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Apple Mac Mini (2018) - 3.6GHz i3 128GB $999, 3.0GHz Core i5 256GB $1499 @ Umart

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Apple Mac Mini (2018) - 3.6GHz i3 128GB $999, 3.0GHz Core i5 256GB $1499 @ Umart
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Aloa on 22/07/2020 - 10:00 umart.com.au (247 clicks)
Last edited 22/07/2020 - 10:01

Was doing some research on Mac Minis and came across this deal, not as good as the previous one on 2020 Mac Minis from Officeworks/Hardly Normal, but can't really fault the price.

128GB internal storage is a bit of a joke imo, but hey it's $999 and it's a Mac. Combine with the recent 1TB Samsung SSD deal can be a good idea.

Apple Mac mini 3.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i3 128GB $999 - https://www.umart.com.au/Apple-Mac-mini-3-6GHz-quad-core-Int…
Apple Mac mini 3.0GHz 6-core Intel Core i5 256GB $1,499 - https://www.umart.com.au/Apple-Mac-mini-3-0GHz-6-core-Intel-…

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  • sallan75 on 22/07/2020 - 10:07
    +18

    I see no bargain

  • choodi on 22/07/2020 - 10:10
    +5

    That is terrible value

    • CookieJacker31 on 22/07/2020 - 10:25
      +8

      $1500 for an old i5, 8g ram and 256gb ssd. That's amazing value, 10 years ago.

  • The Value on 22/07/2020 - 10:11

    ARM baby!

    • [Deactivated] on 22/07/2020 - 10:16

      I can’t imagine this product being a good decision in 3-5 years when ARM based Macs will be in full production.

      • bchliu on 22/07/2020 - 10:56

        Most industry insiders are saying the first releases of ARM Macs will be later this year and at the latest, next year. Won't be 3-5 years since they have already planned for this move 4 years ago when the iPad Pro was first released.

        • bio on 22/07/2020 - 11:14
          +3

          Not the person you are replying to, but I believe the point is Intel based Macs will be EOLd in 3-5 years.

          • [Deactivated] on 22/07/2020 - 12:53

            @bio: Thanks Bio, this is what I meant.

  • tightm8 on 22/07/2020 - 10:14
    +3

    The new Mac mini's i think are not as good as the first few gen's, that allowed users to easily upgrade hardware themselves. No value, and this is from an apple fanboy.

    • Aloa on 22/07/2020 - 10:16

      True. Only RAM is upgradable in current model which makes this internal storage laugable. Other than that it's still a solid little piece and can run mostly anything with eGPU attached.

    • Carrera1963 on 22/07/2020 - 10:26
      +1

      I was about to buy a new Mac Mini earlier this month to replace my old 2010 Mac Mini "home theatre PC" (mainly Plex)…

      But I found a spare 128GB SSD I had lying around, put that in with a clean OSX install & it's running a lot smoother, so I think I'll get another year out of it!

    • OSienna on 22/07/2020 - 10:48

      Totally agree. I've owned a few of these over the years and have kept my upgraded 2012 model which still officially runs Catalina today. They tend to hold their value well and are easy to offload due to their perceived desirability.

      It's a massive premium for what you get but Apple usually does right by you with the long-term support of MacOS. I did consider upgrading to the latest Mini, matched with an eGPU but at more than double the cost of more powerful SFF Hackintosh, it was difficult to justify.

      As much as I love MacOs with its seamless integration with iOS and little touches that I inevitably miss when I'm using Windows, I will hold out until they transition to the new CPUs.

      The one thing about Apple hardware that PCs will never be able to compete with is its "single vendor stack" and ubiquity - it generally means that an issue experienced by you will be shared by a vast community of users with identical hardware and software. A fix or a workaround can easily be found most of the time.

      I say "never" but technically, nothing is stopping Microsoft from allowing their Xbox platform to run Windows applications and take a leaf out of the Apple playbook. They have all the ingredients to take on the same strategy: standardised hardware, operating system and App Store. But it's Microsoft we're talking about.. and they're not known to be great at execution.

  • markathome on 22/07/2020 - 10:25

    Upvoted. Work has given me one of these, albeit the i7 2018 version, and I'm loving it.

    For those on the Apple eco-system, having everything work together is really cool.

    Definitely be aware:

    • the Mac mini could be the first ARM computer (so this Intel-based computer may be obsolete in 3.5 years)
    • Apple's hardware often has a significant margin on-top of the PC components it is built from
    • RAM upgrades are feasible though Apple advises against them https://9to5mac.com/2018/11/20/how-to-upgrade-ram-2018-mac-m…
    • Internal SSD upgrades are not feasible

    But on the other hand this has a HDMI port, 4x USB-C and 2x USB-A and TRRS 3.5mm audio. Not really the best for gaming but definitely great for general work and (perhaps 2D) creativity. Personally I'd be particularly tempted if it was last financial year or I could be sure I'd have a job at the end of this one.

    • jeppetto367 on 22/07/2020 - 11:11
      +1

      I've got the same model as you i7/32gb/1tb for my office. One thing to note with the display outputs is that you're limited to 3 monitors (I found this out the hard way). You can only output using 2 of the USB-C ports at once and the HDMI. Only way to solve this is an eGPU.

    • virtual81 on 22/07/2020 - 19:15

      Sounds like you're upvoting because your happy with your machine, with might be nice and all, but is it really a bargain at this price if you had to buy it?

      Forgetting the OS, i found about 2-4 machines each from Dell, Lenovo and HP that beat these specs for less money, and that's just a sideways glance with no sales or discounts taken into account, all ultra small form factor.

  • Carrera1963 on 22/07/2020 - 10:28

    Also note this is the "pre-March" version with 128GB SSD - the current model has 256GB.

