The 2020 Intel mini is still available and that’s what crucial and others are selling memory. Apple's iconic Mac mini compact desktop delivers more core-processing, storage, and memory potential than ever, in a polished box brimming with cutting-edge connectivity. I bought a mac mini 2018 that came with Catalina. OWC Premium Thunderbolt 3 Cables High-performance cables supporting up to 40Gb/s and multiple displays up to 5K.
Pick any ten apps you want to start and race the entry level Air with any Mac of your choosing - iMac Pro, Mac Pro, or an 8 core MacBook Pro - there are only few specialized tasks where the Air is slower. About 1-2 weeks ago I managed to upgrade my MacBook Pro (mid 2012) 9,2 from Catalina to Monterey using. The OWC Memory Installation Toolkit includes the right size tools needed to install memory into the Mac mini (2018 - Current). Real world benchmarks are showing them completing work dramatically faster than 12 core Mac Pro with 32 GB of RAM. I would not mistake an 8 GB RAM Air, Pro or Mini for anything but a beast of a workstation for most tasks. Everything is soldered to the logic board for Apple Silicon Minis.
The SSD chips have separate placement on the logic board from the Processor board. There is no slot or place to add memory on the M1 based Air, Pro or Mini. The powerful new Mac mini from Apple features upgradeable memory slots for up to 64GB, and OWC is offering customers incredible savings off factory upgrade. 2014 Mac mini (Late 2014) has memory that is integrated into the main logic board and can't be upgraded. Apple has only upgraded the CPU, RAM and Storage options in 2020 not altering the basic system design. Both the 2018 & 2020 have serviceable RAM as seen here in this guide: Mac mini Late 2018 Memory (RAM) Replacement. Apple computers ship with a pre-installed suite of hardware diagnostic tools, known as Apple Hardware Test (AHT). RAM availability varies by country and region. While Apples Mac Mini RAM guide implies its not upgradable Upgrade or install memory in your Mac mini. To upgrade the memory in your Mac mini (2018), go to an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider. RAM Memory on the Apple Silicon M1 Processor is integral to system package “chip” that’s mounted as one unit to the logic board. You can configure the memory in your Mac mini (2018) when you purchase it. This installation service covers the physical fitting of the new RAM. No RAM upgrade - you would need to reflow new processor board or be skilled enough to rework the one you have.