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Should I buy a Mac Mini now?

Bazza1 said:
Very few - unless you are doing professional / commercial grade video, audio, audio editing or high-end CAD - need the horsepower of the M5 in the Mini, MacBook Air or iPad. But that won't stop Apple from convincing consumers that this is exactly what you need. They are not in the business of helping you make wise decisions.
And as recent moves by them have shown, short of a Neo Mini coming out, they aren't going to offer a range of products or have any product go down in price.

If you absolutely must have a new computer, sure - but while on a M2 Mini, I still drag out my 2017 MacBook Air weekly for work travel or cafe visits - and it still handles 95% of the apps on my M2.
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Indeed... however, with more integrated local AI in many applications wanting an M4 or M5 isn't such a bad idea. It does need more RAM though. I got my Mac mini M4pro with 48GB memory in january last year (2025). It's amazing fast with graphics work indeed. But also with regular applications.
Still, I have my Intel MacBook Pro 2019 in heavy use too - especially at work. The majority of tasks on that Mac can be considered light work, but it's fans do spin up quite often with the many of the "heavy" web based applications at work.
 
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awsom82 said:
Wait.
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Normally waiting whenever feasible has always been a good choice - - in the past. However given the well documented worldwide memory shortage, waiting now entails additional risk of supply/demand very likely increasing costs to Apple. Higher costs to Apple must get passed on to us one way or another. One way or another later generation Macs will be lower value at the same price points relative to past value increases over time.

So in the past waiting was mostly a zero-cost option. Today waiting remains a valid option, but it now clearly comes with a cost: lower relative value (functionally higher cost, irrespective of simplistic sticker prices) on newer Macs.

Plus computer chips have been over performing for years now, so M5 versus M6 or whatever is really only relevant for folks doing specialized things that optimize to the newest chips. IMO folks should be looking more at RAM, SSD performance, etc. than at having the latest chip.
 
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mwhite said:
If they announce a new M5 at WWDC, I can instantly return the M4. I’m not getting the M4 until June 12th, the last day of WWDC. However, if Apple announces a new M5, but it won’t be available until September or October, I’m keeping the M4, because I cannot wait that long. Besides, I only paid $699 for the 16/512 M4 because I work for an Institution of Higher Learning, so I qualified for the Education discount. Getting a 512 for only $100 more, rather than $200 more, was a good deal, at least in terms of Apple products, wouldn’t you say?



I looked at ordering a 24/512, but it wouldn’t have shipped until August :-/
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Lol ANY money off an Apple product is a good deal!
 
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Bazza1 said:
And as recent moves by them have shown, short of a Neo Mini coming out, they aren't going to offer a range of products or have any product go down in price.
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I mean, this isnt entirely correct.
Technically, both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro saw a price decrease back in March.
Although the base model was discontinued, the 512 GB MacBook Air went from $1199 with the M4 to $1099 with the M5, a $100 price cut.
Same with the MacBook Pro, before March directly from Apple an M5 MacBook Pro with a terabyte of storage was $1799, after March it’s now $1699, again a $100 price reduction.
So technically there have been price decreases within the laptop line.
Apple could theoretically do the same thing with all of the desktops the next time they are updated, drop the current base model, but take the next upgrade down by $100.
And technically, for anyone not interested in the base model, this is a price decrease.
 
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Bazza1 said:
Very few - unless you are doing professional / commercial grade video, audio, audio editing or high-end CAD - need the horsepower of the M5 in the Mini, MacBook Air or iPad. But that won't stop Apple from convincing consumers that this is exactly what you need. They are not in the business of helping you make wise decisions.
And as recent moves by them have shown, short of a Neo Mini coming out, they aren't going to offer a range of products or have any product go down in price.

If you absolutely must have a new computer, sure - but while on a M2 Mini, I still drag out my 2017 MacBook Air weekly for work travel or cafe visits - and it still handles 95% of the apps on my M2.
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The only thing I could see needing the M5 for is if you want to load a local LLM. And if you are doing that, you are upping the RAM as well. I have a 512/24 M4 mini and it is plenty fast on anything I use it for. I run virtual machines (including the ARM version of Windows running games). I may still try loading a local LLM just to see what it can do.
 
