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Should I buy a Mac Mini now?

M

mwhite

macrumors regular
Original poster
I really need a computer. I have money set aside for a Mac Mini (well, I had money set aside for a $599 Mac Mini. Now I had to up the money I had set aside by $200). Anyway, WWDC is coming up. I'm torn between waiting for WWDC to see if a new M5 mini is announced, or just buying a 512GB M4 Mac Mini now. My fear is that I wait until WWDC, no M5 mini is announced, and then I go back to the website to order the 512GB M4 mini and it's gone. Plus, even if an M5 mini is announced, it may not be available to order until September or something similar. I suppose I also could just get the M4 now, and then trade it in when a new M5 is announced. What's your advice? What would you do? Thanks for the friendly input.

P.S. I already have a keyboard, just need to order the mouse and a copy of Office Home with the machine. I also have the Apple Card, so I could pay for the machine with interest free Apple Monthly Installments (but honestly, I'd probably just pay it all upfront, or pay it off a month or two later), and get my 3% cash back too.
 
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Order now and enjoy your Mac mini. And then you ca n choose, if M5 announced next month, wait for black Friday and get M5, thru apple web site with exchange for M4 OR continue use your M4. There are thousands users here and each will have his own opinions. Do what better for you and what you can afford. Most important- made your dessision and stick with it. Good luck!
 
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No, no and no. You wait, you save 3 months you can easily put money aside, let say 500 t0 1000 depending how much money you make. Then you have the best option: choices. Always delay purchase.
 
!!! said:
Why do you need the computer? Anything especially demanding? You might want to look into buying a used M1/M2 mini that falls within your budget.
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Yes, I need the computer because right now I do everything on an iPad, and the only machine I have is a work Windows PC laptop that I bring home with me when I work remotely. Doing every thing on an iPad is headache inducing, and I don’t want to work on my resume using my PC Windows work machine. Plus, I’m thinking of looking for a new job, or I may get let go (the place is so dysfunctional right now). My budget is fine. I’ve already added the extra money to what I have set aside, and actually, I can get the education discount ($100 off, so 512 M4 Mini for $699) because I work for an Institution of Higher Learning.
 
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mwhite said:
Yes, I need the computer because right now I do everything on an iPad
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I wasn't asking if you needed it, but for what purposes you would use it for. If you can do it on an iPad, chances are you could do it on an M1 just fine. But it sounds like you've sorted out your budget.
 
!!! said:
I wasn't asking if you needed it, but for what purposes you would use it for. If you can do it on an iPad, chances are you could do it on an M1 just fine. But it sounds like you've sorted out your budget.
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Yes, my budget wasn’t the issue, and I misread your reply before answering.

I also wouldn’t want to buy an M1 or M2, however. It would go obsolete much sooner.
 
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gigatoaster said:
No, no and no. You wait, you save 3 months you can easily put money aside, let say 500 t0 1000 depending how much money you make. Then you have the best option: choices. Always delay purchase.
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Money isn’t the issue, I have it. It’s just do I buy an M4 now or wait until WWDC to see if an M5 is announced?
 
Order the M4 now, with the constraints with ram and the delays, not sure when they'll announce stock for M5, could be end of the year or next year.
 
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I say get the M4 now.
With supply constraints an M5 could still be months away if ever.
There is already talk of Apple introducing the M6 MacBook Pro this fall, it’s very possible they might never update the Mac mini to M5 and instead just jump straight from M4 to M6 next year, the same way they jumped right from M2 to M4.

Also, no matter when you purchase, there’s always the universal truth that something better is always around the corner at all times. If you need something now, buy it now.
 
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I usually say "wait" IF we're within 60-days of a new hardware announcement. At this point, WWDC is less than a month away. If Apple does indeed announce new M5 Minis/Studios/etc, you'll know exactly what the pricing is and whether AI demand for memory and storage will impact the configurations/pricing of the new Minis.

Maybe hedge your bets, so to speak:

Wait three weeks until June 1, then buy an M4 Mini, tune into WWDC on June 8, if a sweet new M5 Mini is announced and priced right, initiate a return for the M4 Mini on June 8, and pre-order the new M5 Mini. Win-win.
 
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I,m in the same situation and would never buy an Mac mini M4 16/512 now! A definitely better option in my opinion is the MacBook Air M5 16/1TB for me. I do regularly stuff with FCP and Lightroom.
And if an Mac mini M5 will be announced ( i don’t think so, and if so, the availability is unknown ), the base price will be 899,00 $ minimum, the 1 tb option around 1200 $ I think. Same price you pay for the MBA M5 16/1TB. And you got a completely mobile MacOS device including display, keyboard and trackpad. Easy to connect with an Apple Studio Display.
Just my 2 cents …
 
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1st-Replicant said:
I,m in the same situation and would never buy an Mac mini M4 16/512 now! A definitely better option in my opinion is the MacBook Air M5 16/1TB for me. I do regularly stuff with FCP and Lightroom.
And if an Mac mini M5 will be announced ( i don’t think so, and if so, the availability is unknown ), the base price will be 899,00 $ minimum, the 1 tb option around 1200 $ I think. Same price you pay for the MBA M5 16/1TB. And you got a completely mobile MacOS device including display, keyboard and trackpad. Easy to connect with an Apple Studio Display.
Just my 2 cents …
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Ah thanks, I have absolutely zero interest in a laptop. I don’t like them. As for the Studio Display? Those things are insanely overpriced. Nice, but unaffordable. I already have a cheap Dell monitor.
 
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If money isn't an issue, if at all possible I'd wait for the M5. Better positioned for long term future.

I didn't wait and bought an M4 refurbished with an additonal 10% vet discount at the Apple Store. I didn't want to be surprised by future (and expected) price increases.
 
Richard8655 said:
If money isn't an issue, if at all possible I'd wait for the M5. Better positioned for long term future.

I didn't wait and bought an M4 refurbished with an additonal 10% vet discount at the Apple Store. I didn't want to be surprised by future (and expected) price increases.
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Well, it’s not that money isn’t an issue, I’m not wealthy, it’s just that I have the money set aside already and waiting.
 
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If a Mini M5 were imminent, we would surely be seeing test scores and mystery product codes appearing online by now. Isn't this how the guessers work out what is likely to be coming?
 
rafale77 said:
Lots of them are coming in every week in the refurb store. There are three models available for immediate shipping as I am typing this.
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Guess you got to stalk the site daily. Cheapest computer there now is a $1099 iMac and the OP was already hesitating going to $799. Any idea if there is a regular refresh time for inventory or a 3rd party inventory tracker?
 
I use Refurb Tracker for refurbished email notifications and haven't been seeing Mac Mini on the store that much recently but I don't know what the refresh rate on these notifications are. Could be that they're only scraping the site once per day and it looks like the stock goes pretty fast once its up.
 
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