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kardiackidneykids 192K Views
May 11, 2021 7:52 AM

Costco Members: Apple Mac mini (Late 2020): M1 CPU w/ 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD

$600

$670

10% off
+ Free Shippingat Costco Wholesale
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Deal Details
Costco Wholesale has for its Members: Apple Mac mini w/ Apple M1 Chip (MGNR3LL/A, Late 2020) on sale for $599.99. Shipping is free.

Thanks to community member kardiackidneykids for finding this deal.

Specs:
  • Apple M1 Chip 8-core CPU (4 performance cores & 4 efficiency cores)
  • 8GB Unified Memory
  • 256GB Solid State Drive
  • 8-core GPU
  • 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 & Bluetooth 5.0
  • macOS Big Sur
  • Ports:
    • 2x Thunderbolt / USB 4
    • 2x USB A
    • 1x HDMI 2
    • 1x Gigabit Ethernet Port
    • 1x 3.5 mm Headphone Jack

Editor's Notes

Written by qwikwit | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • Price matches this Frontpage Deal from February that received +161 votes from the community.
  • Ratings/Reviews:
    • PC Mag gives the new Mac mini a 4.5/5 (excellent) rating
      • "With a new lower starting price and Apple's straining-at-the-leash M1 CPU, the Mac mini is far and away the most polished, potent tiny desktop in its class."

Original Post

Written by kardiackidneykids
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
Costco Wholesale has for its Members: Apple Mac mini w/ Apple M1 Chip (MGNR3LL/A, Late 2020) on sale for $599.99. Shipping is free.

Thanks to community member kardiackidneykids for finding this deal.

Specs:
  • Apple M1 Chip 8-core CPU (4 performance cores & 4 efficiency cores)
  • 8GB Unified Memory
  • 256GB Solid State Drive
  • 8-core GPU
  • 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 & Bluetooth 5.0
  • macOS Big Sur
  • Ports:
    • 2x Thunderbolt / USB 4
    • 2x USB A
    • 1x HDMI 2
    • 1x Gigabit Ethernet Port
    • 1x 3.5 mm Headphone Jack

Editor's Notes

Written by qwikwit | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • Price matches this Frontpage Deal from February that received +161 votes from the community.
  • Ratings/Reviews:
    • PC Mag gives the new Mac mini a 4.5/5 (excellent) rating
      • "With a new lower starting price and Apple's straining-at-the-leash M1 CPU, the Mac mini is far and away the most polished, potent tiny desktop in its class."

Original Post

Written by kardiackidneykids

Community Voting

Deal Score
+174
Good Deal
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Top Comments

chumtastic
141Comments
59Reputation
After reading all the discussions about ram amount, I'm just curious how many browser tabs people keep open at a time during a typical day.

POLL
How many browser tabs do you keep open?

"Like" for 10 or less
"Funny" for 11 to 20
"Helpful" for 21 and above
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LarrySW
54Comments
22Reputation
The ones who have actually used them personally say 8 is enough for most people.

The ones who have never used it and are just guessing say it isn't enough.
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MrSkeptic
14.5KComments
3.8KReputation
Another very expensive problem with today's Apple. Prior to 2016, you could buy a computer and later upgrade it by adding more RAM or storage later once your needs change. My daily driver is a mid 2012 MBPro. I've doubled the RAM and added a SSD over the years.

Now, everything is soldered, so upgrades are impossible. To get 16 or 32 MB of RAM or a bigger SSD, you need to pay 3 times the price up front of what upgrades would cost for the same configuration, even if you don't realize the need now.