I always thought the best time to buy a computer was next month/quarter/year. With volatility, possible RAM and spec changes and other issues I now think the best time is last month/quarter/year.
M4 mini is a solid computer and likely meet what you need.
 
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Easy to solve problem right now -- place an order for the M4 Mini -- deliveries are backed up through the end of July into August. I just did so. Plenty of time to see what, if anything, Apple announces in June.
 
mreg376 said:
Easy to solve problem right now -- place an order for the M4 Mini -- deliveries are backed up through the end of July into August. I just did so. Plenty of time to see what, if anything, Apple announces in June.
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Yes this. Or order a Studio. The Studios all have the max chip, 10 GB Ethernet, more memory bandwidth, etc.; hella more powerful and with far better heat management, more ports, Thunderbolt 5, etc. IMO the 36 GB RAM Studio is a much, much better choice than a 24 GB RAM Mini. The base 16 GB RAM Mini is a real value choice [IMO Apple's best value] until one starts adding necessary RAM and faster Ethernet.

The 48 GB RAM Mini is another value point, depending upon individual needs. Because the [IMO very desirable] Studio's next RAM level of 64 GB entails a huge cost increase, decreasing value. Personally I generally consider 64 GB to be minimum acceptable RAM, but if I was buying a Studio today I might go for the 36 GB value box just to see how it went. Of course, everyone's needs differ.
 
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Agree with @Allen_Wentz on the memory comments. Actually so much so that the Studio with 64GB is what I ended up going for. For me when I started looking at a mini with 10GBe and 48GB of RAM, the value proposition for the price difference ended up being a no brainer.
 
reuptake said:
I'm just waiting till WWDC. If not announced there, I'll watch refurbished page like a hawk.
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That's my plan. If we don't get a peep at WWDC I'm either going refurbished M4 Mini or maybe just move over to a M5 MacBook Air instead.

But it seems downright silly to invest in a M4 Mini right now if there's a possibility it'll be superseded in less than a month.
 
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I see a new m4 16/256 for $599 in my local Best Buy and I am struggling- in 3 weeks it may or may not announce M5 with min price (if not increase from m4) at $799 for 16/512. My left brain told me get m4 - it will overpower everything what you doing now - using for browsing internet, watch YouTube and family pics. My right brain said - yes it’s true, but in 3 weeks they will announce m5 even more powerful and it’s new and great - wait. Retiring soon - at list now with paychecks I can get $799 with no stress. And I totally agreed with left site brain, but right side is pushing all buttons
 
For me the chance to get M5 based mini with quite significantly improved single thread performance and AI support is worth waiting couple of weeks. What I can buy now is M4 Pro, but I think that for my purpose M5 might be even better suited even in non-Pro version.
 
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For my needs, the processor difference wasn't significant enough to wait. I'm also price sensitive and with storage costs increasing dramatically, was not looking forward to a more expensive Mac Mini.
 
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JensenKA said:
But it seems downright silly to invest in a M4 Mini right now if there's a possibility it'll be superseded in less than a month.
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Well, I haven’t invested anything yet, other than 62.04 in taxes. I got the education discount on the M4 mini I ordered - paid $699 for the 16/512 - but put it on my Apple Card as Apple Monthly Installments, interest free. Mind you, I have the money set aside to pay it all up front, but it’s good to have options, and can pay off early. Also I don’t get it until June 12th, the last day of WWDC, so I’ll know if an M5 is announced or not. Again, I have options. M5 yes? Maybe I cancel the M4, depending on when the M5 would be available. Or, maybe I no longer have job (a possibility since my boss is a total 💩 🤡 and we really don’t like each other or working together), and I need a computer to tweak my resumé, send my resumé, do video interviews etc., so I keep the M4. Can always trade up to an M5 later, if I want to. And even if an M5 is announced, who knows how much it will cost, given the current state of affairs?
 
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awsom82 said:
Try Trackpad, mouse is a nonsense on OSX, for more than 15 years nobody use them
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I prefer the mouse. Plus, a track pad is more expensive. And sure, there are people like me who don’t care for track pads, and use mice instead. Lots of people.
 
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