Is the base Mac Mini (8/256) enough for a basic user

[rdza]

Hello,

I know it is not the first time someone asks this question but honestly I still have doubts whether this computer would be enough for me as I keep hearing different opinions.

Context: I will be using the Mac Mini for browsing, office, multimedia and emails basically. I do not game or edit and I come from such an old device from 2010 with 4GB meaning this should be day and night.

That said, I will be using it almost daily for a few hours and I would like if it lasts for 5 years minimum. Should I go for 16gb instead? I am already getting an Iphone 15 pro and I am not trying to be cheap (as if theres anything cheap with Apple lol) but I would not like to spend extra money.

Looking forward to hear you opinion guys, my current PC is barely working anymore and I need it soon. Thanks y'all.

 

[macuros]

Yes, save your money. You can read more here: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ro-version-real-life-user-experience.2403061/

 

[meson]

That's a perfect machine for your work and will be up to the task for a very long time.

 

[TechRunner]

I have a similar set of uses for my base 8/256 M1 Mini along with light photo editing and Scrivener, and I'm over three years in (purchased November 2020) with no issues or noticeable slowdowns. I expected to get 3-4 years out of it before it slowed enough to be replaced, and it will likely beat that with ease. An M2 Mini should be even faster. Go for it.

 

[Kenny99]

I plan for a 5 yr. cycle of upgrades on my equipment. I choose the most Memory and speed that I can afford. Storage can always be added with external drives. I keep my little used files (Video, Music, and Manuals) on USB thumb drives connected with a USB Switch. All 3.1 Gen 2 10Gb.

My current M1 mini 2020 is a refurbished one from Apple. (More bang for my $ than a New one with less memory and storage)(16 Gb Unified memory, 1T SSD1 storage, 8 core CPU) Bought in early 2021 and have had No problems with it running or updating it to the latest OS. (Betas) Check the Spec's. and understand that this is the Maxine that you can expect from the unit, (Video, and connection speeds).

i am watching the M3's but so far they aren't out preforming the M2's enough to warrant the extra $. Maybe by 2025 things will be different.

 

[steve217]

I have the exact same use case for the exact same mini.

I bought it refurbished in Nov 2021 and have not had a moments regret nor ever wished it were faster.

One additional thing I do is encode old movie/tv shows via handbrake and it’s been fantastic for that.

 

[tacman7]

I bought a plain jane M1 mini couple of years ago and then an M2 mini last year.

The M1 to run my UAD solo and the M2 for the Antelope Audio Zen Go interface.

I record into Studio One on both machines. Latency is effectively real time.

I was running my security camera's with the M1 for a while. No problems.

I run Luminare Neo on the M2 and it's snappy.

So anyway, they've handled anything I could throw at them and a lot snappier than my Windows machine.

Never had any errors or memory shortage or anything like that.

I'm very careful with them and they are not my only machine, I split up the computing.

The windows machine has instrument libraries and I just record audio on the mac.

I use a usb drive to run programs without problems.

 

[djc6]

I replaced my parent's 21.5" Late 2013 iMac (upgraded with an SSD) a while back to an M2 Mac Mini base model 8GB/256GB when it was on sale for $499.

Its been great, its noticeably faster and no problems with Chrome browsing, Microsoft Office, Mail.app, tax software, Photos, etc - usual productivity stuff. They somehow still have 180GB free

 

[jouster]

Same use case; same mini. It has been fine for me. I already had my photos on a fast SSD. The mini accesses them very quickly through Thunderbolt, so no need to pay Apple's storage prices.

I got mine for $499 through the .edu discount.

I'm very happy with it and, accidents notwithstanding, have no plans to upgrade for years.

 

[yellowhelicopter]

I'm still pretty satisfied with my 8/256 M1. It's fast, cool, and silent. More than enough for general computing.... except the 256GB of storage. But the latter is easily solvable by adding an external SSD drive. It's even decent for many modern games.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

It looks likely based on your (OP) post. However, unlike past (Intel) Macs, you have to consider beyond the immediate. If you can say that you don't expect your needs to evolve into more computing-intense stuff for life of device (which- for you- appears to mean up to 12-14 years from now- 2036-2038), then you should be fine. Unlike the 2010 one, you can't crack a Silicon Mac open to add more RAM or internal storage later.

So if you are buying for 12 more years, you need to think about not NOW but maybe 7-14 years from now. Or assume you will be buying another Mac much sooner than this hop.

