https://hard.bargains/Hard Bargains tracks used computer prices, compares hardware value and publishes evidence-backed buying guides for buyers and IT teams. https://hard.bargains/posts/where-to-buy-used-mac-mini/ https://hard.bargains/posts/where-to-buy-used-mac-mini/ Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 The same base M4 Mac mini asks $721 on Swappa, $850 on eBay and $999 on Amazon Renewed. A channel-by-channel price table for used minis — including the week the folk wisdom about refurbisher premiums ran backward. https://hard.bargains/posts/apple-price-per-gigabyte/ https://hard.bargains/posts/apple-price-per-gigabyte/ Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Seven memory upgrades across four chips in the new Mac mini and Mac Studio lines, and every one of them works out to $25.00 per gigabyte. The base tiers have cost that since 2020. The big tiers used to cost $10 to $16.67 — the flat rate is an increase everywhere except the bottom. https://hard.bargains/posts/when-does-the-ram-shortage-end/ https://hard.bargains/posts/when-does-the-ram-shortage-end/ Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 The question, verbatim from Hacker News: "Is there anything in the works or planned that suggests the RAMpocalypse will end anytime soon? e.g. new fabs being built." There are new fabs. Almost none of them produce anything before 2028. Here is what the people paid to forecast this actually say, name by name. https://hard.bargains/posts/mac-studio-depreciation-stopped/ https://hard.bargains/posts/mac-studio-depreciation-stopped/ Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 A computer is supposed to lose a third of its value the day the next one ships. Config-matched against launch prices, five of the six Mac Studio base models are asking at or above what they cost new — and the sixth is at 87% after four and a half years. https://hard.bargains/posts/mac-tokens-per-second/ https://hard.bargains/posts/mac-tokens-per-second/ Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 The question, verbatim from Hacker News about the new Macs: "How many tokens per second would you even get on them?" Nobody knows; no M5 or M6 machine has been benchmarked, and they ship Sept. 22. What exists today is measured numbers for the current chips, a scaling rule that predicts them well and some clearly labeled arithmetic for the new ones. https://hard.bargains/posts/apple-refurb-store-empty/ https://hard.bargains/posts/apple-refurb-store-empty/ Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Forty-nine MacBook Pros, 28 iMacs, 13 MacBook Airs, 14 displays — and not one headless desktop. Across 96 successful checks over five days, Apple's certified refurbished store never listed a Mac mini, Mac Studio or Mac Pro, and the third parties filling the gap are charging more than new. https://hard.bargains/posts/used-mac-buying-checklist/ https://hard.bargains/posts/used-mac-buying-checklist/ Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 The expensive ways a used Mac purchase goes wrong are a lock tied to someone else's iCloud account, a corporate enrollment tied to the serial number, a battery near the end of its rated life and a price that was never real. Every one is checkable in advance, for free. https://hard.bargains/posts/mac-trade-in-vs-selling/ https://hard.bargains/posts/mac-trade-in-vs-selling/ Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Apple raised its Mac trade-in maximums Aug. 6 — the mini by 28%, the Studio by 25%. For an aging base-model mini, the new ceiling clears the used market's median asking price. For anything Studio-shaped, sellers who trade in leave $600 to $7,100 behind. https://hard.bargains/posts/best-used-mac-desktop-by-budget/ https://hard.bargains/posts/best-used-mac-desktop-by-budget/ Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Nine hundred dollars buys a different best Mac than $500 does, and both beat what most people would guess. A budget-by-budget guide built from our market medians, with the honest caveat at every tier. https://hard.bargains/posts/mac-studio-lease-vs-ai-subscriptions/ https://hard.bargains/posts/mac-studio-lease-vs-ai-subscriptions/ Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Apple's base M5 Ultra Mac Studio leases for $110.10 a month, against $200 each for ChatGPT Pro and Claude Max 20x. The local machine costs less monthly, but it does not buy the same intelligence. https://hard.bargains/posts/memory-you-can-point-a-model-at/ https://hard.bargains/posts/memory-you-can-point-a-model-at/ Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Local AI shopping reduces to two numbers — how much memory a model can use, and how fast that memory moves. Here is every machine that plays, from a $3,449 Strix Halo box to a $16,000 Nvidia card, priced per gigabyte and per unit of bandwidth. https://hard.bargains/posts/mac-mini-price-history-inflation/ https://hard.bargains/posts/mac-mini-price-history-inflation/ Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 The M6 Mac mini's $899 is the highest sticker price in the product's 21-year history. Adjust every generation to today's dollars and the picture changes — three older minis cost more, and the real record belongs to something else entirely. https://hard.bargains/posts/mac-studio-cluster-math/ https://hard.bargains/posts/mac-studio-cluster-math/ Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Mac Studios can now run one large model across Thunderbolt 5. At 512GB or less, one larger Studio is cheaper. Above 512GB, a cluster is the only Mac path. https://hard.bargains/posts/used-mac-points-per-dollar/ https://hard.bargains/posts/used-mac-points-per-dollar/ Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Divide what a used Mac scores by what it costs and the whole secondhand market sorts into one column. The 2020 M1 mini still tops it. The surprise is how close the race has gotten — and how badly the scalped machines lose. https://hard.bargains/posts/the-first-mac-generation-that-isnt-a-better-deal/ https://hard.bargains/posts/the-first-mac-generation-that-isnt-a-better-deal/ Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Every Apple Silicon generation until now delivered more speed per dollar than the one before it. By Apple's own performance claims, the desktops announced Tuesday break the streak. https://hard.bargains/posts/mac-resale-prices-announcement/ https://hard.bargains/posts/mac-resale-prices-announcement/ Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Being on the current Mac generation has cost a premium over Apple's own list prices — even secondhand. Tuesday's announcement started a countdown on that arbitrage. On day one, sellers mostly held their asks. https://hard.bargains/posts/mac-before-sept-22/ https://hard.bargains/posts/mac-before-sept-22/ Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 The new Mac minis ship Sept. 22, with Studios following through Oct. 12. Until then, an M4 Max Studio available immediately costs more than its M5 Max replacement. Some M4 minis are the exception. https://hard.bargains/posts/intel-mac-mini-second-lives/ https://hard.bargains/posts/intel-mac-mini-second-lives/ Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Apple Silicon minis hold most of their value used. The Intel minis they replaced sell for $72 to $625 — and for a surprising number of home-server jobs, the old machine does the work. A use-case guide, with the honest limits.