this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2024
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For stationary workstations limited to only driving two displays, permanently committing to one built in display hurts flexibility. A MacBook air can't have a dual monitor setup where both monitors are the same size.
The mini form factor cools better, and can do more sustained work with the same hardware.
More ports means more straightforward connection to things like hardwired Ethernet, external storage, etc., good for certain stationary uses.
A couple hundred dollars is like double the price. The MacBook Air starts at $1099 for the current generation, almost twice as much as the $599 Mac Mini. For now, the Mac Mini is also ahead by a generation in the M-series chip and base storage/memory, too, so it literally is more than twice the cost for a similarly specced MacBook Air over a Mac Mini. Presumably the next generation Air will also have some improvements to the base model, but I expect it to be the same price.
I personally use my M1 Mac Mini as a pretty good home server. That might not be a super common use case, but I'd think it would make a way better desktop than a MacBook Air.