Is the M1 Mac Mini as fast or faster than an Intel 11th Gen Mobile Cpu ?

[EdwardFVilla]

So, I am currently very very much happy (in other words impressed) with using an Hp ENVY 17' Workstation laptop with an Intel Core i7 1165G7 XeGpu NVIDIA MX450 Gpu with 32GB RAM using Windows 11 pro.

It is very quick, responsive and fluid for basic tasks like email thunderbird, firefox and edge web youtube browsing which I use it for.

My question is if anyone can more or else let me know / verify if coming from a laptop pc like the one mentioned above will an 8GB M1Mac Mini be as fast or faster than the laptop I use for uses like thunderbird email, youtube video streaming, imessage, what's up messaging usage at the same time ?

I was at the apple store today with my mother and saw the Mac Mini M1 .

I used it for like 5min. I did not feel any wait lag at all using safari, imessage, mail and apple photos at the same time.
I was impressed !
I would end up also buying a Dell or HP QHD 27' Display with my own bluetooth keyboard and mouse to use with it too.

Let me know how fast the M1Mac Mini with 8GB RAM is compared to an Intel 11th Generation Core i71165G7 with 32GB RAM with Windows 11pro is .

Thanks for your opinions and replies in advanced.
Good week everyone.

 

[EvilMonk]

Get at least the 16 Gb mini with 1Tb it’s less than that machine if it has 32 Gb and dual iGPU dGPU… And it’s a lot faster… that’s the geekbench from my mini m1 16Gb/1Tb compared to this HP envy 17

 

[leman]

M1 is certainly faster and uses less power than the 1165G7. Depending on your usage, you might (or not) run into problems with an 8GB configuration. Will it “feel faster” than the ENvy? No idea, these things are subjective. From what you describe (basic browsing etc), you are not doing anything computer intensive, so perceived performance will be driven by things like UI animations etc.

 

[StudioMacs]

I agree 16GB RAM is the way to go.

As far as “feeling fast,” macOS on the M1 prioritizes responsiveness. The system will run OS tasks on efficiency cores in the background, even when this makes them execute much more slowly, to increase UI responsiveness and reduce power consumption.

 

[pshufd]

The GB5 OpenGL score on the laptop is 29,000 while it is 18,171 for the mini. The laptop will probably be better for gaming

The M1 mini with 16 GB RAM should be fine for routine consumer use and can even handle light professional work. I have one and it's hooked up to 2 Dell Ultrasharp 27 inch 4k monitors.

 

[leman]

The GB5 OpenGL score on the laptop is 29,000 while it is 18,171 for the mini. The laptop will probably be better for gaming

The M1 mini with 16 GB RAM should be fine for routine consumer use and can even handle light professional work. I have one and it's hooked up to 2 Dell Ultrasharp 27 inch 4k monitors.

The M1 GPU is faster than MX450 in practically every gaming-related benchmark. Ignore GB5 compute scores, they massively underestimate the performance of M1 series because they are too short — M1 needs about 10ms of warm up time before the GPU uses its full power.

Of course, gaming performance is a bit of a moot point anyway if the game in question is Windows-only.

 

[jav6454]

I wouldn't compare an M1 to another GPU out there for gaming. Pretty much, it's hard to find common ground on titles available.

 

[Fravin]

Let me know how fast the M1Mac Mini with 8GB RAM is compared to an Intel 11th Generation Core i71165G7 with 32GB RAM with Windows 11pro is .

I have a M1 MacMini 8Gb/512Gb since the launch day.

Before that, I used an i9 MBP with 32Gb Ram and a Gammer PC with an i9 and 64Gb RAM.

I run an advertisement agency and am a photographer. So, you might think the amount of CPU/GPU power I usually do need.

In the first week Using this M1 Mini I run a simple test with all 3 computers. Using Capture One I exported a batch of 45 RAF images to High Resolution JPEGs. Each one of those RAF files has around 50Mb.

This export action stress the CPU as the GPU as well. It's a hell of a task for the computer. The results are above:

i9 15"MBP - 4min 35 secs
i9 PC - 3min 53secs
M1 Mini - 1min 55 secs


I don't understand how an ARM chip uses RAM, but it is different than in x86. My Mini still rocks. It's the best computer I ever had.

The apps I use are: Capture One and Affinity Photo (for photo editing) Affinity Designer & Publisher (for DTP) and PDF Expert.

After that, the pandemics forced me to sell the MBP. I'm now using an iPadPro M1 for my mobile tasks using the same Affinity apps (Designer and Photo).

 

[EdwardFVilla]

To everyone that replied to this thread, thank you very very much .

