Need a new PC? Beat the RAM crisis price hikes — these Mac mini M4 deals could be the desktop bargain of the year
Amazon has knocked off 17% in the US, and there's a 12% price cut in the UK
We all know what's happening with PC prices right now – they're heading upwards, with RAM and storage-related hikes only predicted to get worse this year, which makes snapping up one of these deals on the Apple Mac mini M4 could be the smartest move you make this year if you're looking to buy a new desktop computer.
Don't let the tiny size of this Mac fool you. Apple has packed a lot of power into its diminutive chassis, and on the recent 21st anniversary of the launch of the first ever compact Mac, we declared that the "Mac mini is the best PC you can buy" – especially with a chunky discount.
And at just $499 on Amazon US (was $599), this mini PC with 16GB of memory is barely any more expensive than it was over the Black Friday sales period last year (just $20 more, to be precise) – which, given that the RAM crisis had barely started back at the time, is quite remarkable, given that memory-related inflation is now clearly in full swing.
Those in the UK can also pick up the same Mac mini M4 with 16GB RAM and 256GB of SSD storage for just £529 at Very (was £599). It's also on Amazon UK with 8% off, knocking it down to £549, should that former offer go out of stock).
(Not in the US or UK? You can see today's best Mac mini deals in your region below).
Today's best Mac mini (M4) deal
Processor: Apple M4
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 256GB
In a climate where 16GB PCs have become more expensive – and will be getting a good deal pricier soon enough, most likely – a price drop like this on a highly-rated mini PC is seriously tempting. You get 256GB of SSD storage, and a 10-core CPU (plus 10-core GPU) with the Mac mini M4, giving you plenty of performance in an impressively compact device. This $100 discount is a hefty one given the current prevailing pricing winds.
Processor: Apple M4
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 256GB
The same model of the Mac mini M4, with that 10-core CPU (and 10-core GPU), 16GB of system memory, and 256GB of storage is on sale at Very in the UK, where it's reduced to £529. That's not quite as big a discount as US shoppers are getting, but this is still an excellent price for a great PC.
There's a reason this computer is ranked as the top Mac in our roundup of the best overall desktop PCs currently. The Mac mini M4 can handle everything you throw at it in terms of general computing tasks, and it'll cut through everyday workloads with ease. Don't expect to use heavyweight apps or tackle gaming on this device, mind, although that's self-evident, really, given the asking price.
We couldn't have rated the Mac mini M4 more highly in our review, where we praised the PC's even smaller size compared to its predecessor, and observed that it ran macOS Sequoia smoothly, while also handling tasks like video editing without breaking a sweat.
It's interesting to note that the very first Mac mini launched at $499 in the US for the entry-level model, and you can get one packing the M4 chip and 16GB of RAM for the same price right now, over two decades later – in the midst of a memory pricing storm that's causing havoc in the components market. It just goes to show there are still glimmers of hope in the overall gloom of predictions of rising prices and falling PC sales.
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Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).
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