Impressed with Mac Mini from a PC user

[avro707]

the M4 Mini is ridiculous value, let's not be silly.

The best thing about it is the small size, I mean it's barely larger than my old Apple TV 4K - but it's a fully featured computer which is quite capable. For what I use it for, very happy.

I used to run Zwift on a 2010 Mac Pro that was running Xeon X5690 and a Radeon RX6600XT. That ran very reliably with OpenCore and MacOS Monterey, but it just got a bit too old, it did duty as a work computer then got repurposed later to run the cycling pain-cave which it did for years and years. It was great in winter time when the room was quite cold.

That old machine is stored away. It still runs, but I have no use for it now unless something should go wrong with the M4 Pro Mac Mini.

 

[maflynn]

Crossover
...
to get a Studio but not sure if I need to get one.

I bought a Mini, great computer but because some of my games, particularly, Bethesda games were not running as well as I wanted, I opted for a studio. I'm not trying to convince you of the Studio, just pointing out my journey.

I love the form factor of the mini

 

[Madonepro]

I am enjoying it, not really missed Windows other than Outlook, and some keyboard shortcuts. I have outlook on MacOS but its the "new" version so missing some features and while I can fudge what I want in the Mail app its not ideal so just using OWA at the moment.

You know there is a link to using the old Outlook in the Outlook for Mac app. Click on Outlook in top left corner, and you'll see 'Legacy Outlook', and if you select it, it'll ask you to add accounts, but works like what I imagine you are used to.

 

[Jamie0003]

Wait for the honeymoon phase to end and judge then again. Been there done that, although I still use the mini for everyday tasks and browsing, having built a new pc with rtx 5070 and ryzen 7800x3d, 32gb ram I just forget about gaming on the Mac except for some Indy stuff. And windows being louder is not really an issue with fans and cooling selected accordingly. I don’t event have a silent housing and it’s not really an issue.

Wow retail on wqhd is already struggling the mini m4 when graphics preset are around 7-10. just in a crowded city of the current expansion.

Mac mini m4 256gb 16gb ram.

It is still a nice piece of tech but don’t exegerate too much

Lol if you’re trying to game on the Mac you’re doing it wrong

 

[ludihubdev]

If you come from PC and missing window previews in the dock and in Alt+Tab etc. Check Dockdoor for Mac. It's free and Open Source.

 

[chmania]

Moved house, currently my desk is in the dining/living room so rather than using my loud PC which would annoy the other half, grabbed a base M4 Mac Mini on Black Friday and have to say pretty impressed with it.

Also getting use to MacOS found fixes for most things and some software niggles, but still got some outstanding, but performance wise more than happy, WoW seems to run fine at 4K I do not really raid so seems fine for me, Steam games and Crossover games work all ok as well.

My plan was when get the garage converted over to my home office was to get a Studio but not sure if I need to get one.

Kimbie

Once you get hooked on macOS, you’re done! 🙂 👍 The M4 Mac Mini is such a gem that you might reconsider investing in the more expensive Mac Studio, depending on what you do. I came here from Linux (and Windows), and after using five or six versions of macOS, I don’t feel like going back, even though I have a Ryzen 7 mini PC with both operating systems.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Lol if you’re trying to game on the Mac you’re doing it wrong

I play Baldur’s Gate 3 on Ultra settings and Cyberpunk 2077 on high with no issues. Was surprised how many games in my Steam collection have native Apple Silicon ports.

Still no FromSoft games but I have other devices for those. It’s good there is a decent supply of games for silicon macs.

 

[maflynn]

Lol if you’re trying to game on the Mac you’re doing it wrong

I play games on my Studio, its great, throw in Crossover and you have access to nearly every game in your steam library

 

[Rychiar]

Yup I was using it as a stop gap machine til the studio came out and then I realized I didnt need the studio

 

[turbineseaplane]

@maflynn Do you do any RPCS3 on your studio?

This weekend I was playing around getting Gran Turismo 6 going on there and it works really well, but I just need some more pure horespower over my Mini m4 (for more fps). I wonder how much better the Studio could be here, depending upon config. Perhaps down the road when it's on M5/M6/M7.

 

[maflynn]

@maflynn Do you do any RPCS3 on your studio?

No, I only play PC/Mac games.

 

[macbookj0e]

I am enjoying it, not really missed Windows other than Outlook, and some keyboard shortcuts. I have outlook on MacOS but its the "new" version so missing some features and while I can fudge what I want in the Mail app its not ideal so just using OWA at the moment.

macOS has keyboard shortcuts too but is a bit of a ballache reaching yourself when moving from windows. I remember the pain but it’s worth the gain!

 

[maflynn]

macOS has keyboard shortcuts too but is a bit of a ballache reaching yourself when moving from windows. I remember the pain but it’s worth the gain!

and some of those key-combinations require a bit of finger gymnastics imo

 

[Charlie Bonesx]

I play games on my Studio, its great, throw in Crossover and you have access to nearly every game in your steam library

I've been playing cities skylines 2 on my m4 pro MacBook

it runs about the same as the 14900k + 6800xt pc I had previously built it

I'm considering m5 studio this year for a bit more performance. did you find a big performance lift from the mini to the studio?

 

[maflynn]

I've been playing cities skylines 2 on my m4 pro MacBook

That's probably a poor example, only bcause of how poorly that game is optimized. Even on high end 5080/5090 GPUs that game struggles.

I'm considering m5 studio this year for a bit more performance. did you find a big performance lift from the mini to the studio?

Yes, a large uplift, plus the cooling is so much superior, so there's no risk of throttling.

 

[Hajj.david]

Lol if you’re trying to game on the Mac you’re doing it wrong

I disagree strongly. Cyberpunk, Age of Empires, Frost Punk, the tropico series all games I regularly play

 

[Jamie0003]

I disagree strongly. Cyberpunk, Age of Empires, Frost Punk, the tropico series all games I regularly play

Games that came out years ago. Good luck running anything modern

 

[Genelec8341]

I bought a base M1 Mini to "tide me over" and used it for over three years. The M-series Mini is one of my favorite Apple products of all time.

Enjoy your conversion to Mac!

Yep, my M1 mini 16/512 is my first mac at home after a lifetime of PC's, though I used Macs at work a long time ago.
System 7! lol
I don't think I'll ever go back to PC.

 

[Entilzha]

Games that came out years ago. Good luck running anything modern

Odd how you didn’t make this reply to the person playing BG3…

 

[Meedoss]

Loving my mini M4 16/512 and ASD.

 

[Jamie0003]

Loving my mini M4 16/512 and ASD.

Which will run on a potato lmao. Try again

 

[Jamie0003]

Odd how you didn’t make this reply to the person playing BG3…

Which will run on a potato lmao. Try again

 

[wolfboy]

I am enjoying it, not really missed Windows other than Outlook, and some keyboard shortcuts. I have outlook on MacOS but its the "new" version so missing some features and while I can fudge what I want in the Mail app its not ideal so just using OWA at the moment.

The keyboard shortcuts on mac are better since the Command key is closer to C and V. Command and space is also invaluable for search. Command is just so natural. Feels awkward now whenever I go back to Windows and use Control.

 

[mike.coulter]

A Mac mini to go with my Air is my perfect setup. One day!

 

[Meedoss]

Which will run on a potato lmao. Try again

don't get it, but whatever enjoy your lmao