M4 Mac mini's efficiency

Post by pxc » Wed, Nov 13, 2024, 9:21 AM UTC

lloeki wrote: post #472

steeleduncan wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nix works well on mac, very similar to Nix/Linux for the most part. There are some missing packages, but the common ones tend to be fine. Its worth using the Determinate Systems installer to avoid reinstalling Nix on every macOS update though. Nix-darwin is good, and I use it, but it is nowhere close to NixOS. I think there are some options I've set through it that macOS keeps overriding, so the declarative configura…

> Its worth using the Determinate Systems installer to avoid reinstalling Nix on every macOS update though. I've had Nix installed from the traditional installer since the very first M1 and never had to reinstall nixpkgs across OS updates.

Post by The_Colonel » Wed, Nov 13, 2024, 9:30 AM UTC

ricardobeat wrote: post #403

hollerith wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>apps can share read-only memory for common frameworks How is that different from plain shared libraries?

System design and stability. On MacOS a lot is shared between applications compared to the average Linux app. Dynamic linking has fallen out of favor in Linux recently [1], and the fragmentation in the ecosystem means apps have to deal with different GUI libraries, system lib versions etc, whereas on Mac you can safely target a minimum OS version when using system frameworks. Apps will also rarely use third party rep…

Post by gorbypark » Wed, Nov 13, 2024, 9:35 AM UTC

ksec wrote: post #311

nextos wrote: post #9

I use Linux, but I think the cheapest M4 Mini offers an incredible value and efficiency per €. With education discount, it's around €650, including VAT. It's pretty hard to find such a silent and powerful machine for that little. Any comparable options? A good fanless build with a i3-14100T is more expensive and 40-50% slower on Geekbench. An i5 is a bit closer. Some 2024 Ryzen CPUs can match or exceed its multicore…

>With education discount, it's around €650, It is €579 including VAT. The Educational discount in US is only $499. €650 sounds wrong. Where in EU is that.

Post by 4ggr0 » Wed, Nov 13, 2024, 9:40 AM UTC

Suppafly wrote: post #446

tredre3 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> With education discount I don't understand why so many people use the discounted price as reference. Surely very few of us on HN are still in college? So let's use the actual price when making comparisons.

>I don't understand why so many people use the discounted price as reference. Or when they only use it to make the Apple pricing seem more favorable and ignore it when it comes to PC pricing. Most PC manufacturers also have educational pricing, whether directly or through some portal provided by your institution. I know my son's college had a deal and also had a list of the tax free days in the state so that you coul…

Post by dagmx » Wed, Nov 13, 2024, 9:50 AM UTC

initplus wrote: post #485

derefr wrote: post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The GP's same argument also applies to the Magic Mouse, as it happens: > It's a way of signaling how the product should be used. In the Magic Mouse's case, it came out just on the cusp of wireless mice becoming "a thing." Most people, if they were allowed , would have just left the mouse tethered to a computer by its charging cable at all times, since that's what they were used to. But Apple thought you'd be happier…

The port on the bottom is really the least offensive element of the design. I know people find it fun to clown on, but if any of them had ever used one for 5 minutes they would realize it's a terrible mouse for a bunch of other more important reasons (weight, feet quality, tracking accuracy, polling rate etc.).