The best Mac I’ve bought has been last years model Mac Mini. I bought the middle one, i5, because you had to order the i7 and I was only in the country one day (I buy in Singapore as it’s much cheaper and you can claim the GST back). I added 2 x 32gb RAN from Crucial. Man it’s fast. Total cost was about USD $1,500. I had to add a screen but it’s worth it. It beats my 32gb 27 inch 2017 iMac hands down. RW works super fast. There’s a newer Mac Mini now and it’s cheaper with a better spec.
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interesting read! i am still very happy with my mid 2010 27 inch imac; it has 16 gb of ram and with the 500 gb ssd installed i am experiencing a true workhorse, usually with 15 to 20 apps open, including affinity designer, affinity photo, microsoft suite etc. etc.
sometimes i dream about another computer (macos) jus for the sake of it but can not find a good reason to abandon this super imac!
Interesting comparison of new MacBook Pro base model using 8th gen processor to higher spec model with 10th gen processor
You didn’t say what size they were, 21" or 27"? Also is either the base model 21"? If not then you can even upgrade the processor, but couldn’t make any recommendations without given further specifics.
The new MBA is a very solid machine for what it is. The MacBooks you’re probably waiting for are coming, but Apple has chosen to wait until they can show them off properly. So late this year or early next year depending on how things with this virus turn out. If I were in your shoes then I would wait and just upgrade the old one that you have. You could do a lot of upgrading with iMacs depending on if they are the 21" or 27". It’s just the base 21" model that isn’t worth upgrading.
If you’re talking about the so-called “2020” model then it is the same as the 2018. I am glad that you like yours but many people are not so happy with theirs because it is probably the worst mini ever, as it has well known issues with the Bluetooth and TB3/USB-C ports constantly disconnecting. OWC says it’s a power issue as the ports don’t get the right amount of juice. Whatever the cause it is really annoying to not be able to use your Bluetooth mouse because it’s so erratic, or do a proper hard drive backup because the drives keep disconnecting.
I have an SSD permanently connected for back up and storage and I use a magic trackpad and honestly I’ve never had an issue.
A SSD won’t draw the same power as a HDD will. I’ve even heard mention of a class action regarding this matter, plus OWC doesn’t make undocumented claims. I’m glad you’re happy with your mini. I’ve had many, many minis in the past, and all of them have been rock solid. Unfortunately this is the first one that I’m really disappointed with. Every Mac forum has many threads such as these;