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frontpageyoungliu posted May 06, 2025 01:19 PM
frontpageyoungliu posted May 06, 2025 01:19 PM

Select Stores: Apple Mac Mini Desktop w/ M4 Chip, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD

+ Free Store Pickup

$450

$600

25% off
Micro Center
356 Comments 203,617 Views
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Deal Details
Update: This extremely popular deal is still available.

Select Micro Center Stores have Apple Mac Mini Desktop with M4 Chip (2024, MU9D3LL/A) on sale for $449.99. Select free store pickup where available.

Thanks to community member youngliu & Deal Hunter Eragorn for sharing this deal.

Note: Availability for store pickup will vary by location and may be limited.

Specs:
  • Apple M4 10-Core CPU with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores
  • 10-Core Integrated GPU
  • 16-Core Neural Engine
  • 16GB Unified Memory
  • 256GB Integrated NVMe PCIe Solid State Drive
  • 802.11ax WiFi 6E / Bluetooth 5.3
  • Ports:
    • 2x USB-C
    • 3x Thunderbolt 4
    • 1x HDMI
    • 1x 3.5 mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones
    • 1x Gigabit Ethernet

Editor's Notes

Written by persian_mafia | Staff
  • This price matches our very popular +179 Frontpage Deal from March.
  • Includes Apple One (1) Year Limited Warranty.

Original Post

Written by youngliu
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
Update: This extremely popular deal is still available.

Select Micro Center Stores have Apple Mac Mini Desktop with M4 Chip (2024, MU9D3LL/A) on sale for $449.99. Select free store pickup where available.

Thanks to community member youngliu & Deal Hunter Eragorn for sharing this deal.

Note: Availability for store pickup will vary by location and may be limited.

Specs:
  • Apple M4 10-Core CPU with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores
  • 10-Core Integrated GPU
  • 16-Core Neural Engine
  • 16GB Unified Memory
  • 256GB Integrated NVMe PCIe Solid State Drive
  • 802.11ax WiFi 6E / Bluetooth 5.3
  • Ports:
    • 2x USB-C
    • 3x Thunderbolt 4
    • 1x HDMI
    • 1x 3.5 mm headphone jack with advanced support for high-impedance headphones
    • 1x Gigabit Ethernet

Editor's Notes

Written by persian_mafia | Staff
  • This price matches our very popular +179 Frontpage Deal from March.
  • Includes Apple One (1) Year Limited Warranty.

Original Post

Written by youngliu

Community Voting

Deal Score
+365
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Top Comments

flybywiretl
700 Posts
246 Reputation
It's essentially a reservation and when made, they pull the item from the shelf and set it aside for you to pick up. To order, add it to cart then provide your contact info and select the store location. When the item is ready for pickup, you'll receive an e-mail. To pickup, you just go to their pickup counter and provide them with your order number and ID and then provide payment.
Caleo
6138 Posts
1138 Reputation
They did last time MC had these. My closest MCs are ~2-2.5hrs away but BB didn't give me any grief when they pricematched. If you get a stickler who won't because you're not super close to a Microcenter, maybe just try again with another agent.

Great buy though- excellent value. Very pleased with mine from last time - which serves as a very capable 'desktop replacement' - and uses only 2-4.5W of power consumption during real-world use, driving two large format displays (at/near 4K). I barely even use my desktop PC anymore because it uses ~100W to do the same thing, and it's no faster or smoother than the M4 Mini for general use.
blahbooboo2
2454 Posts
314 Reputation
Before the usual troll comments.

1 - It has "only" 256gb of storage. Yes, it sucks. USB4/Thunderbolt external NVMe/SSD will be a cheap addition, or get the aftermarket internal chip upgrade.

2 - It's still expensive. Ok, provide a link to machine that has comparable performance and capabilities in a similar form factor for this price.

355 Comments

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May 23, 2025 09:51 PM
1,139 Posts
Joined Jul 2004
billbillwMay 23, 2025 09:51 PM
1,139 Posts
Quote from dclive :
My concern would be (after making those changes) if the drive is ever disconnected, bad things might happen.
If it's that critical to the workflow, I would look into buying a 2TB internal and replacing it. I know it's not a fun task, but it's now documented / videoed so well that if you're at all handy with a basic screwdriver, you should be able to do it without issue.
I just make do with the 1TB USBC. I think it cost me all of $9.
I'm not keen on voiding warranty and the replacement method is not without risk.One of the Youtubers ripped the power button wire off by accident and he is a fairly experienced fella.

There is also a risk that Apple decides to write something into the OS after some updates that causes an error if the storage is not genuine Apple.

The other thing that isn't always mentioned is that you need to have a 2nd Mac to restore the image once you replace the drive.

Finally, there are some reports of those NAND replacement chips failing after a few months.

