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M2 mini pro for photography
- Thread starter deevlad
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I'll be candid, I would not buy for graphics or photo work anything less than 24/32 gigs of RAM. Part of the reason is not just how it performs now (the apps) but we have seen a steady increase in the need for RAM with MacOS and various apps to perform better than "minimum" or "satisfactory."
ArtisRight has this pretty well covered:
16 GB seems fine, but 32 GB really makes the Mac Mini Pro shine to a point, where it matches the Mac Studio M1 Max. Price points are then comparable, so maybe a Studio M1 Max becomes the better model for your needs?
16 GB seems fine, but 32 GB really makes the Mac Mini Pro shine to a point, where it matches the Mac Studio M1 Max. Price points are then comparable, so maybe a Studio M1 Max becomes the better model for your needs?
I have used an M1 13 inch MBP 8core CPU/GPU with 8GB RAM 256GB SSD since December 2020 that has been used with Capture One, Photoshop and Lightroom. Using lots of adjustment layers in C1, masks is LR or retouching images with lots of layers that regularly run into file sizes well over 1GB and I’ve had absolutely zero problems from a pure photography stand point.
I have a brand new high ish spec Mac Mini Pro and while it is a little faster I wouldn’t consider it a huge difference and un-noticeable without both machine next to each other completing the same task (would never happen).
Photography does not tax any of these new Apple silicon machines, even low specced ones like my MBP. I’ve never had issues with just 8GB of RAM and don’t feel I’ll need to upgrade any time soon as it just flies along. Buy a computer for now and not what you think you might need in the future.
Unless the machine pays for itself, spending less and upgrading sooner is much better than overspending and feeling like you need to hang on to outdated expensive BTO Mac for a long time.
I have a brand new high ish spec Mac Mini Pro and while it is a little faster I wouldn’t consider it a huge difference and un-noticeable without both machine next to each other completing the same task (would never happen).
Photography does not tax any of these new Apple silicon machines, even low specced ones like my MBP. I’ve never had issues with just 8GB of RAM and don’t feel I’ll need to upgrade any time soon as it just flies along. Buy a computer for now and not what you think you might need in the future.
Unless the machine pays for itself, spending less and upgrading sooner is much better than overspending and feeling like you need to hang on to outdated expensive BTO Mac for a long time.
Thanks for the info, I use capture1 , Lightroom and photoshop too. So I think I will go with the 16GB/1Tb as originally planned.
Honestly, unless you need the extra ports, I really don’t think for photography you‘d even need the Pro.
What Mac are you using currently?
If you have a moment - worth a watch it gives sufficient info to maybe suggest you rethink your plan given the apps you are engaging.
Going from a 2015 iMac to a base spec previous generation M1 will be a MASSIVE jump in performance.
Seriously, save the money and go M2 rather than M2 Pro as in the day to day you will see absolutely zero difference in their performance (I don’t) up to the point of export when one will be at most 30-50% faster. Remember, this is not 2015 when 50% improvements sounded like a big deal. When my lowly M1 MBP already processes an image from Capture One in 2-3 seconds, 50% better is negligible in my world.
M2 with 16GB RAM and upgraded storage (to benefit from faster SSD speed) will be a super powerful photography machine. You’d benefit from spending more on the screen than the computer.
I agree, I went from a 2015 27 iMac 2TB Fusion, 32GB to a M2 Pro 16GB 1TB . My Lightroom performance increase was very noticable to say the least but not that much noticeable over my work machine which is a M1 Mini 16GB 512GB (which i should not be playing with photos on but.........). I only got the Pro because it was only an extra $300 for the the same 16GB, 1TB configuration and it was in my spending budget, though i went the external route to make up the drive capacity difference ( $290.00plus tax for an Acacis / Samsung Pro 980 2TB combo vs. $400.00 1TB from Apple!) The M2 model with a 1TB drive and 16GB should be a fine workhorse.
Upgraded from M1 mini 16GB to M2 pro 12/19 32GB I see indeed not that much improvement, so indeed if you don’t have a good display it’s a better investment.
And a calibration tool like spyder X pro or Xrite i1display pro (now Calibrite ColorChecker Display Plus) if you want color accuracy ...