The $450 "Mac mini' You Wish Apple Sold
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- The $800 Apple Mac mini is a bit underwhelming, but this hackintosh isn't!
Try Privacy Today! - privacy.com/snazzy
Parts list:
i5 Intel NUC (NUC8i5BEK) - geni.us/Sqbfyp
Upgrade to i7 Intel NUC (NUC8i7BEH) - geni.us/8ybh
G.Skill 8GB DDR4 RAM PC4-19200 - geni.us/KN2q
MyDigitialSSD 256GB NVMe SSD - geni.us/nXpBOvw
Upgrade to Samsung 970 Evo - geni.us/zZdZCDr
BenQ 4K HDR FreeSync Monitor - geni.us/D3b9d0F
Das 4 Ultimate Keyboard - geni.us/HbOIALU
Contour UniMouse Wireless - geni.us/8vHmEtG
Install guide - www.tonymacx86...
Github Patch Project - github.com/Reh...
Here at Snazzy Labs, we found the Apple Mac Mini 2018 pretty disappointing. The CPU had poor thermal paste application, experienced thermal throttling, and was pretty bad value with just 128GB of storage. For less than $500, we built a hackintosh using an 8th gen Intel NUC. It's smaller, faster, cooler, and cheaper than the Mac mini and it runs macOS Mojave like a champ. What more could you ask for?
Follow Snazzy Labs on Twitter - / snazzyq
Follow me on Instagram - / snazzyq
Announcer: The New Mac mini has 8GB memory, 3.6GHz quad core-
Concerned Audience Member: i3?
Announcer: and 128GB SSD
Normal Audience Member: *coughs*
Concerned Audience Member: BOO >:(
Announcer: and it starts at $799
Normal Audience Member: *Claps*
Thank you for providing closed captioning.
@@snazzy your welcome xD
is this real or edited by Quinn? heard no such things in all other yt videos.
Haha, had to go check the other recording of the keynote. Great diagetic audio dubbing ^_^
@@jordansean18 thanx (i thought the person coughing would like his dialogue to be in the cc too xD
"the downside is a pretty major power brick"
Xbox One: "hold my beer"
I tried to pick one up once and I stress-fractured my spine.
@@snazzy then you need to exercise more.😀
@Azim Alif He can’t exercise until he recovers from fracturing his spine.
@@justincowgill8875 He just needs to hang in a makeshift sling thingy for a bit, then he'll be fit enough to rescue Gotham.
😂😂😂😂
Mac mini used to be a Mac for 500 Bucks.. thats what it still should be. Thats how apple should increase OS market-share.
Apple isn't interested in "market share". They are interested in margins.
Value of money was also significantly higher back then. Prices haven't changed much when you factor that in
@@christopherjames9843 They are more interested in selling £1400 phones that cost £400 to make
pabslondon Its almost as if you wrote the same thing he did, but in such a way as to appear to be disagreement. The spirit of TH-cam is with you.
@@pabslondon at least they treat their $1400 phone like a $1400 phone and dont stop the update support within 1 or 2 years
"and has a headphone jack"
I'll take your entire stock!
I see what you did there
@@fisheyebrick1670 .
TheKHfan358over3d The Mac mini ale has one
FlexPods
Put usb converter Jack and microphone
That is one of the funniest "booooos" I've ever heard. It's like there was a Cow masquerading as a developer/journalist
lmao that guy in the background
"i3..????"
"Boooo"
Dylan C he sounds like Cr1TiKaL
who did the "booo" in the crowd im crying lmfao
TechnoTrend he edited it in.
Kali Southpaw that was Steve Jobs lol
Me
Everyone did
TechnoTrend unfortunately that didn’t actually happen
thing is with the power brick, it doesn't matter, because its not a laptop, its a permanent situation, it is where you leave it
and if it breaks you can buy another or have one for transport
@CharmingHomer I'd agree, except it uses a generic power lead. same as you'd find on an xbox and ps4 for example
@@AlfaRomeoQ whats that got to do with the mac mini?
As long as the cable between the brick and the device is long enough to get it to a good place to hide it.
