The base model is great for educators and household tasks, while the 4K model provides an excellent mid-size screen and horsepower for basic video editing, day-to-day work, and gaming. The iMac is truly Apple's Swiss army knife of computers: With an all-in-one shell, it can fit in almost any environment where users don't already have external peripherals.
MAC MINI VS MAC MINI SERVER PRO
Or you could get the Radeon Pro 5700 XT, with 16GB of GDDR6 video memory, for $500 more.
MAC MINI VS MAC MINI SERVER PLUS
MAC MINI VS MAC MINI SERVER MAC
Mac mini (2020): Release date, price, and everything you need to know
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Just keep in mind that you will need to get a display, as well as a keyboard and mouse, which can add to the overall cost. Considering that this is currently the only desktop offering with the Apple M1 SoC, this is the cheapest way to experience the M1 for yourself, though the cost can rise depending on the configurations you choose. This year, Apple also reduced the Mac mini's price by $100, bringing it down to a starting price of $699. The Mac mini still has a variety of ports, so all of your devices should be covered – it has two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI 2.0 port, Ethernet, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
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But it has also risen to popularity in recent years as an affordable Mac desktop, as long as you already have the other peripherals that you need.
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Mac mini is a popular choice because a lot of people use it as a server, and you may often see many Mac minis connected together in server farms. Apple did keep one Intel-based Mac mini around if you still need an Intel-based machine, and while the M1 outclasses it, having the option is nice. With the power of the M1, the Mac mini is easily the best Mac desktop that you can get right now, but you will need to have your own monitor, keyboard, mouse, and any other peripherals that you need. The new Neural Engine and Machine Learning can also perform up to 15x faster than the previous Mac mini models. Compared to a similarly priced PC, the M1 Mac mini will be about five times faster. Because the new Mac mini has the M1 chip, it is three times faster than the previous Intel-based Mac mini, and you get six times faster graphics performance.