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It's a bit of an emotional goodbye to the super cheap Mac Minis we got to enjoy for a while. I got some for family members, we had some serving as iOS/macOS bui

by Ambroos 23d ago

It's a bit of an emotional goodbye to the super cheap Mac Minis we got to enjoy for a while. I got some for family members, we had some serving as iOS/macOS build servers sitting in a closet at my last job, they were fantastic. Not that they're a bad deal now, but at European prices of over €1000 for M6/16GB/256GB it's a psychological barrier that's been broken.

ljlolel 23d ago
[flagged]
glimshe 23d ago
If you adjust for inflation, is it a big change from the super cheap Mac Minis of the past? Probably still somewhat more expensive, but not as much as the nominal difference would imply.
- petu 23d ago
  Mac Mini M4 launched less than 2 years ago at $600 (US, $500 with edu discount; as low as $400 on general discounts). Now same config with M6 is $900.
  - ex1fm3ta 23d ago
    same spec, same chip. I tought Apple would at least bump the RAM
    - simonh 23d ago
      You thought they'd bump the base RAM in the middle of the biggest RAM crisis in history?
      - drob518 23d ago
        Yea, that wasn’t going to happen.
      - ex1fm3ta 22d ago
        yep why not ? "Unified Memory" was always their favourite selling argument
        airstrike 22d ago
        Because they would be throwing away margin for no real reason
  - leoc 23d ago
    And except at the beginning, the Mac Minis of the past weren’t famous for being cheap, but rather for being disappointingly, unattractively expensive and, over time, apparently increasingly forgotten by Apple.
    - markdown 22d ago
      Actually they were famous for being tiny.
    - musicale 22d ago
      Mac minis from 2005-2024 launched with entry-level models priced from $499-$699, with the outliers being the 2018 model at $799: https://everymac.com/global-mac-prices/all-msrp-mac-mini-prices-in-united-states.html https://everymac.com/global-mac-prices/all-msrp-mac-mini-pri... Though $599 for the M4 in 2024 seems like a local optimum.
- deleted 22d ago
  [deleted]
what_hn 23d ago
[dead]
Dathuil 23d ago
When they discontinued the M4 with 16GB a few months ago I had literally just ordered one off Amazon which they promptly cancelled. It would have been 600 after exchange rate from GBP. I can't justify a more than 2x price increase for what I'm guessing are marginal improvements. I want to replace my home lab but as it stands my underpowered NAS will have to continue as it has the past few years
amelius 23d ago
> but at European prices of over €1000 for M6/16GB/256GB it's a psychological barrier that's been broken. We should be buying European solutions anyway. Different psychological barrier that was broken long before.
- tiagod 23d ago
  What's the European alternative to a Mac Mini?
  - amelius 23d ago
    IMEC Mini. https://www.imec-int.com/en https://www.imec-int.com/en
    - htiawe 19d ago
      It runs MacOS? That is the main reason I buy Macs.
Jhyrachy 22d ago
No bro, >1000€ for 16/256 is a really bad deal
hypercube33 22d ago
I want a mini Neo for like $399 or whatever apple can muster. it could be the size of a deck of cards to boot.

by Ambroos 23d ago

ljlolel 23d ago

[flagged]

glimshe 23d ago

If you adjust for inflation, is it a big change from the super cheap Mac Minis of the past? Probably still somewhat more expensive, but not as much as the nominal difference would imply.

petu 23d ago
Mac Mini M4 launched less than 2 years ago at $600 (US, $500 with edu discount; as low as $400 on general discounts). Now same config with M6 is $900.
- ex1fm3ta 23d ago
  same spec, same chip. I tought Apple would at least bump the RAM
  - simonh 23d ago
    You thought they'd bump the base RAM in the middle of the biggest RAM crisis in history?
    - drob518 23d ago
      Yea, that wasn’t going to happen.
    - ex1fm3ta 22d ago
      yep why not ? "Unified Memory" was always their favourite selling argument
      - airstrike 22d ago
        Because they would be throwing away margin for no real reason
- leoc 23d ago
  And except at the beginning, the Mac Minis of the past weren’t famous for being cheap, but rather for being disappointingly, unattractively expensive and, over time, apparently increasingly forgotten by Apple.
  - markdown 22d ago
    Actually they were famous for being tiny.
  - musicale 22d ago
    Mac minis from 2005-2024 launched with entry-level models priced from $499-$699, with the outliers being the 2018 model at $799: https://everymac.com/global-mac-prices/all-msrp-mac-mini-prices-in-united-states.html https://everymac.com/global-mac-prices/all-msrp-mac-mini-pri... Though $599 for the M4 in 2024 seems like a local optimum.
deleted 22d ago
[deleted]

what_hn 23d ago

[dead]

Dathuil 23d ago

When they discontinued the M4 with 16GB a few months ago I had literally just ordered one off Amazon which they promptly cancelled. It would have been 600 after exchange rate from GBP. I can't justify a more than 2x price increase for what I'm guessing are marginal improvements. I want to replace my home lab but as it stands my underpowered NAS will have to continue as it has the past few years

amelius 23d ago

> but at European prices of over €1000 for M6/16GB/256GB it's a psychological barrier that's been broken. We should be buying European solutions anyway. Different psychological barrier that was broken long before.

tiagod 23d ago
What's the European alternative to a Mac Mini?
- amelius 23d ago
  IMEC Mini. https://www.imec-int.com/en https://www.imec-int.com/en
  - htiawe 19d ago
    It runs MacOS? That is the main reason I buy Macs.

Jhyrachy 22d ago

No bro, >1000€ for 16/256 is a really bad deal

hypercube33 22d ago

I want a mini Neo for like $399 or whatever apple can muster. it could be the size of a deck of cards to boot.