- The new Mac Mini has soldered storage. This precludes upgrading storage, replacing internal storage (which is important for preserving data due to a motherboard failure), and adding additional internal storage.

- Apple finally made the RAM on the new Mac Mini upgradeable, but it is not user-serviceable; you have to get the RAM installed by an Apple-authorized repair center in order for the warranty to stay valid on the Mac Mini. The same holds true for the iMac Pro.

- The Mac Mini lacks expansion slots. All expansion must be done externally using Thunderbolt or USB-3.

Until the 2013 Mac Pro was released, Apple has sold an entry-level Power Mac or Mac Pro model for around $2,500 in inflation-adjusted currency that was user-serviceable and has expansion slots. The 2013 Mac Pro was still user-serviceable, but it lacked expansion slots. Now Apple is finally selling a user-serviceable, expandable Mac, but at prices that are beyond what many users can afford. There are no user-serviceable, expandable Macs that cost under $5,999.

> - Apple finally made the RAM on the new Mac Mini upgradeable, but it is not user-serviceable; you have to get the RAM installed by an Apple-authorized repair center in order for the warranty to stay valid on the Mac Mini. The same holds true for the iMac Pro.

I'm pretty confident this isn't legal in the US. Under a law from the 70's the FTC released a letter reiterating this fact last year. Apple and other companies have made this purposefully vague as well as fighting right to repair laws.

> There are no user-serviceable, expandable Macs that cost under...

This has been a gripe against Apple for at least 20 years.

The memory on the iMac Pro is user upgradeable, and I believe it’s the case with the new Mac Mini. One big strike against the new Mac Mini is how much the higher end CPUs are thermally throttled. Not good for a relatively expensive machine.

You can replace the memory yourself, but you must put OEM memory in if you bring it in for service.

GPU for me. I’d snap one up if it had a GPU in line with that in the MacBook Pro. I don’t particularly want a large external GPU hooked up over Thunderbolt.

Same. The short height of the mini is in no way a feature for me, but being configurable with a graphics card sure would be.

Upgrade and repairability