# Mac mini starting price goes up to $799, may be hard to get

**URL:** <https://forum.kirupa.com/t/mac-mini-starting-price-goes-up-to-799-may-be-hard-to-get/681133>\
**Category:** design\
**Created:** [May 4, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/mac-mini-starting-price-goes-up-to-799-may-be-hard-to-get/681133 "2026-05-04T17:00:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MechaPrime](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/mechaprime/32/31154_2.png) [@MechaPrime](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/MechaPrime)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/mac-mini-starting-price-goes-up-to-799-may-be-hard-to-get/681133/1 "2026-05-04T17:00:14Z")

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Chip shortages and demand from AI enthusiasts are both playing a part.

> **[Mac mini starting price goes up to $799, may be hard to get for "months"](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/05/apple-may-take-several-months-to-catch-up-to-mac-mini-and-studio-demand/)**
>
> Chip shortages and demand from AI enthusiasts are both playing a part.

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**Author:** ![Yoshiii](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/yoshiii/32/31156_2.png) [@Yoshiii](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Yoshiii)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 6:49pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/mac-mini-starting-price-goes-up-to-799-may-be-hard-to-get/681133/2 "2026-05-04T18:49:28Z")

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$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.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![MechaPrime](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/mechaprime/32/31154_2.png) [@MechaPrime](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/MechaPrime)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 3:14am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/mac-mini-starting-price-goes-up-to-799-may-be-hard-to-get/681133/3 "2026-05-05T03:14:15Z")

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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.