mac mini life span

You were not sold a five year old computer. That is not true and not what you got. You got a brand new, still in production computer that was designed in 2014. So your car analogy doesn’t hold. You weren’t sold old stock. The 2014 model Mac mini was in constant production from 2014 until the 2018 model came out.

You were not misled. You asked for a Mac mini. You were sold a new item, of the most current Mac mini Apple made and sold at the time you asked for one. Just as if you walked in and asked for a MacBook today - you would get a brand new item, but that model has not changed in design since mid-2017, and nobody knows when a new design of the MacBook may be released.

I would just like to add a few things:

1. The Late 2014 Mac mini was introduced in October 2014 and was discontinued in October 2018. After which time the 2018 mini became available to the public. If you purchased your mini new from either the Apple online or brick-and-mortar store in 2018, but before October 2018, then you would have purchased a 2014 model. FWIW. I bought a new one in 2016 and it was a 2014 model ... not a 2016 model.
2. Also FWIW, I have now owned a number of mini's, a Late 2009, a Mid 2011, a Late 2014, & now, a 2018 model. I still have all of them and all of them work perfectly since I originally got them. The 2009 is being used as a media server. Typical consumer electronics, in my experience, have a useable lifespan of 3-5 years. As you can see my 2009 & 2011 models have far exceeded that.
3. As far as Apple providing support, both my 2014 & 2018 models are fully supported, the 2011 has now moved to the "Vintage" category, and my 2009 is now considered "Obsolete." Ref: Vintage and obsolete products - Apple Support. Please read this article carefully. You will note that Apple will provide service and parts for up to five years after the end of the production run. So, for your 2014 mini, as mentioned in item 1, that run ended in October 2018. Doing the math tells us that full support will end in October 2023 ... or potentially longer where required by law.

“With Apple I was sold a computer in 2018 that the life span started in 2014.”

That is simply not true. That computer was not being used for 4 years. It was new production, never yet sold at retail, so by any legal or rational definition of a consumer new product you got a new Mac mini. Cars are defined by the model year, and each year is a new model year. Consumer technology is defined by the year of a product’s introduction, and that only changes when a new model is introduced, and not based on any particular passage of time.

This idea of a built in lifespan for electronics is in your head only. A device is useful as long as the owner finds it useful. Technological obsolescence does not mean “life span”, it merely means that the current state of art for hardware has advanced in time, relative to your device. And in terms of technological obsolescence, the 2014 Mac Mini was obsolete within months, as Intel introduced new CPU’s and new integrated graphics.

The 2018 Mac mini is already technologically obsolete as intel has already released their 9th generation i5 and i7 cpus this quarter.

Yes, companies sell whatever is their current model until they release a new model. Apple stores stopped selling the 2014 model Mac mini the day the 2018 Mac mini arrived in stores. Until then, they sold the most current model of Mac mini Apple made, which was the 2014 model.

As is always the case, it is up to consumers to educate themselves about what they choose to buy and spend their money on. Numerous sites (macrumors, Macworld, Engadget, CNET, etc) could have readily provided you with the information about how long the Mac mini had been without any design updates - a simple web search was all that was needed.

The Apple Store employees also have no insider knowledge about what products Apple will update, or when they will update them. They sell what people come in asking for, based on the current model(s) Apple makes.

The 2014 Mac Mini was marketed until the fall of 2018. If it was purchased prior to that, it would have to be a 2014 model.

Yes, no matter when it was built, or purchased, it will have exactly the same specs. That model remained unchanged throughout the 4 year period from introduction to being discontinued.

You purchased what you chose to purchase and you paid what it cost knowingly, so what does the price have to do with it, or its upgradeability? You knew the mini has limited upgrade options, just as ultra compact Windows machines have.

Your posts make it sound like you were completely uninformed about what you were buying, which if so, is entirely on you. Nobody made you buy your Mac mini. You made that decision and that choice. Information about the Mac mini you bought when you bought it was readily available in minutes from any web browser - Apple publishes the specs online, multiple sites offer reviews and detailed discussions of the hardware, capabilities and limitations of every Apple device, many sites would have also readily told you how long the Mac mini had gone without a design update (some even would have openly told you not to buy a device that was four years without being updated, and for which an update was rumored to be imminent).

All you had to do was take 5 minutes to research your proposed purchase before hand and you would have known exactly what you were buying or not buying as the case may be. And even after you purchased it, Apple has a 14 day unconditional return for full refund policy, so you could have even researched it after purchasing it, and changed your mind then and got 100% of your money back.

I must say I am somewhat confused as to what part of the purchase of the Mac Mini has caused you to mistrust Apple.

You wanted a Mac Mini.

Apple had a Mac Mini that met your needs.

You purchased said Mac Mini.

Apple sold you the newest model of Mac Mini available at the time of purchase.

What could they have done for you to have “TRUST”?