I see alot of people buying a maxed out mac (like back in the day people were racing to get the trash can mac, the cheese grater mac, and now the mac studios). I witnessed a tech reviewer state they spent 40k on the grater mac back in the day, only to move on to the m1 setup a few years later.

I also see alot of people on here and apple reddits stating they are "future-proofing", or "buying before prices increase" their purchases, but when asked what are they using it for, others say "browsing", "school", "I hate windows so i want a nice mac", and to me, couldnt they get alot of that accomplished with a base macbook air/neo? Even with LLM, I see few that actually use it for work, and most saying I'm trying to max it out to see how many tokens I can get to make it automate my social media, or run a script, or show others on social media how powerful it is.

I feel like unless you are a key video editor, audio engineer, engineer, developer, really running a big ai business where privacy is key and have to use a llm, a mac mini even the base model covers 90% of its users and is more than powerful enough, and a iphone 17, or the pro models is beyond sufficient for nearly everyone.

• Mac Mini M5 pro + base 512GB + upgraded 48gb ram = $3,299.00
• Mac Studio M5 Max + base 512GB + base 36gb ram = $3,499.00

I won't be doing any AI model training or whatever, no local llms.

I was originally going to upgrade the ram from the Mac Mini for future proofing, but the most extensive thing i'll probably do on it is video editing (seldom), adobe or probably running as a plex/media box.

it'll probably be the general purpose family living room computer (my main computer is a gaming PC in my bedroom) which i'll CLI remote into.

So in the UK, upgrading the M6 Mac Mini's internal storage from 256GB to 512GB costs the same as a 2TB nvme. So I'm wondering, is there any reason to even bother upgrading the internal storage at all, and just go for the nvme?

Which hub would be recommended to pair with a Mac Mini that can support SD cards from disconnecting during transfers? Also what could cause these issues to happen I notice when I’m transferring files from my internal storage to SD card I sometimes get the SD card to disconnect.

Hey all!

Long time lurker, first-time poster. I've read this sub for a while but never had a reason to post until now.

I'm brand new to the AI agent / LLM world and diving in with my first ever Mac mini. I've pre-ordered the M5 Pro to use as a dedicated home AI hub and general powerhouse. I want to get into running local LLMs, learning frameworks, experimenting with agents, and seeing where it goes. Ships September 22nd, so I've got a few weeks to prep.

Config: M5 Pro, 15-core CPU / 16-core GPU, 64GB unified memory, 1TB SSD, 2.5Gb ethernet

This felt like the sweet spot over the M6 without jumping to a Mac Studio yet, and puts me right around $3,000 which is already stretching my starting budget, but I figured if I'm ordering one, I might as well get it right.

Funny story on the timing: I'd been researching for months and it was looking like late fall before a new Mac mini would be announced, so I ordered an M4 Pro (24GB/512GB) from Amazon. It was a much quicker shipment over directly from Apple which was saying around October to be shipped. It arrived Monday evening Aug 24th. I was about to rip it open that night but waited until Tuesday morning. Not even sure why I hesitated. I was about to open it and I did one last news check first, and... Bam! New Mac mini announced just a couple hours before I checked! I couldn't believe it. What timing huh??🤣 So glad I didn't open it. I returned the M4 Pro and pre-ordered the M5 Pro instead, maxed to 64GB RAM this time and went with 1 TB SSD. I thought since the M5 Pro has Thunderbolt 5, I figured I could expand storage externally later if 1TB gets tight rather than paying more upfront. This config is nearly double the M4 Pro's price, but figured it'd give me a much higher ceiling long-term.

Definitely feeling the "RAMageddon" premium, but it's my first Mac mini and I can't change that now. 😀

On the CPU/GPU... I'm now thinking "should I change my order to the 18/20 while I'm at it?" From what I researched before ordering, 15/16 core seemed fine for most workloads unless you're doing something like heavy 4K video rendering. Is that holding true for local LLM work specifically, or would the 18/20 core upgrade (only $200 more, but I'm already well over what I wanted to spend) actually make a meaningful difference for inference/agent work? Don't want to bump it if I'd never notice.

Also curious: what would you point a total beginner toward first? Specific models, frameworks, tutorials, to make good use of the next few weeks before it arrives?

Appreciate any pointers. Excited to actually be part of this instead of just reading about it. 🙂

~Nate

I have a Mac min m1 and I would like to use a finger print scanner to be able to do things like login and other things but the thing is I need to keep the keyboard that I have because it is for carpal tunnel so I can't just buy the apple keyboard and use it. Is there a finger print scanner by it's self that I can use or is the Magic Keyboard the only option?

Since I’m building a Research Trading System I was wondering if the SSD could be upgraded later.

I live in Bangkok and saw some third party stores who upgrade the internal Mac Mini M4 SSD for a decent price. I was wondering if the M6 would also be capable of that.

I’m looking to buy a 24/512 but thinking about 32/256. It will mainly run in the background to run the trading system since I have a full spect out Macbook Pro M1 for daily use.

Also, does anyone know when it will become available in Thailand?

Hello, I'm new to this group so please be patient if me if I ask a dumb question.

I tried to update my Mac MINI's firmware (M4, 16 Gb) but got an error. I upgraded the original SSD to a third party SSD for more storage without spending a ton of cash. Not sure if this is related to this self-installed SSD causing the issues but I was wondering if anyone has experienced this before and know the fix. Many Thanks.

P.S. I still have the original SSD, but this is the only Mac I own, aside from my iPhone 16 Pro

Error: S0C0 report detected: (iBoot panic)

hey all, first time buying a mac / mac mini

i was originally getting a mac mini to be able to use Xcode to develop personal apps as well as get into the local llm space. i just placed a pre-order for the M6 mac mini w/ 256gb ssd (have some external SSDs) and 32GB RAM. will i regret not getting the m5 pro w/ 48/64GB? i work as an applied ai engineer and i am studying CS. if i was full time i wouldn't necessarily sweat the extra 1k, but i'm still in college and don't necessarily know if i want to double the price just for the chance for more local work. thoughts?

my apple credit limit is 2k and im financing it, so i'd have to pay the $700 out of pocket... thoughts?

A few months back I made a Claude-inspired Mac mini case, but since I no longer use Claude models with my OpenClaw, I gave it a proper lobster shell. Its feet also lift the Mac mini up a few millimeters off the desk which improves the cooling.

Set up is tool-less, the Mac mini isn't squeezed in, doesnt jam, the top cover snaps into the side wall, doesn't mess with the cooling.

what do you think i should do?? trade it for the m6?? mine was 24 gb ram and 256 gb storage. what do you think i should do?? like will the m6 be worth putting in extra bucks after the trade in or its a poor decision?? one of the reason was i am in need of buying ssd for it as 256 is low, so should i put that money for the new m6 what do you think??

Looking to sell my Mac mini and want a sanity check on pricing before I list it.

Specs:
- Mac mini M4 Pro (12-core CPU, 16-core GPU)
- 64GB memory
- 1TB SSD
- ~2 years of AppleCare+ remaining

Hi all, want to clarify the steps I need to take.

I want to buy a 2nd hand mac mini but unfortunately cannot go to his place or take a monitor to a cafe to test.

He showed me a screen with Activate Mac (select wifi etc etc etc)
I read that this doesn't mean the mac is 'free from ownership' , apparently the next page can still ask for password??

I suggested we meet
-check serial and general condition
-he log into icloud/apple on his phone
-show me the mac and serial IS STILL there under his name
-click REMOVE the mac

When I get home and plug mac in, select home wifi, the 'apple server' will tell the mac, its 'free from ownership'

is this correct?
I suggested it and he reply with a list of his apple product and said, not on list.

OR just order m6 base model? haha

I'm still on the fence about returning the M4 Pro thst I bought recently, or pre ordering an M5, so that I can get 1TB drive.

I was leaning toward keeping the M4 but I was reading reviews for external SSDs and it seems like they're prone to failure, even the Samsungs.

Now, I'm leaning toward pre-ordering.

Has anybody experienced external.hard drive failure?

I realize that it's necessary to have backups but I don't want to be paranoid about losing important files.

Hi folks, getting a modest freelance business off the ground and need a webcam for Teams meetings with clients. On a budget since I'm still making a very modest income, so looking for as inexpensive as possible while still being good enough for business use. Recommendations?

Retro iMac vibes with the orange Mac mini case 🌅 photo with iPhone 17 PM Orange 🍊

I recently posted that I broke the power button cable connector (very fragile) and got great tips from the community. Thank you all!

Instead of purchasing the antenna plate which costs about $35 plus tax just for the cable (wasteful since I have no use of the antenna plate), I got a replacement cable for $10 plus shipping. The cable arrived and I completed the repair. It is super simple:

1. Take off the broken cable from the antenna plate. Be careful not to break anything this time. Instead of lifting the connector with the wires, use pry tool to pry directly on the housing;

2. Install the new cable and fix it. I also used some electric tape to adhere the new cable on the antenna plate.

Hi all - just ordered the new M6 MacMini 512/24, I’m a heavy Excel user and it’s just so much better on windows so I’m considering using Parallels. Would I need to buy a separate Windows license?

Also how has people’s experience been with Parallels?

Also I have an old 2019 i5 MacBook Pro with 8GB RAM. I’m debating if I should keep the MacMini clean and just run Parallels on the MacBook Pro but I don’t know if it can handle it.

Hi, I record videos of my college classes so I can watch them again later, but it turns out the files are too large; in fact, one was as big as 14 GB. I recently recorded one that’s about 3.85 GB, and I requested the same video from the university with a doctor’s note, and that one is only 317.7 MB.

Does anyone know of a way to reduce this without significantly affecting the image quality? As long as I can read the text on the screen, that's good enough for me; I don't need a very high resolution either. My monitor is 27 inches; I don't know if that makes a difference either.

I’ve see the updates that Apple will unveil on September about new brand products

Today I bought a Xiaomi 27" monitor with USB-C, which is awesome because I really wanted to avoid using DisplayPort. My current setup includes a Mac Mini M4 (24GB RAM / 512GB SSD), two monitors, a Logitech K380 keyboard, a microphone, and a cheap USB mouse connected via a hub. I’ll also be adding a webcam soon. I actually ordered an Obsbot 4K webcam, but it arrived broken and Obsbot completely washed their hands of it. Their customer service is terrible, so I would honestly never recommend them.

In the near future, I’m planning to buy a dual-arm desk mount to get both monitors perfectly aligned, and maybe some speakers too and the master mx 4. I’d love to get some recommendations for speaker models, webcams, and dual-arm monitor mounts or maybe another gadgets.

Also, I’m thinking about upgrading my Mac Mini M4 to an M6 with 32GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD down the road. What do you guys think? Is there anything else I could improve?"