**Comparing the New Mac Mini with Other Devices**

As I experimented with various devices and tested how they stack up against each other, I was surprised to find that there are many affordable options available in the six to eight hundred dollar range that can maximize your dollar. One such device is the B-Link S6, which features a Ryzen 7 6800H processor, 32 gigs of RAM, and 512 gigs of storage, along with an installation of Windows 11. This combination offers more flexibility than what a Mac can provide, especially when it comes to its mini form factor.

**The Power of Windows Devices**

A device like the B-Link S6 can offer more gaming options than a Mac Mini, thanks to the flexibility it provides in terms of customization and upgradeability. Outside of the mini form factor, there are many laptops and custom builds available that cater to gamers looking for decent performance without breaking the bank. However, if you want to see how much you can game on a Mac in 2023, check out my previous video on the Austin Evans Channel.

**The Limitations of Mac OS**

What all these Windows machines can't touch is the sheer power and optimization that comes with M2 for most applications. While this matters greatly for many users, personal preference plays a significant role in choosing between Mac OS and Windows. Some takeaways I found while scanning Apple's website include:

* The base M2 Mac Mini has a higher spec system than the base M2 MacBook Air, requiring an additional $100 to match.

* The Mac Mini features a fan, which helps with cooling.

* The M2 Pro Mac Mini is a more interesting option, but its value proposition is complicated due to Apple's expensive upgrades and options.

**The Upgrade Proposal**

When adding Apple's expensive options and upgrades to the Thirteen hundred dollar top trim of the M2 Pro Mac Mini, you're practically rivaling the price of the Max Studio at two thousand dollars. However, with a negligible difference in power between the M2 Pro and the Mac Mini, and an additional 32 gigs of RAM, 10-gig Ethernet, and Creature Comforts like better cooling and front-facing I/O, the studio is objectively better than an upgraded mini.

**The Alternative Option**

One serious alternative to the base M2 Mac Mini that's worth considering is the last-generation M1 Mac Mini. With prices currently ranging from $400, it may be worth waiting for a potential discount on release day if you're patient.

