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Comment by sillysaurusx | Hacker News Reader

Bad idea to get 8GB instead of 16GB ram. It's +$200 for doubling your capacity for years to come.

Anyone have an opinion on Mac Mini vs Air? the raw benchmarks seem to favor the M1 mac mini: https://twitter.com/theshawwn/status/1331923535053299712

It takes 25m05s to compile webkit on a macbook air, but 19m32s on a Mac Mini. That's not-insignificant. And the Mini is several hundred cheaper than the Air too.

Mobility seems like an issue, but an external keyboard + tiny monitor seems to solve that. Though using a backpack + monitor + keyboard + mac mini + uninterruptible power supply is ... well ... maybe not too practical. It's hard to decide.

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> Mobility seems like an issue, but an external keyboard + tiny monitor seems to solve that. Though using a backpack + monitor + keyboard + mac mini + uninterruptible power supply is ... well ... maybe not too practical. It's hard to decide.

Perhaps the most HN comment ever. :-)

The Mini is great if it’s sitting under your desk. I’ve had one running for 10 years now. OS updates stopped last year but for what I use it for, it’s a champion.

But c’mon, the idea of schlepping it around with a portable tiny monitor is madness. Think of the time you save in build time and how badly it’s offset by the setup time for the Mini + all the gear every time you get a place.

Get the Air.

The M1 MBP does it in in 20m43s[1]. It's more expensive -- or maybe not after you add all those peripherals to your Mini -- and think of what you'll save in chiropractor bills!

1: https://www.macrumors.com/2020/11/17/apple-silicon-m1-compil...

I’m using an ass end M1 mini with a 27” 4K Iiyama monitor, an Apple magic touchpad and Durgod K320 keyboard.

It’s my favourite computer set up so far in all the years I’ve been doing this. I don’t want another back and neck killing laptop in my life in my 40s if I’m honest.

This is also not my first ARM desktop. I had an Acorn A420 a very long time ago.

If you don't want the chip to throttle, the simple answer is to get the Macbook Pro, not hack together a crappy laptop from a Mac Mini :)

Even then, the throttling on the Air seems pretty minor. About ~30% drop in performance after it levels off, which takes several minutes. Less if you get one of those pads with a fan in it that blows on the case.

Why would the Mac mini throttle and not the MacBook Pro? Both have fans, unlike the MacBook Air.

I think the parent was saying if you want a laptop, buy a laptop, and that the Air’s throttling isn’t a big deal...not that the Mini throttles.

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