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M1 or M2, which should I buy?
- Thread starter David B
- Start date
Northeastmonk
Gold Member
New Mac mini? I’d get the better CPU. How much RAM are you getting?
You’ll probably want the M3 once you use whatever you get for a year. I see people get a Apple product at a reduced price and buyers remorse kicks in once you feel like it’s performance isn’t what you really wanted.
You’ll probably want the M3 once you use whatever you get for a year. I see people get a Apple product at a reduced price and buyers remorse kicks in once you feel like it’s performance isn’t what you really wanted.
David B
An Idiot
16GB so I can run Parallels 19 with Windows 11 Pro ARM version as well as some linux ARM distros like Ubuntu and Mint and others.
Northeastmonk
Gold Member
Good idea. Yeah, if it was any lower I’d say save up for something better.
NinjaMouse
Member
If you can swing it, get an M2 Pro Mac mini. Quite a bit more GPU performance there over the base M2.
David B
An Idiot
Please vote on the poll.
Mr Reasonable
Completely Unreasonable
Choose more performance or the iMac screen.
That's it, basically.
No point in asking me what I think you should do, I would save and get a MacBook Pro / Mac Studio
That's it, basically.
No point in asking me what I think you should do, I would save and get a MacBook Pro / Mac Studio
Boaty McBoatface
Member
Def the M2 and look for refurb options. Also check if you can get student discount (shouldn't need an student email)
LordOfChaos
Member
Sounds like you do enough for the more powerful M2 + 16GB to be a help
Plus you can bring a larger monitor than the iMac
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David B
An Idiot
Yup. Mac Mini has more ports available. USB 3.0 A and 2 thunderbolt 4 USB-C.
Happosai
Hold onto your panties
Probably the M1...didn't know it was still popular nearly 35-years later.
But seriously, buy an M2 and start modding carefully. I had a toss up between picking a business computer for my wife a couple months back. I grazed M1 & M2 but the fact that you have to pay to expand that 256Gig hard drive...I went with the Thinkpad. Check the specs as the best option is M2:
Edit (the correct comparison link):
But seriously, buy an M2 and start modding carefully. I had a toss up between picking a business computer for my wife a couple months back. I grazed M1 & M2 but the fact that you have to pay to expand that 256Gig hard drive...I went with the Thinkpad. Check the specs as the best option is M2:
Edit (the correct comparison link):
Mac mini - Technical Specifications
See all the technical specifications for Mac mini with the M2 or M2 Pro chip.
www.apple.com
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Trogdor1123
Member
Mac mini is a really good value. There is probably gift card promo on Black Friday too.
Happosai
Hold onto your panties
This will happen. I've seen like 2 in store promos on multiple Mac models this year. Not sure Apple will ever run one of those promos but buy from a wholesale retailer and they'll have it.
diffusionx
Gold Member
I dont like spending new money on old tech, as a general principle, unless it's purposely retro (like an old console). M1 is dated tech at this point with the M3 out.
Melon Husk
Member
The one with 16GB. I'm surprised M1 is considered old and dated. It should hold up for a long time.
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ReBurn
Gold Member
I would get the Mac Mini with the M2, but the M1 is still a decent chip, especially if you're just planning to do general computing tasks. I have a MacBook Pro with an M1 chip and 16 GB RAM and it's still very good at the workloads I give it. Holds It's own pretty well.
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PSYGN
Member
It's not really considered old and dated when it holds up incredibly well still. I voted based off the title (M1 vs M2) and didn't read the poll more clearly so I voted M1.
