iMac 21.5" or Mac Mini for professional image editing?

[MartinAppleGuy]

Thanks for the RAM tip guys!

Here is a link to a RAM guide I wrote:

How to: Answer the following questions (the answers are split between A, B and C). Once done, add up your total (A = 1, B = 2 and C = 3).


Questions

1. How long do you wish to to keep your upcoming Mac?
A: 1 - 2 years
B: 2 - 4 years
C: 5+ years

2. How much do you you plan to run VM's (i.e running 2 or more Operating System's at one time)?
A: "I will just run OSX" or "I don't even know what a VM is"
B: "I plan to run a Virtual Machine, but I will not dedicate a lot of RAM to it (2 GB of RAM or less)"
C: "I plan to have at least one Virtual Machine, and wish to dedicate 4 GB or more to it"

3. How often will you use your virtual machine (if at all)?
A: "Never"
B: "Only when I need to run certain software" or "some of the time"
C: "I wish to have the VM running most if not all of the time"

4. Will you be using your new Macbook Pro for video editing?
A: "Little to none. If I am to make a video, it will only be small videos (like home videos) made in iMovie"
B: "I plan to do video editing often, using iMovie for heavy projects"
C: "I plan to do a lot of heavy video editing in Final Cut Pro X"

5. Will you be using your new Macbook Pro for photo editing?
A: "I plan to do some basic photo editing using iPhoto, like cropping as well as changing the lighting as well as some basic work in Pixelmator"
B: "I plan to do heavy photo editing with a few photo's at a time in either Photoshop or Pixelmator"
C: "I plan to do a lot of heavy photo editing with a lot of photo's at a time in either Photoshop or Pixelmator"

6. What is the primary use of your soon to buy Macbook Pro?
A: "Light web browsing, checking emails, basic word processing as well as spreadsheet and presentation work"
B: "All of the above, as well as video editing, photo editing, and programming (as well as any other heavy applications)"
C: "All of the above, as well as running Windows software in a VM"

7. How many programs do you see yourself running at the same time?
A: "1 - 5 basic programs" or "1 or 2 heavy programs"
B: "A lot of applications open at the same time, and I will be jumping back and forth between all of them"
C: "A lot of applications open at the same time, as well as a VM (or several)"

-End of questions-

Add up your total score (A = 1, B = 2 and C = 3), then find where you come in with the scores bellow.

7 - 9 = 4 GB of RAM will be enough for you. (If you are scoring 9, consider 8 GB of RAM for future proofing and/or if you think you will do more work on it in the future, although this is not necessary)

10 - 19 = 8 GB of RAM will be enough for you. (If you are scoring 17-19, consider 16Gb of RAM for future proofing, although this is not necessary)

20+ = 16 GB of RAM will be enough for you.

 

[GERAKI01]

Here is a link to a RAM guide I wrote:

How to: Answer the following questions (the answers are split between A, B and C). Once done, add up your total (A = 1, B = 2 and C = 3).

Martin,
this is gold! Thanks for re-posting.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

Martin,
this is gold! Thanks for re-posting.

Your welcome. When I wrote this a while back, I spent a little while just tweaking the final numbers. From what everyone was posting, it seems like I got it spot on if I don't say so myself

I have found 8GB of RAM to be more than enough for any use as long as you are not using VM's. I do video editing, photo editing, 3D animation and rendering, gaming, some coding and 8GB has always been more than enough. I expect from all the data I have collected from my uses, 8GB of RAM will last 5 years before even a slight drop in performance. I see that after 8 years or so, it will then only be good for more basic tasks (web browsing, Pages, Numbers, Keynote...).

That is an important point to take away though, is by the time 8GB of RAM no longer satisfies my needs, my CPU and GPU won't either. That means that if I were to have gone for 16GB of RAM, by the time I an using it my CPU and GPU would not be up to the job anyway. 16GB of RAM is only worth while if you know you are going to benefit from it either right away or soon after. Other wise, the future proofing you have done is almost completely pointless (unless you upgraded to a higher CPU and GPU as well) and the money is better getting put aside for the Mac to replace the one you bought. This means you can upgrade a year or two later and get a full range of upgrades rather than just the RAM.

 

[GERAKI01]

I have found 8GB of RAM to be more than enough for any use as long as you are not using VM's. I do video editing, photo editing, 3D animation and rendering, gaming, some coding and 8GB has always been more than enough. I expect from all the data I have collected from my uses, 8GB of RAM will last 5 years before even a slight drop in performance. I see that after 8 years or so, it will then only be good for more basic tasks (web browsing, Pages, Numbers, Keynote...).

That is an important point to take away though, is by the time 8GB of RAM no longer satisfies my needs, my CPU and GPU won't either.

Martin, 8GB seems to fully satisfy my needs too. As on your last comment, I am fully with you. This is something that a lot of people seems to miss in a mindset of "let's have it, cause... one day I might need this".

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

Martin, 8GB seems to fully satisfy my needs too. As on your last comment, I am fully with you. This is something that a lot of people seems to miss in a mindset of "let's have it, cause... one day I might need this".

Correct. Well, I hope you enjoy your purchase What was it you bought spec wise?

 

[GERAKI01]

Correct. Well, I hope you enjoy your purchase What was it you bought spec wise?

Well, still in wait of the new mid-2014 Mini Mac to hit the stores! I gave myself permission to delay my buy for a month (August)! In Greece, when you buy something, you're stuck with it for good (no returns allowed)

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

Well, still in wait of the new mid-2014 Mini Mac to hit the stores! I gave myself permission to delay my buy for a month (August)! In Greece, when you buy something, you're stuck with it for good (no returns allowed)

I'd wait too then. It would be very nice to see a Mac Mini with the Intel HD 5000/Iris Pro for the dual core option, and Iris Pro for the Quad Core.