Help me decide - Mac mini pro or Mac Studio

[enc0re]

Help me decide. I will upgrade my M1 Mac mini primarily for the new HDMI port. I use a LG C2 42" OLED at 4K native (1x scaling).

The primary use is standard work stuff. Even the M1 is fine for that.
The secondary use is my favorite game, Civ VI, and maybe other games in the future. I can only play on low/medium with my M1 at 4K.
The tertiary use is rendering 1 to 1.5 hour long 4K60 videos in Camtasia. The M1 takes a while, but I only have to produce about 1 video per month.

Obviously I need at least an M2 Pro for the new HDMI port. However, the Mac Studio isn't that much more expensive and if it allows much better settings on Civ (and other future games) that may be worth it to me. On the other hand, maybe the M2 Pro already allows max settings at 4K120? I don't know and can't find benchmarks on that question.

The second question is if the step up GPU cores are worth it. There is nothing else I need to upgrade. I use 4TB external storage because of my 4K video needs anyway.

I'll cross-post this in the Mac Studio forum. Please vote in both places! And feel free to comment any experiences you have with Civ VI at 4K on Apple Silicon.

 

[bobcomer]

It's a REAL tough call with the prices so similar. The Studio is a better computer, but if you're bothered by possible noises, the mini might be better.

I had an M1 Max Studio, VERY nice machine, but it had this whistle, and I just couldn't take it anymore, so I traded it in on a Mini Pro, and am very happy with it. Not all Studios make the noise and the M2 Studio has a better fan profile than the M1, so even if it has the whistle, you'd probably hear it less. I personally didn't want to take the chance on the Studio, but I wouldn't recommend to anyone else make the same decision. I have more computers available to me, so even if the Mini Pro isn't as fast at some things as the studio, I can do them on another computer to split the load.

Truth be told, the Mac I use most is my 27" iMac, and if I need more, I use that as the monitor for my other computers, either via duet display or luna display.

 

[enc0re]

I keep my mini under the desk so I like to think I won’t notice the noise.

It’s just the difficult question if the extra money is worth it for the Studio. If I don’t get a big benefit for Civ, it’s wasted.

 

[EDS66]

Help me decide. I will upgrade my M1 Mac mini primarily for the new HDMI port. I use a LG C2 42" OLED at 4K native (1x scaling).

The primary use is standard work stuff. Even the M1 is fine for that.
The secondary use is my favorite game, Civ VI, and maybe other games in the future. I can only play on low/medium with my M1 at 4K.
The tertiary use is rendering 1 to 1.5 hour long 4K60 videos in Camtasia. The M1 takes a while, but I only have to produce about 1 video per month.

Obviously I need at least an M2 Pro for the new HDMI port. However, the Mac Studio isn't that much more expensive and if it allows much better settings on Civ (and other future games) that may be worth it to me. On the other hand, maybe the M2 Pro already allows max settings at 4K120? I don't know and can't find benchmarks on that question.

The second question is if the step up GPU cores are worth it. There is nothing else I need to upgrade. I use 4TB external storage because of my 4K video needs anyway.

I'll cross-post this in the Mac Studio forum. Please vote in both places! And feel free to comment any experiences you have with Civ VI at 4K on Apple Silicon.

Microcenter currently has base M2 Pro Mac Mini for $200 off. $1,099.00. Unbeatable deal. Not sure how long the deal will last.

 

[enc0re]

Microcenter currently has base M2 Pro Mac Mini for $200 off. $1,099.00. Unbeatable deal. Not sure how long the deal will last.

Same price as Apple during the back to school promo. Except Apple would give me over $300 for my Mac mini, which I only paid $500 for!