Originally Posted by Bob_00001
I'm no longer doing any business travel, so I don't need a powerful notebook computer. I have a very nice older HP/Compaq notebook running Ubuntu, that I can use for travel. I may look at getting a desktop computer in a few months. I'll wait and see what kind of feedback the Mac M1 Mini gets after it's been around for a while. At least with a Mini, I can supply my own keyboard and monitor, and the only Apple hardware that I'll have to deal with is the CPU.
I can offer some feedback on the M1 Mac mini. It is GREAT! Very fast and capable of handling an amazing number and variety of external devices with complete aplomb. I have yet to be able to stress the system enough to even ge the fans turning fast enough to hear. There have been initial glitches with a very few applications but those have mostly been corrected by fixes to Big Sur. My only disappointment has been the Apple ASR utility's inability to create a complete bootable clone. The clones are bootable, but do not include installed third party kernel extensions from the source and I have yet to succeed in installing the missing kernel extensions on those clones. 🤷‍♂️ Other than that they work perfectly well.

I have been using an 11" iPad Pro as a laptop alternative and in some ways it has more utility than a full blown laptop. Taking advantage of some of the iPad only features and running the iPad in Sidecar mode makes it a highly functional adjunct to the Mac mini and my workflow can move seamlessly back and forth between the two devices. As a standalone portable device it is lighter, has longer battery life, and its cellular ability gives it connectivity in more places than any laptop. The touchscreen interface makes it arguably preferable for many (most?) graphics applications. I like iPad Pro well enough that I got up early this morning to be first in line to order the new 11" iPad Pro with the identical Apple M1 fabric, memory, and storage to my M1 Mac mini. I won't get it for three weeks and I read this afternoon the 12.5" M1 iPad Pro delivery dates have already slipped into July!

If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein