The M4 Mac Mini is Apple's best value Mac - now it's the cheapest it's ever been
The cheapest way to buy into Apple's Mac ecosystem just got even cheaper
Apple shocked the tech world when it released the M4 Mac Mini late last year with it offering ridiculously impressive performance in a tiny form factor, all for a low price that was previously thought unlikely for a premium company such as Apple to offer.
Eight months on from its release and the M4 Mac Mini is still considered a beast of a machine, especially for everyday tasks - and even some more heavy duty processes if you're so inclined. While the £599 launch price tag was already an attractive offer, the machine has just reached its new lowest price in the Amazon Prime Day sale, dropping down to an impressive £499.
The reason this computer is so impressive is due to the sheer amount of processing power it possesses. Equipped with Apple's own M4 chip inside, it shares the same internals as the baseline MacBook Air, meaning it's got 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM.
Combined, this results in a machine that can absolutely whizz through almost anything you throw at it. Keeping plenty of tabs open in Google Chrome will see it barely break a sweat, while the active cooling inside means thermal throttling is rare while tasking it to do a bit of photo editing.
Those with lots of large files might find the 256GB storage drive filling up fast, which is where the so-called 'Apple Tax' comes in as internal storage upgrades drive the machine's price up quickly. However, Amazon also has several external drives on sale for Prime Day, with a Samsung 2TB expansion drive down to £109.99 right now.
Plug an SSD into one of the five USB C ports on this computer and you've got one helluva capable desktop computer raring to go. Of course, you're missing out on an integrated keyboard, trackpad and monitor display, so make sure you've got those accessories already to be able to use the computer.
For those that require a machine with all of the above built in, the baseline MacBook Air with the same spec as the Mac Mini is also reduced in the Prime Day sale. For £849, you can grab the 13" version of the machine that's perfect for taking on the go.
Alternatively, there are some great budget Windows laptops on sale too. This HP Pavilion 16" Laptop is down to £529.99 from £799.99 and is equipped with 16GB of RAM plus a 512GB storage drive.
Back to the M4 Mac Mini, it's listed as a 'best-seller' on Amazon with a staggering 4.8 star review score from buyers. "This base model is more capable and powerful than mini PC's at almost twice the price and it is not possible to build a PC at this price anywhere near as capable., which has completely flipped my opinion of Apple products," writes one impressed shopper.
A second left these words: "Had an iMac for 10 years which just gave up the ghost. Looked at replacing and cost has gone through the roof but then discovered this little beauty. What a find! Partnered with a nice cheap widescreen monitor and I have my Mac back but 10,000 times faster."
Meanwhile, a third customer wrote: "Bought this mainly for music making but it has replaced my gaming pc unexpectedly. What a machine! Apple kicked it out of the park again."
Not everyone seems quite as enamoured with the device though, despite its overwhelmingly positive reviews. "The negative is if you don't have a 4k or 5k display and want to use a non-Apple mouse then avoid. I have a ultrawide screen and the fonts are fuzzy and the mouse is horrible to use, really jerky and unpleasant to use when scrolling."
Another user ran into issues with the parental controls on the Mac Mini, which might be a problem for parents buying this device for their kids to do their homework on. "We bought this for our teen daughter to do homework and art with. It works brilliantly with her drawing tablet, but the parental controls were a nightmare to set up and still aren't working properly," a review reads.