PLEASE make a video on how to install the software lol
He'll probably get taken down for it. Not unlike Nintendo, Apple also has ninjas
man that intro haha
Been waiting on this build... very nice! 👍🏻
yea awesome - great little media center machine, but I would have preferred a video on the Hades Canyon with top end SSD & faster memory, - that would be more comparable to a 6 core mini cost wise, - I think the mini would stand a better chance then?
Did you know that Austin Evans copied your video for Adsense money because he saw the success of this video? ePiC...
Why is this not called the MacNUCcet??
Because it's NUClear!
Nucintosh
iNUC
MacNu(c/k)er ?
MACadamiaNUK
Apple: this is the best small computer that can run Mac
Snazzy: hold my beer
THANK YOU for not pronouncing "asterisk" as "astrix!!!" Literally the first TH-camr I've seen do that lol
You ax, and you shall receive!
Nerd Musk im so mad
It was his ass to risk.
I was considering a mac mini to be my plex server, and here you are telling me I can do it with a NUC. Guess we're adding another hackintosh to the family!
When they announced a new Mac Mini, I imagined something along the lines of Apple TV size. Your build is much more what they should have gone with, and it should have been $599.
I have a 2011 Mac Mini and it honestly works really well! I don't need the latest and greatest.
Great video. I would like to have seen another option for the same price as the Mac Mini, to see what kind of improvement you could get.
you just saved me 352$, I was planning to buy the mac mini just for the OS
The older 2012 is plenty fine and way more upgradeable than the new one. Makes it easy to make Hackintoshes off from.
Yep, the OS is the only thing Apple has going for it... but boy is it sweet. Been hooked ever since 1995.
Buy the hades canyon nuv if you want better gpu performance without buying an external gpu
Karan Vora great advise! I just wish there was a socketed cpu with Iris because I really like the Mini STX platform
Zwerker Been hooked since 2014. Never going back.
Hello, I just watched this video and was wondering if we could get a update to this video? This is fascinating.
When apple released the new Mac Mini, I was impressed because at least they used a desktop CPU
True for the most part but not exactly.
The B series CPU is kind of in between sort.
For example 8700B is 65W rather than 95W
Which thermal throttles like crazy. So what's the point?
@@azimalif266 I wasn't giving opinions just stating facts.
Eric Suh the 8700 is a 65w part, too, which is what it should be compared to and not the 95w overclockable 8700K
Eric Suh no actually you weren’t stating facts.
Nice video Quinn. I was looking forward to this one. Yet again, as a surprise to no one, you have obliterated Apple's own hardware for way less money. Nice!
That single CPU score could be closer if Quinn just bought a pair of 4gb sticks of RAM tho.Or just get a pair of 8s, because memory capacity doesn't matter too much?
Except his headphones are definitely very good fakes and not real. lmao
@@curt8806 I would be more inclined to believe they are third shift headphones. Often a Chinese fabricator assembling products for a foreign company will produce more than was ordered and sell it to Chinese distributors for a fraction of the price. Generally China protects this by not honoring the Chinese patent system when the defendant is Chinese.
@@philsburydoboy I would never buy from a chinese vendor for something I know are faked all the time. Headphones are so often faked.The fakes are very very very good. Unless it's a computer you're buying from a chinese store it is likely faked.
@@curt8806 I'm not telling you to buy them. I'm just trying to make you aware of real goods that often seem fake because they were sold illegally. That happens a lot more than you seem to think.
Putting together an iNUC has been super simple since the 6th gen Skylake processors. I recently put together a Skull Canyon iNUC with 16GB of RAM, and dual SSDs for less than the entry level Mac Mini (thank you Black Friday), and I also get a hyper-threaded i7 quad core on top of Iris Pro graphics. Throw in some tuning in the BIOS, and it's a performance monster.
You know, once you switch to dual channel memory, you might wanna do the iGPU benches again! You might see a severe bump in speed!
Great video! But it would’ve been nice if there was an extra m.2 slot to dual boot Windows. (Or maybe add a compatible wifi card)
nuc7i7dhne this model has the option for a second m2
That was a smooth advertisement transition at the end. Nicely done haha
Anchor Bait Thanks!
