Choice between refurbished Mac Mini M1 and M2

[Henri9009]

Hi all!

I wonder if the M2 price difference worth it?

https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/produ...apple-m2-chip-with-8‑core-cpu-and-10‑core-gpu

https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/produ...-m2-pro-chip-with-10‑core-cpu-and-16‑core-gpu

At the moment, I have a iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015 and it's still all right for everything I do, even if it's a little slow. I'm not working on any big projects. I do a bit of music and Photoshop, but as I said, my current computer still works well.

Thanks!

 

[scottrngr]

As I post this, the M1 is gone. You get 4 thunderbolt ports with the M2, vs 2 with the M1. You can run 2 monitors on the M1, but only one can be Thunderbolt, and one has to be HDMI. The M2, can run 2 displays at up to 6k on thunderbolt, and 1 on HDMI for a total of 3. That would be enough for me to buy the M2.

 

[Chuckeee]

There are also differences in HDMI and Bluetooth standards employed, I’m not sure if those differences would be important for your application. I just know that they are updated, I’m not clear on the ramifications.

 

[Micky Do]

Hi all!

I wonder if the M2 price difference worth it?

https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/G16L5LL/A/refurbished-mac-mini-apple-m2-chip-with-8‑core-cpu-and-10‑core-gpu

https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/FNH73LL/A/refurbished-mac-mini-apple-m2-pro-chip-with-10‑core-cpu-and-16‑core-gpu

At the moment, I have a iMac Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015 and it's still all right for everything I do, even if it's a little slow. I'm not working on any big projects. I do a bit of music and Photoshop, but as I said, my current computer still works well.

Thanks!

If you need the higher specs it's worth it. If not, it's not.

 

[davdchai]

Writing this from a base M1 mini with additional 1TB SSD drive attached via USB C. This thing is surprisingly capable. The M2 would be more so. If you can wait for M3, that should be a big jump from M1, but any M processor is an enormous jump from old intel, especially from 8 years ago. Maybe you should just get a base model since you also need to buy a display or 2. I'm using an LG 27" UHD un850 which I got for around $400-$450.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Apple really picked a great naming scheme for the new processors. "Two" is twice as good as "one", right?

The port specs on the M2 model are definitely better but it seems to me the processor is really more like an M1.1.

 

[Bazza1]

Well, they'll likely kill off their own software (and OS) compatibility with the M1 before the M2. And the M1 is already 3 years old.

 

[TzunamiOSX]

As I post this, the M1 is gone. You get 4 thunderbolt ports with the M2, vs 2 with the M1. You can run 2 monitors on the M1, but only one can be Thunderbolt, and one has to be HDMI. The M2, can run 2 displays at up to 6k on thunderbolt, and 1 on HDMI for a total of 3. That would be enough for me to buy the M2.

Sorry, but this is wrong. The Mac mini M2 has the same ports as the M1. Only the M2 Pro has 4 Thunderbolt ports.

 

[DaveEcc]

Photoshop will run great either way. You'll want to check your music hardware/software requirements to ensure what you have even works on Apple Silicon Macs to avoid any surprises. I know Focusrite had a nice compatibility table for their audio interfaces (here: https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en...cOS-13-Ventura-on-Apple-Silicon-based-systems ). You'll want to check for whatever you're using.