In the market for a Mac Mini, should I just settle for a Macbook Air instead?
Currently using a 13" 2016 "Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports" model Macbook Pro and while its still ticking along, it's definitely time for something new.
I had been planning on replacing it with a Mac Mini for some time, as the Macbook Pro was something I purchased when I was in an apartment with my wife and space was at a premium. Now that we're in a house and I have a proper desk setup where I can plug it into a keyboard, display and mouse, a notebook is no longer necessary.
When the M4 Mac Minis first dropped in November 2024 I was intending to pick it up but I procrastinated and in time we've reached the point where it seems rather silly to invest in the M4 when it's been on the market for almost eighteen months and a M5 is potentially on the horizon. Of course now we've got the extra wrinkle of AI-induced hardware shortages and price hikes plus AI bros scooping up the available M4 Mac Mini inventory.
I'm okay with settling for a M4 Mac Mini only because I'm concerned about price hikes for future hardware. It'll be nice to have a more powerful M5 over the M4, but if Apple's gonna throw on an extra $200 or more just because the chips have gotten more expensive on their end it almost doesn't seem worth it.
So now I'm at a crossroads. I want a config with at least 1TB of internal storage, and while I'd probably get away with 16GB just fine, I figure it might be better to bump that up to 24GB just to get a few more years of usage out of it.
If I put in an order for a M4 Mac Mini with Apple directly that's $1200 for the 24GB/1TB SKU, though it looks like I'm gonna be waiting 10 to 12 weeks for it to arrive. This isn't a huge deal, as it's not something that I need urgently, but it's the base option in this scenario. Guaranteed to arrive eventually.
If I can manage to catch a refurb M4 Mac Mini with those specs it'll run me $1020, but those come and go pretty quickly these days, so it's a real crapshoot on whether or not I'd be able to nab one, though of course there was an incident weeks ago before the market really blew up that I stared at a product page and couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger, largely because I was locked in on getting a M5 at that time.
Now we have the Macbook Air alternatives. I'm not wild about paying extra for a screen that I'll never use, but it's available here and now and I can wash my brain of the concerns that the price will get hiked in the future.
Best Buy has a M5 Macbook Air with the 24GB of RAM and the 1TB of storage for $1350 on sale.
Meanwhile Apple has a M4 Macbook Air with those same specs for $1190, when its available.
Should I rip this bandaid off, and spend a little more for a Macbook Air or just sit on my hands and wait for a potentially more expensive M5 Mac Mini?