No thanks, Apple.
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451 Comments

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May 11, 2021 5:02 PM
791 Comments
Joined Oct 2013
MatrixClawMay 11, 2021 5:02 PM
791 Comments

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank

Quote from JohnCena1337 View quoted comment :
whether or not you need 16gb depends on the applications you're running. there are several instances in photoshop where having 16gb will give you significant performance. if you're a casual web browser, document writer, or coder, you can get away with 8gb
Depends what you're coding, I guess. I have an M1 MBP with 16GB of RAM and I can run out of RAM pretty quick depending on the task. That said, the processor is a beast and cooling on this machine is 10,000x better than the other MBPs. The problem with buying 8GB is you can't upgrade it if it does become a.problem. You just essentially bought a $600+ paperweight. If you're buying Mac you should always upgrade to more than you think you'll need otherwise you have to buy another machine all together, which is way more expensive than spending $200 more on RAM from the beginning.
Last edited by MatrixClaw May 11, 2021 at 10:07 AM.
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3
May 11, 2021 5:03 PM
40 Comments
Joined Dec 2014
rajeshreddypMay 11, 2021 5:03 PM
40 Comments
Quote from AaronA7627 View quoted comment :
I thought that $100 off expired on 5/7?
Yes they did expire. I used mine on M1 IPad Pro on the day of expiry. Not sure if some members got it with a different expiry date.
May 11, 2021 5:04 PM
439 Comments
Joined Aug 2011
CLBrian68May 11, 2021 5:04 PM
439 Comments
I have an M1 mini and MacBook Air and both are fantastic devices. Both have 8gb of RAM and are completely fine with anything I've thrown at them. The swap memory issue is way overblown. I do 4k video editing with FilmoraX and it works great on both machines. Also have a Plex server doing tons of transcoding and no issues at all. The M1s really are amazing.
1
May 11, 2021 5:06 PM
54 Comments
Joined May 2021
LarrySWMay 11, 2021 5:06 PM
54 Comments
Quote from CLBrian68 View quoted comment :
I have an M1 mini and MacBook Air and both are fantastic devices. Both have 8gb of RAM and are completely fine with anything I've thrown at them. The swap memory issue is way overblown. I do 4k video editing with FilmoraX and it works great on both machines. Also have a Plex server doing tons of transcoding and no issues at all. The M1s really are amazing.
Anyone that uses it can attest to this. It is the people who have never tried one or even researched one who make assumptions about the RAM.
2
May 11, 2021 5:06 PM
139 Comments
Joined May 2018
Stynkfysh2May 11, 2021 5:06 PM
139 Comments
Quote from GizmoDVD View quoted comment :
M1 isn't heavily reliant on RAM like many think. 8GB is pretty damn good
As someone who has owned both, the tech reviewers online are bunk. They are doing single simple tasks that are not representative of real world for a large number of people. I got the beach ball all the time with the 8gb.16gb on the other hand, has worked wonderfully.
4
May 11, 2021 5:08 PM
54 Comments
Joined May 2021
LarrySWMay 11, 2021 5:08 PM
54 Comments
Quote from ajikan View quoted comment :
if you have multiple monitors
Multiple monitors do not really have an effect on RAM. As far as RAM is concerned, it is the same thing if 3 applications are open on 1 monitor or 2 monitors.
May 11, 2021 5:09 PM
54 Comments
Joined May 2021
LarrySWMay 11, 2021 5:09 PM
54 Comments
Quote from Stynkfysh2 View quoted comment :
As someone who has owned both, the tech reviewers online are bunk. They are doing single simple tasks that are not representative of real world for a large number of people. I got the beach ball all the time with the 8gb.16gb on the other hand, has worked wonderfully.
Not sure which videos you watched, but I saw plenty where they did more intensive things. I personally have used both an 8 and 16 GB version of M1 and have not noticed a useful reason to upgrade to 16. I've had both machines since it launched months ago.
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May 11, 2021 5:18 PM
635 Comments
Joined Nov 2016

This comment has been rated as unhelpful by Slickdeals users.