I literally built this same nuc last week, same i5 model( got it for 299 during B&H BF sale) , same single 8gb G. Skill ram but I got a 250gb hp ex 900 for 39.99 on Newegg!!!. I absolutely love it ☺️
Would love to see a keynote where the audience react like that.
This is impressive!
But what build would you reccomend now, the hack mini with the streacom case or this one? I think price-to-performance ratio of the processor is better on the streacom build, but the nuc provides such an easy and cutting-edge experience! I will think aubout it a bit more and than probably build one of them for myself.
Thank you so much, your videos are always so helpful!
3:12 “That’s what he said” lmao
so much for "finalcut is only so fast because the apple hardware and software are SOOO efficient together" i sold my macbook pro to get a thinkpad x280 and couldnt be happier... but the idea of creating to a hackintosch now becomes very appealing... based on a good pc.. since i own finalcut
I LOVE this DIY Mac shit 😍😍😍
I know Mac users love OSX and all the applications that come along with that but if you don't need the Apple ecosystem and all the commercial apps there are so many great Linux distros that are a joy to use.
Wow, an ad showcase at the end of your video that is actually useful and also comes with a cool story. Love that you got those headphones safely and cheaply! Killer.
Nick K Cheers, man! Thanks!
Its Freakin Nucs! BUT is it CANUCKS?!?!?!
NO DOUBT A 'BOUT IT, EH?!
This channel is like a chilled, non abrasive version of Linus tech tips
I remember seeing this sponsored ad and made a mental note of it. Couldn’t remember the name, so I started going backwards on your videos. Hopefully this works for what I intend to use it for. Thanks.
I am a huge fan of the NUC. Intel support for it is fantastic and it's perfect for a small apartment. We run one in the office and virtualize two OS on it for various services. This thing is a tiny beast.
You people are building awesome models from cube. I'm still spinning the cube and wondered how 3d software workes
Yeah. I'm gonna hold on to my 2012 Mac Mini until it becomes completely unuseable. 800 Mac Minis with bad specs.I almost think they're joking.
Heck I'd better buy 10 crapintoshes from him than 1 Mac Mini from Apple. More worth it
RE: NUC bios fan control; There are ways to make the macs fan controller work a little bit better and make it more customizable, at least there used to be. I’m assuming these methods still function on newer hardware.
Pls have another Nutcracker video with Samsung Evo drive, 16GB and new thermal paste on proc and compare it again to the new mac mini. 🙏😀👌
The internal graphics of the NUC will boost very clearly in comparison to the Mac Mini - if you upgrade to dual channel. The Iris (Pro) Graphics get even more benefit from dual channel than the normal Intel HD Graphics do. So the NUC will "afterburn" the Mac Mini in heavy graphic load programs using dual channel RAM.
We'll start seeing Apple TVs being repurposed as Mac Minis later this year.
This is a very tough build for even someone who is relatively tech savvy. The average user would likely have quite a bit of trouble getting it to work. It's mainly because the support for the NUC8 is still in its preliminary stage. So there is much troubleshooting to be done. Most all of the fixes will be done manually, using the terminal or copy/pasting of files. You will likely need an actual Mac in order to complete the build. Either that, or an already finished hackintosh. This is my second Hackintosh build and it has been much more complicated than the first. Still worth it? Yes, I think so. But I just want everyone to know that the process will be tedious. This is an awesome video, I just wish there were also a video guide for the specific build. Or a guide that was a little more organized.
Oh thank you, I have been dreading purchasing a Mac Mini as I need it to use Logic, now I can afford to get Logic without donating money to apples failed hardware.
Great video, I didn't want to spend the money on a MacMini that is going to underperform. Are you going to test the build with dual channel RAM and see if performance improves?
look how easy it was to open the NUC case and upgrade. that's what the peoples want
This!
And that's precisely what Apple doesn't want "the peoples" to do.
