Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Best Mac Mini deals: Save over $100 on an Apple desktop

While tower desktops are great when it comes to price and performance, one of the biggest issues is the size, which is even more evident with Apple desktops, which are pretty massive. If that’s not necessarily an issue for you, that’s perfect, but if you don’t have the place to put your desktop, then snagging an Apple Mac Mini is a good alternative. They’re still relatively powerful, even for their size, and they’re easy to stick pretty much anywhere, even just sitting under the display. Of course, they can be a little bit expensive, and while there aren’t a lot of options for new Mac Minis out there, we’ve included some of our favorite new and refurbished deals below.

Of course, if you don’t find what you’re looking for here, you could check out these other excellent Apple deals. Also, if you want a more traditional experience, take a look at these iMac deals and MacBook deals deals as well.

Apple education pricing for new Macs and iPads — multiple price points

A close-up of the Apple logo on a 2020 M1 Mac Mini, with MacOS Monterey reflecting onto its surface.
Alex Blake/Digital Trends / Digital Trends

Whether you’re a newly accepted college student, returning student, faculty, staff, or homeschooling teacher, of any grade level, Apple offers its education pricing program for discounted hardware rates. That means you can grab an Apple Mac Mini for great prices that won’t empty your wallet or bank account before the school year. A bevy of devices are included, not just the Mac Mini, such as MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, displays, and beyond.

Because the prices vary, we haven’t included any here, but it’s definitely worth checking out if you’re on an academic path!

2018 Mac Mini (renewed) — $308 $345 11% off

2018 Apple Mac Mini in gray product image.
Apple

You may be wondering why the 2018 Mac Mini model is slightly more expensive than some of the others, and that’s because this one is a bit more of a powerhouse. That’s in no small part thanks to the 8th-Gen six-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of 2666MHz DDR4 RAM, Intel UHD Graphics 630, and ultrafast 512GB solid-state drive. It also features four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, two more than usual, plus an HDMI 2.0, and two USB 3 ports. Gigabit Ethernet gives you the option of a speedy wired connection, or you can use the 802.11ac built-in WiFi connectivity to browse wirelessly. The dark grey design looks slick, too. This is an Amazon Renewed model being offered in “excellent condition” with little to no cosmetic defects. It has been tested, cleaned, and will arrive in fully working condition.

Apple Mac Mini M1 (renewed) — $421 $799 47% off

Apple Mac Mini M1 sitting on a desk.
Alex Blake / Digital Trends

The M1 Mac Mini is the first generation to feature Apple Silicon, and alongside the powerful M1 chip this build has 256GB of solid state storage capacity and 8GB of RAM. Apple software makes the most out of all of the hardware in every Mac, so while 8GB of RAM is a base configuration, it’s going to be enough for most people’s uses and in many cases will suffice for creative work and heavier workloads. You’ll find plenty of connectivity options on the back of the Mac Mini M1, including an HDMI port that ensures connectivity with a 4K monitor.

Apple Mac Mini M2 — $529 $599 12% off

A woman works at her desk on an Apple Mac Mini M2 computer.
Apple

This is one of the newest Mac Mini models on the market. It’s not often you find a deal on newer Apple products like this, which makes this Mac Mini all the more enticing. It comes with Apple’s M2 chip, which features an 8-core CPU and a 10-core GPU. This build sees the Mac Mini with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of solid state storage. This is, for the most part, an entry-level Mac Mini, but one of the huge draws of Apple’s M2 chip is its performance capabilities. Entry level Macs are now capable of doing much more than previous generations, including photo editing and other creative work.

How to choose a Mac Mini

The aptly named Mac Mini is Apple’s pint-sized desktop computer. Small PCs such as this have been around for a while, but as an Apple device, the Mac Mini runs on MacOS rather than Windows — if you like the idea of a desktop computer but you want something with a small footprint, the Mac Mini is your best option if you favor Apple software.

Unlike the MacBook or the iMac, there is essentially only one model of the Mac Mini, although it is available in several different hardware configurations. Apple has kept this small desktop computer updated nicely over the years as well, so you also have some different model years to choose from (meaning that opting for a last-generation unit is often an easy way to save some cash if you aren’t picky about having the latest hardware).

