You probably need to spend some money on some accessories:-
- USB/SD-Card hubs. The Mac mini only comes with 2 USB-A, 2 Thunderbolt (USB-C) and HDMI ports. If you have a lot of things to connect, then you need this. Actually, this even more required if you buy the MacBook Air which only has 2 USB-C ports.
- External SSD. Unless you want to spend extra to upgrade the base 256GB SSD to a 512GB, you are better off getting this separately. Though, some have said that the SSD that Apple provides is screaming fast.

Apart from that, nothing much. Most accessories doesn't have to be Apple branded (unless you are completist who likes everything to "jive"). I switch regularly between Windows and Mac for work and pleasure and most of my peripherals are not Apple branded (using a 27" 4K Dell monitor, a Keychron K2 keyboard and the Apple Magic Mouse/Alienware mouse, SanDisk SSD)

If you are new to Macs, you probably want to make your decision on RAM upfront. The newer M1 models don't give an option to upgrade RAM as it is running on a unified architecture where the RAM is built into the M1 system-on-a-chip. Based on reviews, the base 8GB model should be enough for almost everybody and it performs like an Intel Mac/Windows machines with 16GB. But if you can afford additional RM800, then go for it as it will ensure that you can still use your Mac for a long, long, long time.

Cheers!

Good choice. The MacBook Air M1 looks like the best value (performance over price) that money can buy today and it will serve you very well in the years to come

I’m holding on to my 2018 MacBook Pro for a while longer and upgrade maybe later next year when they introduce the newer Apple Silicon chip with a new hardware design. So, my interest in the Mac Mini M1 is for heavy photo editing workflow. Raw photo files demand a lot of processing power and my MacBook Pro and Windows PC (i7, 16GB) can barely keep up.

Ohh...there has been a change of status. Apple is preparing to ship the order already. My experience with Apple Store is that they will arrive plus minus one day from their promise date. Not sure if we are getting the Made in Malaysia version.

Upgraded RAM to 16GB but with 256GB SSD

Item shipped and estimated delivery date updated. DHL tracking also available and it’s shipping from Shenzen.

Looks like I'll be receiving my unit by afternoon today. Any updates from anyone of you who bought directly from Apple Store online?

Received and setting up now. Interesting that even though there are reports that some Mac Minis were assembled in Malaysia, the unit that I got was assembled in China. Faced a bluetooth problem out of the box- it didn't recognise my Magic Mouse. However, I luckily have a Magic Trackpad nearby and it connected via bluetooth without any problems.

Installing the software that I need for work (Microsoft Office, Microsoft Teams, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, Slack, etc) now and will report back on the experience.

Okay, almost finish setting up the machine. Observations so far:-

1. Bluetooth:
I currently have 3 devices connected to the Mac Mini, a Keycrhon K2 keyboard, a Magic Trackpad and Magic Mouse. I was having a problem with Magic Mouse in the beginning when I was setting up (the setup recognised Trackpad but not Mouse even though I toggled the power on-and-off on those devices). However, after post setting up, I tried from Bluetooth Devices in Systems Preferences and my mouse showed up. So far, after 3 hours or running (and waking up), my devices are still connected.

2. DAC:
Internal speakers for Mac mini sucks (as expected). Instead of using the headphone jack, I connected the machine via USB to an Anker USB dongle and then into an external DAC. Toggling the sound output to the DAC yielded really good results. Of course, do remember to change the configuration to the sample rate that you want via Audio Midi Setup

3. External Monitor:
Connected directly via HDMI to my 27" Dell 4K monitor. I must say that it looks brilliant! Previously, I had a MacBook Pro connected via the Anker dongle to the monitor. I noticed that colours were crisper and refresh rate was faster (don't know how that happened).

4. Software:
Been running a mix of Apple M1 native and Intel apps. Microsoft Office is available as native M1 already (but Microsoft Teams and One Drive still Intel). Chrome is native M1. Adobe apps are still Intel. So is Slack, Tidal, LastPass and WhatsApp. But the reviewers were spot on when they said that there is no noticeable difference in the performance of the app whether if they are native M1 or Intel. Keyword is noticeable in terms of how they behave on the UI level.

5. Memory Usage:
Here is where the 16GB really came in handy as I didn't expect memory usage to be so much. The system used up 11.95GB of my 16GB RAM when I was setting up. Some Intel apps are memory hoggers. Have a look at my activity monitor screen shot. (Even this Lowyat forum tab on Safari took up 365MB of my RAM).



6. Performance:
Wow. It's true. My workflow is that I like to create multiple virtual desktops and group my browsers, apps depending on the "theme" of the work (eg. one desktop for communications/conference apps, one for e-mail and work docs, one for general web research and exploration, one for YouTube and music). I struggled to them properly on my 2018 MacBook Pro and it would take noticeable seconds before windows would scale up and down. Usually the content in the windows will have to refresh when that happens. On the Mac mini M1, everything was buttery smooth. YouTube videos kept playing without skipping when I move from Desktop to Desktop. In fact, I barely notice the machine struggling at all.

So, it's still early days but really happy with the performance so far!