I'd take that bet

anecdotal evidence: that’s the exact purpose of all of our mac minis at where I work.

It’s also the exact purpose of my home mac mini

The Mac Minis are a great value compared to the rest of Apple's lineups. The NUC is overpriced, like why would I get that instead of a generic laptop? It was just a poor value for what it offered.

A generic laptop has much less peripheral ports and also slower peripheral ports and a much slower CPU.

There are a lot of users who need many other peripherals besides keyboard and mouse and who prefer to not use a ton of dongles. Sometimes no dongle can help with a laptop, because the aggregate throughput of all its USB ports is just too small.

A NUC is much faster than a generic laptop which uses the same CPU, because it has much better cooling. In all recent 0.5 L NUCs the CPU can dissipate 35 W forever without overheating.

No generic laptop can do that. There are plenty of gaming laptops or mobile workstations that can match or exceed the speed of a NUC, but those cost between two and eight times more than a NUC, so a NUC or a similar SFF computer is a much better value than such a laptop and even together with a portable monitor and a compact keyboard it is easier to carry in a backpack than a big and heavy laptop. I have done this for years.

Thanks, that is a useful differentiation: laptops for portability and "good enough" for office work, NUCs and small form factor computers for performance in a limited space.

I strongly suspect the iMac sells less than the Mac mini.

Just from anecdotal observation, the iMac seems to have several niches where a fashionable desktop is called for: at least higher-end shops and lobbies, and musicians and other artists who dabble in production enough to need the larger screen but not enough to invest in a more expensive setup.

The Mini seems more specialized. I’ve bought many of them over the years for things like video installations, but I never see them in “regular people use”.

> “regular people use”.

For quite some years I just said "buy a notebook and (if you really need it) monitor with keyboard/ mouse".

With an SSD and a decent amount of RAM any notebook is fine for 95% of what people want from the home computer, with a small exception of gaming with a better settings than low/middle.

At this point nor Mini, nor any other SFF 'desktop' doesn't make sense, because you can't take it with you if you need.

IMO a laptop is bulky and inconvenient to place on my desk. The battery is an unnecessary hazard. Having to open the screen to power on the device is inconvenient

I think there are lots of reasons to prefer a minipc to laptop. Personally if I need a computer on the go, I use my phone. Much lighter and smaller.

I’ve found I have little use for my laptop, as a portable machine, since adding an iPad alongside my phone. I doubt I’ll buy another laptop in the future and certainly not a new one (3 y/o Thinkpad maybe).

I’ll probably go with a gaming desktop or a NUC sized machine and a gaming console depending on what the market looks like in a couple years.

Some people like a clean desk. With this form factor, you can use the VESA mount to stick it behind your monitor.

With a proper USB3 you can place your notebook anywhere. With a right combo you can even charge it with it => only one cable to the notebook.

Sure there are some shenanigans for some laptops, like refusing to power on with the lid closed, but 'uncluttered desk' is not a problem.

A Mini is very large (1.4 L) in comparison with a NUC (0.5 L) and indeed a Mac Mini would be inconvenient to carry.

On the other hand, a NUC together with a 17" portable monitor and a compact keyboard weighs less than a 17" gaming computer or mobile workstation and it is easier carried in a backpack, while offering similar performance and more peripheral ports, eliminating the need to also carry dongles.

When you know that a monitor and a keyboard are available at the destination, e.g. when commuting between home and office, than carrying only the NUC is far more convenient than carrying even the thinnest and lightest laptop.

So you can always take a NUC with you wherever you need. I have done this in many business trips, as a much better alternative to carrying a big and heavy mobile workstation laptop.

> and more peripheral ports, eliminating the need to also carry dongles.

My notebook has three USB ports. In the last years the only thing I needed (but in the end didn't) was an Ethernet adapter for the POTP (Plain Old Twisted Pair, lol) cable.

> e.g. when commuting between home and office

Quite weird take. Sure, it's small, but...

> So you can always take a NUC with you wherever you need

Well, I prefer to be able to work on my PC, not seeking a power outlets and a place for a monitor.

I know a few people who bought an iMac because it was the easiest way to get a desktop PC at home:

- big screen

- simple setup

- lasts 10 years

They're a fantastic value if you want a trouble free PC for non-tech folks. The only sad thing is that after 10 years you are basically throwing away a perfectly fine display.

An iMac is easier to setup though and seem to be more aligned with Apple’s main market - people who want a computer with as little fuss as possible.

If you go to NYC, you will find a lot of iMacs on front desks.

I do my day-to-day work on a Mac mini, people are losing out if they're only using them for testing purposes. They're not terribly expensive (when compared to other Apple products), really good form and volume factor, i.e. a Mini can do a lot of stuff even though is, well, not that big, plus a Mini doesn't consume all that much power, to the contrary.