I'm leaning towards just getting an m1 mini 16 GB model. Do you think it's worth spending more for the Mac Studio? I'm really not sure I need the power of the Mac Studio and 32 GB of memory. I also don't know how close an m2 or m1 pro Mac mini is from coming out.
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Mac mini m1 vs Mac Studio
- Thread starter philfry
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I went through this last week. I’ve always had Power Macs or Mac Pros, but did an honest assessment of my needs. My primary need isn’t power, but storage.
Went with a mini, 16/512. Got an OWC Ministack STX for it. A 4TB NVME will meet my storage needs. I can stick my existing 3.5” spinner in for backups. It all shows up a little later today.
Went with a mini, 16/512. Got an OWC Ministack STX for it. A 4TB NVME will meet my storage needs. I can stick my existing 3.5” spinner in for backups. It all shows up a little later today.
Maybe you (@philfry ) could post a few words about how you use a computer?
A common perception - and probably true - is that if you’re not sure if you need X power, you probably don’t.
BTW - the 16GB mini is a very powerful and capable machine. I have the 8GB version and it’s a beast.
A common perception - and probably true - is that if you’re not sure if you need X power, you probably don’t.
BTW - the 16GB mini is a very powerful and capable machine. I have the 8GB version and it’s a beast.
I would wait until after WWDC before purchasing a mini just in case they announce something.
As for the studio there are a lot of reviews posted on Youtube. The decision on which to buy is based upon how you currently use your system as well as how you will use it in the future. For example a Studio may make sense if you are producing videos, depending upon resolution of the footage, multicam, how many LUTs you will be using, etc.
It all depends on how you are going to use it.
As for the studio there are a lot of reviews posted on Youtube. The decision on which to buy is based upon how you currently use your system as well as how you will use it in the future. For example a Studio may make sense if you are producing videos, depending upon resolution of the footage, multicam, how many LUTs you will be using, etc.
It all depends on how you are going to use it.
depends if you need the extra horsepower the studio packs. If you're just going to use it for light stuff then a mini will be good.
Remember, from the M1 all the way up to an M1 Ultra, you are getting the same single-core speed. I jump between a Mac Mini M1 with only 8GB RAM and a M1 Max MBP with 32GB. I can't tell the difference 99% of the time.
About 6 months ago I tried the 8 GB model and it wasn’t enough ram for my use. I think 16 should be fine though. macOS has started requiring more memory. I run 10.13 on an old mini and 8 GB is enough but since about bigSur 8 GB doesn’t go as far for me. I mostly use it for browsing the web but some of the apps seems to use more memory than before because some are electron based. I also want to use it for photo editing and occasional video editing.
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16 GB M1 Mac mini will be more than enough. Or you can wait for a 16 GB M2 Mac mini.
Either will be fine, but M1 came out in 2020 so if you don't have urgent need for a new computer, you can consider waiting and hope they release the M2 in the next several months, just so you have the latest machine and 2 years longer OS support than the M1 would get.
Mac Studio is total overkill.
Some of it depends on your graphics needs. Even the UI can fall a bit behind/stutter if you're driving the Studio Display/XDR with the M1 mini. That's a lot of pixels to push...
I'm driving a Studio Display with a Mac M1 Mini 8GB and it's been smooth as can be for normal use. I haven't tried Final Cut or anything like that.
I also owned/used the 8GB mini with the XDR. For a long time! For normal use, it's fine. You might notice dropped frames or a bit of lag when expanding windows, using Launchpad/Mission Control, etc. It's not terrible, and it may depend on how much RAM the overall system is using. But moving to the Mac Studio M1 Max, the UI is definitely smoother than the M1 mini.
Haven't noticed that on my Studio Display and I don't see a difference in UI smoothness (expanding windows, mission control etc.) between my M1 mini and MBP M1 Max on the Studio Display. But the XDR does have more pixels.
There's a rare selection of 16GB M1 Mini's in the refurb section (4/21/2022).
You can pick up a 16GB/1TB model for almost half the price of a base studio ($1099).
From what you say is your usage pattern, that's what I would do.
Would that perform close to the Studio or would the Studio still be far better at everything? I think the Studio is way overkill for my needs too, but it is also more future proof, as I am still running a late 2012 iMac with SSD drive. $1000 more is a lot to pay though and I actually like the size of the Mac Mini better than the Studio. Studio looks like a box.