To be honest instead of the normal nuc for 450 I would just buy the Hades edition nuc so I won't be needing any egpu anytime soon
Point well made, that NUC is an attractive build, but I wouldn’t do It myself right now because I am coming off a Haswell based Hackintosh build I did in response to the 2014 Mac mini. It still works and I can live with the sound being flakey, but managing a Hackentosh ends up being a nuisance I don’t want in my life. So I got the i5 2018 Mini with 16 gigs and a TB SSD. It cost way too much but I’m glad Apple made it. I'm promoting the Hackentosh to a Linux machine and since I use Openshot for video editing I have the luxury of seeing if the Mac or Linux version works best. So far I have seen no sign of throttling on the i5 in the Mini but I will install some monitoring software. So far the Mini seems to have SSD speed better than any I have seen before. If I didn’t have my old tower I’d go right out an buy this NUC for my Linux machine. Really clear helpful video.
Ditto, having built and maintained a couple of Hackintoshes in the past I am willing to pay a significant premium to avoid the ongoing hassle. That said, the NUC build is pretty darned attractive, and Apple is approaching - or may have passed the point - where the premium they charge amounts to price gouging. My 4 year old $2750 MacBook Pro is giving me problems now and may require a new motherboard $$$! Not something I expected. Unless things change, I will be looking to reduce my reliance on their products in the future. As it is, I have replaced my iPad with an Android tablet, and have used Android phones for years now, and am quite happy with them. Weaning myself off the Macs will be harder, but is something I am preparing for.
NUC throttles because of the long period PowerLimit (default 30W), after short Turbo Boost PowerLimit time (default 64sec on 50W) is over. It could be changed in Windows easily with Intel XTU or ThrottleStop, but in MacOS it's harder to do (no free apps that can do this things as far as i know). So it's possible to raise NUC's long period performance to CPU's theoretical maximum of 3.6GHz for all 4 cores.
I think i’m gonna build this just to try MacOS haha
Takes a teeny while to learn the new/different shortcuts, etc; that said, it's lovely once you get used to it.
As someone who has built several Hackintosh machines: it's not _really_ the same.
This is awesome. Creator to creator, I would love to see what the i7 version is capable of. Amazon has one i7 with 32GB of ram, 512gb ssd and a 1TB hard drive for $1100. Could be a FCPX beast. Maybe better than my 15” MacBook Pro.....
What is the Amazon link if you don't mind?
Love the privacy app. Very helpful for "trial memberships" that require a credit card. Create a burner so you don't get burned!!
Wait. Did somebody really screamed “boo” during the announcements? Did you see his face?
Joshua lol no I dubbed over that.
@@snazzy Dude that was so well edited I even checked the real keynote. But unfortunately the real audience are clapping sheeps.
Snazzy Labs man I knew it! It sounded weird. But his reaction makes it look real again. But now when I listen to it again I can hear your voice. I feel stupid now. Thank you
@@randomguy3505 I was about to check too! LOL
@@snazzy F'n BRILLIANT! ROFL! I mean, I'm an iOS guy now (never was a huge fan of sooo many versions of Windblows - v7 was my only fav) but, still, Apple is in need of some good changes. THANK YOU for doing this vid, and now I go to watch the Mac Pro version.
WIFI and BT does work according to people who installed Mojave. They say: You need to connect on the Windows platform with a BT and a WIFI device once, from then on its available in Mojave
A NUC has been great a choice for a hackintosh build for several generations. I still use an old i3 ivy bridge NUC from 2013. It still works fine with its 8gb ddr3 ram and a 128gb msata ssd. My old NUC actually has a replaceable WiFi/BT card so my internal WiFi and Bluetooth work fine (including airdrop). It’s on par with a 2011 mini performance wise. I’m still running High Sierra, but plan to upgrade to Mojave soon.
I'm glad to see Apple's stock taking a beating. Just show's that Cook is no Steve Jobs' and his only concern is making money by charging loyal Apple buyers outrageous prices!
Yep. Cook made the huge mistake of putting all of his "apples" into the iPhone and ignore what made Apple a great company, the Mac. Sure hope the board gets rid of him next year and Phil Shiller also. Phil should have been gone after the MacPro disaster.
@@Danny-gs7rv Apple is a great company for the subject of ridicule. I laugh everytime they release a new product.
Because of course, Steve Jobs was a saint that never did anything questionable over his life as Apple's CEO. Will people start praising Cook as well once he dies too?
