Apple Macs

Maybe I Shouldn’t Have Bought My M4 Mac Mini?

It mostly sits idle

Should I have bought this? Photo by and of author.

I had a possible epiphany the other day. I had glanced over my shoulder at my M4 Mac Mini and wondered when I had last used it.

I couldn’t remember. I don’t use it often because I much prefer my iPad. For many Mac users, that makes me a sad, deluded fool, and they are probably right. In almost every way, any Mac is better than any iPad.

In every way except for weight, portability, and using my finger instead of a mouse.

There are things that can only be done on a Mac. There are apps that can only run on a Mac and other apps that have more features or can run faster on a Mac. Having more than two apps on the screen is not possible on my iPad and even two apps are not all that useful.

I seldom care. For what I do now, the iPad is better.

Still, when all was said and done, this Mac cost me about $1,400 and consumes a significant amount of precious desk space, a commodity I am very short on since we downsized in 2005. That annoys me, but dammit, every now and then I need the damn thing.

My epiphany was that it is possible to rent a virtual Mac. It’s even possible to rent by the day and even by the hour. I often go months without touching that…