Yip, I just picked this up after a similar debate. Even with the edu discount the M1 at this price seemed good value.
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Bottom of the line Mac Studio for $1,999 or the top of the line Mac Mini for $1,299? Any Monitor recommendations?
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They had it in the states here a couple of months ago. Kicking myself for missing it.. it was down to $1400 USD.
I went M2 Mac Studio for the 32gb ram base and originally paired it with a Studio Display. I just replaced that with a LG 40inch 5k2k for the extra screen space. Text is still very sharp and I love the extra space. I miss how good the studio display speakers are though.
Actually, now I’m looking to replace my monitor as well. I’m passing my old mini down to my daughter and the monitor is now over 10 years old so I’m passing that down as well (She’s only using it for web browsing and school work). Now I have to go down this damn rabbit hole. I’d like the Studio monitors but $1500 is way out of my price range. I’m probably going to see what’s on a Labor Day sale .. 32” 4k, get my options and then research them.
I happened to notice that AMZN has (or did a day or two ago) the LG 5K for under $1K. Still pricey but a heck of a nice option at that price.
I did notice that. Still too pricey. i‘ve bought and cancelled the $400 ultrafine twice already. I have 2 Dell monitors for work that I really like. Yeah, they’re not 4k… and now I’m going down this whole “Mac Compatability“ rabbit hole. Now I’m starting to second guess buying a Mac Studio if I’m not really willing to invest in a “Mac Compatible” monitor. I may just wind up picking up am inexpensive monitor locally today until I swallow the $2500 pill for the Studio itself so I can get the old one set up for my daughter and be done with it.
I use a factory calibrated Viewsonic 27” 4K. It’s excellent quality and love the size/pixel density.
Just an update - I bought an LG Ultrafine 27" 4k (27UN850-W) and I can't control the speaker volume from my keyboard. Yes, I have downloaded the software. Looking at the model number now...I wonder if the -W means windows and the Apple specific extensions don't work (on Amazon they sell a 60 watt and 90 watt version (+$300)). Great image, no speaker control from the keyboard is annoying as hell.
Try the trial (free) version of Better Display. It may fix this for you.
I installed Monitor control and it works well. Still ******** that I have to include open source software in a closed system. Now I have a new challenge - I can't pick up cell phone calls on my Studio. I followed the instructions and it looks like I need to install a webcam for face time to work to pick up non face time calls. Damn Apple.
there are plenty of YouTube videos that directly compare real world performance of these 2 models:
for general multitasking with 50 tabs open + video editing, there is 0 difference. even moderate editing there is 0 difference.
if you are exporting hours of 4k video or stitching together a multiple 50MP photos, you will see a difference.
for general multitasking with 50 tabs open + video editing, there is 0 difference. even moderate editing there is 0 difference.
if you are exporting hours of 4k video or stitching together a multiple 50MP photos, you will see a difference.
I watched another video and it showed the difference in editing between the two (actually it’s was the M1 Max Studio). It was pretty huge. As soon as you do anything beyond basic cutting (such as adding noise reduction) the Studio is much much faster/higher fps playback). If you doing basic editing you probably won’t notice much difference.
let me just add my .02 here after some real world experience. In an attempt to future proof a bit, I bought the Studio. As everything else, the devil is in the details and it’s not always benchmarks and specs. You would think the mini would be a no brainer in my use cases. But… I go to move my Win 10 VM over to the new box and it balks… Parallels isnt supporting Win 10 any more, you need a brand new install of win 11. Yeah, I’m pissed off but honestly I haven’t used a lot of those apps in years. i still have the old vm out there. Now… I go to install my older copies of Photoshop Elements (circa 2019) and Adobe won’t support AAM any longer, you use Creative Cloud Manager. That won’t install with an error code 1. I tried all the work arounds they said and it still didn’t work. So, I’m like, OK, I have this Windows VM out here, let me just install it there. Installs with no problems. Since I needed Photoshop at that moment, I’m like… let me try it.. right click open in photoshop from the Mac..it take around 10 seconds to launch the VM and open PSE. I was floored. Normally opening PSE takes longer than 10 seconds. Could I have used other methods with better planning? Sure. But at that moment .. it worked.
Edit: can’t stand Win 11.
Edit: can’t stand Win 11.
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I ended up buying a used like new M1 studio, it's basically on par with my 14" M2 MBP with even better GPU performance for $1300. That way I get 10gbe, 32 gb RAM, 4 Thunderbolts and 2 front USB 3. It's been nothing but perfect and cheaper then a comparable Mini M2pro
I would’ve too but I’ve been burned once on used/refurb so I stay away from them. Good luck with it.
If I get a base Studio with M2 Max and 512gb SSD will the ssd last if I mainly use it for programs and use external SSDs for media?
Last? Not quite sure what you’re asking. It will last as long as any other file on SSD. If you’re backing up .. you’re ok.
I've been reading a lot about getting a much larger ssd than needed to extend the life of the internal ssd. I'll use the internal ssd for programs and a few other things. I'll keep my media(i.e. pictures, videos...) on an external ssd.