Budget 90k+ Macbook M4 Pro or Mac Mini M4

What should someone in my shoes buy?

  • Total voters
    13
princeoo7

princeoo7

On a Journey called Life :P
Level J
I am in a dilemma where I am not sure what should I go with. Primary purpose a macOS system is development and Editing or Graphic Designing.
I have a M2 pro from my company but I don't want to do anything on that has the software I will be used are purchased on my account.
with new M4 machines launched, I am just confused on what would be sufficient for me.
As told, XCode, android studio, VsCode, Affinity Suite or Adobe Suite, OBS and screen recording software will be used by me. I might get into writing web3 apps and contracts has well if required (not sure).

Should I get the base mac mini m4 with 256gb SSD (60K) or should I get the Macbook Pro M4 24gb 1 tb version (2.4L) or 48gb Ram(2.8L) :bag:

Also anyone have unidays (student) ID?
 
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It's all about the form factor. If you are going to be working on a desk all the time, the Mini is honestly much better value. Only get the Macbook if you really need a laptop and the battery life.
 
roadrash99 said:
It's all about the form factor. If you are going to be working on a desk all the time, the Mini is honestly much better value. Only get the Macbook if you really need a laptop and the battery life.
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this is what is really bothering me. I most of the time spend time on the desk. but might start traveling in future and don't know if I would need a laptop or not in those time. or I can do is get a mac mini now and then later on get macbook air with m4 if it works. Man this is so confusing :banghead:
 
peanutbutter said:
I'm looking at the M4 lineup as well but could you please elaborate on this? I remember someone telling me that there's still a charge even with Apple Care, since it only covers screen and enclosure damage
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yes! but it will be less...
for me if its not a bill deal has I am quiet a safe person with devices.

Apple Care for M4 Pro cost (Rs.26900) for 3 years
 
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mac mini should be a great choice but yes if travelling is going to come than there is nothing left to discuss as with mac mini you are pretty much stuck.
 
princeoo7 said:
this is what is really bothering me. I most of the time spend time on the desk. but might start traveling in future and don't know if I would need a laptop or not in those time. or I can do is get a mac mini now and then later on get macbook air with m4 if it works. Man this is so confusing :banghead:
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I took MBP last year and it is my first personal laptop ever. Been using desktop from college days. Was never a laptop guy. But now, desktop does not make sense unless you are gaming. Also, MBP with M4 Pro will be as powerful as Mac mini with m4 pro.

Forget about the Mini. Get MacBook.
peanutbutter said:
I'm looking at the M4 lineup as well but could you please elaborate on this? I remember someone telling me that there's still a charge even with Apple Care, since it only covers screen and enclosure damage
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Have to pay part of the repair costs only if it is due to accident. When you compare how much it costs without Apple care, it is absolutely worth it. Apple charges around 40k I think for changing display. They will not charge if hardware failure is not due to accident during this warranty period.


Every Mac comes with 1 year of hardware repair coverage through its limited warranty and up to 90 days of complimentary technical support. AppleCare+ for Mac extends your coverage to 3 years from your AppleCare+ purchase date and includes unlimited incidents of accidental damage protection, each subject to a service fee of ₹8900 for screen damage or external enclosure damage, or ₹25900 for other accidental damage.
 
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princeoo7 said:
yes! but it will be less...
for me if its not a bill deal has I am quiet a safe person with devices.

Apple Care for M4 Pro cost (Rs.26900) for 3 years
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It is a waste of money. You should think about how many times you have dropped or physically broken your laptop in the past few years and decide accordingly. It makes sense for a phone (maybe) but not for a laptop.

Moreover, people don't account for depreciation when doing a cost benefit analysis of insurance. Even if you replace the screen, which is most expensive, it will be almost the same as the apple care cost and the co-pay. If apple were losing money, they would not offer this. The fact that they are selling it, it means they are making money. So, who is losing money. We are .

It is very hard to get the battery health for M-series devices to drop below 80% in 3 years. So, even replacement of battery is out of question.
 
codwapeace said:
It is a waste of money. You should think about how many times you have dropped or physically broken your laptop in the past few years and decide accordingly. It makes sense for a phone (maybe) but not for a laptop.
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Not the right interpretation. Protecting a phone with case and tempered glass is good enough in most cases. Mac repairs without warranty are costly affairs. For MacBook Pro, Logic board costs north of 70k to replace and in many cases where a minor part on the board goes kaput, Apple repair insists on replacing entire board.
codwapeace said:
Moreover, people don't account for depreciation when doing a cost benefit analysis of insurance. Even if you replace the screen, which is most expensive, it will be almost the same as the apple care cost and the co-pay.
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Co-pay is only when there is a damage caused by accident. They do not charge when the failure is due to defect. There are many cases where Mac died after year 1 and owners had to pay full cost of repair and replacement cost. 9.5k per year for 3 years, I would gladly take as Macs are not so solid laptops as they were in the past.
 
desiibond said:
Not the right interpretation. Protecting a phone with case and tempered glass is good enough in most cases. Mac repairs without warranty are costly affairs. For MacBook Pro, Logic board costs north of 70k to replace and in many cases where a minor part on the board goes kaput, Apple repair insists on replacing entire board.

