Storage aside, this is pretty well spec’d out.
However, buyers should be aware that the Intel Mac Mini will no longer receive major system updates, and that, as of the release of macOS 26 Tahoe, the last officially supported version of macOS for these is Sequoia.
From Ars Technica:
Tahoe drops many 2018, 2019, and even 2020-vintage Intel Macs that could run last year’s Sequoia, plus the late 2017 iMac Pro.
Here are the supported systems:
- All Apple Silicon MacBook Airs, MacBook Pros, iMacs, Mac minis, Mac Studios, and Mac Pros with an M1, M2, M3, or M4-series chip.
- 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro
- 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro with four Thunderbolt 3 ports (but not the version with two Thunderbolt ports)
- 2020 iMac
- 2019 Mac Pro
That support list is rough news for owners of a couple of early-2020 laptops or anybody who bought 2018’s Mac mini toward the end of its life (Apple sold some configurations all the way through January 2023).
[…]
Macs running 2023’s macOS 14 Sonoma get one more year of Safari and security updates; 2024’s macOS 15 Sequoia gets two more years; and Tahoe’s security updates will dry up in mid to late 2028.
I specified “officially” as projects such has OpenCore have existed to unofficially keep support for newer versions of macOS on Intel Macs, but, as the article linked above points out, that will continue to become more and more fraught, and may prove increasingly difficult with the transition to full Apple Silicon that is presently underway.
At the very least, based on Apple’s support patterns, buyers are most-likely good to see security updates for the next 2 years. Beyond that, they should accordingly plan for obsolescence.
Mac mini (2018) - Technical Specifications
Seems like a pretty good deal even if just buying to use as a mini pc for random stuff? Too bad storage can’t be upgraded though.
There are plenty of use cases where the newer M1 or more modern CPUs are desirable, and that’s where I would lean for normal desktop use…
But you’re on point that for the price, it is actually a potentially great option, especially for the home-lab tech crowd… As a remote Mac, or a means for using Thunderbolt-attached storage as a Time Machine backup device, or for running several VMs and server applications? This is great! Admittedly, those are just a few examples. I use one in the last case, as virtual machines for media serving, which point to a NAS or other devices as storage. And for that, the local drive doesn’t necessarily have to be very large.
Again, for $500 I’d look at the M4 Mini for a great home computer… But for several simple tasks, you don’t need to spend that much. My version of this generation Mac Mini has been plenty reliable and performant, even though I bought it when prices weren’t yet this low. But I’d do it again.
Hope that helps 
Ended up getting one, surprised it didn’t sell out before expiration with the 10% off with prime also going on. For me personally since all this will do is run docker an m1 won’t make too much of a difference. Compared to windows mini PCs at this price which all have N150’s it really is a no brainer.