M4 Mac mini: Why you should get it over the M4 MacBook Pro

The new Apple M4 Macs are finally here. 

Like many who were waiting on the latest Apple devices before making a purchase, you may be thinking of buying the new M4 MacBook Pro. It’s a very powerful laptop and would certainly make for a great purchase. 

However, what if I told you that you can get all that power for more than half the price? Well, you can with the new M4 Mac mini.

The case for the Mac mini: Price

This week, Apple announced a slew of new Macs powered by its latest silicon chipset, the M4. All of the Macs powered by M4, from the new iMac to the Mac mini to the MacBook Pro, are going to be very powerful computers.

However, there is a huge price difference between the Mac mini and MacBook Pro solely based on portability.

Are you going to be traveling around with your computer often? No? Are you mostly going to be using your Mac in a stationary setting like say at your desk or in your home office? Yes? Then, you should consider getting the new M4 Mac mini and save quite a bit of money.

The new base model MacBook Pro powered by the M4 chip starts at $1,599. This M4 MacBook Pro model comes with a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU, 16GB of memory, and 512GB of SSD storage.

M4 MacBook Pro
Credit: Apple

The new base model M4 Mac mini has the exact same specs, but comes with a slightly smaller 256GB SSD drive. The cost for the Mac mini? $599. That’s one thousand dollars in savings. 

If you want the exact same specs, you can upgrade the M4 Mac mini drive to 512GB of storage, which brings the total price to $799. That’s still $800 in savings and gets you the exact same computer spec-wise.

Put those extra savings into upgrades and you can have an M4 Mac mini that’s much more powerful than the M4 MacBook Pro you were going to purchase at no extra cost then what you initially intended to spend.

In fact, if you’re looking at the more powerful M4 Pro chip, going with the Mac mini over the MacBook Pro with the same exact specs will still save you $600.

Credit: Apple

The extra-cost for the MacBook Pro is solely for its portability. So, if you’re not going to be regularly traveling with your computer, why get a laptop? 

Yes, the MacBook Pro also comes with a built-in keyboard, mousepad, and display. If you don’t have any of those at home, those are all additional costs to add-on to the final cost of the Mac mini. But, many people do have all of those peripheral devices already. And if you don’t, you can purchase them all once and use them for subsequent Mac minis when you choose to upgrade in the future. 

AppleCare+ is easier on your pockets

There’s another potential for additional savings if choosing the Mac mini over the MacBook Pro and that’s AppleCare. AppleCare+ covers damage, technical issues, and support for your new Apple device for one year. For your MacBook Pro, it’ll cost $99.99 per year. For the Mac mini, it costs $34.99 per year. 

Credit: Apple

Furthermore, I would recommend that you don’t even need AppleCare coverage for their Mac mini whereas it’s a must-buy for the MacBook Pro. As a desktop computer, the Mac mini sits stationary on your desk. You will likely not drop it or spill anything on it like you would when carrying your MacBook Pro around to set up a temporary workstation in different locations.

Now, there are situations where you’ll choose the MacBook Pro over the Mac mini. If you know you’ll be regularly traveling and this is the computer you intend to use, the M4 MacBook Pro is for you. If you need the most powerful Mac available, the new MacBook Pro is currently the only device equipped with an upgrade to the M4 Max chip — at least until Apple releases the new Mac Studio M4 computers.

As such, if you’re seeking a stationary setup and a more cost-effective system, the M4 Mac mini is for you.