Introduction
so this my friends is the brand new Mac Mini with the M4 chip and arguably it’s the cheapest way to get into Apple computers with the Apple silicone chip or is it this my friends is the iMac with the M4 chip and arguably in my opinion this might actually be the best computer for most people watching this video to buy but it’s not that simple make sure you guys watch this video till the end because I’m going to walk through a whole bunch of things and things that you should probably consider and by the end of this video you’re going to know exactly which one you should buy oh also by the way if you guys are on Instagram and Tik Tok and stuff follow me on there and here’s a picture of a squirrel for your reward
Design and Display Overview
now let me do a quick recap here now the iMac comes with the same 24 in 4.5k Retina Display and don’t get me wrong even though the display hasn’t changed from the previous generation fantastic display and I think it’s one of the best displays you can get with a computer now you also have a nano texture option which is what I personally have here now the cool part is out of the box you do get a keyboard and a mouse everything comes inside the box it’s good to go basically the way you buy it and my favorite part about the IMAX is you get a whole plethora of colors to choose from the one that I have here is the yellow SL looks gold
The Mac Mini Experience
now let’s quickly talk about the Mac Mini now in terms of actual like overall package yes you do get more with the iMac but with the Mac Mini you do actually get a lot more computer but on top of that you do get a lot more in terms of ports now look the running joke obviously with the Mac Mini is the power button what are those the power button being on the bottom it’s not a big deal okay I’m going to be straight up here yes it would have been nice to have it on the side maybe so it’s still hidden from the front but having it on the bottom is not a big deal anybody who owns a Mac knows we don’t turn those things off also I don’t know I have this conspiracy theory that Apple actually does these things on purpose like little things like putting the USBC charging port putting it on the bottom like this is how you use a mouse I feel like they do these things on purpose so that people start talking about it that’s my that’s my conspiracy [Music] theory
Size and Portability
now let’s actually get to the exciting part the comparison so first up size and weight obviously this thing is going to take the KQ right this thing is so darn nice like the way that they made this even smaller I was legit shocked when I unboxed this thing like you can literally throw this thing around and like not worry about it it can go anywhere right I mean technically you could throw the iMac around too can you yeah probably don’t recommend trying that at home now look the Mac Mini you can literally put this anywhere so even if you have like a really small desk or let’s say like you’re like Harry Potter and you live under the stairs this would fit like in a setup over there and albeit actually look cute while doing so but my favorite part about the Mac Mini is you can actually technically travel with this thing right traveling with a desktop computer like spec it out to be very powerful and whatnot and anywhere you go like hotel rooms and stuff just have a portable monitor with you or you could watch some of my older videos which I will probably make newer ones about where I actually pair this with the iPad and you don’t even need another screen so obviously I mean it’s not a surprise size and weight the Mac Mini Takes it
Display Quality
but where the iMac does hit back like a nice onew punch is the display the display on this thing I mean for the money that you’re paying for this computer phenomenal absolutely love what Apple has given us here because if you wanted to buy a comparable 4.5 to 5K Retina Display with Nano texture from Apple you’re looking at about $1900 for the Apple Studio display and don’t get me wrong that display is really nice and it is also slightly bigger than this so I guess it’s not Apples to Apples direct comparison this one’s 24 in that one’s 27 in but you’re pretty much getting like 85% of the same screen here for a fraction of the C it’s hands down one of the best displays and then I’m so glad they have Nano texture now I got Nano texture on my iPad Pro and I can’t go back that thing is phenomenal so in terms of display just purely based on what you’re getting I think the point goes to the iMac
Customization and Accessories
but where the Mac Mini now comes back with a nice you know double Leg Takedown is customization the customization you can actually do with this arguably is going to put the Mac Mini up ahead quite a bit because look not everybody needs another you know keyboard and mouse and a monitor maybe people already have those things at home right so you get to actually customize what monitor what keyboard what mouse and all of those things that you use with the Mac Mini not to mention let’s say you’re not a fan of the Apple magic keyboard it’s too flat for you or you want a mechanical keyboard or let’s say you don’t use the mouse like for me in my case I actually use the MX Master 3s I think for Mac this is the mouse that I use daily so technically I’m paying for like 2 mice if I go with the iMac because I’m just going to put this to the side and probably swap it out with this anyways and same thing applies to the monitor sure this monitor is fantastic it’s great but not everybody wants 24 in me personally like I need at least the 27 in monitor which is what I use the Apple Studio display back there or let’s say you want an ultra wide monitor or let’s say you want like multiple dual monitors kind of linked together or Daisy Chained and whatnot the Mac Mini is going to give you a lot more customization from that angle
Ease of Use and Family-Friendly Setup
but that’s also I guess a double-edged sword because where the Mac Mini wins and customization ease of purchase and ease of use comes to the iMac and I think they get the point back for that because the average person might just want to pick up a all-in-one package something that you can just go purchase from the store and be good to go out of the box they don’t got to worry about anything else and I think the Mac Mini really does shine there and which is why I still would say for families this is the best computer you can buy even over the Mac Mini
Speakers and Audio Experience
now another cost to consider here and also potentially a point for the iMac is speakers the speakers on the iMac guys like these are these are fantastic these speakers have spatial audio they’re basically designed to be pumping sound out to the front with the Mac Mini you probably have this tucked away somewhere maybe under the desk or on the side or somewhere far away the speakers on this are actually not bad I was actually quite surprised but it’s not ideal you’re meant to basically get speakers with the Mac Mini because that’s probably going to be more on your desk and kind of in your face so that’s another cost that you probably have to pay for because I wouldn’t rely on the speakers with the Mac Mini personally Point goes to the iMac
Camera and Video Features
