Would you buy a Mac mini if you had to do it all over again?

[satchmo]

I’m in the market for a new Mac mini but the horror stories I’m reading is giving me second thoughts.
Everything from video issues, monitor incompatibilities, random crashes, and of course Bluetooth connectivity. And this doesn’t appear to be an Intel vs M1 thing either.

Normally, people who are happy with their purchase don’t talk about it as much as those who have had issues.
So what’s the real deal? Is it a fundamentally flawed product?

I’m not sure if the Mac mini is a lemon, or just has a few common issues affecting the vocal minority.
Surely Apple has sold millions and to a majority of satisfied customers.

I can certainly try it out and can return it. Or I may consider an iMac instead.

 

[ivanwi11iams]

Haha, read some of my posts. I would do it all over again, and have, 4 times.

I will admit, if I had to do it one more time, and it was financially viable, I would order the 16GB model (just for possible future software loads)...

 

[ProfessionalFan]

Love mine and it is the base M1 model with 8GB RAM. I use it as a computer in our basement along with it being the Plex server for the entire building.

 

[Apple_Robert]

My 2018 mini has been solid outside of the occasional Bluetooth disconnect with the keyboard or trackpad. 99% of the time I use it headless and remote in with my iPad Pro. That works great.

 

[pshufd]

I bought my wife a 2018 Mini with the minimum configuration and it has served her well though she sometimes runs into video stuttering. I think that I should have upgraded to 16 GB of RAM and an i5 instead or gone with an iMac. She had a 2009 iMac 27 which she loved but it had some overheating problems so I replaced it with a Windows system and then the iMac.

 

[triptolemus]

I replaced my 2012 mini and have been running an M1 16GB/500GB mini for a month or two. I used to believe the "vocal minority" theory, too.

So far, 2 green screens of death (Mac crashes, both monitors go green screen followed by reboot), and several occurrences of one monitor (the HDMI connected one) waking up to snow (yes old-school snow), and a couple of occurrences of the secondary monitor going missing / not waking up at all.

Fortunately, the crashes have not resulted in loss of work or any data corruption.

I am hopeful these issues can be corrected by software.

 

[pshufd]

I replaced my 2012 mini and have been running an M1 16GB/500GB mini for a month or two. I used to believe the "vocal minority" theory, too.

So far, 2 green screens of death (Mac crashes, both monitors go green screen followed by reboot), and several occurrences of one monitor (the HDMI connected one) waking up to snow (yes old-school snow), and a couple of occurrences of the secondary monitor going missing / not waking up at all.

Fortunately, the crashes have not resulted in loss of work or any data corruption.

I am hopeful these issues can be corrected by software.

Are you running anything out of the ordinary? I am considering ordering this model today. Are you running Big Sur? Which version? I'm running Monterey on an Intel MacBook Pro and it's been flawless. I'd run with it but it gets hot on a 4K monitor.

 

[MBAir2010]

Nope, the bluetooth is horrible!
the 2012 was a nice computer, very beautiful, the shiniest of all the mini
did a lot of storage and ran Mojave well.
but was useless after a while and upgrading anything but the RAM is a thankless task.

 

[jazz1]

OP funny you should ask. I've gone for several weeks without any issue (granted they are minor ones). This morning when I woke the M1 MacMini up my second monitor was black. I simply had to restart from my first monitor.

I've avoided BT issues by using Logitech MX series keyboard and mouse that comes with a USB dongle/receiver. That was just happenstance as I intended to purchase these anyway, and later heard about some people having BT issues.

I do like my M1 MacMini, I just wish the darn thing had more ports, as I ended up buying a MacSales/OWC Thunderbolt 4 dock.

In the end, do yourself a favor and on paper fully spec out all the peripherals you think you might need with the MacMini. If you can live with the new 24" iMac I wonder if in the end that could be a better deal, depending on your actual peripheral needs.

I think it will be interesting to see what Apple does to replace the Intel based 27" iMac. Rumors galore the Apple Silicon replacement will have a larger screen, lets just hope they don't go cheap an reduce the number of ports.