I'll take my chances with a quality external drive for now. This is really a MacOS experiment for me to see if I can replace my mid-tower Windows PC and still do everything I normally do with a fraction of the space. Possibly, it will fail, or I'll make some changes down the line.
May 26, 2025 04:23 PM
11 Posts
Joined Oct 2022
NervousMusic885May 26, 2025 04:23 PM
11 Posts
Quote from dclive :
My concern would be (after making those changes) if the drive is ever disconnected, bad things might happen. If it's that critical to the workflow, I would look into buying a 2TB internal and replacing it. I know it's not a fun task, but it's now documented / videoed so well that if you're at all handy with a basic screwdriver, you should be able to do it without issue. I just make do with the 1TB USBC. I think it cost me all of $9.
How easy/hard is it to replace the internal SSD on a mac mini? I'm used to doing upgrades, but only on PC/ old gaming consoles
May 26, 2025 04:31 PM
9,976 Posts
Joined Aug 2004
JaTaNMay 26, 2025 04:31 PM
9,976 Posts
Quote from NervousMusic885 :
How easy/hard is it to replace the internal SSD on a mac mini? I'm used to doing upgrades, but only on PC/ old gaming consoles
Check YouTube for videos
May 26, 2025 08:48 PM
6,061 Posts
Joined Mar 2008
dcliveMay 26, 2025 08:48 PM
6,061 Posts
Quote from NervousMusic885 :
How easy/hard is it to replace the internal SSD on a mac mini? I'm used to doing upgrades, but only on PC/ old gaming consoles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhVx7Ng1Gps
1
May 26, 2025 10:47 PM
1,139 Posts
Joined Jul 2004
billbillwMay 26, 2025 10:47 PM
1,139 Posts
Quote from NervousMusic885 :
How easy/hard is it to replace the internal SSD on a mac mini? I'm used to doing upgrades, but only on PC/ old gaming consoles
Not terribly hard, but you must be careful with wires on the power switch and fan. The biggest hurdle for many non-Mac owners is restoring the image once you change out the NAND chips. You need an 2nd Mac running Apple silicon, or you need to setup a virtual Mac using VMware. I decided it was easier and safer to use an external SSD. I bought the Qwiizlab USB4 fanless enclosure for $70 and dropped in a 2TB M.2 SSD for another $110. That's less than the extra $380 that Microcenter wanted for the 1TB version and also less than the $320 that ExpandMacMini.com wants for the 2TB NAND module. It actually ended up costing just about $30 more than the normal Apple $599 pricing for the base model.

So far its working great. I have my Photos and Downloads on that drive and it is actually faster than the internal Mac M4 drive.
Last edited by billbillw May 26, 2025 at 04:50 PM.
May 27, 2025 03:49 AM
40 Posts
Joined Oct 2014
kryurikMay 27, 2025 03:49 AM
40 Posts
New MicroCenter is opening (already opened?) in Santa Clara, CA. I was able to find mac mini in stock and price match with BB in San Carlos and free shipping to home address. Thanks for the initial instructions!
May 27, 2025 06:34 PM
19 Posts
Joined Nov 2014
taol5241May 27, 2025 06:34 PM
19 Posts
The lowest price I've seen so far

https://www.microcenter.com/produ...puter?sp=0

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May 27, 2025 09:55 PM
18 Posts
Joined Aug 2011
DanUMay 27, 2025 09:55 PM
18 Posts
Awesome. 😎 Purchased same at Costco few months back. Best buy just Price Matched via Chat and I'm picking it up in an hour. Will return to Costco and bank the savings to get an external SSD for the TB4 port and take advantage of the extra space and savings. Awesome! Props for sharing the links and the thread discussions. 😀
May 29, 2025 08:21 PM
20 Posts
Joined Mar 2017
PowerballlifeMay 29, 2025 08:21 PM
20 Posts
I got Best Buy to price match this a few weeks ago. In case you don't have a microcenter that close to you.
May 29, 2025 08:27 PM
93 Posts
Joined Oct 2016
JoshK9469May 29, 2025 08:27 PM
93 Posts
Excellent price, Costco selling at 499 FYI
May 29, 2025 08:30 PM
8,061 Posts
Joined Dec 2006
ketamineMay 29, 2025 08:30 PM
8,061 Posts
Quote from Solkre :
Cheaper than the EDU price, hell of a deal.
Unless you got  gift cards cheaper of course Smilie; also, at this point I'd probably wait a few weeks for the B2S sale that starts mid/late June and this will definitely have a $100 gc.
May 29, 2025 08:36 PM
591 Posts
Joined Jul 2014
DealZillaNYMay 29, 2025 08:36 PM
591 Posts
Ram soldered on or upgradeable?
May 29, 2025 08:53 PM
4,400 Posts
Joined Oct 2011
polymorphicdealMay 29, 2025 08:53 PM
4,400 Posts
Quote from LavenderPickle7682 :
"There are mini PCs but ones with vaguely competing specs cost at least this much."

Yes. That's what "comparable" means. 16gb of ram is a joke for 99% of users, but most users are using a mobile phone for nearly everything. They've been conditioned to accept a sub-par experience. And many people care about internal storage, but hey, if you're not doing anything with your computer, then you don't need as much. Enjoy your shiny fruit.
Yeah for made up stats!
1
May 29, 2025 08:58 PM
408 Posts
Joined Mar 2009
newportoldportMay 29, 2025 08:58 PM
408 Posts
Ran out at my local store but lucky I got a buddy in Denver lmfao. Great deal repped!!

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May 29, 2025 09:04 PM
3,909 Posts
Joined Sep 2019
LavenderPickle7682May 29, 2025 09:04 PM
3,909 Posts
Quote from polymorphicdeal :
Yeah for made up stats!
You're the one justifying 16gb of ram in 2025 LOL.
3

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