May 11, 2021 5:20 PM
1.6K Comments
Joined Nov 2006
ReturnToSenderMay 11, 2021 5:20 PM
1.6K Comments
Quote from cheaposale View quoted comment :
At $499 (using $100 off $500), this would be an awesome deal. Will consider buying it.
But can we get that coupon now?
May 11, 2021 5:22 PM
3.7K Comments
Joined Nov 2012
WingsOfFMay 11, 2021 5:22 PM
3.7K Comments

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank

Quote from GizmoDVD View quoted comment :
M1 isn't heavily reliant on RAM like many think. 8GB is pretty damn good
This is a myth perpetuated by the Apple cult that want to justify their God's limitation. Smilie

I had the Mac Mini M1 for a while and the machine actually uses more memory than an exact side by side on running on an Intel. I had a 16GB Mac mini amd it easily went over 8GB for anything but casual use (for which an M1 would be an overkill).

The SSD in the Mac Mini also gets bogged down in sustained Read and Write and so despite the M1 being a great chip, takes more to do some types of processing.

You can check my posts timeline for several direct side by side tests I posted earlier of exact same configuration. Not vested for or against Apple, have ben using Apple stuff for decades but they ain't perfect and their business model as a consumer sucks.

Never buy first generation of a an Apple product and if you must, don't buy the cheapest configuration. This has bit me far too many times.

The rate and early timing at which they are discounting this platform suggests that it isn't selling well or they are clearing out for the M2 introduction. Both reasons to wait unless you must have one now.
1
3
May 11, 2021 5:22 PM
30 Comments
Joined Oct 2013
incherMay 11, 2021 5:22 PM
30 Comments
Quote from abugli View quoted comment :
Very likely that this will only have 8gb of RAM, which might or might not be enough considering it is M1. There have been googlable discussions on 8gb not being enough for M1, causing SSD to wear more than usual

edit1 problem: https://bartechtv.com/m1-mac-ssd-...t-appears/
edit2 likely cause and "fix": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyMCoQmsv-I
Yes I tried 8GB RAM and returned it as it cannot be upgraded !!! It felt slow for very normal use of browsing, YouTube, Netflix as such. I was not running any resource intensive applications! Not sure why did they make 8GB RAM Model at all.
May 11, 2021 5:26 PM
3.7K Comments
Joined Nov 2012
WingsOfFMay 11, 2021 5:26 PM
3.7K Comments
Quote from LarrySW View quoted comment :
Multiple monitors do not really have an effect on RAM. As far as RAM is concerned, it is the same thing if 3 applications are open on 1 monitor or 2 monitors.
Yes and no. There is more video memory required with dual monitors (just depends on the total pixel real estate in use) over a single of the same resolution and if the machine shares video memory with ram used for prcessing then that comes out of the same RAM present.
Last edited by WingsOfF May 11, 2021 at 10:31 AM.
May 11, 2021 5:27 PM
195 Comments
Joined Oct 2018
randomuser29May 11, 2021 5:27 PM
195 Comments
Rumours are that Apple likely to introduce more powerfull new Mac Mini with M1X processors in WWDC event on June 7. Expected starting price around $999
May 11, 2021 5:30 PM
3.7K Comments
Joined Nov 2012
WingsOfFMay 11, 2021 5:30 PM
3.7K Comments
Quote from MatrixClaw View quoted comment :
Depends what you're coding, I guess. I have an M1 MBP with 16GB of RAM and I can run out of RAM pretty quick depending on the task. That said, the processor is a beast and cooling on this machine is 10,000x better than the other MBPs. The problem with buying 8GB is you can't upgrade it if it does become a.problem. You just essentially bought a $600+ paperweight. If you're buying Mac you should always upgrade to more than you think you'll need otherwise you have to buy another machine all together, which is way more expensive than spending $200 more on RAM from the beginning.
I agree. Apple always gives you the choice between a cheaper constrained machine that will hit limits easily and an overpriced upgrade that is an overkill for most. All their products work this way. That strategy has made them billions.
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May 11, 2021 5:30 PM
150 Comments
Joined Jun 2014
GiovanniO5288May 11, 2021 5:30 PM
150 Comments
I had the 8gb Mac mini and the ram was an issue. It does some sort of caching to the ssd which is great if you want to keep a lot of things open but not actually use them all at once. When you're actually using more than 8gb, the whole thing slows to a crawl. For my use case, I needed more.

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