**Conclusion and Final Thoughts**

Let me know what you think about the new Mac Mini by dropping a line below. If you like content like this, hit that Thumbs Up Button as well as the Subscribe button and the bell icon to get notified when new videos go live.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis is the new 2023 Mac Mini and for six hundred dollars it might just be one of the best deals to come from Apple in recent memory let's talk about it hello and welcome to denki channel my name is Ken the brand new Mac Mini came as a bit of a surprise in the news cycle we all knew an update was inevitable after all the outgoing M1 Mac Mini came out back in 2020 and they were selling the 2018 Intel Mac Mini at the same time but Apple went and announced this thing without a proper keynote the launch might have been relatively quiet and low-key though it's not much of an indicator for what Apple's offering in fact I think it's some of the best value out of any product they sell today the 2023 Mac Mini includes Apple's newest M2 Chip with an 8 core CPU that's split between four performance cores and four efficiency cores as well as a 10 core GPU 8 gigs of RAM and a 250 6 gig SSD all of this again for six hundred dollars here in the US which is a hundred dollars less than what they were selling the M1 Mac Mini for though as always you'll have to factor in a mouse keyboard and monitor if you don't already have those the real world story with apple silicon is truly made whole with Mac OS obviously whether or not it's your cup of tea is another can of worms but software optimization is key to The Buttery smooth performance this M2 offers you can just keep worms away from it I appreciate it it delivers plenty of power for productivity and general use which is sure to last you for years but where it comes in clutch is for Content creation the dedicated video encoding and decoding on M2 has made playback and render in Final Cut and DaVinci Resolve a breeze which is especially useful if you churn out lots of content on the regular in fact I'm editing this entire video on the base model Mac Mini pretty good now it isn't perfect I get occasional stutters when I'm playing back footage with heavy color grading and effects but the fact that I'm able to complete an entire denki edit on this base model M2 Mac Mini is pretty cool just needs a little bit of patience especially compared to more powerful machines like the one that I'm used to my 14 inch M1 Max MacBook Pro but really the cherry on top is that the entire package is Tiny and quiet like me neither of those things are true it can seamlessly blend into your setup and the small footprint can save you valuable desk space I plan on making a Mac Mini setup video pretty soon so if you're curious about how I set this one up subscribe and click on the Bell icon to get notified on when it goes live if there are any things I'd change with this 2023 Mac Mini one I wish there were front-facing i o for easy access like on the Mac Studio on that note while there are more ports on this thing that and say MacBook Air two Thunderbolts four ports and two type A still does not feel like enough USB especially if you're planning on using multiple displays or wired peripherals certainly nothing a USBC Hub can't fix if you're finding yourself in a bind so not the end of the world but the big compromise with the base model that's worth putting on your radar is with the RAM and storage eight gigs of unified Ram is fine on Apple silicon for basic and Mild workloads however it does restrict how much you can multitask between apps for my standard YouTube content creator flow bouncing between Final Cut Photoshop and multiple tabs in Safari can cause this base mini to chug on occasion and to make matters worse this M2 Mac Mini with its 256 gig SSD is single nand flash this means slower SSD speeds than what the hardware is capable of you see why when Mac OS detects that you're running low on available Ram it essentially borrows from storage or swaps to do what it has to do to run optimally but if you're running slower single nand flash storage this can affect how quickly swapping occurs and therefore affect overall system performance if you're the type of person that's not good about managing your files and keeping a healthy amount of storage available fill up your SSD to like 95 full or something crazy like that you shouldn't don't do that I'll tell you eight gigs of ram in that scenario will seriously come back to bite you worse is that while Apple lets you spec things up surprise surprise it's not cheap want 16 gigs of RAM or a one terabyte SSD those are 200 and 400 a pop respectively and those are not user upgradable you can go to Best Buy and buy a one terabyte Samsung t7 for 90 five dollars for my money I'd prioritize upgrading to 16 gigs of RAM which if we're talking about the base model bumps up the total to 800 which in all fairness is still a good price point I've been talking a lot about value as the Crux for why I think people should buy the base Mac Mini but so far it's been in a vacuum so I did a little bit of research to see how it Stacks up with other devices and here's what I found there's always people drawing conclusions to Windows devices in the comments and there's a surprising amount you can buy in the six to eight hundred dollar range that can maximize your dollar now while I don't exactly have one here in the studio to say for sure but on paper a device like the b-link ser-6 with a ryzen 7 6800h 32 gigs of RAM and 512 gigs of storage also with an install of Windows 11 because that's important a device like this can offer you more flexibility than what a Mac can give you go outside inside the mini form factor and the world opens up for you way more there are laptops and custom builds for days with dedicated gpus that offer decent gaming chops that the Mac Mini can't offer on sheer limitation of Mac OS however if you want to see how much you can game on a Mac in 2023 go check