now at this point in the video if you’re afraid that the iMac is getting ahead in terms of points I’m sorry to say one more point for the iMac the camera right the fact that this has a builtin Apple Center Stage 12 megapixel camera that’s actually really good to use I mean I think the point goes here because the camera first of all is actually fantastic you can do like so many neat things like with the center stage and the desk View and stuff like that and on top of that because it’s an apple camera it’s just well integrated into the software and stuff like that you you don’t got to worry about it now with the Mac Mini you kind of got to buy an external webcam or a separate camera or at least a monitor with a camera albeit with both of those Solutions you probably won’t get all of Apple Suite of like features like center stage and desk View and all of those things but with this for sure you’re covered you have everything you need so for that reason Point GES to the Mac Mini I mean iMac
Performance and Specifications
now the Mac Mini is losing in terms of points but it’s still clawing its way up to the top okay the Mac Mini fights back with the spec difference because the base Mac Mini out of the box for the money you’re getting a 10 core GPU 10 core CPU versus with the iMac you’re getting 8 core CPU 8 core GPU so spec difference wise you’re getting more with the Mac Mini based model and for that I got to give it some points
Value and Pricing
now the next category is value and pricing now this is a juicy one because look this is quite subjective it really depends on you and what you have let’s say you already have a monitor mouse keyboard and all that stuff then the Mac Mini is probably going to work out cheaper for you cuz you don’t have to upgrade any of those things you can just use the same stuff and just get the computer let’s just kind of like roughly compare what you’re looking to pay with the Mac Mini if you want to spec it out with the same things that you get with the iMac so first off monitor for a decent monitor you’re looking at anywhere between 300 to 500 bucks okay now that may not be as good of a monitor as this because this is a 4.5k retina display Nano texture all of those cool things but you could get a decent monitor so if you wanted all of those things you’re probably paying a lot more for a monitor but for argument sake let’s say you’re okay with the $400 to $500 monitor with the Mac Mini so there’s that now next for the peripherals whatever you pick up for a decent pair of keyboard and mouse you’re looking to pay anywhere between 150 to 300 bucks and if you’re getting any of the Logitech stuff like the good stuff then probably slightly more or even the Apple stuff if you were buying separately you’d be looking at about 350 bucks and then don’t forget the speakers and then maybe the webcam so when you start adding up all of those things value-wise you’re probably better off with the iMac but for this one I’m going to give it a draw because it really is subjective in what you already own
Aesthetics and Design Appeal
okay the next category is Vanity metrics okay let’s talk about looks in terms of looks the iMac I got to give the point to again here Mac Mini fans in the comments are like oh I hate you but look the Mac Mini just looks fantastic like if you were to put this in your living room or your kitchen or something like that it just looks so nice it adds a little bit of pop of color to your room having a desk setup with this just livens it up a little bit more right and you have so many different colors to choose from so you can like color match different things and kind of just design your space around the iMac the back is a lot more saturated so with the yellow here it actually looks kind of gold whereas the front is a little more pastely here so you do get a nice variation Mac guys in the comments are going to be like yo but you can get a nice Monitor and like you know do the same thing with this bro most monitors like just go search monitors on Amazon or anywhere else majority of them are like black or silver right nobody has like these kind of colors that you know that are going to pop and stuff so even if you were to pair a nice monitor the best you can do is RGB lights to liven up a room with the Mac Mini the colors on this they go hard so Point still goes to the iMac
Final Verdict
okay so in conclusion all in all I got to say this one is a very tough one because there’s not really many differences in terms of like you know specs and like all those things and most of the differences come in terms of what you have and what you need right so it is very subjective to the actual buyer so this is how I would put it I think in my opinion the iMac is probably the better computer to buy for the average person out there that’s just going to go pick up a computer they want a oneandone out of the-box solution they don’t want to be you know buying and looking for all sorts of other things and they don’t have a monitor keyboard mouse and stuff and even if they do most people don’t have as good of a keyboard and mouse and monitor as you know what you’re getting with the iMac so for most people that this is probably going to be an upgrade so in those cases I think the iMac is the better buy the iMac is the way to go for all sorts of family and you know the average non- teie user now where the Mac Mini comes in is people that firstly have these peripherals or people that really like customizing their setups and the more techsavvy and the more setup inclined consumer where they want to build out a setup they want to have those extra ports they want to have the more power that’s more so the buyer of the Mac Mini in my opinion in fact an argument can be made that the Mac Mini in the long term is more economical compared to the iMac because in the long term if if you want to upgrade your Mac Mini let’s say 2 or 3 years down the road you want to get the new Mac Mini that Apple comes out with the with the M5 and M6 chip then you don’t have to upgrade your monitor your keyboard mouse and all of those extra things all you got to do is just change out your computer and you can probably just sell this and get rid of it and also another thing is let’s say for repairs let’s say something craps out and you need to fix your computer with the iMac you lose everything you got to send out your entire monitor computer everything so as you can see definite pros and cons to both both platforms that kind of dichotomy that I’m showing you guys makes it a little bit easier for you to decide which computer you should buy so here’s how I would finally put it this is the computer I would buy for my family my wife my parents this is the computer I would buy for myself that’s as plainly as I can put it in any case I have a lot of cool videos planned with both of these devices make sure you guys are subbed some of these ideas are pretty out there so make sure you guys are subbed like comment in the comment section down below if there’s anything specific you want to see me do with any of these computers I’m going to pick the wildest comment uh that I can do personally and I’m going to go ahead and try to do it and I will see you guys in one of these two videos here peace
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