GREAT video again! You always make "Snazzy" videos! I was excited to see this build. I would LOVE to see how close to "perfect" you could get an Intel NUC NUC8i7HVK running. With the integrated graphics, it could be the ultimate Mac Mini!
I don't have any interest in owning any Apple products, so why am I even here? I guess it's just because you make interesting videos.
Should've used the Hades Canyon NUC. I bought one fully kitted out for $600, and it's a pretty good gaming rig.
Finally someone that compares the size. The Mac Mini is huge while the NUC is like an Android Box.
So... get an i7 Iris Nuc and the Samsung 970 mentioned in the video, and get the 16 gb outright, and spend about the same amount as the Mac Mini, but end up with a beast.
Why didn’t you use model that doesn’t have WiFi soldered, like NUC8i5BEH???
Because it has the same WiFi soldered down too. The H versions only difference is it supports 2.5" drives as well. The motherboard is the exact same as the K version.
Hmm. For some awkward reason I was sure it is wifi swappable. Thanks for highlighting that it's not, I've almost bought one. I guess I'll have to stick with NUC7i5DNHE, which does allow WiFi swapping and has NVME support (no TB3 unfortunately)
Also lose twice fast graphics Iris Plus Graphics 655 vs HD 620
indiekiduk which one has the faster graphic ?
@@dmitrymatora442 You can get WIFI/BT working on the NUC8i5BEH, but it will cost you the pciE slot, because you would need to install a supported broadcom chip using an pciE adaptor.
man am i glad you out that “lower is better” on some of those slides 😂
excellent job on this one! i really do consider buying/building this hackintosh
Recently returned an 8th generation i7 NUC cause the fan when it kicked in was ferocious; even idle I couldn't bear it. My late 2012 mac mini is silent in comparison and that's what I was expecting from the NUC too. Disappointing.I'm also surprised that it doesn't seem to bother more people as NUC seems to have a loyal following
Well you can sort of look at the AppleTV like that
Awesome video, man! I was seriously considering getting a mac mini, but after all the reviews showing it's thermal throttling, I definitely won't. I'd love to see a comparison video of the base mac mini model vs what you could make with $800 with this build (I think that'd be something like an i7, 32 gigs of ram, 500gig ssd)
Just ordered this NUC, thanks for tje benchmark. Should work just fine for music production
And it does, macos install was one of the easiest I ever did :)
I'm not sure how I got you in my subscriptions list. But hey, it's been your third video in a row which I really enjoyed! Great work, keep it up! Thank you :)
This is a great video. I always love to see the hackintosh community thriving. I built my first on a Pentium 4 system, using the Kallaway firmware with OSX 10.6
Been looking for a more practical bit of hardware, rather than a compatible-parted tower. This could just be the iMac killer I've been looking for, 4k monitor separate of course 😉
Why Apple can't just make something like this blows my mind.
70% design
28% marketing
2% hardware
Apple's budget since the first iPhone.
@@patience__8051 never heard something so true in my life
@@patience__8051 That sounds about right..
why not at least sell the macos. been with windows since 1994 but often linux in between. i just want the os not the fancy design. windows 10 tends to force upgrades, nothing innovative that i want or need.
alysdexia That other thread had you going increasingly mad with odd semantics debating someone else. Anyway, Louis R has me convinced Apple is getting too power hungry with their hardware lockdowns and repair processes. Their app store policies also include some abuse of power. But at least they have not gone down the extreme spying path of Google and Microsoft.
that opening was brutal!!! he was expecting an applause but the room was silent, not only that people were booing at him. haha
Apple doesn't sell things people want.
Apple sells the name Apple.
they do have ios and osX though.. I wonder how long they can ride those waves? I wish they would get back to the Apple that Jobs envisioned.
snazzy labs, why not make a video tutorial on how to set up this exact hackintosh nuc....and get it running nicely...that would be cool...
Your video motivated me to build a Hackintosh with AsRoack Deskmini 310. I have found it and far better than NUC since you can use Apple Supported M2 WIFI Cards there.
maybe now the continuing discussion on the "Can You Upgrade the 2018 Apple Mac mini?" video on how crap they used soldered SSD chips can be put to rest
I'm still using a 2008 MacPro, dual booting Linux Mint. I'm really considering switching to something like this since it's so conveniently small.
