Is the 2018 Mac Mini better value than M1 in 2025?

[@GamerMan57]

I'm using one of these Mac Mini's to type this, I got it last year. I have the i7 Model like you have. Mine has 64Gb of RAM and 512GB of storage. I use it for my music production and video editing as well as other stuff like Virtual Machines, backing up my phone, etc. It runs great in general and gives me the added benefit of things I can only do with an Intel Mac without most of the drawbacks that came with having an Intel chip in the laptops. I daily drive an M2 MacBook Air since I need to be able to work on the go a lot, but I love using the Mini when I'm at home and don't anticipate replacing it for awhile! Love your videos, Cheers!

[@montaguebarnabasltd]

@@GamerMan57 great setup on yours! Thanks for watching.

[@JonMurray]

Nice one man, really appreciate your videos.

[@jeremsgarage]

I’m running a MacPro 2013 “Trashcan”! With OCLP. It has dual D500 graphics cards and I swapped in 64 gb DDR3 Ram and a 10 core Processor. It’s great. I’ve thought about running Windows on it for some light gaming. But it does fine editing 1080p but 4K slows it way way down. Thanks for the video and enjoy your MacMini!

[@user-pp3dl8id7r]

Excellent content.

[@bryans8656]

I had one of these, bought it new back when they were released. It was an excellent device, fast and stable as a rock, and I upgraded the memory myself. I dual booted to Windows using Boot Camp (which I really miss) and played my Steam games using an eGPU. I finally succumbed to the lure of the M series Macs, but I still think the 2018 is a great option for those on a strict budget or just like to tinker with older Apple hardware.

[@mightbesherwood1313]

Great Ferris Bueller quote at the end!

[@montaguebarnabasltd]

@@mightbesherwood1313 yes yes yes yes yes

[@gd515051]

Bet that 2018 costs nothing now. I picked up the top i7 2017 iMac 27 and love it. 5k monitor which I figured by the time I need a Mac mini M class I’ll be able target display this 5k. Someone will invent an easy way to do it.

[@arpro89]

I also got an iMac 2019 27. Still waiting for Apple to make an M4 iMac 27

[@MacMasore]

I'm quite sure target mode display doesn't work on 5k iMacs, at least not native maybe with airplay or with something like the lunadisplay.

[@phillblake6829]

I have that Mac and that tile coaster too Mine struggles with big files on photoshop and illustrator. I’m looking at an m4 now.

[@theprestigerklopt5085]

Do you have any thoughts/ advice on when the M1 line up will become obsolete and will need to be upgraded? I have a MacBook Pro M1 at the moment and have no money for an upgrade. Curious to hear your thoughts on how much longer I will be able to effectively use it

[@montaguebarnabasltd]

@@theprestigerklopt5085 I’ll probably make a video on this soon. Almost no doubt they’ll be updated until 2027 minimum. Then security patches until 2030. You might struggle with battery by then, and if you have a 256gb model storage obviously, but they’ll be solid in CPU performance still.

[@TheOfficialDuBsTeC]

Its also the only Gen in Black.. it really looks so good in that still dark space grey shade (my iPad Air M2 looks like silver nowadays compared..)

[@brianp117]

I had a 2010 Mac Mini Core i5 that I used for the longest time as a DAW hooked up to my Apollo Firewire and it worked flawlessly until a lot of plugins started going native. I upgraded the Apollo to Thunderbolt and tried to run everything on a custom-build AM4 based PC, but I feel like it's just quirkier than the Mac was, so I just bought a new in box 2018 Mac Mini i7 with 64 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD for $385 or something thereabouts. I didn't want to mess around with needing to bridge or emulate my older VST plugins and I really don't want to get away from my old Apollo which I love so dearly so I was afraid to go the M2 or M4 route. It's too bad there's no Linux support from Universal Audio otherwise I would have went that route because I'm a huge fan of Pop_OS! Anyway, I'm hoping the Mac will last me as long as the 2010 did. Funny I used to make records on a Pentium M machine that I thought was amazing...

[@johnbell1810]

Is the 2018 still ok for iphone xcode simulation and development?

[@die-filmwerkstatt]

I can also agree, we use one with mac and windows 10. runs smooth

[@Sk3pzX]

macOS Sequoia will probably be one of the last officially supported versions that the 2018 mac mini will get though

[@MagRBX]

Mac minis are awesome ngl :D

[@samdavidh]

When i saw that title i was like 'that's ridiculous' but remembering Bootcamp - a big thing for me - as well as the memory you get for the price... you could literally run Windows 10 (11 theoretically if it had a TPM), and the next macos if it supports Intel, for cheap and that is a huge benefit for Intel.

[@rodocs9008]

I have the m4 mini vanilla. I can do Final Cut, garage band, a few low spec games. Works great, but if I was a heavy user I could benefit from that ram, but not a big deal for me, im not making 4k movies over here lol.

