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Logic and Photography

W

willie45

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 27, 2007
234
5
Hi

I use my Mac mainly for Logic Pro X and photography ( Capture 1, Affinity, Luminar )

I'm not too techie but considering buying a mini for this. It seems to me that the mini is as powerful as most MBP and better than many. Am I wrong about this? Also would a 2020 £.0 GHz 6 core mini be powerful enough to run the above software easily with 16Gb RAM?

Would you suggest another machine for my needs - even a second hand one?

Thank you
 
Hi, I moved from an old iMac to a Mac Mini 2018 (in 2020) i7/1tb/8gb. I upgraded the ram myself to 32gb. 16gb will probably be enough for Logic. If your using lots of samples (EXS or Konkakt) then 32gb might be better.

I’m an LPX and Ableton user and I’ve seen a huge improvement running my projects on this Mac mini. Projects that were sitting at 75%+ CPU are now sitting at 25%. I’m sticking to Mojave as some of my plugins and my Access Virus synth is not supported still on Catalina.

The mini is really quiet, and isn’t that noticeable when the fans kick in. I have to say I’m really impressed. I went to the Mac mini because I wanted 2 screens for logic and the 4 usb c ports.

I don’t think you’ll regret it. A lot (not all) of Mac Pro 5,1 logic users see the Mini as the next progression.

Only thing is that the GPU is not great so if your doing graphical things then you might struggle and need an external GPU. But that depends on what graphical stuff your doing and I’m not using my mini for that sort of work so I can’t comment.
 
I moved from a 2013 Mac Pro to the mini last year. I use Logic Pro X all the time, and it runs just fine. I have the 6-core mini with 32 gb of RAM. I also got a Razer Core eGPU since I do a lot of work in Final Cut as well. The mini is faster than my Mac Pro with Logic; slightly slower than my Mac Pro with Final Cut.
 
Been running Logic pro 8 (Yup im that old) on a 2010 Mac mini with only 2gb of Ram for years and up until recently has been flawless. I recently installed MT Power drums (which I like) but has showed up its limitations so have just upgraded RAM (Which has been interesting) and now am trying to install a new ssd to help speed the process..my issue wont be with Ram or memory but the core duo as logic seems to batter the CPU...I dream of a 32 gig with a 6 core cpu but it hasn't stopped me writing tunes during lockdown....well until the recent ram issues! I use Photoshop mainly and never had any issues with my system.....I would suggest (although I havent seen requirements for logic pro x) that you would be more than covered with a modern mini.

I love mine...I used to run 18 backing tracks live on a time line (for our band) in logic and only once in 4 years gigging 2 to 3 times a weekend did it ever fall over....try that with a PC.....lol
 
First of all, apologies for not responding sooner. For some reason I didn't get notifications of replies to my post.

Thank you all for your really great replies. They are very helpful and exactly the experience I was looking for. I'm not very rich so was hoping the mini would do the trick and it seems it will. My only issue now is whether to wait and see what happens in September or go for it now.
 
willie45 said:
My only issue now is whether to wait and see what happens in September or go for it now.
Click to expand...


it all depends on how quickly do you want the Mini. if you can wait, I suggest to wait until WWDC and keep an eye on your local online apple refurb store. their is no difference between 2018/2020 macmini, sometime you can get the 2018 mac mini for some good $.
 
Nobody spoke to the Capture One part of your needs. I don't have a good answer for you, because I'm not using a Mac mini but will likely make it my next upgrade, but the concern there would be the graphics card. Another iMac user and I disagreed over Capture One performance, as mine handled image adjustments instantly (even on 50-megapixel files), whereas his lagged by a second or two. We were both on 2015 iMacs; the key difference, we determined, was our graphics cards, as I had opted to upgrade mine to the then-maximum (with more RAM on the GPU), whereas his used the lower- or middle-tier option. RAM was comparable, I believe, and I don't recall the CPUs being overly different. Capture One is well-optimized to utilize the GPU, it seems, and performance may suffer if the GPU can't keep up.

I'm not sure how the on-board, integrated GPU would fare with Capture One. An iGPU from 2018 may be at the level of or better than the graphics chips from 2014/2015. Worst-case scenario you could work with an eGPU, too.
 
I have a 2018 i7 Mini with 32GB. It works well as a replacement for the iMac I had.

My main use is photography. I use a number of apps (ON1 Photo Raw, Exposure X5, etc.). For editing photos - some apps do use the graphics processor for their tools. Brushes, cloning, and other effects would be a bit of a strain with just the iGpu of the Mini.

I tried for a while to edit without using an external GPU. Then I made a choice to get a good eGpu and immediately noticed an improvement. Much smoother browsing, and editing was much improved as well.
 
lazy_desi_ said:
it all depends on how quickly do you want the Mini. if you can wait, I suggest to wait until WWDC and keep an eye on your local online apple refurb store. their is no difference between 2018/2020 macmini, sometime you can get the 2018 mac mini for some good $.
Click to expand...
There’s no difference because there is no 2020 Mac Mini model. If you go to Apple’s Tech Specs there is only the 2018 Mac Mini.
 
Thank you. I have just bought a 2018 i7 with 32Gb RAM and 1Tb hard drive from Apple refurbished. I saved £420 off the cost of a new one so I'm happy and if I need to buy an eGPU at some point the £420 saving will take the sting out of it pretty well. I opted for the mini because I'm not keen in all on one solutions and want to keep monitors separate ( I have one I like already ) I got AppleCare included so that's also taken the worry out of buying refurbished.

I'm sort of expecting I will buy a eGPU soon but I will wait and see how I go. Mind you I've been looking at the Razer Core X ( maybe Chroma? ) and Radeon 570 as potential buys.
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Hi @stillcrazyman can I ask you what eGPU and card you went for?
 
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Hi @stillcrazyman can I ask you what eGPU and card you went for?
[/QUOTE]

It’s an Asus XG Station enclosure housing an Asus branded Vega 56 w/ 8GB.

It works well and is quiet.
 
Thank you. I will bear in mind your experiences when I decide whether or not to go for an eGPU in the future.
 
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