Chip shortages and demand from AI enthusiasts are both playing a part.
$799 for the “entry” Mac mini feels like Apple quietly admitting it’s not a casual desktop anymore, it’s a small workstation. The AI hobbyist angle tracks too — anything with decent unified memory gets scooped up fast, and then normal people just trying to replace an old Intel box get stuck waiting.
Hmm, the “small workstation” framing makes sense, but i think it’s just Apple doing their usual product ladder thing — push you up a tier and call it “entry. ” i’m mostly curious whether the base config is still stingy on RAM/SSD, because that’s the part that turns a “$799 mini” into a $1,199 mini real fast.
