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warpshield 44.9K Views
Aug 16, 2022 9:23 PM

Apple Mac Mini: M1, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD (Late 2020 Model)

$550

$700

21% off
+ Free Store Pickupat Micro Center
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Deal Details
Microcenter has Apple Mac Mini Compact Computer w/ Apple M1 Chip (Late 2020 Model, MGNR3LL/A) on sale for $549.99. Click the Reserve Now button on the product page and pick up at your local store.

Thanks to Community Member warpshield for finding this deal.

Specs:
  • Apple M1 Octa-Core Processor (4x high-performance + 4x high-efficiency)
  • 8-Core Integrated GPU
  • 8GB RAM (onboard)
  • 256GB Integrated NVMe PCIe Solid State Drive
  • 802.11ax WiFi 6 / Bluetooth 5.0
  • Ports:
    • 2x USB Type-A (USB 3.1 / USB 3.2 Gen 1)
    • 2x Thunderbolt 3 USB Type C (supports DisplayPort / HDMI / VGA & Power Delivery)
    • 1x HDMI 2.0 (output)
    • 1x 3.5 mm Headphone
    • 1x Ethernet

Editor's Notes

Written by persian_mafia | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • This price is $150 lower (21.43% savings) than the listed price of $699.99.
  • About this store:Additional Note:
    • Please refer to the Forum Thread for further discussion regarding this deal.

Original Post

Written by warpshield
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
Microcenter has Apple Mac Mini Compact Computer w/ Apple M1 Chip (Late 2020 Model, MGNR3LL/A) on sale for $549.99. Click the Reserve Now button on the product page and pick up at your local store.

Thanks to Community Member warpshield for finding this deal.

Specs:
  • Apple M1 Octa-Core Processor (4x high-performance + 4x high-efficiency)
  • 8-Core Integrated GPU
  • 8GB RAM (onboard)
  • 256GB Integrated NVMe PCIe Solid State Drive
  • 802.11ax WiFi 6 / Bluetooth 5.0
  • Ports:
    • 2x USB Type-A (USB 3.1 / USB 3.2 Gen 1)
    • 2x Thunderbolt 3 USB Type C (supports DisplayPort / HDMI / VGA & Power Delivery)
    • 1x HDMI 2.0 (output)
    • 1x 3.5 mm Headphone
    • 1x Ethernet

Editor's Notes

Written by persian_mafia | Staff
  • About this deal:
    • This price is $150 lower (21.43% savings) than the listed price of $699.99.
  • About this store:Additional Note:
    • Please refer to the Forum Thread for further discussion regarding this deal.

Original Post

Written by warpshield

Community Voting

Deal Score
+29
Good Deal
Visit Micro Center

Top Comments

APhamX
4.7KComments
766Reputation
I'm a software developer and I use this 8gb mac mini at home.

My swap (with 48 days of uptime) is 3-4GB. Just because it's in swap doesn't mean it's actively writing/reading from the swap.

Here's a graph of my swap over time, and ALSO how much swap reads and writes over the course of an hour.
https://imgur.com/a/AOK9lFg

Memory swap isn't bad.. It's like a tiered memory storage... It's only bad if it's actively trying to utilize the swap with read/writes, but it takes a lot of those to hurt the ssd.

This is with discord + vscode + spotify + chrome + occasional FT. 8gb M1 256gb.
​
Go to Comment
mrmochi
5.5KComments
654Reputation
I agree w/ you but to be fair most people (e.g. Mom & Dad) who buy this model will never notice the difference. M1 seems to use RAM more efficiently and it's blazing fast.
Go to Comment
evens0ng
276Comments
137Reputation
Only $20 more at Costco and more accessible for most people.
https://www.costco.com/mac-mini-%...94159.html

8GB on an M1 is not a problem at all, it is much more memory efficient than Windows PCs with 16GB+.

M2, based on how they are pricing the M2 MBAs are going to be $200 more. Not worth it for that minor bump.
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84 Comments

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Aug 18, 2022 3:25 PM
4.1K Comments
Joined Oct 2017

This comment has been rated as unhelpful by Slickdeals users.

Aug 18, 2022 3:28 PM
4.1K Comments
Joined Oct 2017

This comment has been rated as unhelpful by Slickdeals users.

Aug 18, 2022 3:57 PM
1.5K Comments
Joined Nov 2015
Doug5421Aug 18, 2022 3:57 PM
1.5K Comments
Very solid machine. Had great use from mine, but sold to find a MacBook Air m1. Hoping $750 deal comes back.
Aug 18, 2022 5:03 PM
266 Comments
Joined Nov 2016
fuzzycuffsAug 18, 2022 5:03 PM
266 Comments
Still an absolutely fantastic machine today for normal day-to-day stuff. I got two used for around $400 and I see no need to upgrade either for a long time.
Aug 18, 2022 6:14 PM
1.4K Comments
Joined Jan 2015
Deal_Hunter_XAug 18, 2022 6:14 PM
1.4K Comments
Quote from jmt553 View quoted comment :
8 gig memory? In 2022? 😑
8GB in M1 Mac mini VS 8GB in Windows Systems

There is a day and night difference.
1
Aug 18, 2022 6:43 PM
388 Comments
Joined Aug 2011
doughnetAug 18, 2022 6:43 PM
388 Comments
Anyone been able to get another store to price match?
Aug 18, 2022 11:06 PM
3 Comments
Joined Feb 2017
HasanA8010Aug 18, 2022 11:06 PM
3 Comments
Quote from mrmochi View quoted comment :
I agree w/ you but to be fair most people (e.g. Mom & Dad) who buy this model will never notice the difference. M1 seems to use RAM more efficiently and it's blazing fast.
Dude I edited an hr long 4K h.265 timeline with grade and nodes on resolve and it was somehow able to do it decently. Sure there was dropped frame here and there during playback but I am not a creator and have no time pressure. Everything else is super smooth.

