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

pacmantech

Mar 05, 2023 12:47 PM

426 Posts

Joined Nov 2006

pacmantechMar 05, 2023 12:47 PM

426 Posts

I run my M1 mini as a Plex media server and some other home servers/storage tasks. It is a great machine. No brained for $400. You'll get lots of years and good performance from this model mini.

4

narey

Mar 05, 2023 01:06 PM

18 Posts

Joined Nov 2015

nareyMar 05, 2023 01:06 PM

18 Posts

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

The base M2 with 256 gigs and the upgraded one to 512 gigs have 1 SSD NAND module. While that has an impact in Read/Write operations involving large files, most users wouldn't notice it since their computing needs wouldn't involve that type of workflow.

IMO, other than CPU/GPU speeds, one area where M2 stands out is WiFi 6e. WiFi 6e has a dedicated 6GHz band that wouldn't crowd on your existing devices. If future proofing is a priority, spending at least an extra $100 will be a wise investment.

3

1

MxChris

Mar 05, 2023 01:22 PM

2,084 Posts

Joined Nov 2006

MxChrisMar 05, 2023 01:22 PM

2,084 Posts

Quote from TokenSid

:

So people don't want to do hackintoshes anymore?

There's not really even a need for that anymore, I just run MAC OS on a VM and have it on a second screen.

1

spec2

Mar 05, 2023 01:38 PM

1,150 Posts

Joined Feb 2009

spec2Mar 05, 2023 01:38 PM

1,150 Posts

Quote from kevinaaa

:

M2 get 2 more years of MacOS update from apple

To be honest, I'm not sure how big a deal that is anymore. Both of my M1 variant Macs are still on Monterey. I have zero need or desire to upgrade to Ventura. We'll see what OS 14 brings. At this stage of Mac OS, my priority is on stability not feature enhancements.

I also have a 2012 Mac mini as my Media Server that is on Big Sur (I don't upgrade it to Monterey since it's the only Intel Mac I have and also still capable of running older 32bit apps). It works fine communicating with my other Macs, iOS devices, and AirPlay 2 devices (speakers, A/V receivers, TVs). Apple still pushes out security updates for older OSes.

Last edited by spec2 March 5, 2023 at 06:40 AM.

1

dukeblue219

Mar 05, 2023 01:38 PM

1,215 Posts

Joined Jun 2008

dukeblue219Mar 05, 2023 01:38 PM

1,215 Posts

Quote from JeffJ9000

:

Apple computers are as is. There is no upgrading them later. It's more anti consumer behavior.

99.9% of the population was never upgrading their computer anyway. There are legitimate performance gains from having the whole computer integrated onto one board or even one chip. I'm not even an Apple user, but I get it, and it's going to be like that everywhere before long.

4

dukeblue219

Mar 05, 2023 01:39 PM

1,215 Posts

Joined Jun 2008

dukeblue219Mar 05, 2023 01:39 PM

1,215 Posts

Quote from GreenIdea3316

:

yea, this thing is underpowered on RAM if you do anything on it like multi-tasking, opening multiple apps, windows, etc. I got a Mac Studio and yea its a lot more money but very happy with it. most people are not going to be happy with this unless they do virtually nothing on it.

Have you actually used an 8Gb M1?

10

J3ff

Mar 05, 2023 01:43 PM

4,840 Posts

Joined Nov 2009

J3ffMar 05, 2023 01:43 PM

4,840 Posts

Quote from chi

:

There's a slow SSD controversy on the M2 base models. The M1 base models have 2 SSDs while the M2 base models have only 1 SSD so there can be data bottlenecks.

https://youtu.be/bF_Lbdqfowo

This is fixed with a Thunderbolt 4 housing and a NVMe drive... which seems to be 2tb for 100 bucks as the rate right now...

I would go base M2 + 2tb nvme drive all day long over a 256 M1 mini

1

Cujobob

Mar 05, 2023 02:01 PM

1,562 Posts

Joined May 2012

CujobobMar 05, 2023 02:01 PM

1,562 Posts

Quote from J3ff

:

This is fixed with a Thunderbolt 4 housing and a NVMe drive... which seems to be 2tb for 100 bucks as the rate right now...