    • Aloa on 22/07/2020 - 10:34
      +1

      Yes I mentioned it's the 2018 model in title. Everything else except storage is identical between current model and this one though.

  • dirtyhen on 22/07/2020 - 10:30

    is the new iMac around the corner?

    • Kanjus on 22/07/2020 - 10:49
      +1

      It is overdue but I don't see how, now that they have announced ARM macs. Would be buying into obsolescence.

      • [Deactivated] on 22/07/2020 - 12:55

        Yea iMac redesign is also long overdue. The 2019 iMac has nearly 1 inch bezels.

  • [Deactivated] on 22/07/2020 - 10:32

    How difficult is it to replace the internal ssd, as it seems to be only option

    • Aloa on 22/07/2020 - 10:33
      +1

      It's soldered on the motherboard and there is the T2 chip, so I'd say no chance.

    • Kanjus on 22/07/2020 - 10:51

      Would an external drive work out easier?

    • Randolph Duke on 22/07/2020 - 11:31

      Not possible

  • Tyler Kwok on 22/07/2020 - 11:12

    Can anyone enlighten me the special use case of using this under powered mac-mini vs something else? I feel even this laptop is more powerful than the mac mini i5 version https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/553165

    I understand it's a mac mini on mac os, not win10.

    • OSienna on 22/07/2020 - 11:19
      +2

      It's a good fit if:

      • You are enamoured with MacOS and can't use Windows for whatever reason
      • You need something very small and low powered
      • You don't need graphics performance
      • You have a decent monitor already
      • You value the Apple experience and don't mind paying for it

      The last one is very important as you may tick most of the other boxes but you don't tick the last one then this is not for you

    • Orrelljet on 22/07/2020 - 13:22
      +1

      I use one of these as a "home server", with (8TB RAID5) attached storage.

      https://www.asus.com/au/Mini-PCs/VivoMini-VC68V/

      Barebones but that's a plus, in my book.

      I have the i7 (8700T) with a 256GB M.2 nvme (OS), 16GB RAM plus a 1TB HDD (dedicated TV recording storage - windows media center) and a 500GB SSD (VMs etc.).

      It doesn't run mac OS but will knock spots off what's being offered here.

      • [Deactivated] on 22/07/2020 - 20:42

        how do you set up the tv recording using windows media centre

        specs are great but downfall to use as a pc- lacks 4 tb3 ports

        • Orrelljet on 23/07/2020 - 13:40

          I use a HDhomerun connect quatro network tuner, over a gig wired network. Media center (Windows 8.1) runs in a VM on the W10 host. Works flawlessly.

          The lack of thunderbolt doesn’t really bother me as adding the word thunderbolt before anything quadruples the price immediately. The one I use does have 2 x USB 3.1 gen 2 ports so a theoretical 1GBps.

          • [Deactivated] on 23/07/2020 - 16:37

            @Orrelljet: I am planning on doing the same, is the windows media centre still exist on windows 10. I have an internet cable port that can play rv on the computer.

            • Orrelljet on 23/07/2020 - 19:46
              +1

              @[Deactivated]: There is a port of media center for Windows 10 but I’ve never tested it for recording so I couldn’t tell you whether it will work or not. Sorry. On the plus side, The Windows 10 media center is free which is more than can be said for Windows 8 and 8.1, unless you got one of the free codes from Microsoft when 8 was released.

              This should get you started:

              https://support.icetv.com.au/hc/en-us/articles/227078627-How…

    • Nilfunds on 22/07/2020 - 19:26

      i'ts just one of those things,
      when you look at a MacBook Pro for $3,500 and then you look at this you think 'wow, this is a great price'

      or look at the Mac Pro, base model is $10,000 , again, makes this look like a miracle lol

  • quarrymaster on 22/07/2020 - 13:45

    Pros with this model is you can upgrade the RAM yourself (not straightforward, but doable), and for those who needed it, run macOS Mojave natively if you didn't want to run a virtual machine, like MYOB AccountEdge for example.

  • samedream on 22/07/2020 - 13:51

    what about this one
    https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/mac-mini-3…

    is it only i3 vs i5? the rest spec looks the same.

    • Aloa on 23/07/2020 - 09:38

      These ones from Officeworks are 2020 model - double the storage on all base configurations, anything else is basically the same.

      • samedream on 23/07/2020 - 16:17

        comparing the one from OW to Apple Mac mini 3.0GHz 6-core Intel Core i5 256GB $1,499 - https://www.umart.com.au/Apple-Mac-mini-3-0GHz-6-core-Intel-…

        the one in OW has
        "Eighth-generation 6-core and quad-core processors. Fast 2666MHz DDR4 memory. A variety of ports, including Thunderbolt 3, HDMI 2.0 and available 10GB Ethernet.* And blazing-fast all-flash storage so you can load giant files and launch apps in an instant. The re-engineered Mac mini is the best performing yet. Ready for the desktop"

        looks like different CPU.

        • Aloa on 23/07/2020 - 18:04

          There are i3 and i5 variations on both 2018 and 2020 model.

          Base configs:

          • 2018 i3 - 128GB
          • 2020 i3 - 256GB
          • 2018 i5 - 256GB
          • 2020 i5 - 512GB

          With same CPU, only difference is storage. Make more sense now?

  • BeefBiryani on 22/07/2020 - 13:51
    +2

    Almost $1000 for an i3? WOW!!!

  • Nilfunds on 22/07/2020 - 14:16
    +1

    $1000 for 128GB.

    tell em they're dreaming

  • garage sale on 22/07/2020 - 14:17

    depends what it can do, probably a core duo at norad can launch nuclear strikes because that is what the software runs on ……it’s all about running software, not hardware …..without software the hardware does nothing ….it’s a brick …..

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