While studying journalism at university, I worked in the Apple Store as a technician and saw thousands of customers purchase Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches over the festive period. Whether that was someone buying a laptop to replace their broken one or a gift for a loved one, I’ve seen so many different use cases for Apple products, and I no longer get swayed by the fancy marketing spiel. After all, Black Friday is the best time of year to pick up tech, so I wasn’t surprised to see this fantastic deal at Best Buy for the Mac I use every single day.
The Mac in question is the base model M2 Mac mini, an absolute powerhouse of a computer that manages to tackle every single task I throw at it. From working on iMore to playing games on Apple Arcade, this cheap Mac is one of the best purchases I’ve ever made, and you can pick it up today for $499 instead of $599.
An incredible Mac for $499
Laptop deals: Dell | Best Buy | Walmart | Lenovo | HP | Newegg | Amazon
8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD? Yep, that’s my little M2 Mac mini and a purchase I’ve never regretted despite the lack of impressive specs. My reason for opting for the base model mini was because I felt like the years of use I would get from it with affordable specs far outweighed purchasing an upgraded model that would maybe lead to one or two more years of use. Apple’s M2 chip is insane, and this machine has no problems dealing with the ridiculous amounts of Chrome tabs I throw at it daily.
My day at iMore is filled with spreadsheets, documents, planning tools, and CMS management, all from within Google Chrome, and this magical little box manages to handle it all without breaking the bank. Obviously, the Mac mini is just a computer, so you must own or purchase a monitor, a mouse, and a keyboard to use the machine. That said, I love the flexibility of picking the peripherals that match my needs; it’s a far more enjoyable experience than opting for whatever Apple sells in the Apple Store.
For under $500, I don’t think there’s a better value computer on the market. You get everything that is so great about the Mac while spending significantly less for equal performance compared to the other M2 models out there. For any home office, the Mac mini is a steal, and I honestly wouldn’t swap my machine for any other Mac in Apple’s lineup.