out the video we made on the Austin Evans Channel where we run the gamut to answer this question that no one really asked Austin I was curious what did I say and curiosity killed the cat however what all of these windows machines can't touch is the sheer power and optimization that comes with M2 for most of everything else how much that matters versus how you feel about Mac OS overall really comes down to personal preference the story gets a little more complicated when we're comparing the new Mac Mini to other Macs that Apple sells now I'm not gonna go way into the weeds comparing everything in the lineup but some takeaways I found while scanning the website the base M2 Mac Mini with its 10 core GPU is a higher spec system than the base M2 MacBook Air you have to add 100 to the Air's price to get an even match making it over double the cost of the Mac Mini while it's not an Apples to Apples comparison poor choice of words I don't think the air is double the computer the mini is and also this Mac Mini happens to have a fan in it which helps with cooling additionally for reference we also got the M2 Pro Mac Mini in the studio to test out as well while that system is very interesting in its own right it's a complicated value proposition start adding Apple's ludicrously expensive options and upgrades to the Thirteen hundred dollar top trim and you're practically spitting distance to the Max studio at two thousand dollars 10 gig ethernet might be worth a thought bought at only one hundred dollars especially if you're planning on integrating this into a proper networking setup maybe as a server however with a negligible difference in power between the M2 Pro and the Mac Mini and the M1 Max in the Max studio 32 gigs of RAM 10 gig ethernet built in and Creature Comforts like better Cooling and front-facing i o the studio is objectively better than an upgraded mini in most conceivable ways the 1300 M2 Pro Mac Mini really is the way to go keeping the way Apple intended I do think the addition of HDMI 2.1 on the M2 Pro Mac Mini is cool and I can't wait to hook it up to a high refresh rate OLED like for a certain video that I said I was working on earlier stay tuned and one last point which is something that Luke miani pointed out on Twitter the only other serious alternative to the M2 base Mac Mini that I think is worth considering is the last generation M1 Mac Mini as you can imagine with the new models hitting stores over the coming days prices on the M1 are bound to drop especially if you're okay buying used or refurbished you're currently looking in the 400 range which is more than adequate power for a computer at that price mind you we're barely into the new generation of Mac Mini so I think these prices have more room to drop if the M2 Mac Mini can see a hundred dollar discount on release day then I think there's some value to be had if you're patient but let me know what do you think about the new Mac Mini drop me a line below I'd love to hear what you have to say also if you like content like this hit that Thumbs Up Button as well as the Subscribe button and the bell icon to get notified on when new videos go livethis is the new 2023 Mac Mini and for six hundred dollars it might just be one of the best deals to come from Apple in recent memory let's talk about it hello and welcome to denki channel my name is Ken the brand new Mac Mini came as a bit of a surprise in the news cycle we all knew an update was inevitable after all the outgoing M1 Mac Mini came out back in 2020 and they were selling the 2018 Intel Mac Mini at the same time but Apple went and announced this thing without a proper keynote the launch might have been relatively quiet and low-key though it's not much of an indicator for what Apple's offering in fact I think it's some of the best value out of any product they sell today the 2023 Mac Mini includes Apple's newest M2 Chip with an 8 core CPU that's split between four performance cores and four efficiency cores as well as a 10 core GPU 8 gigs of RAM and a 250 6 gig SSD all of this again for six hundred dollars here in the US which is a hundred dollars less than what they were selling the M1 Mac Mini for though as always you'll have to factor in a mouse keyboard and monitor if you don't already have those the real world story with apple silicon is truly made whole with Mac OS obviously whether or not it's your cup of tea is another can of worms but software optimization is key to The Buttery smooth performance this M2 offers you can just keep worms away from it I appreciate it it delivers plenty of power for productivity and general use which is sure to last you for years but where it comes in clutch is for Content creation the dedicated video encoding and decoding on M2 has made playback and render in Final Cut and DaVinci Resolve a breeze which is especially useful if you churn out lots of content on the regular in fact I'm editing this entire video on the base model Mac Mini pretty good now it isn't perfect I get occasional stutters when I'm playing back footage with heavy color grading and effects but the fact that I'm able to complete an entire denki edit on this base model M2 Mac Mini is pretty cool just needs a little bit of patience especially compared to more powerful machines like the one that I'm used to my 14 inch M1 Max MacBook Pro but really the cherry on top is that the entire package is Tiny and quiet like me neither of those things are true it can seamlessly blend into your setup and the small footprint can save you valuable desk space I plan on making a Mac Mini setup video pretty soon so if you're curious about how I set this one up subscribe and click on the Bell icon to get notified on when it goes live if there are any things I'd change with this 2023 Mac Mini one I wish there were front-facing i o for easy access like on the Mac Studio on that note while there are more ports on this thing that and say MacBook Air two Thunderbolts four ports and two type A still does not feel like