I ended up purchasing a new base-line silver M1 iMac set to arrive this Wednesday for my mum and all the family to be in the living room. This would be my very first Apple Mac os product to have even to share.

Planning to use this computer primarily for online monthly bill pay (have to teach my mum how to do this!), check emails, whatsup/iMessage video/audio/text communication and youtube video consumption . I might end up having to purchase a touch id keyboard to use for user switching and purchases online and also a hub that has usb-a ports with a good sd card reader to make file backups . I may end up buying a Microsoft Office 2021 key for it if I feel it good to use it for document/magazine production jobs as well too. Depends how I feel sitting down in front of such type of size screen vs my current 17.3 laptop for such type of work.

Right now I am using my new Windows 11 Intel 12th Gen 1260p i7 cpu with 64GB RAM with a pcie 4.0 ssd computer as my go to pc and I am very very happy that is quicker than my other older HP Envy 11th gen core i7 32GB RAM workstation laptop. I find it pleasing that it does web browsing youtube, whatsup & thunderbird very quickly. I feel it can't get any better than this with performance for my usage.

Wishing you all a great and terrific new year ahead.
May God , King Jesus bless very very much .

 

[Technerd108]

A couple things to keep in mind as you get your new iMac. Windows feels different than MacOS in terms of responsiveness. Windows is a monolithic Operating system and Unix what MacOS is based on is modular. This means that all parts of the OS are connected in Windows which can make it feel more responsive than Mac OS or Linux in day to day use. There are advantages to a monolithic system when everything is working properly but it can be a problem if there is a problem with any part of the system and generally makes it more vulnerable to security threats.

So just because Geekbench scores are higher on the M1 vs your 11th gen Intel doesn't mean the system will feel dramatically faster. It is faster but it just might not in every instance feel this way if that makes sense. As a multi-platform user and having a Mac and Windows PC there are differences that someone coming from Windows might not understand at first. I just want to set your expectations so that you aren't like why doesn't my Mac feel so much faster than my old Windows workstation?

Your 1260p with 64gb ram will be faster than a regular m1 chip M1 Pro or Max not so much but a regular M1 is not as fast at least in multi core workloads. In single core the M1 still has a slight edge.

I think you will be happy with the iMac as the screen is great, the M series processors sort of shine best in mobile devices like laptops and iPad and can scale up in desktops. But the efficiency while still delivering high performance and great battery life and thermals is the edge over Intel and AMD. You can't get the quiet performance under load on battery same as plugged in on Intel or AMD.

Blessings to you and your family during this holiday season.

 

[leman]

A couple things to keep in mind as you get your new iMac. Windows feels different than MacOS in terms of responsiveness. Windows is a monolithic Operating system and Unix what MacOS is based on is modular. This means that all parts of the OS are connected in Windows which can make it feel more responsive than Mac OS or Linux in day to day use. There are advantages to a monolithic system when everything is working properly but it can be a problem if there is a problem with any part of the system and generally makes it more vulnerable to security threats.

What does this even mean? I don’t think it makes any sense to argue that macOS is any less “monolithic” or “modular” than Windows. Linux systems usually are setup differently, that much is correct.

So just because Geekbench scores are higher on the M1 vs your 11th gen Intel doesn't mean the system will feel dramatically faster. It is faster but it just might not in every instance feel this way if that makes sense.

This is true, pure performance does not always translate to perceived smoothness. There are a lot of factors ranging from the architecture of the graphical system to choices of animations .

 

[Technerd108]

What does this even mean? I don’t think it makes any sense to argue that macOS is any less “monolithic” or “modular” than Windows. Linux systems usually are setup differently, that much is correct.



This is true, pure performance does not always translate to perceived smoothness. There are a lot of factors ranging from the architecture of the graphical system to choices of animations .

I was not here to argue points with people. I was just trying to temper expectations of the OP because I use both systems regularly. A lot of people have misconceptions about performance based solely on benchmarks. I want the OP to have a good experience on his new Mac and try to give him an idea why things might feel different. He asked which is faster and I am trying to explain there is more to it than just benchmarks.

Of course it makes sense as it is a fundamental difference on how the two operating systems work and why they respond differently. Actually Linux is much closer to Unix and MacOS and Linux share a lot of the same terminal commands as a result. Linux is also modular. Windows is very different than either MacOS/Unix and Linux.

But thanks for correcting me? What is the architecture of the graphical system? Never heard a GUI called an architecture before?

