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M4 Mac Mini or M4 Mac Studio

W

wdwpsu

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 20, 2017
82
113
Orlando
Same Price - $1999.
Use: Software Development and Photo Editing

Mac Studio
  • Apple M4 Max chip with 14‑core CPU, 32‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine
  • 36GB unified memory
  • 512GB SSD storage
  • Front: Two USB-C ports, SDXC card slot
  • Back: Four Thunderbolt 5 ports, two USB‑A ports, HDMI port, 10Gb Ethernet port, headphone jack
Mac Mini
  • Apple M4 Pro chip with 14‑core CPU, 20‑core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
  • 48GB unified memory
  • 512GB SSD storage
  • Gigabit Ethernet
  • Three Thunderbolt 5 ports, HDMI port, two USB‑C ports, headphone jack
 
wdwpsu said:
  • Apple M4 Max chip with 14‑core CPU, 32‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine
  • 36GB unified memory
  • 512GB SSD storage
  • Front: Two USB-C ports, SDXC card slot
  • Back: Four Thunderbolt 5 ports, two USB‑A ports, HDMI port, 10Gb Ethernet port, headphone jack
Click to expand...
The M4 Max Studio 16C/40 w/ 1TB storage and 64GB RAM is $2609 from the discount store.

That's the one to buy.

Sell your grandparent's silver if you have to, or find a second job.

You'll thank me in a couple of years.
 
For the original question, in those configurations the Mac Studio gives you more GPU, but less RAM. I feel like for software dev and photo editing, gpu matters less and more ram might be the better choice i.e. the Mac Mini.
 
It’s really hard to say. I just ordered the Mac Studio with 16 cores, 64GB of memory and 4T of storage. I have some compute intensive tasks that pushed me in this direction plus I figure this will future proof me for a while. The total price was around $3900.

You can maybe check on Geekbench how much difference there is between the machines you are considering. In general, if you can afford it, get the better machine. On the other hand, even the Mac Mini is really nice compared to anything we had available five or six years ago. Presumably, the M4 in the Mac Mini will allow OS upgrades for more than five years. I’m replacing an i9 Intel iMac that is about six years old and it is running the latest version of Sequoia.

Do you plan on running more than two monitors? Are you doing renderings that require lots of cores?

Presumably you can go to an Apple Store and test out these machines to get a feel for the difference.
 
wdwpsu said:
Software Development and Photo Editing
Click to expand...
Trouble is, both of those descriptions are as long as a bit of string in terms of RAM usage. You can do “software development” and “photo editing” on the cheapest base-spec Mini, but your particular work needs may well use more. Really you need to have a look at memory pressure on your existing machine to see if you’re suffering from lack of RAM.

OTHERWISE - unless the 36GB vs. 48GB RAM issue is really a dealbreaker I’d go for the Studio for the extra ports, better GPU and better thermals. Or, if you really need 48GB and cash is an issue maybe a 12 core Mini would save you a couple of hundred.

Generally, I’d say that once you upgrade more than one spec of the M4 Pro Mini, the studio looks like the better deal. Personally, I place zero value on the extra-small footprint of the Mini which isn’t going to save any space if it means you need extra hubs (or can’t stack them on top) or trailing cables from the front port.

It would be nice and simple if upgrading the Studio beyond 36GB didn’t cost $500 - complaints on a postcard to Apple for that!
 
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