Two other considerations: nothing you are describing isn't reasonably easy to do on an iPad. Maybe iPad + bluetooth keyboard case for a laptop-like iPad setup?

You can also do all of those basics very easily on a PC... where margins are much lower than Apple's and thus the bulk of the money you spend is going towards what you are buying instead of a massive slice of it being dumped into vault #67. iPhone 15 can work nicely for PC owners too. With this option, you could either get much more computer for the same money, or spend a lot less money. And that computer would very likely offer easy & cost-friendly ways to evolve key internal parts such as (adding) RAM should your needs evolve in the next 7-14 years.

 

[MacDaddyPanda]

No. 16GB of Ram should be the bare min. I bought into the rhetoric. So I bought MBA M2 with 8GB/256GB. The Macbook Air M2 8GB constantly goes into yellow and swap file if I use it like I do my macbook pro m3 pro or mac mini m2. Neither of the latter ever hit swap or go into yellow when I use those systems. But whenever I use my MBA M2 it always hits yellow. And all I'm doing is 2-3 browsers open with multiple tabs, sometimes Apple Music, Email client, messages. Nothing remotely heavy.
Now will that cause any premature failure of the SSD? probably not within the lifetime of the system. And I certainly won't keep it longer than 3-4 yrs. I usually refresh systems every 2-5 yrs depending on how I use them.

 

[iHorseHead]

Yes, 8GB of RAM is enough. I've been using M1 MacBook Air since it was first released and I use Xcode, Edge, Safari (6 tabs currently open) , Mail, SurfShark, textedit, notes, Messages app opened and have no issues at all.
Before that I used MacBook Pro mid 2010 with 8GB of RAM and it was fine as well. I used it for ten years.

I'd always go for the base Mac models, considering how much Apple charges for RAM, storage and if your Mac becomes unsupported it hasn't mattered in the past how much ram you have and Apple can drop a support for your Mac at any given time.

Luke Miani also made a video about it and I agree with him. Always go for the base model. Especially if you're an average user. I use Xcode, simulator etc daily and I'm just doing fine.

I haven't trusted Apple since I bought a MacBook Early 2008 and spent so much extra money to get 4GB of RAM instead of 1GB and after Lion they just dropped the support. The machine was 4 years old when the support was dropped.

With 16GB of RAM model I could get a PC that has 64GB of RAM etc… I'd recommend a refurbished Mac, in order to save money.

Also, it might be just me, but I have way more issues with the storage than the RAM. So an external hard drive will be probably needed to store your data.

 

[sers]

Absolutely. I have a 2018 intel i3 Mac Mini with 8gb and a 128gb SSD and am still using it. My computer needs are basic as I don't edit video or photos; just general use computing. I can even upgrade the memory on my Mini if I want to, but haven't had to (on the M2, obviously, you can't). I do find the 128gb insufficient so I have a 2tb external drive connected to store videos, photos, spreadsheets, etc.

It's still running strong, is super quiet and have no need to upgrade. Also, it runs Mac OS Sonoma like a top. When this kicks the bucket I'll most likely get the latest Mac Mini to replace it. It's been a great desktop computer.

 

[justmadeupname]

Absolutely. I have a 2018 intel i3 Mac Mini with 8gb and a 128gb SSD and am still using it. My computer needs are basic as I don't edit video or photos; just general use computing. I can even upgrade the memory on my Mini if I want to, but haven't had to (on the M2, obviously, you can't). I do find the 128gb insufficient so I have a 2tb external drive connected to store videos, photos, spreadsheets, etc.

It's still running strong, is super quiet and have no need to upgrade. Also, it runs Mac OS Sonoma like a top. When this kicks the bucket I'll most likely get the latest Mac Mini to replace it. It's been a great desktop computer.

What monitor do you use with the Mini?

I have a MacBook Air 2015 connected to a el-cheapo Lenova 21.5 1080p HDMI monitor with the MacBook in clamshell mode. The fans often kicked in on certain websites, so I wonder if your Mini is quiet when browsing the internet.

 

[bradman83]

Hello,

I know it is not the first time someone asks this question but honestly I still have doubts whether this computer would be enough for me as I keep hearing different opinions.

Context: I will be using the Mac Mini for browsing, office, multimedia and emails basically. I do not game or edit and I come from such an old device from 2010 with 4GB meaning this should be day and night.