 

[leman]

I was not here to argue points with people. I was just trying to temper expectations of the OP because I use both systems regularly. A lot of people have misconceptions about performance based solely on benchmarks. I want the OP to have a good experience on his new Mac and try to give him an idea why things might feel different. He asked which is faster and I am trying to explain there is more to it than just benchmarks.

I understand your (well meant) intention but at the same time it’s not very constructive to post invalid information and then retort that you don’t want to argue points.

Of course it makes sense as it is a fundamental difference on how the two operating systems work and why they respond differently. Actually Linux is much closer to Unix and MacOS and Linux share a lot of the same terminal commands as a result. Linux is also modular. Windows is very different than either MacOS/Unix and Linux.

Unix is the interface specification and has very little to do with the OS implementation. For example, Windows is POSIX-compliant and ships with a Unix-like environment you can install and enable. More generally, you seem to conclude that macOS and Linux are similar because they choose to implement similar user-facing interface in one particular domain, but this is like saying that Android and Nintendo Switch are similar because both can charge via USB-C or connect to WiFi. Implementation matters. You don’t seem to take it into account.

But thanks for correcting me? What is the architecture of the graphical system? Never heard a GUI called an architecture before?

What I mean is how the GUI interfaces with the rest of the system. It the GUI server part of the kernel or does it live in user space? Do GUI applications have direct access to the drawing surfaces (and who owns them?) or do they have to use a protocol aka X11? Is there desktop composition? If yes, how does it work? How are the events designed? How are the events fired? What is the scrolling protocol and where is it handled? Is the app supposed to recompute the layout during resize or after resize? And so on. You can design these things in many different ways which will have profound effects on how smooth and responsive the UI appears on one hand and what you can do with it as a developer.

 

[Technerd108]

I understand your (well meant) intention but at the same time it’s not very constructive to post invalid information and then retort that you don’t want to argue points.



Unix is the interface specification and has very little to do with the OS implementation. For example, Windows is POSIX-compliant and ships with a Unix-like environment you can install and enable. More generally, you seem to conclude that macOS and Linux are similar because they choose to implement similar user-facing interface in one particular domain, but this is like saying that Android and Nintendo Switch are similar because both can charge via USB-C or connect to WiFi. Implementation matters. You don’t seem to take it into account.





What I mean is how the GUI interfaces with the rest of the system. It the GUI server part of the kernel or does it live in user space? Do GUI applications have direct access to the drawing surfaces (and who owns them?) or do they have to use a protocol aka X11? Is there desktop composition? If yes, how does it work? How are the events designed? How are the events fired? What is the scrolling protocol and where is it handled? Is the app supposed to recompute the layout during resize or after resize? And so on. You can design these things in many different ways which will have profound effects on how smooth and responsive the UI appears on one hand and what you can do with it as a developer.

I am saying that a Unix or Darwin base of MacOS and it's modular design, kernel, sub systems and file structure affect how it performs versus MS Windows NT kernel, Nt file system and sub systems being interconnected unlike Unix based OS like Linux and MacOS. User interface has nothing to do with what I am talking about. There are many layers of the OS and you seem to be focusing on how the GUI is implemented and I am talking at a more fundamental level.

Your opinion is that my point is somehow not relevant but it is and I tried to in very basic terms explain why that is.

Your last point makes sense but it still doesn't explain what an architecture of the graphical system? Generally architecture is relating to difference in hardware not software implementation.

All of this is just meaningless to the OP and pointless banter. My point is that a monolithic Operating system will always be faster than a modular OS at the fundamental layer of executing code. This makes Windows seem faster than MacOS on the same hardware. Yes there are a ton of GUI differences that come into play but just code execution is going to be faster on Windows making the system feel faster. The cost for this is BSOD if there is a kernel problem or why virus can execute and take down the system. Windows has gotten better at band aiding and stop gapping but the fundamental design has not changed in many years.

So for the OP in some instances his old workstation may feel faster than the iMac even though the iMac is faster and then you add the differences in GUI and implementation and the differences are only magnified but it doesn't mean the Mac is slower. If you do a task with the Mac vs the old 11th Gen Windows workstation it should complete faster in most cases even with less ram.

However the newer workstation with the 1260p and 64gb ram is a different story.

 

[satcomer]

To me the best bookmark is the RGB test by BMW that will tell you how it crush video/raw pictures crushing times! That's why it is I'm[ortan t to modern Mac Users! Why people still point out new universal or silicon applications still theist 2 years! We want these developers still to write great Mac M1/2 software to stay relevant because Mac users actually pay for great software!

