Just bought a Mac Mini M1 ... tell me what I'm going to dislike about it

[philip2009]

Just bought a used Mac Mini M1 16GB 512SSD(in good cosmetic condition) with 1 year warranty for £559 delivered - it seemed cheap so was a bit of an impulse buy(have owned Macs in the past, currently use Windows 11). So tell me what sort of limitations the machine has in use (small memory?) and what type of things will irritate me about it compared to a 40GB 5500U Beelink SER5 which is what I'm currently using,

 

[ChrisD.]

Most likely nothing.

 

[Broken Hope]

I've been using that spec of M1 mini since release and nothing about it irritates me to be fair.

 

[philip2009]

I've been using that spec of M1 mini since release and nothing about it irritates me to be fair.

Any issues with only 16GB RAM - which is pretty small by modern PC standards.

 

[Feek]

Only one mouse button

 

[ChrisD.]

Any issues with only 16GB RAM - which is pretty small by modern PC standards.

Small for Windows, not so much for macOS. Even 8GB is fine for day to day use.

 

[LiE]

You’ll be annoyed at how quiet it is, because you’ll hate that everything isn’t as quiet.

 

[philip2009]

You’ll be annoyed at how quiet it is, because you’ll hate that everything isn’t as quiet.

Ah well, I absolutely hate noisy PCs so all the ones I have and build run with almost zero noise ... but it's good to know I won't hear the Mini's fan.

 

[ChrisD.]

You'll also hate how stupendously fast it is, and start wondering why x86 is still a thing.

 

[Feek]

but it's good to know I won't hear the Mini's fan.

You will wonder if the fan is broken.

 

[philip2009]

Let's hope it never breaks, Apple repairs cost an arm and a leg.

 

[visibleman]

So tell me what sort of limitations the machine has in use (small memory?) and what type of things will irritate me about it compared to a 40GB 5500U Beelink SER5 which is what I'm currently using?

Really depends what you're using it for - could be a lot, it could be nothing, it could be somewhere in the middle. Upgradability is one of the main ones, along with gaming which is very limited and more so now than when you could bootcamp Windows. Gaming may change but Apple still seem to be blase about it all.

Let's hope it never breaks, Apple repairs cost an arm and a leg.

There is AppleCare but cost is part and parcel of using Apple devices unfortunately.

...and start wondering why x86 is still a thing.

Because it's still the better choice under certain conditions (/some workloads); if ARM was a slam dunk, Enterprise would have switched to it during the last ARM hype-train a decade-plus ago.
Obviously this may change but x86/64/Intel/AMD/and Co are fairly safe for the time being.

 

[ChrisD.]

Because it's still the better choice under certain conditions (/some workloads); if ARM was a slam dunk, Enterprise would have switched to it during the last ARM hype-train a decade-plus ago.
Obviously this may change but x86/64/Intel/Arm/and Co are fairly safe for the time being.

I know, I make a living out of x86, I'm the last person who wants to see it die. But for home computing, ARM make a whole load of sense especially outside of gaming (more the devs there tbh).

 

[visibleman]

I know, I make a living out of x86, I'm the last person who wants to see it die. But for home computing, ARM make a whole load of sense...

Perhaps. Certainly the architecture being geared towards efficiency helps for mobile devices but it's also a hindrance at the same time. And arguably the average consumer doesn't particularly care what's in it as long as they can TwitchFaceTwitGram and watch cat videos.
But the competition is good either way.

...gaming...

'**** or get off the pot' always springs to mind when Apple mentions gaming and they release some half-arsed attempt at it. They could make a real dent in the industry and sway people away from PCs if they wanted to, they've certainly got the cash to do it.

 

[dannyjo22]

You’ll be annoyed at how quiet it is, because you’ll hate that everything isn’t as quiet.

Indeed. I will be buying Mac Mini's for as long as they make them. I have the same spec as the OP and despite using a Lightroom version not designed to run on this computer I've never hit the bottle necks I used to on PC.

My irritations are minor, I hate that when I open a folder of pictures I can't just select the first one, decide I don't want it and hit delete and it moves to the next one. Mac is clunky as **** like this. I also hate that when I have two or more windows open in safari I can't just hover my mouse over the safari icon and choose which window set to move too. I have to right click and select again. Or use Command `, which doesn't always work for me.

Not really a fan of the mail app but I live with it.

Oh and bluetooth on the mini is pretty poor, so I use a Logitech keyboard and mouse with a dongle.

Two thunderbolt ports isn't enough and neither is 2 usbA. You're gonna need a hub or monitor with one.

 

[Capitano]

It doesnt run windows

 

[OspreyO]

Your 4090 won't fit.

 

[t2na]

Your 4090 won't fit.

Not with that attitude.

 

[Feek]

It doesnt run windows

That's a good thing, Shirley?

 

[philip2009]

It arrived today and initial thoughts are - excellent low power consumption(between 15-22watts, my Beelink 5500u is between 40-55 watts), 16GB should really be the minimum memory offered by Apple, I don't like the soldered SSD but apparently it should last for ages under typical use. My Windows apps run fine on it, which is good.