Ridiculous. First Mac mini was a 1.25GHz G4 with 256MB RAM in 2005 for $499. There have many models since there, ranging from $499 to $799 for the base model. 2018 was indeed the highest at $799, but that was mainly Intel's fault, and Apple's poor refresh timing. Current M4 mini starts at $599, which is over $1000 in 2005 dollars, so the value has largely increased through the model's entire history, especially once we hit the Apple Silicon era.

And in 2026 it starts at $599.

I dont know hey. I think they want a bigger bite of the wintel market before they raise the drawbridge. This device seems perfectly crafted to grab every non gamer, who needs a daily driver but doesnt want bloated Win11 AI nonsense. These days the Apple ecosystem is basically at parity for Microsoft cloud services, so its even good for WFH/BYOD. I dont think its getting cheaper but I bet the entry model will double its memory allocation without shifting too far north in price.

it's 2026, apple's computers do justify their price.