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Mac Mini m2 Pro - 16GB vs 32GB
- Thread starter icemantx
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32GB was tempting but I saw a few MaxTech videos showing minimal-to-zero benefit between 16GB vs 24GB/32GB on Apple Silicon, and their tests pushed the system harder than my typical use case.
I went with the base 10-core M2 Pro with 16GB/1TB because the storage upgrade was only $180 and 1TB guarantees the fastest "disk" speed compared to 256/512 NAND configurations. If 32GB RAM upgrade was also $180 then I may have just done it, but $360 (edu) was hard to justify for my light photo/video editing needs (and the final price starts getting into Mac Studio territory).
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I had the exact same thought process. I am a pretty light user (just like the Pro chip support for 3 monitors and more ports). I use up 13/16GB RAM in my 2018 mini, so 16GB in an Apple Silicon Mac should be fine for me, but I will do some thorough testing in the first two weeks to double check.
RAM is RAM. It still operates the same way pre-Apple silicon as it did with Intel Macs, only transferring data significantly faster due to it's position on the logic board.
Buy the amount of RAM that your most used apps consume.
Buy the amount of RAM that your most used apps consume.
first reports, loud fan noise and heat on Mac Mini M2 Pro.
I will be avoiding this model, my Mac Mini m1 is silent with over 100 audio tracks and plug ins!
Maybe the Mac Mini m2 (not Pro) is the way to go?
check around 8.30
I will be avoiding this model, my Mac Mini m1 is silent with over 100 audio tracks and plug ins!
Maybe the Mac Mini m2 (not Pro) is the way to go?
how is it compared to m1 mac mini with regards to fan noise? in the video it is exporting a premiere pro video though. will it be silent if im just using logic pro and plugins like you with the new m2 mac mini?
It wasnt compared to the M1 Mac Mini, but he said its the ONLY time he has heard fans on any of his Mac computers!
Interesting. Almost every review I have seen has said the opposite. As long as it isn't the horrible whistling and whining noise like the Mac Studio, I am not fussed.
32GB. I'll be using it for a lot of multi-tasking...but more for future proofing. I want it to last at least 5 years.
I have 16GB in my M1 Mini, and I can’t hit the memory limit unless I try really hard by loading a few big Kontakt libraries. But even then, I can mitigate it by purging samples - then a 3GB sample library only uses 200-300MB by only loading the samples that are actually used in a track.
I feel like I’d only get 32GB to “future proof” because my 12-year-old Mac Mini also has 16GB memory and surely that won’t be enough RAM in another 12 years….
I feel like I’d only get 32GB to “future proof” because my 12-year-old Mac Mini also has 16GB memory and surely that won’t be enough RAM in another 12 years….
Same here. I am very impressed by the longevity of my early-2015 13" MBP with 8GB RAM. It is getting a second life serving our 6th-grader and the battery life is still respectable.
My 8GB M1 Mini puts my Windows work laptop to shame (quad core i7, 32GB RAM, SSD). Apple Silicon with unified memory works so much better and doesn't require the same amount of RAM as legacy architectures. Even with 20 Safari/Chrome tabs open, Word, Excel, Final Cut Pro, and Affinity Photo all running, my M1 Mini with 8GB is plenty responsive. Of course, my 16GB M1 MBA handles the same workload more smoothly and I use the extra RAM for some occasional VMs but I don't see the value in 32GB for my planned use this decade -- definitely in a Windows PC but not with Apple Silicon. Anxiously awaiting my M2 Pro Mini with 16GB/1TB.
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I got the M2 Pro 16GB 525GB model yesterday.
I plan to video edit, photography work and music creation.
I'm going to see over the coming days just how much RAM I use and the systems performance when I push it. I've come from a Windows PC with 64GB RAM, which to be honest I barely tucked into 32GB of it... This was mostly consumed by my 50+ Chrome tab habit!
At the very least, I will exchange this model out for the 1TB spec'ed model for the faster SSD performance. As what concerns me somewhat is the swap performance on the slower 512GB drive. Last night I was able to go into swap territory, but it did take some effort.
The price premium Apple are charging for 32GB upgrade is hard to swallow. For the RAM upgrade and the 1TB it's an extra £540, which is a hell of a lot of money even with edu discounts. £1829 total.
Another thing I am thinking about is how long do I want to hang on to this device for. It's way down the line and feels almost silly saying it. But I can see myself wanting the M3 when it does get released, as it being a tock cycle in the CPU development, we can assume it will be a big upgrade. What I'm trying to say is that this won't be a machine I'm going to be hanging on to for years and years, which makes the 32GB requirement less important for future proofing.
