WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.600 It's not often that you can look at an Apple product and say, wow, that's a good deal. 00:00:05.600 --> 00:00:12.600 13,000? True, their products are well made and long lasting, but the higher prices found across 00:00:12.600 --> 00:00:15.880 the lineup can make them inaccessible. 00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:21.640 And yet, this new Mac mini is $600, $500 if you're a student. 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:28.320 That's $100 less than it used to be. This seems like a shockingly good deal, but what's the catch? 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:32.960 Well to find out, we gave it to a typical Mac user to see if at this price point there 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:45.200 are any noticeable trade-offs. We didn't find one thing out though, but it probably won't matter to you. 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:49.960 What's surprising about this new Mac mini is that it's not just a price drop. 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:56.060 It's a full update too, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thunderbolt, and even the headphone jack are 00:00:56.060 --> 00:01:03.400 all better. And that's not all, as you also get the M2 processor with the full 10-core GPU. 00:01:03.400 --> 00:01:07.200 That's a notable, though not groundbreaking performance improvement, especially for the 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:12.560 price. You can take things further and upgrade the Mac mini to the M2 Pro chip, though that does 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:15.920 cost considerably more and is geared towards professionals. 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:26.640 The base mini is better suited for average people, one of whom I will now meet. 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:41.280 So would you consider yourself an average person? 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:45.840 This is Alexis Wiggett. Last year she moved to Vancouver to study acting. 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:50.160 Her use case for a computer is pretty normal, using it for school and light entertainment. 00:01:50.160 --> 00:01:54.280 And given that she currently uses an iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro, we thought she'd be 00:01:54.280 --> 00:02:01.320 the perfect fit to test the new Mac. So what computer do you currently use? 00:02:01.320 --> 00:02:07.440 For those specific things, like how does it perform? It's not slow, it's not incredibly fast. 00:02:07.440 --> 00:02:11.640 Yeah, if I play it for like 20 minutes, my computer sounds like it's dying. 00:02:11.640 --> 00:02:15.520 Really? Yeah, I can't ever really have it on the highest setting. 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:18.520 Yeah, but overall, like it's still usable, I still do it. 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:22.360 Is there something a little bit of disappointment in the computer? 00:02:22.920 --> 00:02:32.560 Well, okay, here's the thing. Yes, that's a good word for it, it's disappointment. 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:37.160 Okay, so we brought along a new Mac mini for you to test, it's about five years younger 00:02:37.160 --> 00:02:42.880 than your computer. Yes, okay. So here's the one thing, I'm not going to tell you how much the computer costs, don't 00:02:42.880 --> 00:02:47.440 look any of it up, any of the specs or any of that, just use the computer, okay? 00:02:47.440 --> 00:02:52.560 That's fun. By having her not know the price of the setup, we can hopefully get an unbiased opinion 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:57.120 about how everything performs and whether or not she feels it's an improvement over 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:05.040 her own MacBook. It's a 2018 MacBook Pro, which was $2,000 at release. 00:03:05.040 --> 00:03:08.920 She got it as a gift from her family, who are avid Mac users themselves. 00:03:08.920 --> 00:03:14.840 So this should be a good fit. Since the Mac mini famously doesn't come with any peripherals, you and Alexis are going 00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:22.200 to need some. To keep things affordable, we elected to use a $100 1080p Acer monitor, as well as a Logitech 00:03:22.200 --> 00:03:26.760 keyboard and mouse, each of which cost $40 and use Bluetooth so that you can keep those 00:03:26.760 --> 00:03:34.200 precious USB ports free. If you need a webcam and have an iPhone, the Belkin MagSafe monitor mount is a cost-effective 00:03:34.200 --> 00:03:38.400 solution. And while the Mac mini does have a built-in speaker, I do recommend buying a separate set 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:44.480 if you want to listen to anything beyond system notifications. 00:03:44.480 --> 00:03:48.000 All together, this comes out to $780. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:53.920 And while it's not the most clean setup on the desk, remember that terrible iMac I bought 00:03:53.920 --> 00:03:59.520 from the refurbish store last year? That was $890, and I wouldn't recommend that to anyone. 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:02.880 This is way better. Okay, we're ready for you. 00:04:02.880 --> 00:04:07.360 Yeah, so we set up, I got a profile set up for you. 