Co-pay is only when there is a damage caused by accident. They do not charge when the failure is due to defect. There are many cases where Mac died after year 1 and owners had to pay full cost of repair and replacement cost. 9.5k per year for 3 years, I would gladly take as Macs are not so solid laptops as they were in the past.
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I agree to your point.
I don't have much experience with macs so didn't wanted to add something.

But recently one of the family members HP laptop keyboard some keys are not working and literally had to carry around separate keyboard. It has only been 1.5 years.

Changing keyboard I read is about 5k expensive but I believe some places it maybe cheap but they are third party and might go bad again I guess.

Plus with such expensive laptop anything can happen ...water spill.

My other relatives daughter spilled water on brand new Mac Book just 2 days old.

Gaya pura laptop. By god's grace they are financially well off so took the loss.


If it had happen to my 2lac macbook I would have had massive heart attack( without apple care +) and would be in heaven watching Mujra .
 
codwapeace said:
It is a waste of money. You should think about how many times you have dropped or physically broken your laptop in the past few years and decide accordingly. It makes sense for a phone (maybe) but not for a laptop.

Moreover, people don't account for depreciation when doing a cost benefit analysis of insurance. Even if you replace the screen, which is most expensive, it will be almost the same as the apple care cost and the co-pay. If apple were losing money, they would not offer this. The fact that they are selling it, it means they are making money. So, who is losing money. We are .

It is very hard to get the battery health for M-series devices to drop below 80% in 3 years. So, even replacement of battery is out of question.
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I'd respectfully disagree. You won't need it till it happens with you, which is the entire point of insurance. I'm going to narrate personal anecdotes, and I hope it helps everyone involved here.
  1. In 2019, I got an intel based MacBook Pro 13, the one with the infamous butterfly keyboards. Didn't have any protection plans.
    • 11 months later, the motherboard failed. It was peak pandemic, but apple turned it around in 2 weeks, free of cost (covered under warranty).
    • The laptop was bought somewhere in Europe, but I didn't have any issues getting it serviced in India, thanks to International Warranty.
    • Bought Apple Care (AC) for the first time. Back then, AC+ wasn't available in India, and you could add AC within 1yr of purchase (provide the device was not damaged).
    • Paid a total of Rs 18k for 2 years.
  2. From 2020 to 2022, I had total of 4 MINOR incidents of keyboard failing on me.
    • Apple was replacing the keyboards free of cost, which they'd have done outside the AC too. I got buyers remorse for a while.
    • But since I had AC, on the 2rd incident, they replaced the battery, and then the entire bottom half on the 3rd incident (ship of Theseus anyone?).
    • On the 4th incident, they exchanged my laptop with a brand new Macbook Pro 14inch, free of cost. They offered 16 inches initially, but I declined as it wasn't portable.
    • I added AC+ on this device at $99/yr for 2 yrs
  3. In 2024, the battery of above 14in MacBook Pro dipped below 80%
    • at which point Apple Saket replaced it for free.
    • this was within 2yrs of first use. (~600 cycles)
In total I have spent INR ~40k in various currencies including AC, shipping costs etc. In return, I managed to save INR ~4L worth of repair headache.

Now my work relies very heavily on these machines. I also have to travel a lot. Both of these may not be the case for OP. Having availed Apple's services in 7 countries across 4 continents, I now include AC as the cost of ownership of such expensive products. I'm attaching relevant documents, for each of the above cases.
 

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princeoo7 said:
this is what is really bothering me. I most of the time spend time on the desk. but might start traveling in future and don't know if I would need a laptop or not in those time. or I can do is get a mac mini now and then later on get macbook air with m4 if it works. Man this is so confusing :banghead:
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I was in a similar predicament few years ago and switched to laptop because mobility was more important. Just find it difficult to sit in one place even at home. The performance penalty of 15% (at much higher efficiency) in lieu of a great OLED screen was not an issue for me and in the case of Macs, you wouldn't even have that.

Also, I never go for extended warranties but do it for laptops every time and on each occasion it has come in handy, be it with the screen or WiFi chip issues.
 
Get the base M4 mini and RDP/VNC into your system from your office macbook if you need to go out. A laptop is a laptop end of the day and have too many points of failure.
 
Btw, I would rather go with M4 pro MBP with nano texture display and 48GB memory and keep base SSD storage. Then add apple care plus on it. Get a SSD external drive that can make use of thunderbolt speeds.

I have seen that nano texture coating on iPad and it looks brilliant especially under direct sunlight. Would rather spend money on that over extra storage. This coating is available only for M4 Pro MBP I think. Helps a lot with glare from lights.
TinTinSnowy said:
Get the base M4 mini and RDP/VNC into your system from your office macbook if you need to go out. A laptop is a laptop end of the day and have too many points of failure.
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Assuming, OP is not the owner of that company, most office laptops do not allow connection to outside devices and even if allowed, activity is heavily monitored. These are things that gives them ticket to kick employees out without notice.
 
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