M1 4K GUI rendering vs Intel i5 630 UHD

[GaelenSky]

Hi guys,

I recently purchased a Mac mini 2018 with 8GB of RAM and the i5. I'm disappointed in the performance of the machine just when running the GUI with my 4K display. It will stutter when just opening a folder in launchpad, opening the edit panel in notification centre and putting a video full screen in Safari.

I bought the machine in what felt like a well thought out decision based on the Intel Macs being more expandable, especially from the eGPU and RAM side. But upon further reading into eGPU's, I'm feeling a bit apprehensive now about this decision. Firstly, there's very little choice and for the better choice IMO - low noise, low(er) price - as well as the second case being they are super expensive in relation to the mini. You're talking about spending at least 1/3 of the price of the machine to get a minor boost in performance, and it's incredibly limited in it's use case as I can't seem to find anywhere that says it helps drive the displays or in fact help drive the entire system and *only* special instances where apps will choose to run them.

This left me looking at the M1, and after having now watched a video in regards to it I'm starting to consider returning the Intel box in favour of the quieter M1, but if it suffers from the same problems I won't bother.

Thanks,

Lewis

 

[autoshot]

Hey Lewis!
I just side-graded from a 2018 Mac mini (Intel i7, 32GB) + Vega 64 based eGPU to a 2020 Mac mini (M1, 16GB) and can confirm that the M1 mini has much more powerful graphics than the 2018 mini (unless you add an eGPU of course, which is why I got the Vega). So far I haven't encountered any GUI stuttering, neither running native 4K nor downscaled 5K. The only app where I do notice a slight, but noticeable regression in performance is Final Cut Pro X, where the M1 mini can't smoothly play back heavily accelerated (> 4x) 4K footage. Other than that the 2020 Mac mini is just superior in any regard; especially thermals, noise and power consumption are sooo much better than the Intel mini...
Cheers,
Daniel

 

[GaelenSky]

Hey Lewis!
I just side-graded from a 2018 Mac mini (Intel i7, 32GB) + Vega 64 based eGPU to a 2020 Mac mini (M1, 16GB) and can confirm that the M1 mini has much more powerful graphics than the 2018 mini (unless you add an eGPU of course, which is why I got the Vega). So far I haven't encountered any GUI stuttering, neither running native 4K nor downscaled 5K. The only app where I do notice a slight, but noticeable regression in performance is Final Cut Pro X, where the M1 mini can't smoothly play back heavily accelerated (> 4x) 4K footage. Other than that the 2020 Mac mini is just superior in any regard; especially thermals, noise and power consumption are sooo much better than the Intel mini...
Cheers,
Daniel

Thanks for the reply Daniel!

I'm noticing it's a recurring theme that the M1 runs so much cooler as well, which is a nice added bonus. So even with the experience of an eGPU, you still prefer your current M1 setup?

- Lewis

 

[autoshot]

@GaelenSky

That's the thing, I really like my new M1 mini, but when I can't fix the Final Cut Pro stuttering I'll probably have to keep using the Intel mini + eGPU. The other thing to consider is Windows; as of now neither Windows VMs nor Boot Camp will work on M1 machines. For me this is not a big deal since I also have a Windows computer, but for some it might be.

Cheers,
Daniel

 

[Boyd01]

There's a long thread about this here. Been awhile since I looked at it, but IIRC one if the take-aways is that 8gb just isn't enough RAM for a 4k screen on the 2018 Mini because the UHD630 reserves 1.5gb which only leaves 6.5gb for everything else.

Officially giving up on the Mac Mini 2018 + 4K monitor dream

I'm getting the i5 Mac Mini and will probably stay at 8 gigs of RAM for a while. I buying this computer as a desktop replacement for media consumption and word processing for the next 6-8 years. I was dreaming of getting something like the LG 27UK850 4K monitor and scale it at 1440p so that...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Are you running the 4k display in "looks like 1080p" mode?
Or... are you running "in scaled mode" (such as 1440p)?

8gb doesn't seem to be "enough" any more.
16gb is "the new minimum" for the Mini...

 

[GaelenSky]

OP:

Are you running the 4k display in "looks like 1080p" mode?
Or... are you running "in scaled mode" (such as 1440p)?

8gb doesn't seem to be "enough" any more.
16gb is "the new minimum" for the Mini...

Running in the native “looks like 1080p” mode as I was already aware of the scaling issues going in.

I’m just ill educated as to why 8GB/6.5GB of RAM is the reason this machine can’t display the UI - with nothing even running - in a smooth manner. Surely this is an issue with the GPU, which displays the graphics on screen, and not memory? I didn’t expect the UHD chip to do much, but at the very least run a late 2018 computer at 4K 60Hz with ease on the desktop.

I could understand why the older mini’s struggle with this, because they all predate 4K displays being mainstream, but that just isn’t the case anymore and wasn’t 2/3 years ago either. This is an Apple machine, widely used by industry professionals for video and audio tasks, and this is what they would ship? You can buy one brand new from the store right now in fact in this form. The mini may not be used in studios or the like, but even as a macOS-centric multimedia centre which is running on a modern day TV would be required to run 4K to a standard.

 

[Boyd01]

One theory is that limited memory results in lots of swapping, which is pretty fast on these SSD's but generates lots of heat, which in turn causes CPU throttling. IIRC, people in that other thread said the problems went away when they added RAM.

 

[autoshot]

I don‘t think it’s the RAM since even with 32GB in my 2018 mini there are regular UI-stutters. It’s the slow-ass iGPU Intel put into their CPUs until 2020 if you ask me…

 

[GaelenSky]

It's mad. Launchpad for example, as a feature it came with 10.7 Lion onwards. My previous machine (which I am attempting to replace) is a MacBook Pro Late 2011 15", it was one of the first machines if not the first to come pre-installed with that operating system. It ran the UI perfectly fine, and if it wasn't for it's flaky dGPU I'd still be able to use it. Here we are, 10 years after the fact, having issues with something so trivial.

I just think it's worthwhile putting out there, so others who are as pernickety as me can decide what they want to do before purchasing ;-)

 

[Feyl]

I don‘t think it’s the RAM since even with 32GB in my 2018 mini there are regular UI-stutters. It’s the slow-ass iGPU Intel put into their CPUs until 2020 if you ask me…

It's not the iGPU fault. When you compare the same machine on macOS and Windows, Windows is perfectly smooth with even crappier hardware. Believe me, I tested it myself. It's the UI scalling that's so bad in macOS that you have to run it with a very powerful GPU, like the M1. The crappy UI performance in macOS sucks since the OS X Yosemite and it didn't improve even with the proclaimed improvement with Metal rendering. It's a shame and Apple should make this a top 10 priority in the next macOS.

 

[GaelenSky]

Just as an update to my original post.

I received my M1 Mac mini (16GB RAM) today and it has been everything I hoped for. The display runs completely smooth, just how I want it. Nothing is a struggle.

Just how a Mac should be!