Switching from Gaming PC to Mac – Need Advice on Mac Mini M4 vs M1/M2 MacBook Air(Used)

Zork

Zork

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Hey everyone, I’m planning to sell my gaming PC and switch to the Mac ecosystem, but I’m torn between two options: Mac Mini M4 (brand new) vs. M1 or M2 MacBook Air (used) both are coming in my budget around the same price.

I’m a CS graduate currently looking for work in the field, and I don’t game anymore. My main use case will be coding and multimedia entertainment. I already have a Windows laptop at home, but my sister mostly uses it, so I want something for myself. I have the peripherals need to for the mac mini m4 from my pc.

I know there’s a big difference between these two in terms of power and portability, but given my situation I think both will do the job just fine it's just the matter of the classic laptop vs pc debate, which one do you think would be the better choice in the long run? Would love to hear your thoughts!
 
Zork said:
Hey everyone, I’m planning to sell my gaming PC and switch to the Mac ecosystem, but I’m torn between two options: Mac Mini M4 (brand new) vs. M1 or M2 MacBook Air (used) both are coming in my budget around the same price.

I’m a CS graduate currently looking for work in the field, and I don’t game anymore. My main use case will be coding and multimedia entertainment. I already have a Windows laptop at home, but my sister mostly uses it, so I want something for myself. I have the peripherals need to for the mac mini m4 from my pc.

I know there’s a big difference between these two in terms of power and portability, but given my situation I think both will do the job just fine it's just the matter of the classic laptop vs pc debate, which one do you think would be the better choice in the long run? Would love to hear your thoughts!
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Go for Mac mini M4 without a second thought.
I have both MacBook Air (M1 though) and recently took a mini m4. The good part is that even base variant comes with 16 gigs Ram. I feel it much more fluid working on mini m4 compared to my MacBook Air.
 
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54R4NG said:
Go for Mac mini M4 without a second thought.
I have both MacBook Air (M1 though) and recently took a mini m4. The good part is that even base variant comes with 16 gigs Ram. I feel it much more fluid working on mini m4 compared to my MacBook Air.
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what kind of work you do? I always thought of MacBook air m1 to be reliable and not like give problems unless put under specific high loads
 
Zork said:
what kind of work you do? I always thought of MacBook air m1 to be reliable and not like give problems unless put under specific high loads
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MacBook Air are usually reliable and does not usually gives issues. Using the same for over 3.5 years now and does not felt to change it for a new MacBook yet.
My work is usually on my work PC :), Mini M4 is these days being used mostly for AI models, paraphrasing, research papers etc. (MacBook Air m1 can take up the load of this).

However, you are comparing a tech from 2020 with 2025, M4 is much more capable compared to M1 specially with 16 gigs. :) (PS: It does not support Apple Intelligence(though, I am No FAN of Apple Intelligence, eventually its just using ChatGpt model, however, if something is coming in future, you should definitely make yourself reliant for coming years).
 
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Go for M2 Air atleast but go for 16GB memory and 512GB onboard storage if you can stretch a bit. You can compromise with 256GB storage but don't go for 8GB memory. M1 air is a no-go.

I would not go with a Mac mini if I do not have my own primary laptop.
 
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