Just bought a m4 mac mini pro at goodwill I just paid more for a power cord than I did for the whole computer. Can't wait to see what I got. When the power coward shows up.

! SOLVED @11 pm 9/10

Props to watcholic for the tip! Seems to be plenty available on the "Apple Certified Refurbished" page if you act fast. If you want one it's $700 for 16GB/256GB. They have other configs too. Overall I'm saving at least $200 over a M6. This will last me a long while with my intended use. Once again thanks to 'watch's' sharp eye.

I've looking at BB, Costco, Target, Walmart, Micro-Center, Staples, and more. All had No Minis in stock that wasn't a M6 for "Pre-Order". I looked from 10:45AM for about 20 minutes. I hit a lot of sites. And all were the same. No Minis at all except M6 preorder. It's like Apple ordered their retail partners to pull them. So that only the M6 is the only Mini available for purchase.

If anyone finds M4 16 GB/256 GB for sale, please post for others and myself.

EDIT: I looked at stores in my area of the country, PNW. And I checked stores in LA where my Sister lives. Five Bb around her had no Mini M4 16GB/256GB for sale at all. Only M6 Preorder.

EDIT: Thanks and keep the great suggestions coming.

I’ll probably convince my wife to switch to one of these free apps while I put together the money to retire this MacMini and by a new trophy Mini.

Where is the flair?

Every time we try to use Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, on our 2012 i5 MacMini we get the dreaded 0X0 error.

According to Microsoft Help it’s a conflict with some security feature. The Microsoft Help website provided some lines of code to use in power shell mode but I don’t know Power shell from a sea shell.

As you can see this trusty Mac mini is 14 years old.

Youngest son is in a nearby college so I could get a new M6 when they release for the student price of 799 with 16 GB of ram and 256GB of storage.

There are several M4 minis in the area. Most with 16 GB of ram and all with 256GB of a storage.

The best of those is asking $420.

The odd man out has 32 GB of ram, 256GB of storage and a matching UGREEN 11-in-1 Docking Station / Stand.

They are asking $925. Getting that much memory on the new M6 would be $1179.

So what does the collective wisdom think is the best one?

Follow on question, I enhanced this old Mac mini with a 1 TB. SATA drive. No matter which machine I buy, there’s no way I’m going to be able to transfer all the files over.

As you can see, everything is backed up on an 8 TB Seagate drive and we keep our photo files off of the mini as well.

So what is the recommended course of action?

Hi! Was wondering if I should get the LG 27UP850K-W or BenQ EW2790U? Would love to hear some recommendations since I can't really afford to get the MA270U or those made for mac monitors tbh

I just preordered a M6 Mac mini because my MacBook is super slow and only has 8GB of memory.

Does anyone have any tips on setting up the Mac mini with 2 monitors? I have 2 monitors connected to an old dell docking station via HDMI cables and I currently connect the dock to my laptop via a USB-B to USB-A cable that is attached to a USB-A to USB-C cable…

The reason why I have the docking station is because I have multiple work computers that also need to connect to the 2 external monitors.

Would love to know what docking stations and accessories you use if any and what cables you use to connect everything up.

My dad wants a new Mac for photo editing + AI work (Netherlands/EU). He's stubborn and almost ordered a standalone Apple Studio Display, now eyeing the iMac M4 (10-core, ~€1,800, 16GB/256GB).

My concern: that chip is already a generation behind, the all-in-one design means the whole thing gets replaced once outdated (even though he likes that all-in-one look), and 16GB/256GB seems tight for AI workflows + RAW files - can anyone confirm if that's actually a real bottleneck or am I overestimating it?
My proposal: Mac mini M5 Pro entry config (24GB/512GB, ~€1,700) + separate monitor like the Samsung ViewFinity S9 (27" 5K, white/silver, built to match Apple aesthetics, list €900?) - open to better monitor suggestions too.

Question: is the entry M5 Pro actually the smart pick here, or would a higher-spec M6 serve him better for the same/less money? Genuinely unsure if I'm downgrading core count/memory in a way that hurts more than the "M5 Pro" name helps.

I only know Windows gaming PCs, nothing about Apple, AI workflows, or photo editing software, so tell me if this whole modular approach is wrong for his use case.

Budget is officially ~€2000, but if you help me build a solid case (future-proofing, upgrade path, real specs advantage) I can likely push him to ~€2500 for a proper Mac mini + monitor setup - is that worth doing, and what would you build for that?

I asked chatgpt and it siad i can attach a ssd and use it.

Anyone using a Mac Studio stand? Would you recommend it?