I plan to video edit, photography work and music creation.
I'm going to see over the coming days just how much RAM I use and the systems performance when I push it. I've come from a Windows PC with 64GB RAM, which to be honest I barely tucked into 32GB of it... This was mostly consumed by my 50+ Chrome tab habit!
At the very least, I will exchange this model out for the 1TB spec'ed model for the faster SSD performance. As what concerns me somewhat is the swap performance on the slower 512GB drive. Last night I was able to go into swap territory, but it did take some effort.
The price premium Apple are charging for 32GB upgrade is hard to swallow. For the RAM upgrade and the 1TB it's an extra £540, which is a hell of a lot of money even with edu discounts. £1829 total.
Another thing I am thinking about is how long do I want to hang on to this device for. It's way down the line and feels almost silly saying it. But I can see myself wanting the M3 when it does get released, as it being a tock cycle in the CPU development, we can assume it will be a big upgrade. What I'm trying to say is that this won't be a machine I'm going to be hanging on to for years and years, which makes the 32GB requirement less important for future proofing.
I went with:
10-Core M2 Pro / 16-Core GPU
16GB Ram
1TB SSD
1GBe
I've been getting by very comfortably on 16GB Ram with my M1 Mini for the past 6 months while I waited for the M2 Pro so I opted to stick with 16GB again. For my uses, Logic Pro and some light gaming, 16GB is still more than enough RAM but the CPU, GPU, SSD and memory bandwidth upgrade will give me real benefits.
Massive upgrade for me at a relatively good cost. An extra 500 euro for 16GB->32GB Ram didn't seem worth it when it's unlikely I'd make use of it!
10-Core M2 Pro / 16-Core GPU
16GB Ram
1TB SSD
1GBe
I've been getting by very comfortably on 16GB Ram with my M1 Mini for the past 6 months while I waited for the M2 Pro so I opted to stick with 16GB again. For my uses, Logic Pro and some light gaming, 16GB is still more than enough RAM but the CPU, GPU, SSD and memory bandwidth upgrade will give me real benefits.
Massive upgrade for me at a relatively good cost. An extra 500 euro for 16GB->32GB Ram didn't seem worth it when it's unlikely I'd make use of it!
I'm thinking go for 16GB/1TB but! I don't know if goes for the non-PRO or the PRO.
I also do light photo/video, so why you and me need the PRO?
I went with 16GB. Ideally I'd have gone with 32GB, however, when you think not about the cash, but more so what else (not computers) you could do with that money, it becomes hard to justify the outlay for a slightly better user experience.
The M2 Pro is only $140 more than the regular M2 when both configured with 16GB/1TB (through Apple Education site in the U.S.). To me, that is a small price to get better performance, faster 1TB read/write speeds on the Pro (8-channel NAND vs 4-channel on non-Pro), additional Thunderbolt 4 ports, and HDMI 2.1 (versus HDMI 2.0 on the non-Pro).
Edit: My mistake, $140 difference is between M2 24GB/1TB and M2 Pro 16GB/1TB.
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mmm yes but possibly more noisy https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-mini-m2-pro-16gb-vs-32gb.2378222/post-31910230
by the way, how to get a Education price? how Apple verify that you are an student?
I guess the answer to the 16GB vs 32GB question depends on which of the following categories you belong:
2007-2009 Mac Mini was supported at least a generation longer if it had more RAM. After that all Mac Minis had 9-10 years of support by Apple, i.e. they were considered usable enough to provide up to date MacOS. Normally during 9-10 years minimal memory requirements at least doubled. So I suspect that by the end of support Mac Mini M2 Pro with 16GB will feel like current machines with 8GB, i.e. it will be Ok for some tasks, but you would probably desperately want to upgrade
- Your current workflow requires 32GB
- Your future workflow may require 32GB
- You don't need 32GB now and likely won't need it later
2007-2009 Mac Mini was supported at least a generation longer if it had more RAM. After that all Mac Minis had 9-10 years of support by Apple, i.e. they were considered usable enough to provide up to date MacOS. Normally during 9-10 years minimal memory requirements at least doubled. So I suspect that by the end of support Mac Mini M2 Pro with 16GB will feel like current machines with 8GB, i.e. it will be Ok for some tasks, but you would probably desperately want to upgrade
In the US, Apple education site does not verify anything. I have bought multiple times from Apple Education Store. No issues. It is just like ordering from regular site but cheaper.
I noticed those posts too. Some reviews say M2 Pro is silent, some hear noise. I will judge it myself once it arrives. If it is truly irritating then I'll return it. Will see.