Mac mini m2 and design tools/software (think Adobe etc)

[ovbacon]

I have a mini M2, 16GB/512GB and use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Lightroom every day. Before my main Mac for this work was my 2015 iMac 5K which did great but got slower and slower... So I decided on a mini due to price and simply expecting it would work pretty ok.

Now I do not do any heavy video editing but I'm curious to hear if and what people are able to do on reasonable basic mini's.

But as I said I use Photoshop 2023 and Lightroom Classic on a daily basis running all files and photos from a external ssd drive as my mini doesn't have the storage internally for them and I think apple internal storage is way overpriced.
So I was a little worried of how well this would all work and I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised at how fast these 3 pieces of software work on this mini...

So I would say that for medium/profesional design work this mini does amazing work. Of course if graphic design or professional photography is your sole business I would go higher as it is a complete business write off (although my mini is as well).

I'm curious what other software/design tools people are using on their mini and how good or bad it is running on it.

 

[memo90061]

I was about to post the same question! I have an iMac Pro and it's fast in every aspect EXCEPT editing HDR videos or video files from my Panasonic S5. The computer seems to struggle with playback of the 10 bit videos and editing is the same.

 

[EponymousHoward]

Not a vanilla M2, but am M2 Pro mini. (Predecessor an Intel 2018 mini).

Test of Lightroom's new AI Denoise - same image, nothing else running. Each machine has its own library on new-ish ext SSDs

Intel (8gb RAM): 7 minutes +/- 30 seconds
M2 Pro (16gb RAM): 30 seconds +/- 5 seconds

Generally, now have no hesitation running LR and PS together, whereas the Intel got really grumpy and therefore tiresome (obv the extra RAM helps).

I also use QGIS via Rosetta2 and it just flies along - I really thought it would struggle. Would still like a native compile though.

I did a ton of scanning a couple of weeks ago of very old (1940s/50s/60s) negs of variable quality, and although the scanner was slow (2002 vintage yet Epson still make a driver for it!) that would have been really tiresome on the Intel. On the M2 Pro: scan>Photoshop to make basic adjustments>rinse>repeat, then all into Lightroom to organise and start conservation there and in PS. I shudder to think how long the neural filters would take on the Intel.

The M2 Pro is a beast (although very prone to interference on 5GHz wifi if an HDMI plugs is a bit knackered, something the Intel doesn't get). Still, need a new screen anyway...