Sorry for the long an winding road commentary. I don't regret my M1 MacMini purchase. It is speedy. But I think I'd recommend the 16GB version for a little future proofing (if you plan to keep it for awhile). Of course if you have deep pockets a large, curved, monitor would be sweet! Me, I just slapped two 27" Dell's side by side on mine

 

[Joniz]

I bought the 2018 i5 with 8GB RAM and upgraded it to 32GB myself.

Had issues with Bluetooth keyboard and mouse disconnecting on occasion, but wanting to clear the clutter from my desk, I got an under desk mount and put it down there, along with the two external SDD drives that sit on a small shelf created over it. My two monitors are up off the desk on VESA arms and my pen display is over on my drafting table, mirroring my main monitor so I can look at it when I’m inking on my iPad.

The Bluetooth disconnects have gone away. I’m guessing it was all that crap interfering with one another.

I use primarily Blender and Affinity Designer and my Mini’s internal temp never passes 45°C.

Running three monitors is what’s kept me from moving to the M1.

 

[jazz1]

I bought the 2018 i5 with 8GB RAM and upgraded it to 32GB myself.

Had issues with Bluetooth keyboard and mouse disconnecting on occasion, but wanting to clear the clutter from my desk, I got an under desk mount and put it down there, along with the two external SDD drives that sit on a small shelf created over it. My two monitors are up off the desk on VESA arms and my pen display is over on my drafting table, mirroring my main monitor so I can look at it when I’m inking on my iPad.

The Bluetooth disconnects have gone away. I’m guessing it was all that crap interfering with one another.

I use primarily Blender and Affinity Designer and my Mini’s internal temp never passes 45°C.

Running three monitors is what’s kept me from moving to the M1.

Darn it, I miss the days when you could upgrade your own Mac!!! I also wish my M1 would host three monitors. Your setup looks great!

Note I have an OWC external hard drive under my M1 MacMini, and the OWC Dock on top of the pile. I'm wondering if I should unstack them for heat and/or BT reception?

 

[triptolemus]

Are you running anything out of the ordinary? I am considering ordering this model today. Are you running Big Sur? Which version? I'm running Monterey on an Intel MacBook Pro and it's been flawless. I'd run with it but it gets hot on a 4K monitor.

Big Sur 11.4 - nothing out of the the ordinary. Software is Safari and Chrome (running YouTube TV), a text editor and Mail. No heavy lifting at all.

Monitors are Acer K242HL (1080), one via HDMI port, the other via USB-C hub. Wish I could say I was trying something out of bounds with 4k video or too many displays, but nah. Very vanilla.

 

[pshufd]

OP funny you should ask. I've gone for several weeks without any issue (granted they are minor ones). This morning when I woke the M1 MacMini up my second monitor was black. I simply had to restart from my first monitor.

I've avoided BT issues by using Logitech MX series keyboard and mouse that comes with a USB dongle/receiver. That was just happenstance as I intended to purchase these anyway, and later heard about some people having BT issues.

I do like my M1 MacMini, I just wish the darn thing had more ports, as I ended up buying a MacSales/OWC Thunderbolt 4 dock.

In the end, do yourself a favor and on paper fully spec out all the peripherals you think you might need with the MacMini. If you can live with the new 24" iMac I wonder if in the end that could be a better deal, depending on your actual peripheral needs.

I think it will be interesting to see what Apple does to replace the Intel based 27" iMac. Rumors galore the Apple Silicon replacement will have a larger screen, lets just hope they don't go cheap an reduce the number of ports.

Sorry for the long an winding road commentary. I don't regret my M1 MacMini purchase. It is speedy. But I think I'd recommend the 16GB version for a little future proofing (if you plan to keep it for awhile). Of course if you have deep pockets a large, curved, monitor would be sweet! Me, I just slapped two 27" Dell's side by side on mine

I'm somewhat surprised that these problems still exist.

The 27 inch iMacs may be slower but they're still reliable from everything that I've heard.