[@TechGameDev]

the only avantage black colors , eGPU support and ram upgradable

[@leatherwiz]

I watch videos about bargain macs and when I look in my German eBay, these macs cost about double… I can’t find a 2018 i7 Mac mini for less then 500 to 600 Euros….this is not just for your video but for all videos with similar content. I understand that the US maybe has a bigger supply of these macs but can’t believe our markets in Europe are so different from each other. Why is it that these second hand products are so much more expensive here? My theory is, because of these videos the demand for second hand macs increases and thus the price increases.

[@omrisadovsky]

what is the name of the keyboard that you using? looks so clean

[@montaguebarnabasltd]

@@omrisadovsky it’s Apple’s wired USB keyboard from 2003-06 I believe. Thanks!

[@QUANTUMJOKER]

I have a low-spec 2018 Mac Mini with a 3.6 GHz quad-core i3 CPU, and it still feels very fast and capable. It's just a shame that I was able to easily upgrade the RAM to 32 GB, but the internal storage is stuck at a measly 128 GB. Late this month or early this month, I'll be receiving a 4 TB storage upgrade kit for my M1 Max Mac Studio (thanks to Polysoft's Kickstarter campaign). Could I use my 2018 Mac Mini to program these storage modules in DFU mode, or does this process require an Apple Silicon Mac?

[@montaguebarnabasltd]

@@QUANTUMJOKER I’m afraid I can’t get my head around your question, sorry. I somehow doubt you could use those modules as main storage in your 2018 Mini, especially due to the T2 chip… but I wouldn’t take my word for it. Best of luck with your machines, either way.

[@QUANTUMJOKER]

@@montaguebarnabasltd I'm sorry - I should have been more specific. The Mac Studio has modular storage, but you have to enter DFU mode (you insert the power cable while holding down the power button, I believe) and program the storage modules (in Apple Configurator, or the Finder in later versions of MacOS) using another Mac over Thunderbolt. You must physically install the Mac Studio storage modules before you can program them in DFU mode. I'm hoping I can use my 2018 Mac Mini to program the Mac Studio's new storage in DFU mode.

[@y87_99Firebird]

Im using a 2011 iMac that is running Sequoia. Intel machines still have a place IMO but theyll hardly touch what M devices are doing

[@daviddaniel1001]

Is this your daily driver and will you upgrade to Windows 11?

[@montaguebarnabasltd]

@@daviddaniel1001 it’s probably not going to replace my M1 MacBook Air as I need to do work on the go sometimes. Nah I see no reason to upgrade to Windows 11.

[@daviddaniel1001]

@montaguebarnabasltd How much ram did it had before and 256 gb of storage is enough for you?

[@montaguebarnabasltd]

@ came with 32GB. 256GB isn’t really enough, but it’s easy to add more in external drives… just adds cost later.

[@TrusteftTech]

Good video. I think using it also as a Windows machine makes a lot of sense, in the long run. I only have a late 2012 Mac Mini with the i7, 16GB of RAM and a couple of SSDs inside. It was fine for up to 2017 or something when Apple upgraded FCPX with a new engine or whatever, and performance dropped like a loud fart at a funeral. I stopped using it. It's already obsolete of course for Apple so one more reason to not use it. Shame really. I am currently poor so my only other working machine worth mentioning is my mid 2014 Windows laptop, with an i7-4710HQ. A similar CPU, but unfortunately the video editing software on Windows makes this laptop struggle compared to the Mac Mini on FCPX. Even though this laptop has a GTX860M.

[@montaguebarnabasltd]

@@TrusteftTech those 2012 Mac minis were the bee’s knees. Yeah I’ve just sold the 2028 Mini on as I was scared it was a losing investment really

[@TrusteftTech]

@@montaguebarnabasltd I can understand that, especially if one is interested mainly for macOS.

[@typhfanuwu7526]

M4 Mac mini is the best bang for your buck right now

[@timfireblade]

Not a bad deal if you need a mini PC, a new N100 mini PC costs around £160 so this i7 version will easily outperform it and as you say has the advantage of running both Mac OS and Windows. Obviously Apple will eventually stop supporting Intel based macs at some point and you'll have to jump through hoops to install Windows 11 on it. I'll be watching prices on eBay, maybe I'll add one to my mac mini collection.

[@-xYz--nk1gm]

that apple will stop supporting this hardware is no problem at the moment. You have open core patcher and with it you can install the latest macos on older hardware. I use macos sequoia on macbook pro 2014

[@timfireblade]

@ I meant when Apple will eventually stop releasing Intel versions of its operating system.

[@themacintoshnerd]

Hmmmm maybe with an eGPU this would be a decent option for me.