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:11.360 Log in here. We got the new Resident Evil game installed. 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:14.680 Wait, really? Yeah. Okay, you want to play? 00:04:14.680 --> 00:04:19.880 So give it a go. No? No, I never thought I'd actually, like, okay. 00:04:19.880 --> 00:04:22.880 You never thought you'd actually play? Thing is, I'm like a coward, so. 00:04:22.880 --> 00:04:25.880 Oh, I know. Me too. Me too. 00:04:25.880 --> 00:04:30.720 So, are you thinking of the graphics? It feels like I'm not wearing my contacts now. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:33.720 Oh, okay. Let's just try and fix these graphics. 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:38.440 Let me see what I can do. It doesn't look like we have enough storage, though. 00:04:38.440 --> 00:04:41.720 I mean, I think it's memory, and I think we're fine. 00:04:41.720 --> 00:04:45.440 How can we upgrade it then? 00:04:45.440 --> 00:04:49.280 Is this a bit of a controversy? 00:04:49.280 --> 00:04:52.280 Yeah. Yeah. 00:04:52.280 --> 00:04:56.360 With this Mac Mini, there is a little bit of an elephant in the room. 00:04:56.360 --> 00:05:03.720 Memory and storage. It has 8 and 256 gigabytes, respectively, and that's getting to be a little low, especially 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:07.440 considering that with Apple Silicon, the RAM is unified. 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:11.880 Meaning, it's shared between the GPU and CPU. 00:05:11.880 --> 00:05:17.040 Also, with the M2, Apple has changed the storage speeds in base configurations, which 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:21.720 are now up to 50% slower than the base M1. 00:05:21.720 --> 00:05:28.640 So you're losing something, but is it too much? Well, going by our experience with the machine, I'd say no. 00:05:28.640 --> 00:05:34.000 Compared to a fully upgraded M2 MacBook Air with 24 gigabytes of RAM, there's no noticeable 00:05:34.080 --> 00:05:38.160 difference in everyday tasks, which include web browsing, emails, word processing, and 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:43.120 listening to music. Pushing the Mac Mini harder, it handles light photo editing in the Lightroom, and speeds 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:46.640 through 4K ProRes footage in Final Cut. 00:05:46.640 --> 00:05:52.000 It even refuses to slow down when I'm intentionally trying to push the computer, playing 8K footage 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:58.800 on that timeline. But it's when doing all these things at the same time that you push the limits of memory 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:06.320 and the machine stutters. So if you're a big multitasker or work with large files, the upgrade to 16 gigabytes of 00:06:06.320 --> 00:06:11.640 memory is an easy, albeit costly, and annoying recommendation. 00:06:11.640 --> 00:06:15.600 Apple has always been stingy when it comes to memory and storage, especially when compared 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:19.000 to PCs, but consider this. 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:23.200 At our local Best Buy, the cheapest desktop PC available has the same memory and storage 00:06:23.200 --> 00:06:26.080 as the Mac Mini for the same price. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:32.920 Sure, the PC is more likely to go on sale, but a refurbished M1 Mac Mini is now $470. 00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:37.000 So spec-wise, it shows just how competitive the Mac Mini has become. 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:41.040 I'm confident this will work for most people. Let's see how it worked for Alexis. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:44.720 Okay, so you've had the computer for a couple of days. 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:47.920 What do you think? I mean, yeah, it's a nice computer. 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:50.920 I'll give it that. Yeah? Yeah. 00:06:50.920 --> 00:06:54.920 No, I didn't have any problems with it. What were some of the first things you installed on the Mac Mini? 00:06:55.280 --> 00:06:59.440 It was Minecraft. Ah, it was Minecraft. 00:06:59.440 --> 00:07:03.720 There's no shame in playing Minecraft. I just want to make this clear. 00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:07.440 There's a macOS version of it, right? I'm too old for Minecraft. 00:07:07.440 --> 00:07:14.040 You can play Java version. You can't play Better Rock. How did Minecraft then run on the Mac Mini compared to the... 00:07:14.040 --> 00:07:18.520 Yeah, it was fine. It ran probably a bit faster. 00:07:18.520 --> 00:07:26.120 Yeah, a bit more smoother. But it seems like you're a bit of a gamer, which Macs aren't really good for, are they? 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:33.320 I don't know. I wanted to download things like Arc Survival Evolved. 00:07:33.320 --> 00:07:38.800 That's just simply... I couldn't get it to work. I wasn't able to find one that I was able to work with. 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:42.400 I think it's Ventura was the... Is the new one yet? 00:07:42.400 --> 00:07:45.800 Yeah. Yeah, nothing I could get to correspond with that. 00:07:45.800 --> 00:07:50.560 Oh, so this Mac Mini added a bunch of complexity to the way you want to use your computer. