When Apple releases its Mac mini and Mac Studio to the general public on September 22, the headline prices of $899 and $2,499 will meet the quieter reality that neither machine includes a display — a necessity that, when added, can push the true cost of a working desktop to nearly $8,800. This gap between the advertised figure and the functional one is not new in consumer technology, but it is rarely so stark. For buyers stepping away from all-in-one machines or laptops, the arithmetic of completeness arrives as a kind of second purchase decision, one Apple has left entirely to the individual.