[@boombeet678]

TL;DR: I ramble a lot, but essentially what I'm trying to say here is that if you don't need Apple Silicon based hardware for whatever reason, there are a bunch of other options on the used market available (primarily eBay and Lenovo/Dell/HP models, sometimes gaming laptops yes) that potentially provide more value for the price of $300 or below. It's usually always mostly laptops, I rarely find good stuff on mini PCs actually unless they are those new ones from Amazon or something, but even then used mini PCs are usually too pricey in comparison. What you mention here is a fair find, one of the few instances in which I haven't seen a used mini PC overpriced for the specs. Now, going on and looking at the exact same deal online and all, I mean, for $240, I'm not the most certain. Like, it's pretty fine but at least CPU benchmark wise there's been a fair amount of used laptops with better processors/more cores for the $150 to $200 mark, although that's if you want to take the time and wait it out should you find nothing on the market like that currently available. Deals like that always pop up, the difference is that with the one you mention here, at least for the online listings it's especially readily around in large stock (258 available on one of these? oh lord) and that's a good thing. If it means much, I got a ThinkPad P52 with a similar (same generation i7 with alike performance) CPU, half the amount of RAM (16GB) but with an added discrete GPU of course for $240 shipping + taxes, and what you are mentioning here is pretty much in the same ballpark. It was an alright deal back then when I got it, although the Xeon processor variants of mine go for like $40 less with twice the RAM and the same CPU a few days before I bought mine... had a tiny bit of regret there. Still do, I've spotted a P52 on eBay right now that once again has double the RAM, with the same CPU but the 4k glossy display instead of the 1080p matte one for $230... my lord... Even still, if there's any lessons to be taken from me here, don't get hung up on "buying in too early" or at least try not to, I don't think it's worth the time really since usually these purchases are always better in comparison to buying new still. Any deal in this context is kind of a good deal as a general consumer, and diminishing returns at least for the time you spend searching are quite real. Now then, what I actually wanted to mention before all of that was how the M1 Mac Mini of course goes for the same price on the used market even though it has that 8GB of RAM (really unfortunate, RAM requirements have skyrocketed up over the years apparently but for no good reason so it's not *that* bad, but still, that's 25% of the 2018 variant you mention for around the same price). In my eyes, as someone who is kind of slightly interested in Apple Silicon stuff and all that, having at least physical access to an M-series chip machine of any kind is quite nice, I will admit. Asahi Linux people (referring to the GitHub docs wiki in particular) have discovered a ton of things regarding the hardware's inner workings and how they compare to both normal x86 and ARM architecture CPUs, for someone who's only slightly interested in that stuff Apple has seemingly done a bunch of firsts at least referring to the M1/M2 generation CPUs, I have not much clue what was newly done M3/M4 wise. Does it necessitate spending $200 on a machine that's potentially crippled by the RAM amount in comparison to what you mention here which is still an Apple based product fulfilling that quota for anyone interested in the brand? While I was considering it to see it hands on for myself, no, definitely not, if you're spending $200 you should get your money's worth, but the new line of CPUs are still valuable in ways besides power for quite niche circumstances. And if I got anything wrong above, do let me know, it's appreciated.

[@hghmnds]

Sold mine bc of the lack of gpu power and heat issues. So sad had to let go of this beauty

[@rorywalters1614]

If you have to get an Intel Mac desktop that’s not an iMac, the 2018 mini is a better choice than a Mac Pro 5,1 or 6,1. The 2018 mini could use eGPU natively, although there are performance losses, it will perform better than the Mac Pro 5,1 when using the same GPU because there’s no T2 chip on the 5,1, no matter how powerful the GPU is it’ll will be a pain in the arse to render videos. And the 6,1, you’ll be stuck on Monterey since eGPU hack wouldn’t work on later OS versions. Not to mention older Xeon CPUs lack instruction sets. The 2018 mini has a bunch of Thunderbolt ports so you can hook up to many external PCIe stuff without risking breaking something when opening up the machine. And it runs the newest OS, no patching needed.

[@abuelovinagres4411]

I envy the prices you guys have in the first world. I have gotten recently a 2012 MacBook Pro for $180 bucks ($3,500 devaluated mexican pesos)... and it was a deal around here. :'v

[@JarppaGuru]

i have no idea. small thing cant be good. and bcoz its apple it actually worth less. we closing RPI prices

[@montaguebarnabasltd]

@@JarppaGuru what?

[@squeakyfoxx]

This.. makes no sense.

[@s1oplus_wt]

apple, bring back the space gray mac mini. now.

[@mordecaiepsilon]

EGPU setup would be sick to see. I hope you do a video on that

[@montaguebarnabasltd]

@@mordecaiepsilon they are super expensive which is the only problem. If I do find a decent price I will straight away.

[@jo9732]

Computers have peaked. I’m able to do all things I need on a fifteen year old Lenovo running Linux mint. Yea. Not video editing. But I don’t do that. Everything else is perfect.

[@JessicaFEREM]

if it wasn't for my 3050, this mac mini is technically more capable than my desktop. lol

[@Squla_paper]

No updates

[@montaguebarnabasltd]

@Squla_paper not sure about that one yet

[@squeakyfoxx]

There could be. We don't know when apple will actually cut updates to intel macs yet. It might get one more update before then, and even then, you get 2 years of security updates after the OS drops support, so it'll still be fine for a while

[@Iv987654321]

Yep. You could install linux on the old one.

[@ryu5731]

dying architecture, aging soldered SSD that can die at any time, i wouldnt pick one up for less than 100$

[@davypelletier]

no.

[@Antonywhitewow]

absolutely not. unable to use it for anything other than 2 safari tabs. don't buy intel macs. buy m1.

[@JayfkProductions876]

Intel Macs can't compare in Performance to Apple Silicon so no it's not worth it 😂.