I like that you used the privacy and showed a real world scenario. Also enjoyed your video very much.
2018: The $800 Mac mini is a bit underwhelming.
2020: The $700 Mac mini blows both of these out the water lol
Good shit :)
FYI for no PC enthusiasts out there 76c is the MAX temp at which u should run your GPU and CPU at. GPU's can go up to 80c if u really need to for a day or two but CPU's should not be over 80c for more then a 12 hrs. If so they start to have "Issues" as people say.
I thought nuc was pronounced 'nuke'?
Nope, knuck like "Chuck"
I thought it was pronounced "Nook" (rhymes with look), which I like equally with nuke.@@samandrew8158
You're quickly becoming my favorite tech guy...and I follow a fair amount of tech guys. I mean you bet on the right phone camera in mkbhd's bracket for god's sake.
Hahaha, thanks man!
All of this talking and fiddling I would rather spend my money on a Mac mini it just works
Lol, so you don't know what's going on here and just want to spend a lot of money for something that isn't as good as what they're discussing? Why would you tell anybody this? Ignorance isn't a good thing to brag about.
Thanks for the very informative and detailed comparison. I just failed trying to build a new NUC8i5BEH. Brand new, with certified memory (Corsair 16GB memory) and 500GB samsung EVO. The thing was unstable running Windows 10 with all latest patches and drivers installed. 4 BSODs while doing nothing in the course of 4hrs. Of course, all testing it passed flying colors, memtest x86, prime95, etc. Apple should not be proud of touting specs of entry level systems when in fact they are sub-par
I just finished my NUC hackintosh. I chose the NUC8i8BEK and added 16Gb of RAM and a 250Gb SSD. Compared to the Apple mini's price, I saved 50% (and I got a Core i5 processor!)
Had been hoping for something good from the Mac Mini as partner dev computer for a PC, mostly for exporting games onto iOS devices (and to get a break from forced Win10 updates, telemetry, etc), and was disappointed. Glad to see such a community exists around Nucs, a future project awaits.
- Just 1 thunderbolt port, which is kinda crippled, instead of 4 flawlessly working ones
- A not working airdrop
- A not working icloud hand-off system
- A not working native screensharing over messages
- Hassle to get the system running (even if you say it's easy, it'll still take a non-geek 2 days with lots of swearing)
- Hassle to update MacOS every time
- Obscure bugs that may occur, when every Mac buyer actually gives the extra cash precisely for the stability?
.... How about no?
-paying 5k for workstation specs
-not being able to Fix your own computer
-mac os is shit
How about no?
TheAlderFalder many people don’t own a thunderbolt device and can live within the restrictions of a DIY build. You’re right Apple can be more dependable but I can afford a NUC, not a properly equipped Mac
@@VarietyAndy - Mac is shit? This "argument" makes no sense, since we are talking about getting Mac OS for cheap in the first place.
Only people who have lived with a hackintosh for over a year will understand this. Even if every feature works, it is *not* the same. It'll always stay a toy, since you can't really rely on it.
I liked your Mac Mini announcement better than the original
great clickbait.. i'm learning
Explain
Derp
I finally got Mojave installed on my NUC7i7 BNH, and now it sits beside my 2018 MacMini i7. On the NUC Bluetooth is working, but not WiFi. I have some audio problems as well.
The main issue however is noise. My MacMini is silent, but the fan keeps spinning as a jet engine whenever I do something on the NUC. It was the same when I was running Windows on the NUC. Even at idle the fan could go like crazy. It is a little bit better in Linux Mint, at least when only the OS is running.
Both systems has 16 GB of RAM and the NUC has a 256GB Samsung PCIe NVME, and a 500 GB Samsung SATA SSD. The Mac Mini has 512 GB of PCIe storage. The Mac Mini is more expensive yes, but it has a more powerful CPU, and is much more silent.
But it is fun to run Mac OS on a system not built by Apple.