A 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD Mac mini is 1099$, that's still 900$ less than the entry-level Mac Studio. I would only recommend spending the 900$ extra if you really need the horsepower, and 97% of the users won't need it.
Keep in mind there is a good chance we'll see an M2 Mac mini in October or November, but to be honest I wouldn’t wait for that.
Keep in mind there is a good chance we'll see an M2 Mac mini in October or November, but to be honest I wouldn’t wait for that.
I don't have any experience with the Studio, however, the single-core numbers for the M1 family are very similar (~1700 geek bench). From what I've read, there are few multi-core performance benefits noticeable to the average user.
The biggest performance gain is noticed by video editors and other professional types.
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Last night I watched this comparison between the two. Mac mini vs Mac Studio Don't Be Fooled
I think this helped my decision. I think I like the extra ports on the Mac Studio and it does annoy me that the Mac mini has to be one usb-c and one HDMI for dual monitor setup but that seems to be more about the limitation of the regular m1 for video outputs. I will probably just get the mini and one of those add on docks that adds more USB ports.
I think this helped my decision. I think I like the extra ports on the Mac Studio and it does annoy me that the Mac mini has to be one usb-c and one HDMI for dual monitor setup but that seems to be more about the limitation of the regular m1 for video outputs. I will probably just get the mini and one of those add on docks that adds more USB ports.
'Future proof' is one of the worst reasons to overbuy. Better to buy to meet needs now and upgrade in the future when the current machine no longer cuts the mustard.
Financially, and probably performance wise, you'd be better getting the mini now and then upgrading to the M3 or M4 in a few years time.
I bought a 16/512 m1 Mini six months after they were introduced. I had a late 2015 iMac with 24GB memory and I was worried about the lesser amount available on the m1. I waited for the m1 iMac announcement, hoping for a 27"; when the new iMac turned out to be 24" and port-starved, I pulled the trigger for the 16/512 and an LG 5K Ultrafine.
I was persuaded by all the reports that the m1's Unified Memory was doing a great job, and now a year later I have yet to encounter any out-of-memory messages. Mostly I use only MS Office and Adobe Creative Suite apps for print and web page production. I was sorta thinking about the base-model Studio because of some performance issues with Premiere Pro--it was only about 10% faster than my iMac--but then a Premiere update enabled hardware encoding and I fell in love with the m1 Mini all over again.
Three monitors, using a DisplayLink dongle for one of them, and I'm rendering a video and working in Photoshop and windows open in Safari, Firefox, and Chrome, and watching the Pirates at Cubs on MLB.com.
The future is now!
I was persuaded by all the reports that the m1's Unified Memory was doing a great job, and now a year later I have yet to encounter any out-of-memory messages. Mostly I use only MS Office and Adobe Creative Suite apps for print and web page production. I was sorta thinking about the base-model Studio because of some performance issues with Premiere Pro--it was only about 10% faster than my iMac--but then a Premiere update enabled hardware encoding and I fell in love with the m1 Mini all over again.
Three monitors, using a DisplayLink dongle for one of them, and I'm rendering a video and working in Photoshop and windows open in Safari, Firefox, and Chrome, and watching the Pirates at Cubs on MLB.com.
The future is now!
I have an M1 mini 16/512 and an M1 Pro MacBook Pro 16 32/512. I absolutely love the MacBook Pro - it is a luxury laptop but I use less than 10% of the CPU capacity of this system. I am glad that I have 32 GB of RAM as it means that I don't swap at all but I would actually be fine if there were an M1 CPU in it. I think that I would be better off with a MacBook Air 15 that has been rumored to come out next year.
I use the M1 mini as a desktop and it runs one of my pro applications. The deficiency that I have with the mini is that it can only support 2 external displays but I have this limitation with my MacBook Pro as well. I run the other program on a 2015 MacBook Pro hooked up to an external display. The M1 mini has gobs of CPU horsepower for what I need it to do. I've also started using it as a NAS moving some files from my large Windows desktop. The M1 mini is quite a capable system. I'd love a Studio but there's no way for me to justify it for my needs. The fan noise issue is a minor concern as well. Apple has a lot of holes in their product line right now. There's talk of an M1 Pro mini or an M2 Pro mini and that might be your sweet spot.