I would go base M2 + 2tb nvme drive all day long over a 256 M1 mini

I did this recently. urlhasbeenblocked TB4 Enclosure was about $119, 2Tb drive was $120.

Obviously, not cheap, but it's offset by the cheap machine. I also upgraded the RAM to 16Gb.

You can also have the OS run off of the external drive instead of the internal drive. You won't even need to worry about the TBW that way.

2

nonarchist

Mar 05, 2023 02:26 PM

321 Posts

Joined Jun 2009

nonarchistMar 05, 2023 02:26 PM

321 Posts

Quote from spec2

:

To be honest, I'm not sure how big a deal that is anymore. Both of my M1 variant Macs are still on Monterey. I have zero need or desire to upgrade to Ventura. We'll see what OS 14 brings. At this stage of Mac OS, my priority is on stability not feature enhancements.

I also have a 2012 Mac mini as my Media Server that is on Big Sur (I don't upgrade it to Monterey since it's the only Intel Mac I have and also still capable of running older 32bit apps). It works fine communicating with my other Macs, iOS devices, and AirPlay 2 devices (speakers, A/V receivers, TVs). Apple still pushes out security updates for older OSes.

It's a big deal if you keep your macs until they die or become unsupported, or even if you care about resale value. They only support 3 versions at any time, so big sur will be EOL this summer.

A lot of people don't care about security updates and running current software in general though.

1

nonarchist

Mar 05, 2023 02:32 PM

321 Posts

Joined Jun 2009

nonarchistMar 05, 2023 02:32 PM

321 Posts

Quote from dukeblue219

:

Have you actually used an 8Gb M1?

My wife uses a 8/256 m1 air every day for normal (mostly browser based) activities and occasional photo editing and has zero complaints about about it. There is no perceivable lag at all. Far snappier than her old 16gb windows laptop and the battery life is insane.

Last edited by nonarchist March 5, 2023 at 07:56 AM.

4

dclive

Mar 05, 2023 02:32 PM

6,118 Posts

Joined Mar 2008

dcliveMar 05, 2023 02:32 PM

6,118 Posts

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

Quote from Laotzu3

:

According to most reports M2 is 20% faster but it's disk access is 50% slower while the price is 33% more.

To get disk access on par with M1 you need to pay $200 to upgrade to 512gb ($799 or $699)

No. Disk ACCESS isn't 50% of M1 speeds that's totally false. There's a single benchmark, called BlackMagic, that everyone who doesn't understand how disks work is using, which shows just ONE way of looking at SSD speeds. And it shows just the MAX speed (which may be unobtanium in regular use!), and it shows the M1 /256 with double the speed of the M2 /256. M2 /500 and M2 Pro / 1000 are same or better than M1 /All, but people need to understand that random IO is vastly more important than max (theoretical) speeds, and at that the M2 is generally slightly faster than the previous M1 setup.

TLDR: If you like to read a quick graphic and walk away with a wrong conclusion, the Mac YouTube-driven, clickbait-driven SSD "controversy" is for you! Smilie

5

2

dclive

Mar 05, 2023 02:33 PM

6,118 Posts

Joined Mar 2008

dcliveMar 05, 2023 02:33 PM

6,118 Posts

Quote from nonarchist

:

It's a big deal if you keep your macs until they die or become unsupported, or even if you care about resale value. They only support 3 versions at any time, so big sur will be EOL this summer.

A lot of people don't care about security updates and running current software in general though.

Apple only puts all the latest security updates into the most recent MacOS. The others get the "eh, kinda" security updates version, with some updates but not others. If security is a big deal for you, run the latest MacOS, and drop other Macs that are not or can not do so.

1

dclive

Mar 05, 2023 02:35 PM

6,118 Posts

Joined Mar 2008

dcliveMar 05, 2023 02:35 PM

6,118 Posts

Quote from MxChris

:

There's not really even a need for that anymore, I just run MAC OS on a VM and have it on a second screen.

Ouch. How's graphics performance and gaming in Metal? Sounds like a terrible experience to me.

1

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

$400

$599

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