Mac Mini 2018 or iMac?

[everythingyoudoisaballoon]

I am just on the cusp of purchasing a new Mac but I’m torn between the Mac Mini i7 6 Core and the iMac 27” 4.2ghz quad core i7. I will be using it for music production. Both would have 32GB RAM (from crucial). I’m not interested in the 5k screen as I’ll be getting a nice monitor so it’s just purely based on speed and future proofing as to which one would be the best? Apologies if this has already been asked.

 

[mcnallym]

Sounds as though don’t need the extra gpu that the iMac gives.

Both effectively as upgradeable as the other.

Personally the mini as more grunt, just make sure by big enough internal ssd.

Extra storage on either would be via external so no difference there.

 

[bigtomato]

I was reading, the bigger the SSD the better performance, you can google it. I think it might be because they setup in raid.

 

[MandiMac]

Since both aren't really upgradable, it depends on what you're going to do with it. You say you'll get "a nice screen", the iMac screen is beyond nice. Plus, more screen estate is helping regardless of what you're doing with it. Me, personally, I'd go for the 27-inch iMac because I love all-in-one packages. Then again, the Mac mini's processor is newer, it's two more cores, it'll cost less and you get your own monitor. Pretty much boils down for personal preference - but as it stands now, you seem to go for maximum performance which is in this case Mac mini.

 

[ZStech]

which one would be the best

Apple Mac mini "Core i7" 3.2 (Late 2018) is better
Introduction Date: October 30, 2018
Results in Geekbench benchmarks are better as well.

 

[Mr Baldman]

I will be using it for music production.

what DAW will you be using?

i went for the Mac Mini last week (3.2ghz 6 core i7 with 16gb ram) and it is a great machine.

however, when i'm playing a track in ableton (regardless of how many tracks/instruments/effects etc) if i open a browser and scroll i get really heavy audio stuttering.

I never experienced this with my MBP 2015, and i thought it was due to the basic graphics chip that come on these minis. it turned out to be that i was running my display at a non standard resolution of 3200 x 1800. if i push this up to 3840 x 2160 it works just fine.

after some advice in another thread, i think i will upgrade the RAM to 64gb at some point in the near future.