I use the M1 mini as a desktop and it runs one of my pro applications. The deficiency that I have with the mini is that it can only support 2 external displays but I have this limitation with my MacBook Pro as well. I run the other program on a 2015 MacBook Pro hooked up to an external display. The M1 mini has gobs of CPU horsepower for what I need it to do. I've also started using it as a NAS moving some files from my large Windows desktop. The M1 mini is quite a capable system. I'd love a Studio but there's no way for me to justify it for my needs. The fan noise issue is a minor concern as well. Apple has a lot of holes in their product line right now. There's talk of an M1 Pro mini or an M2 Pro mini and that might be your sweet spot.
I am not convinced a larger MacBook Air will be released, but I will hope for one for your sake.
Anyhow, yes these things are very powerful, which is why I was wrong in my M1 predictions before the launch in 2020. This is what I had predicted, based mainly upon performance measures:
A14 (or something similar): MacBook Air
A14X (which is M1): MacBook Pro
A14Z? (roughly M1 Pro): MacBook Pro high end model
Why did I think this? Cuz even the iPhone's A14 is arguably significantly faster than any Intel MacBook Air ever made.
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I am not convinced a larger MacBook Air will be released, but I will hope for one for your sake.
Anyhow, yes these things are very powerful, which is why I was wrong in my M1 predictions before the launch in 2020. This is what I had predicted, based mainly upon performance measures:
A14 (or something similar): MacBook Air
A14X (which is M1): MacBook Pro
A14Z? (roughly M1 Pro): MacBook Pro high end model
Why did I think this? Cuz even the iPhone's A14 is arguably significantly faster than any Intel MacBook Air ever made.
The M1 has 7,400 Geekbench 5 multicore points. I'd argue that the average person is fine with 2000-3000 Geekbench 5 multicore. Sure, you get super responsiveness with the high single-core score but you actually don't get more accomplished. That's why the M1 as a floor is so crazy.
A revised/upgraded Mac Mini probably won't arrive until Oct/Nov.
Can you wait that long?
Alternative:
Wait until the base model Mac Studio hits the Apple refurbished store, then pick one up.
Price will probably be about 1,799.
IF it won't hurt you to spend the extra $$$, the Studio will be the much better buy.
Can you wait that long?
Alternative:
Wait until the base model Mac Studio hits the Apple refurbished store, then pick one up.
Price will probably be about 1,799.
IF it won't hurt you to spend the extra $$$, the Studio will be the much better buy.
Yup.
In 2021 I bought a 2017 Intel MacBook Air for my wife and a 2015 Intel MacBook Pro for my daughter. Respectively, they are the i5-5350U (GB5 ~1500) and the i5-5257U (GB5 ~1700). Performance for entry level usage is fine for their needs. They should be good with those machines for several years.
My personal 2017 iMac is i5-7600 (GB5 ~3700) with 24 GB RAM and lots of SSD space, and I have no desire to upgrade it anytime soon, esp. since it does hardware HEVC h.265 decoding and encoding.
My work machine is a 2014 Mac mini with i5-4278U (GB5 ~1600) and it's OK too for my business usage, although it was just a temporary stop gap purchase with 8 GB RAM in 2021 after I ran into problems with my old Mac Pro. I'll most likely replace it with an M2 / Mn Pro Mac mini with 16 GB RAM. In truth, for me your 3000 GB multi-core spec is on point -- whereas the updated Mac mini would likely be over 3X as fast -- so I don't need all that speed for a business app machine. It's really just that I want to finally get an Apple Silicon Mac to play around with.
I wonder when the Mac Studio will appear on the refurb store. I'm hoping it's not 2023.
The one minor annoyance for me though is that it's actually too tall to fit under my monitor. I have about 3.5" of clearance under my monitor. The other problem is even if it does show up on the refurb store this summer, the refurbs never qualify for the Back-To-School promotion (for which I am eligible).
The rumors about WWDC are strong enough now that I'm tempted to just wait it out and if nothing comes out at WWDC then I'll just order. I know the M2 probably won't be that much more powerful but I'm hoping that maybe it's more than just a spec bump. Maybe they will add back in the SD card or add some more usb-c or usb-a ports to it. What I have right now Mac mini 2011 is kinda slow at times but it gets the job done for now. I can keep using it for another 2 months if needed.