Choosing a MAC Mini

After 3 years of study I have purchased the base model with 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD.

Apart from the usual emails and web surfing most of my work involves editing 1080p and 4K videos and for the past 7 years I have been using a 2017 iMac with 8 GB RAM.

My new bottom of the range Mac mini is at least 3 times faster than the iMac!

The base model Mac mini is almost a bargain but once you start increasing the RAM and the SSD size you have quickly doubled the price.

8 GB RAM is plenty unless you are a busy professional video editor doing intensive processing.

As for the small SSD . . . I have a tiny Samsung T5 1 TB SSD which plugs into the USB 3.0 socket and means I now have a total of 1.25 TB for a price of £80.

Get 1 TB built in and you will pay £400 plus it will only be 1 TB not 1.25 TB.

Actually I have two 1 TB SSDs plugged in as shown by the arrow. The Crucial in the larger casing cost £50

if it was me then I would get one with minimum 16GB system memory and minimum 512GB storage, you can later on get an external hd if you lack storage but the system memory can't be upgraded. if you don't do heavy graphics or 3d gaming then you can likely do without it having a m2 pro cpu

For the OP, the biggest advantage of a M2 Pro mini might be the two extra USB-C (Thunderbolt 4) ports. Not the extra CPU and GPU cores (which might go unnoticed), or ability to drive a third display (which might to unused).

The argument for the M2 mini is that it is a bit cheaper, and that money could be put towards additional internal or external SSD storage.

You may also have heard that the 256 GB SSD is much slower than the larger ones?

This immediately fills the uninitiated with dread as they think it will be a slow computer . . . wrong!

What determines the speed of a computer for most tasks is the CPU and GPU.

About the only time a faster SSD would be of use is if you wanted to make copies of 100+ GB files in which case it might save a few minutes but I'm guessing you don't come into that category.

Another specious argument for maxing out the specifications is that it will future proof the computer . . . again NOT TRUE!

5 years down the line your maxed out Mac will be pathetic compared with the new stuff that will have appeared.