It's all well and good recommending that you buy yourself a Mac mini instead of a MacBook Air or another laptop, but it's very easy to remember that while the Mac mini is cheaper (by a long shot), it doesn't come with anything bar a power chord. Now, if you've got all the accessories you need — chiefly, a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse — then you're going to be fine. But what if you don't?
Sales like Memorial Day are the perfect time to grab everything that you need to get a desktop setup without breaking the bank — you'll often find the price of your Mac mini creep over $100 the moment you start buying a decent monitor and other accessories. We made sure to keep our setup relatively affordable here, with a top limit of $900 — and we think we managed to create a very tasty Mac mini setup for less than the price of an M2 MacBook Air.
The Mac
Why the Mac mini?
If you're looking for a Mac setup that won't break the bank, then there's little better than the Mac mini. This lil' computer has all the power you'll ever really need, and thanks to its small size, it will nestle comfortably almost anywhere you could think to put it. If you're planning on doing more demanding work with the machine, then you might want to think about the M2 Pro chip and some more RAM, but for most people, the base model is going to be just fine. It's easily one of the best Macs that money can buy.
The display
Why the ViewFinity?
Samsung makes some great monitors, and at the moment you can pick them up for some great prices in the Memorial Day sales. This ultrawide panel is going to act like having two screens next to each other, taking up less space than the traditional two-monitor setup that most people have — and it also means that you only need one display cable plugged into the back. It's also an excellent price, getting you plenty of screen space without spending too much money.
The keyboard
Why the Logitech POP Keys?
Sometimes, you want to have some fun on your desk — be that through playing some games, or by popping a super fun accessory down. The Logitech POP Keys mechanical keyboard manages to be not only an excellent keyboard, but also a fun addition to your desk thanks to its funky color scheme and rounded keycaps. Are there cheaper keyboards within the best keyboards for Mac? Yes, but sometimes it's worth pushing the board out for something that will make you smile.
The mouse
Why the Logitech MX Master 3S?
So I'm actually using this very mouse right now (only in the very fetching and quickly grubby-ing white colorway), and it's perhaps one of the greatest pointing devices ever put on a desk. It's a comfortable, functional mouse, with loads of buttons and a very smooth scroll wheel. That scroll wheel, in fact, will click open to loosen itself so that it can scroll endlessly — no more impenetrably long web pages, you can get to the bottom in a simple swipe of your wheel.
Anything else?
Want to push the boat out and get some devices that will truly complete the ultimate desk setup? We have some ideas, and they take the form of some PC speakers and a pair of headphones. They'll bring you over that $900 mark, but they'll really round out your new Mac mini M2.
