Is the M4 pro Mac mini a big upgrade from the M2 pro Mac mini?

[patearrings]

I currently have an m2 pro Mac mini with 16gb ram and 3 screens connected. 2x32” 4k displays and 1x27” display.

I find that with as many apps as I have open, switching between apps can be a bit laggy as can using Mission Control to switch.

How much of an upgrade do you think the M4 pro Mac mini would be over my current M2 pro.

Also when is the M4 studio out, any news on it yet?

Many thanks.

 

[haralds]

Check your memory condition with the Activity Monitor. Lagginess between apps is mostly caused by memory pressure causing paging.

 

[patearrings]

Check your memory condition with the Activity Monitor. Lagginess between apps is mostly caused by memory pressure causing paging.

I monitor memory pressure with istat menus and it’s always fine. I think the problem may be with the m2 pro you having to drive 2 4k monitors at high res and then also the 3rd 27” monitor. Hence my question regarding whether the m4 pro mini would be a big upgrade or not.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

How much RAM do you have, and what apps do you use? Remember that you are using 3 displays worth of RAM as VRAM, while also at the same time running whatever apps. You RAM usage might be in green, but still have quite a bit of swapping going on.

The M4 Pro will be a very big step up from the M2 Pro yes. It also has much better monitor support, which might help you out.

 

[patearrings]

How much RAM do you have, and what apps do you use? Remember that you are using 3 displays worth of RAM as VRAM, while also at the same time running whatever apps. You RAM usage might be in green, but still have quite a bit of swapping going on.

The M4 Pro will be a very big step up from the M2 Pro yes. It also has much better monitor support, which might help you out.

I have tons of apps running, all quite lightweight but I guess they add up. I have 16gb of ram.

Can you explain the 3 displays worth of ram as vram please? I didn’t understand.

Many thanks.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

I have tons of apps running, all quite lightweight but I guess they add up. I have 16gb of ram.

Can you explain the 3 displays worth of ram as vram please? I didn’t understand.

Many thanks.

Your computer needs to store the images it generates for the displays. Usually computers have dedicated VRAM for it, but since Apples RAM is so fast, they use their normal RAM for this purpose also. So it also eats into your RAM usage. Not by a lot, but I am wondering if it has an impact with multiple displays. You could test out if things run better with only one display attached.

 

[patearrings]

Your computer needs to store the images it generates for the displays. Usually computers have dedicated VRAM for it, but since Apples RAM is so fast, they use their normal RAM for this purpose also. So it also eats into your RAM usage. Not by a lot, but I am wondering if it has an impact with multiple displays. You could test out if things run better with only one display attached.

Thanks for the explanation. I will test it out. But to be sure, you think I would notice a big upgrade going to the m4 pro? (I note the pro also cones with 24gb of ram to start)

 

[Chuckeee]

I say wait and reconsider when the next iteration of the M*Pro Mac mini is released in a year or two

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Thanks for the explanation. I will test it out. But to be sure, you think I would notice a big upgrade going to the m4 pro? (I note the pro also cones with 24gb of ram to start)

No clue. I don't know what you do with your machine.

 

[Fishrrman]

I would expect the m4xx Studio to appear around the time of World Wide Development conference in June 2025. Can you hold out that long?

Having said that, for three displays, I'm thinking that YES, the m4pro Mini would probably be a good "jump up" from the m2pro Mini.

BUT... be sure to get enough RAM. Will 24gb be "enough"?
If not, take the jump up to 48gb ($400).
Too bad they don't offer 32gb -- perhaps the m4pro can't support that.

 

[Ben J.]

I read that (I can't find the link now) Geekbench first benchmarks on the M4 MBP showed single core performance to be;
Around 3300-3500 points.
My M2 Pro mini: around 2650.
So, that' quite a jump in performance, more than I had expected.

I'll still be keeping my M2 Pro mini for a few years, it's plenty powerful.

(Since I've been using macs for realtime audio processing, I picked up early that I should focus on single core performance, as the DAW apps that we use require low latency processing, and multiple cores often fail to deliver. Rendering video, converting lots of video files, has no such time requirements, it's done when it's done, more cores means much more speed.)