enough USB especially if you're planning on using multiple displays or wired peripherals certainly nothing a USBC Hub can't fix if you're finding yourself in a bind so not the end of the world but the big compromise with the base model that's worth putting on your radar is with the RAM and storage eight gigs of unified Ram is fine on Apple silicon for basic and Mild workloads however it does restrict how much you can multitask between apps for my standard YouTube content creator flow bouncing between Final Cut Photoshop and multiple tabs in Safari can cause this base mini to chug on occasion and to make matters worse this M2 Mac Mini with its 256 gig SSD is single nand flash this means slower SSD speeds than what the hardware is capable of you see why when Mac OS detects that you're running low on available Ram it essentially borrows from storage or swaps to do what it has to do to run optimally but if you're running slower single nand flash storage this can affect how quickly swapping occurs and therefore affect overall system performance if you're the type of person that's not good about managing your files and keeping a healthy amount of storage available fill up your SSD to like 95 full or something crazy like that you shouldn't don't do that I'll tell you eight gigs of ram in that scenario will seriously come back to bite you worse is that while Apple lets you spec things up surprise surprise it's not cheap want 16 gigs of RAM or a one terabyte SSD those are 200 and 400 a pop respectively and those are not user upgradable you can go to Best Buy and buy a one terabyte Samsung t7 for 90 five dollars for my money I'd prioritize upgrading to 16 gigs of RAM which if we're talking about the base model bumps up the total to 800 which in all fairness is still a good price point I've been talking a lot about value as the Crux for why I think people should buy the base Mac Mini but so far it's been in a vacuum so I did a little bit of research to see how it Stacks up with other devices and here's what I found there's always people drawing conclusions to Windows devices in the comments and there's a surprising amount you can buy in the six to eight hundred dollar range that can maximize your dollar now while I don't exactly have one here in the studio to say for sure but on paper a device like the b-link ser-6 with a ryzen 7 6800h 32 gigs of RAM and 512 gigs of storage also with an install of Windows 11 because that's important a device like this can offer you more flexibility than what a Mac can give you go outside inside the mini form factor and the world opens up for you way more there are laptops and custom builds for days with dedicated gpus that offer decent gaming chops that the Mac Mini can't offer on sheer limitation of Mac OS however if you want to see how much you can game on a Mac in 2023 go check out the video we made on the Austin Evans Channel where we run the gamut to answer this question that no one really asked Austin I was curious what did I say and curiosity killed the cat however what all of these windows machines can't touch is the sheer power and optimization that comes with M2 for most of everything else how much that matters versus how you feel about Mac OS overall really comes down to personal preference the story gets a little more complicated when we're comparing the new Mac Mini to other Macs that Apple sells now I'm not gonna go way into the weeds comparing everything in the lineup but some takeaways I found while scanning the website the base M2 Mac Mini with its 10 core GPU is a higher spec system than the base M2 MacBook Air you have to add 100 to the Air's price to get an even match making it over double the cost of the Mac Mini while it's not an Apples to Apples comparison poor choice of words I don't think the air is double the computer the mini is and also this Mac Mini happens to have a fan in it which helps with cooling additionally for reference we also got the M2 Pro Mac Mini in the studio to test out as well while that system is very interesting in its own right it's a complicated value proposition start adding Apple's ludicrously expensive options and upgrades to the Thirteen hundred dollar top trim and you're practically spitting distance to the Max studio at two thousand dollars 10 gig ethernet might be worth a thought bought at only one hundred dollars especially if you're planning on integrating this into a proper networking setup maybe as a server however with a negligible difference in power between the M2 Pro and the Mac Mini and the M1 Max in the Max studio 32 gigs of RAM 10 gig ethernet built in and Creature Comforts like better Cooling and front-facing i o the studio is objectively better than an upgraded mini in most conceivable ways the 1300 M2 Pro Mac Mini really is the way to go keeping the way Apple intended I do think the addition of HDMI 2.1 on the M2 Pro Mac Mini is cool and I can't wait to hook it up to a high refresh rate OLED like for a certain video that I said I was working on earlier stay tuned and one last point which is something that Luke miani pointed out on Twitter the only other serious alternative to the M2 base Mac Mini that I think is worth considering is the last generation M1 Mac Mini as you can imagine with the new models hitting stores over the coming days prices on the M1 are bound to drop especially if you're okay buying used or refurbished you're currently looking in the 400 range which is more than adequate power for a computer at that price mind you we're barely into the new generation of Mac Mini so I think these prices have more room to drop if the M2 Mac Mini can see a hundred dollar discount on release day then I think there's some value to be had if you're patient but let me know what do you think about the new Mac Mini drop me a line below I'd love to hear what you have to say also if you like content like this hit that Thumbs Up Button as well as the Subscribe button and the bell icon to get notified on when new videos go live