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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
Go to Comment
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.
Go to Comment
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 12, 2021 2:31 PM
261 Comments
Joined Sep 2019
HonestCalendar3030May 12, 2021 2:31 PM
261 Comments
Quote from LarrySW View quoted comment :
Based on what? Did a similar huge price drop happen with the previous gen?
It did not... he's spewing nonsense
May 12, 2021 3:10 PM
242 Comments
Joined Nov 2019
LinkavichChimovskyMay 12, 2021 3:10 PM
242 Comments
Let's contribute to the worsening chip shortage, yay.
1
May 12, 2021 3:11 PM
304 Comments
Joined Dec 2013
rawburpMay 12, 2021 3:11 PM
304 Comments
Quote from LarrySW View quoted comment :
I have real world experience using 8 and 16 on the M1, but keep assuming
You are guessing how much RAM a person needs. Learn to read.
1
May 12, 2021 4:01 PM
55 Comments
Joined Sep 2018
Anton9108May 12, 2021 4:01 PM
55 Comments
Quote from glenatuf View quoted comment :
Omg the ram discussion on every M1 thread. Jesus I hope Apple makes the base 16GB next round just to stop the constant whining
It will be 16 vs 32 whining 😬
1
May 12, 2021 4:09 PM
431 Comments
Joined Jun 2013
haysouseMay 12, 2021 4:09 PM
431 Comments
Quote from cheaposale View quoted comment :
At $499 (using $100 off $500), this would be an awesome deal. Will consider buying it.
Compared to PC's, it's an awesome deal at regular price for general usage.
May 12, 2021 4:14 PM
834 Comments
Joined Nov 2014
stacks3000May 12, 2021 4:14 PM
834 Comments

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

I really wouldn't consider this if you do mission critical work. As of right now, I would consider this a beta product. They are faster on benchmarks than a lot of the competition (Intel) but new tech has tradeoffs.
The m1 chips obviously have problems, as most gen 1 tech does. It would be smarter to wait for Apple to fix (at least some) of the problems with these before jumping on the bandwagon. The technology looks promising but it's far from a refined product on both the hardware and software front.

Known problems
-- ssd wearout from overwriting
-- bluetooth stack issues
-- performance issues due to low ram
-- USB issues
-- non-native apps


Solutions
Increase RAM don't consider the 8GB ram version
Increase SSD size to minimize overwriting


No solution for the bluetooth stack issues. Maybe they can patch it but that's too unreliable

USB is known to have issues regardless of the platform. Not every device plays friendly with every other device.

Native apps will pop up more and more as the platform develops. This should autocorrect as the platform gains more users/developers.

***I haven't seen Apple openly address any of these problems or even say a fix is on the way.

I would look for larger amounts of RAM and SSD storage on the next iteration, USB4 and/or thunderbolt 4, as well as an updated bluetooth chip. If they don't address the problems at the hardware level then I would sit out until they do.
2
2
Pro
May 12, 2021 4:14 PM
7.7K Comments
Joined Nov 2017
Slick_Drone
Pro
May 12, 2021 4:14 PM
7.7K Comments
Quote from haysouse View quoted comment :
Compared to PC's, it's an awesome deal at regular price for general usage.
LMAO

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May 12, 2021 4:30 PM
506 Comments
Joined Feb 2016
JohnCena1337May 12, 2021 4:30 PM
506 Comments
there are instances in photoshop where the 16gb version would give you twice the performance over 8gb, but in the end of the day, the 8gb version can still do everything that the 16gb version can do; just slower.

if you know you need more than 8gb, buy 16gb
if you are a professional, buy 16gb
if you are a casual user who may occasionally do some intensive stuff, buy 8gb
1
May 12, 2021 4:37 PM
506 Comments
Joined Feb 2016
JohnCena1337May 12, 2021 4:37 PM
506 Comments
Quote from GooG6695 View quoted comment :
idk what is so funny. the m1 chip is as fast as a ryzen 3600 + 1050ti with extremely fast RAM and only uses a small fraction of the wattage
May 12, 2021 4:39 PM
147 Comments
Joined Apr 2013
MatthewV1453May 12, 2021 4:39 PM
147 Comments
I have always always always been a windows guy. I had a mac before. Didn't like it as I just preferred how windows operated.

