple put it there.
The best desktop Mac? No doubt the Mac Mini is great. But the iMac, the Mac Studio, and the Mac Pro could each be considered the best desktop Mac depending on the type of user and budget.
The RAM is built in the SoC... you can't upgrade it and it changes physically the memory access from CPU/GPU/NPU.
Ok, the SSD is not as important - but it still impacts device security, the upgrades should just be cheaper it's a money grab.
Not if you’ve been hooked by the beautiful iMac display. A comprable display will be $$
Everyone who talks about the Mini and what a great value is has no choice but to stipulate that it only applies to the base model because the upgrade costs are ludicrous and evaporate that value propoisition.
That's why you hear of it so much and every tech reviewer especially brings it up (how could they be credible if they didn't?).
Nobody cares what you or I buy or will try to convince you what you should personally do.
It's one thing to be indifferent since you hardly use it but it's strange to love that it's inconvenient for many, if not most, users.
iPad Pro 13 M4 user here as of mid December.
Wholeheartedly agree with your statement… now using an iPad all the way during portability use, even with it’s non quite fully “functional” OS quirks (still dabbling with stage manager on and off at times).
But it’s a pleasure to use, the MKB is amazing, the pencil pro is a blast.
Haven’t used my laptop since (M3 Pro)… if I really need to I just wait to get to my desktop back at home and continue there.
But sure thing it isn’t perfect, the MKB isn’t as stable on the lap as a Smart Keyboard Folio plus iPadOS is still too gimped down for a full laptop replacement… but it just feels “right” to use.
M4 mini is a wonderful computer. Planning to get one. With the 16GB memory, I can go for the base model. As for the SSD, external drive should be more than enough for me.
I have no doubt that the new iMac display is nice and there's no comparable display (4.5k) from any 3rd parties. But if you're used to a 5k display the new 23.5" iMac is just too small.
I don't see any mention of which displays people are using on their M4 minis, but elsewhere on the internet there is much complaining about poor support for many 3rd party displays. Hundreds of threads talk about crappy scaling on 4k displays and many others complain that Macs don't recognize the native resolution of many ultra wide ones.
My dream setup is a new Mac desktop with an 8k display, but the only one I know of is a Dell that doesn't work with Macs. Maybe by the time I need a new Mac there will have been some progress in the 3rd party display department.
I’m interested in the base Mac mini as a secondary device to my MacBook Pro (24/1TB, M4P), and I’d like to see a review where someone pushes the base model - most reviews go along the lines of “it’s good for office productivity, but the model I have here is the M4 Pro with xxxxGB and xxxxxTB”. I think the base model should be far more capable than just dismissing it as a “basic task” machine.
I’m not interested in upgrading the Mac mini with Apple’s upgrade prices - I did that with my MacBook - because I’m looking ahead to the future and there could well be a Mac Studio in my life (price dependent). I’m just curious to know how much of a drop in performance I’ll see with the base Mac mini, or whether it’ll be as capable as I think it is.
I’m not interested in upgrading the Mac mini with Apple’s upgrade prices - I did that with my MacBook - because I’m looking ahead to the future and there could well be a Mac Studio in my life (price dependent). I’m just curious to know how much of a drop in performance I’ll see with the base Mac mini, or whether it’ll be as capable as I think it is.