8:25 "thats better at being a mini Mac than Apple's own Mac Mini"
Sure in specs but not in reality. No hotspotting thunderbolt 3, no wi-fi, no bluetooth, no resale value and your OS support is at the mercy of volunteers supporting an unauthorized OS. These are all things that add up to why you pay the Apple tax or use Windows.
Taxation is theft
Well... I barely cared about the Nutcracker vs Macmini, but damn you just solved my problem with Aliexpress with that whole ending thing
I have several NUCs that I run Linux on. At least the Generation 5's connect easily to an HD TV'. The lack of wireless support is a real bummer. I haven't had that problem with Linux.
This video was highly informative, both for the mac build and privacy! thanks!
Really liked seeing this, and am wondering if you'd do a higher-end build (not necessarily NUC-based). I used to hang out on TonyMacX86 a lot but several failed Hackintosh builds later (even after following their recipes to a T) made me give up on it entirely. If there was a video and install guide this simple, I might consider it for a future Mac.
SSD performance on the Mac mini increases +600 MB/s for every step up. Not a secret if even I could source that information. Mine has the 500 GB SSD, and the Blackmagic disk speed test tells me I get 1870 MB/s write and 2545 MB/s read speeds, so seems legit information to me.
I spent the last 8 years on Hackintoshes, and I have no more patience for all the B/S that comes with them. Incompatible hardware, constant workarounds, broken drivers, hacking about with Clover and kexts, generating fake serials and IDs and still everything sucked. No bluetooth, sound device absent after wake-up from standby, often the machine started back up automatically after shutdown and didn't stay off, or I got the magic "no entry" sign on start, then there are the nVidia web drivers that gave me 30 Hz laggy screen and jaggy mouse movement since High Sierra, and don't forget that you can't update to any new macOS hotfix because you have to wait several weeks first to see what the guys in the forums write, "what broke this time and how to -maybe- fix it"... no thank you.
As I pointed out, I've been doing "Hacs" since early 2011, I know the ins and outs, UniBeast and Clover, done it all. And still I got all those problems, even after weeks of carefully reading through TonyMac's buyers guides and "golden builds" threads and all that. It's all just a massive inconvenience that made me unhappy and unproductive. You can gladly keep your Hackintoshes and all the pain they cause, they do more harm than good to anyone who seriously wants to put a machine to work.
The Mac mini is not cheap, sure, but it's still well worth its money. I have the six-core i7 model, and I'm playing (currently) recent games in 4K and highest details on my Windows partition with an eGPU, barely hear a snuff out of the Mac, so your benchmarks really don't bother me, nor should they cause concern to anyone else. The thing delivers. Yeah, it requires additional spending on an eGPU case and a compatible card, but I can do 4K 3D modelling and texturing in macOS, I can do 4K video editing without a hiccup (or a lot of fan noise), I can record and mix my music without any CPU performance issues, I can code and compile C++ without any waiting times.
For a Windows guy, it may be more interesting to have a bigger number here or there and save a few bucks in total, but for a creator like myself the peace of mind that "everything just works" and the stress- and hack-free OOBE are well worth the little extra Apple tax 100 times.
Add a Razer Core X and a Radeon Vega, you'll have graphics power for years to come.
With 4 Thunderbolt ports I can connect 1) my audio interface, 2) my eGPU, 3) an OWC 4M2 with 4x NVMe drives and 4) another external Icy Box case that houses the 4 SSDs from my previous Hackintosh at full SATA3 speed per drive. A decent passive USB 3.0 hub rounds off the set. Sure, it cost a fair amount of cash, most certainly. But if this setup lasts 3-4 years, it will be more affordable than spending 1500€ on a PC/"Hac" upgrade every 1.5-2 years in the futile hope of fixing what the old Hac build lacked or couldn't do. For maybe another 1.5-2 years.
TL;DR I mean, if you're happy with all the stressy workarounds and hacks and praying hours that the newest macOS update won't break your NUC's hacked drivers, then go ahead, inflict as much pain on yourself as you please. Just don't tell me I "wished" Apple sold me the same crap you're content with. (Sure, I know, clickbait titles pay off. But still.)
It looks 100x better than that shameful little plastic box and everything in it just works. :)