My next computer 👨‍💻

For years, decades even, I thought I was always going to use Windows as my main operating system. But recently, that’s all changed as I decided to make the switch to something different.

I’ve been writing and editing this post for a few years. Jumping back and forth between what my plan was going to be for my next computer (at one stage, I was pretty convinced that I was going to go with a Linux build).

My current (or previous?) build was done seven years ago (back in 2016), and it was a good build at the time:

• Intel Core i7 6700K @ 4.00GHz (Skylake, four cores)
• 16GB Dual-Channel RAM @ 1499MHz
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (MSI)
• The OS (Windows 10) runs on a Samsung SSD 750 EVO 250GB
• Whilst everything else is on a 1TB Seagate hard drive

And now that Microsoft have released Windows 11, which I was thinking of upgrading at some point.

But Microsoft had other ideas.

My CPU doesn’t support TPM 2.0 so I can’t upgrade to Windows 11. Frustratingly - the next CPU generation from my current CPU supports this. I still think that this requirement is a little dumb and poorly made. Not everyone has a CPU that has TPM 2.0. It kind of feels like Microsoft is forcing people to upgrade.

And it seems many on Reddit are in the same situation as I am, in response to an article on TechRadar reporting that not many people have upgraded to Windows 11.

Thankfully, Windows 10 is still supported. But only until 2025, so I need to upgrade within the next two years (who knows, maybe Microsoft will extend it to a later date like they did for Windows 7). By 2025, my current setup would be nine years old so I would very much hope that I would have upgraded by then.

At this point, if I wanted to use Windows 11, I would have to get a new CPU and a motherboard. Which if I’m going to be doing that, I might as well buy new RAM, a GPU, a power supply and so on.

But building a new PC has become expensive. I also don’t have the time to build a new PC (and I don't really have the space for a giant PC tower anymore, I was looking for something for more compact.)

With this in mind, I decided to seriously think about what I needed from my next computer. Since buying my first house, my current setup is a 2020 MacBook Air. It’s a great little machine, but more recently I wanted a desktop. I prefer using a desktop than a notebook, I prefer using a monitor with a dedicated keyboard and mouse (do I sound old saying that?). Plus, I wanted something that was slightly more powerful. When working with Gatsby projects, data analysis/science in Python, I needed something which a little more power.

My current PC build is more geared towards playing games, but since getting an Xbox Series X (game pass is fantastic and worth the money), having several retro game systems and a Nintendo Switch, I won’t need a computer with a top end GPU. I was looking for something with a more powerful CPU. A GPU would be an added bonus.

My thoughts also turned to what operating system I’d want. I’ve been using Mac OSX at work and at home for a while and I found it to be better than Windows for what I do. I’ve bought several MacOS applications which I use on an almost daily basis as well so I’m somewhat invested in the Mac ecosystem. I did write a post about Mac Software recently.

Plus with Apple’s move to using their own silicon, the idea of buying a Mac desktop seemed appealing. The reviews of the new Macs with the ‘M’ series have been very positive. The move to use ARM based SOC has been interesting to see (and competition is always a good thing. More innovation is always a good thing).

For a while, I was thinking of going for the new iMac, or the M1 Mac Mini or even the Mac Studio. But as time went on, I decided to wait for new updates on the Mac Line. The Mac Studio was just a little too expensive for me and I wished they made a 27 inch iMac. A large display with the new 'M' series SOC would be fantastic.

Just recently the new 2023 Mac Mini with the M2 chip set (8 core CPU and a 10 core GPU) had been announced and it caught my attention. A compact computer with an M2 SOC for a good price? Sign me up! I had a lot of vouchers saved up over my Birthday and Christmas, enough to buy the Mac Mini and a few accessories! I ended up getting the Mac Mini, a Logitech MX Mechanical Mini Keyboard and a Logitech MX Master 3S Mouse.

So, what do I think of my new Mac Mini? It’s a fantastic machine. I’ve owned it for under a week and I’m starting to think this has been my best computer I’ve owned in a very long time. The performance has really taken me by surprise. When I ran this website locally on my old desktop, it would take over a minute to get running, and just under a minute on my MacBook Air. But on my new Mac Mini, it takes just over two seconds to get up and running. It’s wild to see how fast this machine is. Plus, it’s also very quiet which is a nice surprise. I haven't done any data analysis in Python yet which would push the M2. So when the next season of Formula 1 starts, I'll be building more data frames in Pandas and see if the M2 is quicker at running multiple cells in a Jupyter notebook.

The price of the new Mac Mini is also what caught my attention. The new MacBook Pros are now starting at over £1.3K for the M2 model and starting at £2.1K for the M2 Pro models. Those are expensive machines. But for the Mac Mini, it starts at £649 (and even cheaper if you can get the education pricing). And that’s honestly great value. All you need is to bring your own keyboard, mouse and display (and if you have your own mouse, keyboard and display, then even better!).

Another unexpected benefit I found after I bought this Mac, I discovered a bug with this website. Turns out there was a display issue with larger displays and this has been fixed!

If you’re looking for a new computer, be sure to include the Mac Mini on your list.

But what’s next for my office? (Yes, my own office, I own a house now!)

My office is still a little barren. It needs some blinds, furnishings etc. So there is still a lot to do so I’ll be chipping away at it over the next few months. But a few of the things I want to get are:

• HomePod (maybe?)
• New monitor that supports using USB C
• New speakers
• A couple of pictures.
• Blinds

Over time, the office will be looking great! I’ll write up a post about it in the future.

Drop me a message if you have any suggestions for something that would be great in a home office.