The new Apple M4 Macs are finally here.
Like many people who wait for the latest Apple devices before making a purchase, you may be considering buying the new M4 MacBook Pro. It is a very powerful laptop and would certainly make an excellent purchase.
However, what if I told you that you could get all that power for more than half the price? Well, you can with the new M4 Mac mini.
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Case for Mac mini: Price
This week, Apple announced a slew of new Macs powered by its latest silicon chip, the M4. All M4-powered Macs, from the new iMac to the Mac mini to the MacBook Pro, will be very powerful computers.
M4 Mac Mini
Credit: Apple
However, there is a huge price difference between the Mac mini and the MacBook Pro based on portability alone.
Will you be traveling with your computer often? No? Will you mostly use your Mac in a stationary environment, such as at your desk or in your home office? Yes? Then you should consider getting the new M4 Mac mini and save a lot of money.
The new base model MacBook Pro powered by the M4 chip starts at $1,599. This M4 MacBook Pro model comes with a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU, 16GB of memory and 512GB of SSD storage.
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M4 MacBook Pro
Credit: Apple
The new base model M4 Mac mini has exactly the same specs, but comes with a slightly smaller 256GB SSD drive. Cost for Mac mini? 599 dollars. This is it one thousand dollars in savings.
If you want the exact same specs, you can upgrade the M4 Mac mini to 512GB of storage, which brings the total price to $799. That’s still $800 in savings and gets you the same computer specs.
Put those extra savings into upgrades, and you can have an M4 Mac mini that’s far more powerful than the M4 MacBook Pro you’d buy for no extra cost than you originally intended to spend.
In fact, if you’re looking at the more powerful M4 Pro chip, going Mac mini over the MacBook Pro with the same exact specs will save you $600.
Credit: Apple
The extra cost for the MacBook Pro is just for its portability. So if you’re not going to travel with your computer regularly, why get a laptop?
Yes, the MacBook Pro also comes with a built-in keyboard, mousepad and display. If you don’t have any of those at home, these are all additional costs to add to the final cost of the Mac mini. But many people already have all those peripherals. And if you don’t, you can buy them all once and use them for subsequent Mac minis when you choose to upgrade in the future.
AppleCare+ is easier on your pockets
There’s another potential for additional savings if you choose the Mac mini over the MacBook Pro, and that’s AppleCare. AppleCare+ covers damage, technical issues and support for your new Apple device for one year. For your MacBook Pro, it will cost $99.99 per year. For the Mac mini, it costs $34.99 per year.
Credit: Apple
Additionally, I would recommend that you don’t even need AppleCare coverage for their Mac mini, while it is a must-buy for the MacBook Pro. Like a desktop computer, the Mac mini sits still on your desk. You probably won’t drop it or spill anything on it like you would when carrying your MacBook Pro around to set up a temporary workstation in different places.
Now, there are situations where you will choose the MacBook Pro over the Mac mini. If you know you’ll be traveling regularly and this is the computer you intend to use, the M4 MacBook Pro is for you. If you need the most powerful Mac available, the new MacBook Pro is currently the only device equipped with an upgrade to the M4 Max chip – at least until Apple releases the new Mac Studio M4 computers.
As such, if you’re looking for a stationary setup and a more cost-effective system, the M4 Mac mini is for you.