*** The official 2023 and 2024 Mac mini thread (it has the M2 chip, the M4 chip and everything!) ***

@Raymond Lin quick question mate, I bought the 3 year AppleCare+ for the £99..can I extend that after the three years to a "rolling" yearly fee?

if not no big deal, three years is plenty for me! lol
 
Zeebedy said:
yeah, its crazy, I know graphics are not Apple strong point, but this little guy is on par with a M1 Max Mac Studio for GPU...lol, couldn't believe it!!
Click to expand...

Yup, and cheaper. The only thing missing are the ports but it is also TB5 too.

Just use the money saved on a Caldigit TS4 port, they go great together.

BzIfxBU.jpg
 
Zeebedy said:
@Raymond Lin quick question mate, I bought the 3 year AppleCare+ for the £99..can I extend that after the three years to a "rolling" yearly fee?

if not no big deal, three years is plenty for me! lol
Click to expand...

I don't know, you have to ask them I think. I never bought Apple Care before. Previous Education Discounted Mac I got came with Apple Care as standard.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Yup, and cheaper. The only thing missing are the ports but it is also TB5 too.

Just use the money saved on a Caldigit TS4 port, they go great together.

BzIfxBU.jpg
Click to expand...

nice setup!!

Might look at that dock, like you said the only downside the 3 ports, but hey its what I need JUST!, I have mouse, keyboard and headset, I have new speakers coming soon and I will use BT on them.. as I assume the BT is very good not eh MM M4 Pro..


Raymond Lin said:
I don't know, you have to ask them I think. I never bought Apple Care before. Previous Education Discounted Mac I got came with Apple Care as standard.
Click to expand...

Ahh, I did ask as she wasn't 100% sure, but there years atm, plenty!
 
Zeebedy said:
nice setup!!

Might look at that dock, like you said the only downside the 3 ports, but hey its what I need JUST!, I have mouse, keyboard and headset, I have new speakers coming soon and I will use BT on them.. as I assume the BT is very good not eh MM M4 Pro..




Ahh, I did ask as she wasn't 100% sure, but there years atm, plenty!
Click to expand...

The only moving part is the fan, so if it doesn't die in the next few days, it is likely to work for years and years. I would invest in an external NVME SSD too (assuming you have the 512G model).

The OWC is what a few of us have gone for, but there are no UK stockist, need to be imported from Europe or the States. The good thing is the enclosure (without SSD) is under the £135 threshold.

5BriPQI.jpg
 
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Raymond Lin said:
The only moving part is the fan, so if it doesn't die in the next few days, it is likely to work for years and years. I would invest in an external NVME SSD too (assuming you have the 512G model).

The OWC is what a few of us have gone for, but there are no UK stockist, need to be imported from Europe or the States. The good thing is the enclosure (without SSD) is under the £135 threshold.

5BriPQI.jpg
Click to expand...

yeah, I currently have a 1tb boot drive in my PC, and a 4tb nvme for games, I was thinking of selling the 4tb and putting the 1tb NVME into a caddy?
 
Zeebedy said:
yeah, I currently have a 1tb boot drive in my PC, and a 4tb nvme for games, I was thinking of selling the 4tb and putting the 1tb NVME into a caddy?
Click to expand...

Sounds good. I think that's what most people are doing. I have my steam library installed on a 2TB NVME in only a 10gpbs speed caddy. It's fast enough. If I were you, that's what I would do. A 10gbps caddy is like £20 or less, the OWC is £120. Because you have the Pro, I would be tempted to save the cash for when a TB5 caddy come down in price a bit and can always switch to that later.

I don't have TB5 on mine so limit to TB4 so that's why I went for the TB4 caddy. I won't be upgrading it.
 
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Raymond Lin said:
Sounds good. I think that's what most people are doing. I have my steam library installed on a 2TB NVME in only a 10gpbs speed caddy. It's fast enough. If I were you, that's what I would do. A 10gbps caddy is like £20 or less, the OWC is £120. Because you have the prob, I would be tempted to save the cash for when a TB5 caddy come down in price a bit and can always switch to that later.

I don't have TB5 on mine so limit to TB4 so that's why I went for the TB4 caddy. I won't be upgrading it.
Click to expand...

yeah, I was thinking along those lines, tbh for the immediate future the 512gb is going to do, but might do that if the PC goes..

It thought you had the Pro to though Raymond?
 
Zeebedy said:
yeah, I was thinking along those lines, tbh for the immediate future the 512gb is going to do, but might do that if the PC goes..

It thought you had the Pro to though Raymond?
Click to expand...

I thought about it, it was 50/50 for ages and at one point I was like 80/20. Then I noticed the discount on the Educational store for the Pro and Base model are both £100. So £100 off £600 is like (more than) twice as much percentage as the Pro model.

So I am basically saving the difference towards the next one. This Mini basically only has to last me 3 years for it to justify the outlay. For £499, it is just too good to turn down.

My photos are on the TB4 drive because it can do with the speed accessing the library when I jump between large images.
 
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Raymond Lin said:
I thought about it, it was 50/50 for ages and at one point I was like 80/20. Then I notice the discount on Educational store for the Pro and Base model are both £100. So £100 off £600 is like (more than) twice as much percentage as the Pro model.

So I am basically saving the difference towards the next one. This Mini basically only have to last me 3 years for it to justify the outlay. For £499, it is just too good to turn down.

My photos are on the TB4 drive because it can do with the speed accessing the library when i jump between large images.
Click to expand...

that's fair. the M4 MAX / ULTRA studio will be on your desk no doubt soon!!! :D
 
I got the base M4 16GB 256GB model. I had a spare 2TB Crucial X6 External USB-C SSD that I bought in December 2022 for my PC that I wasn't really using so plugged it into the Mini and I'm using it for Time Machine as well as extra storage. Its not the fastest SSD in the world but much faster than a spinning disc.

LGsgKyL.jpeg
 
Zeebedy said:
also bought a wee device to help with the silly power button placement.

www.ebay.co.uk

2024 Mac Mini M4 / M4 Pro Version 2 Power Button Base - Latest Design | eBay

Power Button Base Version 2 for the 2024 Mac Mini M4 / M4 Pro. Instead of having to reach under your Apple Mac Mini M4 to power it on this solution allows you to just press the computer down from the top!
www.ebay.co.uk
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I ordered this, but not shipped yet.

www.aliexpress.com

For Mac Mini M4 2024 Walnut Base Dustproof Cooling Stand External Switch Button Heightened Dustproof Design PC Accessories - AliExpress 7

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
www.aliexpress.com www.aliexpress.com
 
Zeebedy said:
also bought a wee device to help with the silly power button placement.
Click to expand...
I don’t really have a problem with the power button placement, once you know where it is it’s simply a case of lifting it up a bit and sliding your finger underneath. Probably helps that I have the mini on the left side of my desk and I’m right handed.
 
nlel1975 said:
I don’t really have a problem with the power button placement, once you know where it is it’s simply a case of lifting it up a bit and sliding your finger underneath. Probably helps that I have the mini on the left side of my desk and I’m right handed.
Click to expand...

Yeah mine is on the right and the new speakers are pretty big so expecting the access under neath to be a bit hampered.
Will wait and see.
 
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