 

[Joniz]

So far, 2 green screens of death (Mac crashes, both monitors go green screen followed by reboot), and several occurrences of one monitor (the HDMI connected one) waking up to snow (yes old-school snow), and a couple of occurrences of the secondary monitor going missing / not waking up at all.

I had these exact same problems, only my external monitor would be pink, sometimes snow, sometimes not starting, on my 2013 MBA 11” running Mojave. Never could figure out a pattern to it.

 

[satchmo]

OP funny you should ask. I've gone for several weeks without any issue (granted they are minor ones). This morning when I woke the M1 MacMini up my second monitor was black. I simply had to restart from my first monitor.

I've avoided BT issues by using Logitech MX series keyboard and mouse that comes with a USB dongle/receiver. That was just happenstance as I intended to purchase these anyway, and later heard about some people having BT issues.

I do like my M1 MacMini, I just wish the darn thing had more ports, as I ended up buying a MacSales/OWC Thunderbolt 4 dock.

In the end, do yourself a favor and on paper fully spec out all the peripherals you think you might need with the MacMini. If you can live with the new 24" iMac I wonder if in the end that could be a better deal, depending on your actual peripheral needs.

I think it will be interesting to see what Apple does to replace the Intel based 27" iMac. Rumors galore the Apple Silicon replacement will have a larger screen, lets just hope they don't go cheap an reduce the number of ports.

Sorry for the long an winding road commentary. I don't regret my M1 MacMini purchase. It is speedy. But I think I'd recommend the 16GB version for a little future proofing (if you plan to keep it for awhile). Of course if you have deep pockets a large, curved, monitor would be sweet! Me, I just slapped two 27" Dell's side by side on mine

Yours and all the other comments have me spooked. Good point about the ports, especially if one of the two thunderbolt ports are needed for video (if HDMI is flaky). The 2 USB-A ports would be filled with older peripherals like a keyboard and printer. A USB-hub is almost a given.

My plan certainly was to keep the Mac mini for a number of years, and to eventually have it drive a 4K or 5K display (I currently have an older 2K 24" Dell monitor). But with a lack of equivalent to iMac display quality (219 ppi) options, additional ports, maybe said iMac M1 might a viable option.

 

[pmiles]

If your computer hasn't up and imploded on you, don't upgrade just yet. One thing that has yet to be proven is scalability with these new chips. The first chip is not the one to be looking at, it's the second chip. There you have an SoC compared to another SoC for the very first time. Does it's performance improve dramatically over the first iteration? Does it allow for more ports? More video processing power? These are still all unknowns.

It's one thing to put an SoC out there and show that it beats your delapitated machines of old... as it very well should just being an SoC design... it's another thing to show scalability in the next iteration and the one that follows it. When buying an INTEL Mac, you're not buying the very first INTEL chip ever made... you're buying into a long running history of performance improvements over time. You have a predictable future mapped out ahead of you.

With the M1's you don't have that. You have hope that it will improve... jump leaps and bounds forward with each new chip... but that's just optimism. There are a lot of things that the M1s fall short on right now. Is it really just a software patch to fix or is it really a hardware limitation?

Give it another year. See what the next generation pulls out of the hat. Is it as remarkable as gen one or is it just slightly better? No need to rush out to buy something now unless your current machine is dead.

Remember... along with the ARM chips comes the new OS... and honestly, very few people are as enamored with the OS as they are the hardware.

 

[doboy]

Yes, since I don't use a computer much outside of work. It's mainly iPad at home so Mini is there for backing up devices and for important finances.

 

[fricotin]

Have been using my 2012 2.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 16GHz mini for several hours every day, love it, best computer I've ever had and will continue to do so until they come up with a 32GHz M1.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

I use a Quad-Core i7 2.3 GHz 2012 Mac mini. Very fast machine. 16 GB Crucial RAM and Samsung 850 Pro SSD. My next machine is probably a 2018 Intel mac mini, because it supports H.265 in hardware. I use the current versions Chrome, HandBrake, Microsoft Office 2016, VLC and so on. For homeoffice (Citrix) I use a Lenovo IdeaPad 710s (looks like an older MacBook Air) and a Dell U2415 display. I love the stability of my Intel Mac mini (El Capitan) and Lenovo laptop (Win 10 Pro).