 

[theorist9]

A couple things to keep in mind as you get your new iMac. Windows feels different than MacOS in terms of responsiveness. Windows is a monolithic Operating system and Unix what MacOS is based on is modular. This means that all parts of the OS are connected in Windows which can make it feel more responsive than Mac OS or Linux in day to day use. There are advantages to a monolithic system when everything is working properly but it can be a problem if there is a problem with any part of the system and generally makes it more vulnerable to security threats.

What does this even mean? I don’t think it makes any sense to argue that macOS is any less “monolithic” or “modular” than Windows. Linux systems usually are setup differently, that much is correct.

I think what Technerd108 was thinking of was monolithic kernels vs. microkernels. The problem is some of his info. is incorrect or outdated:

1) Yes, Linux is monolithic, and Windows 9x and earlier were monolithic. However, MacOS and the Windows NT family (which includes Windows 10 and 11) are both hybrid designs, mixing characteristics from monolithic and microkernel designs. So you can't broadly distinguish Windows and MacOS on this basis.

Hybrid kernel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

2) Many years ago, monolithic designs were considered faster than microkernel designs. But Technerd108 hasn't presented any evidence that, today, a monolithic design is inherently faster than a modern hybrid design.

 

[Technerd108]

Hybrid kernel

A hybrid kernel is a kernel architecture based on combining aspects of microkernel and monolithic kernel architectures used in computer operating systems. The category is controversial due to the similarity to monolithic kernel; the term has been dismissed by some as simple marketing.[1] The...

microsoft.fandom.com

It is more than just the kernel but I am old and maybe things have changed in recent iterations of Windows like 10 and 11?

I think what Technerd108 was thinking of was monolithic kernels vs. microkernels. The problem is some of his info. is incorrect or outdated:

1) Yes, Linux is monolithic, and Window 9x and earlier were monolithic. However, both MacOS and the Windows NT family (which includes Windows 10 and 11) are both hybrid designs, mixing characteristics from monolithic and microkernel designs. So you can't broadly distinguish Windows and MacOS on this basis.

Hybrid kernel - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

2) Many years ago, monolithic designs were considered faster than microkernel designs. But Technerd108 hasn't presented any evidence that, today, a monolithic design is inherently faster than a modern hybrid design.

 

[leman]

I am saying that a Unix or Darwin base of MacOS and it's modular design, kernel, sub systems and file structure affect how it performs versus MS Windows NT kernel, Nt file system and sub systems being interconnected unlike Unix based OS like Linux and MacOS. User interface has nothing to do with what I am talking about. There are many layers of the OS and you seem to be focusing on how the GUI is implemented and I am talking at a more fundamental level.

Darwin and a Linux have very different kernel architectures. The driver model of macOS is much closer to Windows than Linux (if that’s what modularity means to you). Refer to the insightful post by @theorist9 What I’m trying to say that just because two things have similar behavior on the surface doesn’t mean they have similar internals.

Your last point makes sense but it still doesn't explain what an architecture of the graphical system? Generally architecture is relating to difference in hardware not software implementation.

“Software architecture” is an established term as well, especially in relation to complex software systems. The abstract data model and basic algorithmic choices at the foundation of a software system have profound implications for performance and scalability.

 

[Mcdevidr]

I’ve used about 100 different systems this year. I just recently picked up a very cheap “refurb“ m1 air with 128gb ssd for $679 from micro center. Surprisingly it came with two years of apple care + still. Thing that amazes me is the web browsing performance of the m1 even on this lowly model. It is better than even some gaming windows laptops in this regard. In any case enjoy your imac i had a base model one for a while and i like it quite a bit, just hated having dual monitors, really cant focus with that.

 

[Gudi]

My question is ... will an 8GB M1 Mac mini be as fast or faster than the laptop I use for uses like thunderbird email, youtube video streaming, imessage, whatsapp messaging usage at the same time ?

The M1 is a blazing fast 8-core CPU combined with ultrafast RAM and SSD. Yes, you can multitask all these things instantly and at the same time and likely use less than 8% of the Mini's compute power. But you shouldn't, it's a waste of money. M-series chips allow to build laptops, which are as fast as desktops or desktops, which are as power-efficient as laptops.

Neither of these benefits shine in the Mac mini. You should either buy a MacBook Air, albeit you already have a PC laptop, it would be a huge upgrade (for the screen alone). Or you buy the M1 iMac, with a fantastic 4.5K screen and speakers, webcam, microphone and the Magic Mouse and Keyboard (you need) already in the package. Don't get fooled by the relatively low starting price of the Mac mini without any peripherals.

Highend Intel desktops are not slower than the M1 Mac mini, they just use more energy and produce more heat and fan noise. But you can't put the entire Intel PC in the chin of a slim, light and cool iMac.