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:53.560 Yeah, exactly. I don't know. 00:07:53.560 --> 00:07:57.360 Sometimes I feel like I'm putting off trying to even bother downloading a game. 00:07:57.360 --> 00:08:03.160 If I'm playing a game, I want to relax. I don't want to have a headache trying to set this up, you know? 00:08:03.160 --> 00:08:07.880 I was not expecting you to be such a gamer, and it seems like that's the one big weakness 00:08:07.880 --> 00:08:11.120 with macOS, but why not just get a gaming console? 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:16.360 The thing is, I didn't really grow up with a console. Why would I just not stick with the controls that I'm used to? 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:21.200 Okay, so back to this Mac. How much do you think it sells for? 00:08:21.200 --> 00:08:27.800 How much do I think Apple sells it for? Yeah, like if you were to go on the website, it would be the price listed underneath the 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:31.440 picture of the Mac Mini. Approximately three grand, maybe. 00:08:31.440 --> 00:08:34.440 Three grand? Yeah. Wow. 00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:37.440 You think it's that powerful? No. 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:41.440 Oh, okay. But it's Apple. Okay, okay, fair enough. 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:45.440 Oh, but it's okay. How much would you pay for it? 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:49.040 Um, $1,500, maybe. Okay. 00:08:49.040 --> 00:08:54.440 Okay, so the actual retail price is $600 US or $800 Canadian. 00:08:54.440 --> 00:09:00.720 Really? Wow, okay, well that's surprising. 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:04.040 I will be completely honest. Really? 00:09:04.040 --> 00:09:10.960 This is like a new computer, though. Brand new, just came out last month, so does that sort of change the calculus for you? 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:13.960 Much more doable. I just don't want to go buy it, though. 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:19.360 I'll be completely honest. I don't think Mac's bad. 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:26.640 I don't. I just don't think it offers a lot of the things that, I mean, I personally want. 00:09:26.640 --> 00:09:33.320 I can't speak for other people, but it's really worth looking into what you want exactly 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:38.560 in the future as well as currently when you're about to invest in a computer, because I think 00:09:38.560 --> 00:09:43.320 if I were to go back in time, I would have really done my research and pushed for a PC 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:50.560 rather than a Mac instead. But yeah, it's simply not the right or wrong choice for everyone. 00:09:50.560 --> 00:09:56.160 I guess I'm not going to win you over, eh? Yeah, don't try. 00:09:56.160 --> 00:09:59.640 Alexis' experience made me realize something. 00:09:59.640 --> 00:10:04.560 The switch to Apple Silicon has not only made what's great about the Mac even better, it's 00:10:04.560 --> 00:10:11.360 also exacerbated the negatives. True, you can get impressive performance in Apple's cheapest machines, but now that they 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:16.480 run on ARM, you can't rely on bootcamp for apps and games not available on the Mac. 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:21.480 And developers now need to put more effort into port their PC games to Apple's chips 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:28.600 and APIs. The results can be amazing, but with fewer than 3% of Steam users on macOS, I'm not 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:32.880 holding my breath. So where does that leave this thing? 00:10:32.880 --> 00:10:38.880 Well, outside of games, neither Alexis nor I really felt held back by the hardware. 00:10:38.880 --> 00:10:43.600 And even though she said she wouldn't buy one, it's a great experience as far as Macs 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:47.480 go. From there, though, we clearly differ. 00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:52.360 She feels inconvenienced by staying on macOS, whereas moving to Windows would inconvenience 00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:59.160 me. What the f- Ultimately, I think the real question is if macOS works for you. 00:10:59.160 --> 00:11:03.520 As far as the average person goes, this should be able to fly through anything you throw 00:11:03.520 --> 00:11:06.880 at it. It just can't do everything at once. 00:11:06.880 --> 00:11:12.280 And if it can do everything you need it to do, it's a great option. 00:11:12.280 --> 00:11:16.040 Just think about the RAM upgrade if you want the machine to last. 00:11:16.040 --> 00:11:19.240 That's really how they get you with that RAM upgrade. 00:11:19.240 --> 00:11:26.280 Thanks for lowering the price of this Mac Address. If you love that the Mac Mini is now only $600, give this video a like. 00:11:26.280 --> 00:11:29.960 And if you want to know how expensive you can make a Mac Mini, well, you might as well 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:34.720 subscribe. I'm curious in the comments if any of you are running any Apple Silicon Macs with 8GB 00:11:34.720 --> 00:11:37.480 of RAM. Have you pushed it to the limits? And if so, how?