That said, I will be using it almost daily for a few hours and I would like if it lasts for 5 years minimum. Should I go for 16gb instead? I am already getting an Iphone 15 pro and I am not trying to be cheap (as if theres anything cheap with Apple lol) but I would not like to spend extra money.

Looking forward to hear you opinion guys, my current PC is barely working anymore and I need it soon. Thanks y'all.

My prior laptop was a 2018 13" Intel MBP with an i5 and 8GB of RAM. I'm an photography hobbyist who does a lot of raw processing in heavyweight apps like Lightroom and Photoshop. That machine was fine for me. I used Parallels to run Windows to play some lightweight games. The machine was fine.

8GB will be fine for your use case. Just make sure to not go crazy with multitasking. Close browser tabs and apps when you're not using them. Reboot if not nightly then every few days - this clears out some of the RAM caching the system builds up. But there's no reason why you can't have a few browser tabs going while having an Excel workbook open to do your budget or whatever and listening to Apple Music or Spotify in the background. 8GB is fine for that!

 

[MBAir2010]

yes
yes
and yes

wanna know why?

 

[sers]

What monitor do you use with the Mini?

I have a MacBook Air 2015 connected to a el-cheapo Lenova 21.5 1080p HDMI monitor with the MacBook in clamshell mode. The fans often kicked in on certain websites, so I wonder if your Mini is quiet when browsing the internet.

I’ve got it hooked up to a 27” Apple Cinema Display. Fans never come on when browsing the web.

 

[rdza]

Thank you guys for the replies.I am convinced now that the base model is enough for me.

That said, I am having doubts now about if my monitor will be good for the MM. I have the Asus VG27AQZ 2K IPS monitor. Will this be good for the Mac mini?

If not, I am thinking about selling the monitor and keyboard etc and go for the imac m3 since I rather have it all in one. How does the iMac m3 compare with the mini mac m2? It would cost me around 600 more.I don't know if it would be smart or not.

 

[MasterHowl]

Yes. I have a base model M1 MacBook Air (8 GB RAM). I use it for admin in the house and when I travel. Suits my need perfectly. Save your money and enjoy your new machine 😊

 

[EdwardC]

Thank you guys for the replies.I am convinced now that the base model is enough for me.

That said, I am having doubts now about if my monitor will be good for the MM. I have the Asus VG27AQZ 2K IPS monitor. Will this be good for the Mac mini?

If not, I am thinking about selling the monitor and keyboard etc and go for the imac m3 since I rather have it all in one. How does the iMac m3 compare with the mini mac m2? It would cost me around 600 more.I don't know if it would be smart or not.

Your 2K may not look too bad. I use a 4K and am extremely pleased with it coming from a 1080P (Macs look like total crap on those).

 

[rdza]

Your 2K may not look too bad. I use a 4K and am extremely pleased with it coming from a 1080P (Macs look like total crap on those).

Do you think I should sell it and spend a bit more for a imac m3

I'm concerned about the monitor now

 

[macuros]

I have a Mac Mini M2 with an Apple Studio monitor. I would recommend it. This monitor is just beautiful. It is not cheap, but it is worth it. But I am coming from iMac 5k, so I am used to 5k monitor. I don't think can I ever go to anything smaller in resolution.

Apple Studio is 27", iMac M3 is 24". It depends on what you want. The new iMac is not that small and might be good enough for your needs.

But with Mac Mini and an external monitor you get the flexibility. I was on iMac before, but now I am extremely happy with the setup I have now. The initial cost is a bit higher, but later it will be better. I will just change the Mac Mini for the newest model that year. Apple Studio monitor is more than enough for me.

 

[rdza]

I have a Mac Mini M2 with an Apple Studio monitor. I would recommend it. This monitor is just beautiful. It is not cheap, but it is worth it. But I am coming from iMac 5k, so I am used to 5k monitor. I don't think can I ever go to anything smaller in resolution.

Apple Studio is 27", iMac M3 is 24". It depends on what you want. The new iMac is not that small and might be good enough for your needs.

But with Mac Mini and an external monitor you get the flexibility. I was on iMac before, but now I am extremely happy with the setup I have now. The initial cost is a bit higher, but later it will be better. I will just change the Mac Mini for the newest model that year. Apple Studio monitor is more than enough for me.

Thank you. Sadly that display is out of pocket for me. Is there any differences between the base model of the imac m3 vs mm m2?

I'm confused atm but I'm inclined to getting the imac m3 or just wait for the MM m3

 

[Apple_Robert]

The base model is fine for the average user, despite what many here say.