However the tech nerd in me wanted to try the M1 Mac. I also really wanted iMessage and airdrop to easily transfer documents from my phone to laptop. When my laptop I use for work broke, I picked up the lowest end model M1 air from Costco fully expecting to return it and I have been blown away at its speed and reliability. I REALLY wanted the 16gb model but the deals at Costco were enough to make me want to try the Mac, if I thought it needed more ram or didn't meet my needs I could return it, but I won't be returning it. 8gb of ram has been performing really well.

I mainly use outlook, excel, iMessage, dropbox, and chrome with 10 or so tabs open.

My suggestion if you are on the fence, try 8gb and if return it if the performance won't meet your needs.
May 12, 2021 4:48 PM
205 Comments
Joined Mar 2016
dhval29May 12, 2021 4:48 PM
205 Comments
This or MacBook Air when and if it get discounted. I think Mac mini could have been much smaller apple choose to use big chassis. With a laptop screen I can plug it for some work while feeding my kids. It may be just 200$ difference between the two when there is similar deal for m1 MBA.
Last edited by dhval29 May 12, 2021 at 01:05 PM.
May 12, 2021 5:15 PM
806 Comments
Joined Jun 2013
Bouncy_FurbalMay 12, 2021 5:15 PM
806 Comments
Quote from SmilingHorn3826 View quoted comment :
Right, but I think as far as future-proofing, 16gb will be a better bet. I got my macbook in 2013 when 4gb RAM was considered "pretty damn good" and even tho it still works great now, I do wish I had spent a bit more at the time to get 8gb, esp bc I cant add memory now. Likewise in this case, I'd say getting 16gb will just help keep the machine working well for years to come.
8gb should be fine on this for users who treat it like you would a chromebook, or use it for general office items with small spreadsheets.

I had hundreds of GB's written to my SSD withing the first week on a 8gb mini from using chrome and LARGE excel sheets.

Definently get the 16 if you even think you will work with any large items since the SSD is not replaceable

My mini did have bluetooth issues pairing to numorous mice/keyboards. My MBA did not
Last edited by Bouncy_Furbal May 12, 2021 at 10:18 AM.
1
May 12, 2021 8:07 PM
1K Comments
Joined May 2010
bikerbanditoMay 12, 2021 8:07 PM
1K Comments
Any video editors or 3D people out there using FCPX, AE, Blender on this machine? Curious how it handles rendering...I'm using a MBP that is almost 7 years old.
May 12, 2021 8:41 PM
592 Comments
Joined Apr 2013
AaronA7627May 12, 2021 8:41 PM
592 Comments
Quote from MatthewV1453 View quoted comment :
I have always always always been a windows guy. I had a mac before. Didn't like it as I just preferred how windows operated.

However the tech nerd in me wanted to try the M1 Mac. I also really wanted iMessage and airdrop to easily transfer documents from my phone to laptop. When my laptop I use for work broke, I picked up the lowest end model M1 air from Costco fully expecting to return it and I have been blown away at its speed and reliability. I REALLY wanted the 16gb model but the deals at Costco were enough to make me want to try the Mac, if I thought it needed more ram or didn't meet my needs I could return it, but I won't be returning it. 8gb of ram has been performing really well.

I mainly use outlook, excel, iMessage, dropbox, and chrome with 10 or so tabs open.

My suggestion if you are on the fence, try 8gb and if return it if the performance won't meet your needs.
Almost mirrors my experience. The 8GB was surprisingly snappy
2

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May 12, 2021 10:54 PM
139 Comments
Joined May 2018
Stynkfysh2May 12, 2021 10:54 PM
139 Comments
Quote from LarrySW View quoted comment :
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.
Pretty much all the top ones. They may disclaim needing more RAM in certain situations, but their basis for that is from limited use. I got the beach ball often on 8GB and hardly at all on 16GB, and it's just plain way snappier even without the beach ball showing up. Glad 8GB works for you though…
¯\(ツ)/¯
3

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