One big purchase I've been planning for a while is an upgrade to my computer. I've been the proud owner of an M1 MacBook Air – still, in my opinion, one of the best value pieces of tech ever – for many years, and while it has served me well in that time, I think it's ready to retire.
With more of my time spent at a static desk than on the move, I'm planning to replace it with the M4 Mac Mini. And it's on a great deal right now, with various outlets offering it with a £100 discount – now just £499 for the base model!
That's an astonishingly good value prospect. For that cash, you snag a computer powered by the impressive M4 chip, complete with a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU.
It's also loaded with 16GB of unified memory – the equivalent of RAM in Apple terms – which should be more than enough for tackling heavy-duty tasks like music production and photo and video editing.
Ports are also pretty impressive. You'll find a pair of USB-C ports on the front, alongside the elusive headphone jack. At the rear, there's a trio of Thunderbolt 4 ports, as well as an HDMI and an Ethernet port for a wired internet connection.
That's actually very fully featured, but I still think I'd snag one of these Mac Mini docks while they're discounted, too.
It adds a whole host of ports – including some USB-A ports, which are arguably the biggest omission from the Apple unit – but it also hides a secret compartment for an SSD. That allows you to add up to 8TB of storage, which is a really useful upgrade.
The unit on sale only has 256GB of storage as standard, which is not much by modern standards. This affordable add-on allows you to upgrade substantially, and for much less cash than you'd pay through Apple itself.
Is this the best Mac Mini deal we're likely to see?
Personally, I think this is as good as it's going to get. While it's true that some deals get even better as Black Friday approaches, that doesn't feel as common these days. With so many brands opening the floodgates much earlier, we tend to see deals start early and continue.
It's also worth noting that Apple deals are fairly uncommon, and this represents a pretty decent price cut. With that in mind, I think this is the best deal we'll see. Now, I'm off to tempt myself into clicking purchase...
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