The Mac Mini saw its most recent refresh in 202o; before that, it was updated in 2018, so these two model years are the ones you’ll see the most and the ones we recommend you spring for — any older than that and the hardware might feel a bit long in the tooth in 2020 for anything other than basic computing needs.

Despite its pared-down case, the Mac Mini boasts the same modern computer hardware as full-sized desktop towers as well as the same MacOS software that you get with iMacs and MacBooks. It also features very good thermal performance that keeps it running surprisingly cool under load (something that can be a problem with smaller computers). Note that Apple has added its awesome new M1 CPU to the 2020 Mac Mini lineup, which is well worth the upgrade in our opinion unless you’re on the tightest of budgets.

The most appealing feature of the Mac Mini for many buyers is its price. This tiny computer is far and away the cheapest entry point into the world of MacOS computing, with the latest entry-level 2020 models starting at a retail price of around $800 — Mac Mini deals like the ones above often let you score one for even less, and if you’re willing to opt for slightly older hardware, then the 2019 Mac Mini can be had for cheaper still.

The catch here is that the Mac Mini obviously doesn’t include a display or peripherals (namely a keyboard, a mouse, and speakers), unlike the iMac and MacBook. These add-ons will cost extra, but if you already have peripherals you can use — perhaps you’re just upgrading an old desktop tower — then the Mac Mini offers a lot of value and power in a small footprint. If not, however, then you might want to consider an iMac instead, as it could be a better bargain depending on your needs.

Lucas Coll
Deals and News Writer
Lucas Coll has been a freelance writer for almost a decade and has penned articles on tech, video games, travel, cars, and…
Early Black Friday RAM deals 2024: 33% off desktop and laptop RAM kits

If you're thinking of building or upgrading a PC, then you'll really want to grab yourself some great Black Friday RAM deals. A lot of folks may not really think about RAM because it's not as big of a deal as a GPU or CPU, but RAM can affect performance, so it's worth grabbing something good. Not only that, but certain operating systems, like Windows 11, love to eat up RAM, so upgrading it can make a huge difference to your day-to-day experience, especially if you're only running 8GBs. That's why we've gone out and collected some of our favorite early Black Friday RAM deals below.
CORSAIR VENGEANCE LPX DDR4 3200MHz RAM 32GB (2x16GB) -- $54 $80 33% off

While most people are probably either running 8GB of RAM or even 16GB of RAM, upgrading with this two-pack that brings you up to a total of 32GB is going to make a world of difference. That's especially so given that it's going for just $54 after a 33% discount.

Read more
Best Adobe Photoshop deals: Get the photo-editing software for free
Close up of Adobe Photoshop app icon being chosen from among other Adobe apps on a laptop screen.

If you do any sort of graphical editing or rendering work, then you're almost certainly familiar with Adobe Photoshop, one of the most popular pieces of software out there. It's really essentially for graphical work, and because Adobe is essentially the top and most used product, Photoshop tends to be quite expensive. Luckily, there are a couple of good discounts and options you can try that we've collected below, plus you can check out some of these Photoshop alternatives instead.

You may also want to consider grabbing yourself one of these laptop deals or desktop deals to upgrade your PC to handle the latest Adobe Photoshop features more smoothly, and this is a good step if you're moving to a more professional setup.
Adobe Photoshop free 7-day trial

Read more
This Limited Time Deal is almost over: Save $500 on the popular Dell XPS
Dell XPS 14 laptop on its side

For great laptop deals, you can always count on Dell. All I'm going to say about this next deal is that it's so good, I want one. Today, it has a huge $550 off the Dell XPS 14, which is a consistently popular laptop for many good reasons. That means you pay $950 instead of $1,500, which is great for what it has to offer. One of the better Dell laptop deals around, this laptop is perfect for general use and also looks super stylish while you’re working in a nearby coffee shop. If that sounds appealing to you, it should. Keep reading and you can learn all about what the Dell XPS 14 has to offer.

Why you should buy the Dell XPS 14
As our Dell XPS 14 review explains, the laptop has a momentous design along with an excellent haptic trackpad and quiet yet cool performance. While it has limited ports and it's usually quite expensive, that’s less of an issue when there’s a $550 discount involved. This particular model has an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, 16GB of memory, and 512GB of SSD storage. Those are all the essentials you could need, although a little part of us would prefer to see 1TB at this price range.

Read more