 

[Cyprusian]

I ordered a refurbished 16/1Tb M1 Mini last week then went looking for a 4K 24" or 27" display but couldn't find a decent monitor for around £300 on Amazon, Dell, HP, etc.

As excellent display quality is a major factor for me I wanted to be able to get near to Retina quality - without pushing the cost well into iMac territory.

When I found that I couldn't source a suitable display within my budget, coupled with recent reports of M1 Mini issues such as those described in this thread, I decided to bale out and return the Mini to Apple.

I'm now considering whether to go for a 24" iMac with its outstanding display, or perhaps await new products that may be released in the coming months.

In the meantime my mid-2014 13" Retina MBP and late 2009 27" 16/1TB SSD iMac will keep me going.....

 

[Corso99]

My M1 mini has been great with only one minor issue (unable to sync iOS devices). But I wish I had bought a MacBook Air instead. The versatility of laptop plus having a Retina display are the main reasons.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

I ordered a refurbished 16/1Tb M1 Mini last week then went looking for a 4K 24" or 27" display but couldn't find a decent monitor for around £300 on Amazon, Dell, HP, etc.

As excellent display quality is a major factor for me I wanted to be able to get near to Retina quality - without pushing the cost well into iMac territory.

When I found that I couldn't source a suitable display within my budget, coupled with recent reports of M1 Mini issues such as those described in this thread, I decided to bale out and return the Mini to Apple.

I'm now considering whether to go for a 24" iMac with its outstanding display, or perhaps await new products that may be released in the coming months.

In the meantime my mid-2014 13" Retina MBP and late 2009 27" 16/1TB SSD iMac will keep me going.....

I do not order 1st generation products like M1 Macs. And we do not know how long Apple supports the Mx (M1, M2, ...) processors. I plan to switch to Windows 10, if Apple does not show us a roadmap for future Mx-processor support.

 

[familychoice]

I’m in the market for a new Mac mini but the horror stories I’m reading is giving me second thoughts.
Everything from video issues, monitor incompatibilities, random crashes, and of course Bluetooth connectivity. And this doesn’t appear to be an Intel vs M1 thing either.

Normally, people who are happy with their purchase don’t talk about it as much as those who have had issues.
So what’s the real deal? Is it a fundamentally flawed product?

I’m not sure if the Mac mini is a lemon, or just has a few common issues affecting the vocal minority.
Surely Apple has sold millions and to a majority of satisfied customers.

I can certainly try it out and can return it. Or I may consider an iMac instead.

I ordered an M1 16/512 last week, after a lot of reading, asking questions, and debate.

I’m hoping to avoid Bluetooth issues as the keyboard will be wired, and the Magic Mouse I have doesn’t seem to have attracted too many reports of disconnecting. I’ve got two old 24” monitors which work fine with my MBP’s, so I’m expecting those to be ok, and I’ll only be connecting one at a time - a lot of issues seem to be related to using two.

If the above is all fine, I’ll have a decent specced, lightning fast computer that should last a few years, for just over a grand, so for that I can live with the odd crash. The 24” iMac equivalent would be nearer £2k.

If not, and the monitor doesn’t connect, or the mouse/keyboard play up, it’ll go straight back to Apple. Gotta give it a go!

 

[MauiPa]

Are you running anything out of the ordinary? I am considering ordering this model today. Are you running Big Sur? Which version? I'm running Monterey on an Intel MacBook Pro and it's been flawless. I'd run with it but it gets hot on a 4K monitor.

that would be good to know. Are the M1s cool even with external monitors? My 2014 MPB gets toasty with an external monitor connected

 

[MauiPa]

I do not order 1st generation products like M1 Macs. And we do not know how long Apple supports the Mx (M1, M2, ...) processors. I plan to switch to Windows 10, if Apple does not show us a roadmap for future Mx-processor support.

I don't understand that, you want a roadmap and if you don't get one you go to windows? That makes no sense. Here is a roadmap. M1 slowest, then everything else apple releases is faster. Seriously, that's true