Happy new year! Hi all, thinking about the possibility of the Mac M1 Mini. Can you give me suggestions on what type of monitor I should be looking for as I’ve never bought a monitor for that purpose. I have a spare Bluetooth Apple keyboard. What other costs will I need to add if I go that direction? I’m just trying to gather requirements Mini vs if I got a new iMac. Thanks!
Hi Georgia - what a pity you didn't attend my "In Praise of the Mac Mini" session recently ;-)
If you're thinking of a Mini, do think what your long term plan will be. There could well be a new iMac this year which will have an Apple chip so if the Mini is to be a "temporary" machine, you won't want to spend too much on a monitor. I think pretty much any monitor will work - connections over HDMI or Thunderbolt. However, if the Mini is long term and your budget stretches that far, I can recommend the LG 5K 27" (available from Apple) which is stunning with my 2018 Mini. Don't see why it wouldn't work with an M1 Mini as that still has Thunderbolt.
The mini has an internal speaker, so depending on your usage that may be enough. In the 2014 mini the built-in speaker is fine for system sounds and occasional spoken word content, but I would not want to listen to music through it.
What the mini doesn’t have is a microphone or camera, so if you are planning to use it for FaceTime, Zoom, &c. then you will need an external webcam and possibly a separate microphone. I believe the LG 5K monitor that Mick mentioned has both camera and mic built in.
Oh you’ve all brought up interesting points. Sorry Mick to miss your talk on the Mini but I wasn’t considering a Mac Mini until a couple days ago. However after reading these suggestions, I think I’d rather get an iMac however I’m still not in “need” of upgrading yet.
Georgia Cheer 