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Aug 18, 2022 11:17 PM
4.7K Comments
Joined Nov 2010
APhamXAug 18, 2022 11:17 PM
4.7K Comments

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

Quote from roking888 View quoted comment :
the M1 Macs use MORE RAM than the Intel Macs did, straight up. I had a 6 core intel i5 Mac Mini 256gb with 8gb RAM, now I have this exact base model M1 256gb with 8gb RAM, I can tell you for sure the M1 uses memory swap SO MUCH MORE than the Intel did. I almost never saw my memory pressure go into yellow or any swap be used on the Intel, now I see it any time I open an intensive new tab on top of everything else I have running, which isn't a lot... If you care about avoiding swap to avoid the wear and tear on the SSD(please read about this known issue with M1) then DO NOT BELIEVE that 8gb is enough. I don't do much on the machine, either.... a couple firefox windows, less than 10 tabs total, spotify, messages, and task manager, that is all I run to be pushing it so. I am not saying this machine is not a good deal at $549, that is the price I bought it at and I think its a good deal, but be prepared for the memory swap.
I'm a software developer and I use this 8gb mac mini at home.

My swap (with 48 days of uptime) is 3-4GB. Just because it's in swap doesn't mean it's actively writing/reading from the swap.

Here's a graph of my swap over time, and ALSO how much swap reads and writes over the course of an hour.
https://imgur.com/a/AOK9lFg

Memory swap isn't bad.. It's like a tiered memory storage... It's only bad if it's actively trying to utilize the swap with read/writes, but it takes a lot of those to hurt the ssd.

This is with discord + vscode + spotify + chrome + occasional FT. 8gb M1 256gb.
​
3
Aug 19, 2022 4:58 AM
616 Comments
Joined May 2009
gordonyzAug 19, 2022 4:58 AM
616 Comments
Quote from APhamX View quoted comment :
I'm a software developer and I use this 8gb mac mini at home.

My swap (with 48 days of uptime) is 3-4GB. Just because it's in swap doesn't mean it's actively writing/reading from the swap.

Here's a graph of my swap over time, and ALSO how much swap reads and writes over the course of an hour.
https://imgur.com/a/AOK9lFg

Memory swap isn't bad.. It's like a tiered memory storage... It's only bad if it's actively trying to utilize the swap with read/writes, but it takes a lot of those to hurt the ssd.

This is with discord + vscode + spotify + chrome + occasional FT. 8gb M1 256gb.
​
good if you don't run docker containers. With 5-8 containers, 8GB free mem already necessary
2
Aug 19, 2022 5:24 AM
5.5K Comments
Joined Dec 2005
mrmochiAug 19, 2022 5:24 AM
5.5K Comments
Quote from gordonyz View quoted comment :
good if you don't run docker containers. With 5-8 containers, 8GB free mem already necessary
What kind of Docker containers are you running?
Aug 19, 2022 6:42 AM
828 Comments
Joined Jul 2021
YouDontNeedItAug 19, 2022 6:42 AM
828 Comments
Quote from Slindqui View quoted comment :
It's a good machine and 8 gigs is plenty for 70% of users. The way it uses RAM makes it more equivalent to 16 or even 24 on an intel (if you are video editing or do more intensive work, upgrade to 16).

That said, it's two years old and a M2 announcement is pretty likely (Oct. is my guess, though I've been wrong before). I'd say if you can wait, you should wait (that's what I'm doing).
Why do people keep repeating this?

Some people may not actually use more than 8GB but it is the same amount of bits no matter what. There is no magic that makes this 8GB "equivalent" to 16GB or more on some other platform.
4
Aug 19, 2022 6:48 AM
828 Comments
Joined Jul 2021

This comment has been rated as unhelpful by Slickdeals users.

Aug 19, 2022 12:31 PM
103 Comments
Joined Oct 2012
SmithMAug 19, 2022 12:31 PM
103 Comments
Quote from Slindqui View quoted comment :
It's a good machine and 8 gigs is plenty for 70% of users. The way it uses RAM makes it more equivalent to 16 or even 24 on an intel (if you are video editing or do more intensive work, upgrade to 16).

That said, it's two years old and a M2 announcement is pretty likely (Oct. is my guess, though I've been wrong before). I'd say if you can wait, you should wait (that's what I'm doing).
It took them how many years for the last Mini refresh?
1
Aug 19, 2022 12:55 PM
494 Comments
Joined Feb 2010
PythonzAug 19, 2022 12:55 PM
494 Comments
Quote from mrmochi View quoted comment :
WAIT 22 days! New Mac Mini with M2 expected on Sept 7! My Mac mini 2012 is running on 10 years old now this october so I am really looking forward to going all out.
They're probably just going to do the same thing they did with the M2 Air and raise the price of the new Minis rather than drop the price of the old.
1

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Aug 19, 2022 2:10 PM
498 Comments
Joined Jul 2022
PineconeheadAug 19, 2022 2:10 PM
498 Comments
8gb ram is crap but this is a pretty decent price. You can even make it portable with a portable monitor
3

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