After 4 years of resisting a good deal, I finally gave in. The new Mac mini is such a beast at a sweet price point that it was hard to avoid, especially with my laptop now more than two years old.
Abiding by my GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) avoidance strategy, I have decided to sell my ROG Zephyrus laptop as the mini is a proper replacement. In the last few years, I’ve been travelling with my personal laptop less and less. It’s at a point where I never stash it in my travel backpack as (a) it’s heavy, and (b) my work laptop is enough for quick personal tasks. It is practically a desktop computer, so why not get a real desktop with better performance.
The biggest reason to miss the laptop is its gaming abilities. It has an NVIDIA RTX 3060. Apple M4 is nowhere near in gaming performance. But then there are other, cheaper, ways to play the latest games, like cloud gaming. Also, let’s not forget I already have a Steam Deck. And, to be honest, it’s not like I’m playing games everyday.
So, back to Mac mini. My first impressions are good. It’s silent as hell: my ROG would start screaming (fan noise) 10 minutes after starting even with something as basic as browsing the web. macOS Sequoia is fast and snappy on this thing. I’ve just finished downloading the 2016 Hitman game; curious to test how it looks and performs.
I am setting it slightly differently from my work MacBook Pro so they both don’t appear like practically the same and I have something to look forward to in my personal computer. For instance, I have enabled Stage Manager, set up automatic wallpaper refresh (Bing), trying out Safari as my default browser, and more.
Intended uses: everyday personal things, casual programming, casual video editing (maybe), and casual gaming. Casual is the keyword!
Ok, Hitman ran in respectable 40s FPS at all times. High details @ 2K resolution. The fan didn’t even attempt to start. Amazing!