m1 mac mini

Question

C2-81 Author

Level 1

12 points

m1 mac mini

Purchased M1 Mac Mini Feb 18 2021

8gb + 256gb.

Updated and setup as recommended.

Used HMDI to monitor. No problems.

Logitech keyboard and mouse - wireless with usb.

All went well on day one.

Day two had slight with lad on Logitech Keyboard and Mouse with usb.

Mostly the mouse. But not bad.

The next day or two started having issues with wifi and Ethernet. The system said they were connected but I could not connect to websites or open icloud dependent apps. Hooked pc back up and all was good. The router is in the next room. So I took the mac in there and set it up with a different net cable and again could not get any traffic over the internet. Hooked up my ipad with wifi and also Ethernet. It worked fine on both.

Called Apple support. We reinstalled Big Sur. Took 1.5 hours.

After recovery the system worked but still has internet issue. Called the isp provider and they checked the router and lines. All reported good.

New issue with pink dots on the screen. They go way after and minute or two.

Called Apple support again. This time we erased the Mac HD and reinstalled big sur. Took 1 hour. No fix. Same issue.s Another support advisor said to remove the device from my icloud account, erase both the HD and the Data. Then reinstall. Okay did that.

Setup started. I logged in with my ilcoud ID and pwd. Attempted to setup a up a computer account. It said name was used. Try again. After 3x of failure I called support. This time a senior advisor was involved. We rebooted the Mac . I now had three user accounts and none of them would accept any pwd. We opened the terminal and reset password for one account. Did not work. Tried the same for other two accounts.

They said to pack it up and return it for a refund or exchange.

I am going to exchange it but I'm leery. I am hearing about file swap issue with Hd space being used up excessively and quickly. I wonder if I should upgrade to 512 gb ssd? I know issues like these occur with all brands. I hope the next Mac works because next to my "old" worn out pc - it was great.

Posted on Feb 28, 2021 4:32 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

woodmeister50

Level 7

20,503 points

Mar 1, 2021 5:32 AM in response to C2-81

I got the "better" model with the 8 core GPU, 8 GB RAM, which

automatically adds a 512 GB SSD.

Personally, I would suggest the 512 GB SSD to "future proof"

what your needs are as time goes on unless you have no

aversion to adding external storage as the need arises.

Reply

Answer 2

Mar 1, 2021 4:20 AM in response to C2-81

C2-81 wrote:

I am going to exchange it but I'm leery. I am hearing about file swap issue with Hd space being used up excessively and quickly. I wonder if I should upgrade to 512 gb ssd?

FWIW, I have an M1 MacBook Air which I have had for 3 months now.

I checked out the SMART status on the internal SSD and it has shown

~2.8 TB of writes, which is what wears out SSDs. That works out to

31 GB writes per day average. Sounds like a lot. But put into perspective

considering generally NVMe SSDs have a 150 TBW life time, at that write

rate, that means my SSD has a lifetime of 13 years if continued to be used

as I currently am, i.e. 8-10 hours a day (which drops significantly once the

weather gets warmer). And that time is spent partly web surfing, RAW

image photo processing with multiple apps, occasional video processing

and embedded firmware and software development.

And the TBW (terra byte write) lifetime is an indicator of use before failures

will begin to show themselves. So, in all reality, the current M1 Macs will

likely will be outdated and nearly obsolete before there is any concern

of failing SSD.

Reply

Answer 3

C2-81 Author

Level 1

12 points

Mar 1, 2021 4:41 AM in response to woodmeister50

Thanks for your informative answer woodmeister 50 I do not know the RAM size or SSD size of your MacBook Air but it sounds like you’re saying the base model (8/256) will be plenty for what I am doing for a long time, yes?

Reply

Answer 4

Mar 1, 2021 4:58 PM in response to C2-81

So sorry to hear about all of the issues that you've had. You shouldn't have been put through all of that. I have had a boatload of various issues with Big Sur, mostly updating issues, using "recovery" and boot issues. Personally I don't think Big Sur (I have now unofficially renamed it Big Sour) should have been brought out of beta with all its issues. Others have also had issues with the ethernet using Big Sur. All you can do is roll the dice and try another mini. Get the biggest SSD that you can afford. Let us know if it works out for you.

Reply