Mac Mini M4 Pro (24GB) – Should I return for more RAM or a Studio?

[Infriad]

Hi all,

I recently bought a Mac Mini (M4 Pro, 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD) through the Apple Store. I’ve had it for only a couple of days and I’m already second-guessing my choice.

Here’s my situation:

I mainly use it for video editing in Premiere Pro (4K footage) or some music production in Ableton, often with multiple browser windows and other apps open.

I just switched from Final Cut Pro to Premiere Pro to do text based editing.

During editing, I noticed playback started lagging quite a bit, and Activity Monitor showed memory pressure turning yellow — I was sitting at around 18GB used out of the 24GB. To get smooth playback I had to start closing down apps.

I’ve done some research, and it seems that when editing 4K videos in Premiere Pro you pretty much need to create proxies to avoid running into RAM limitations. I tried that, and while it did help with playback, generating the proxy files took ages — and the Mini’s fans spun up so loud it sounded like a vacuum cleaner.

Originally I was considering 48GB RAM, but so many reviews and forum posts kept saying “24GB unified memory is plenty, you won’t need more.” After thinking about it for almost a year, I finally pulled the trigger on the 24GB config — and now I’m not sure I made the right call.

Now I’m within Apple’s 14-day return window. My options would be:

• Return and upgrade to a Mac Mini with 48GB RAM.
• Return and go for a Mac Studio instead (M4 Max and 36GB RAM).
• Keep what I have and rely on proxies/workarounds in Premiere.

What do you think? Has anyone here regretted going with “only” 24GB on a Mini for creative work? Is it worth spending more now to avoid frustration later?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[maflynn]

I was in a similar situation, where as I had a M4 Pro Mini, and was debating keeping it or returning it. I chose to return it and get the studio. Yes it cost more money, but at the end of the day, the upsides of the Studio out weighed the cost increase.

For me, I was unhappy with the thermal performance of the mini. The default fan curve was such that the temps were in the 80s and 90c range for most of my tasks. I was hoping for better performance in the gaming side of things, given the increased gpu cores over the M4, but that wasn't the case.

The studio's performance is excellent, I'm extremely happy with it, and its significantly cooler by default. I know with the aid of MAcs Fan Control the mini could be manually cooled by my intervention, but the fact is, there's just not a lot of thermal headroom compared to the studio.

 

[Infriad]

I was in a similar situation, where as I had a M4 Pro Mini, and was debating keeping it or returning it. I chose to return it and get the studio. Yes it cost more money, but at the end of the day, the upsides of the Studio out weighed the cost increase.

For me, I was unhappy with the thermal performance of the mini. The default fan curve was such that the temps were in the 80s and 90c range for most of my tasks. I was hoping for better performance in the gaming side of things, given the increased gpu cores over the M4, but that wasn't the case.

The studio's performance is excellent, I'm extremely happy with it, and its significantly cooler by default. I know with the aid of MAcs Fan Control the mini could be manually cooled by my intervention, but the fact is, there's just not a lot of thermal headroom compared to the studio.

Yeah, exactly – the moment I heard the fans spin up it became pretty clear to me that this isn’t the right machine. It also felt really warm when pushing it.

I’m leaning towards the Studio myself right now, but I’m wondering if 36GB of RAM would be enough for my workflow. Which spec do you have on your Studio, and how often do you actually hear the fans on it?

 

[maflynn]

I’m leaning towards the Studio myself right now, but I’m wondering if 36GB of RAM would be enough for my workflow. Which spec do you have on your Studio, and how often do you actually hear the fans on it?

You have options regarding storage after purchase, you don't have that same freedom with ram. I'm happy with 36GB, but I'm not doing video, I would definitely upgrade the ram if you can swing it.

I got the base model, because that's all I needed, I'm not pushing the machine terribly. The 512GB drive is on the smaller side for me, but I bought an OWC Ultra Envoy 2TB drive and that sits next the studio. Being TB5, its as fast as my internal drive. If I didn't want an external drive, you can actually buy the storage-daughter cards from Ali express (there's a thread where people are doing that in the studio sub forum).

 

[curnalpanic]

It may not be just about the memory. The Max chips should have much higher bandwidth as well. I think video editing is one of those use cases that demand the Studio.

 

[Infriad]

It may not be just about the memory. The Max chips should have much higher bandwidth as well. I think video editing is one of those use cases that demand the Studio.

Yeah true, Apparently the M4 Max have double the memory bandwidth compared to M4 Pro so that should make a big difference as well.

 

[PaulD-UK]

Also, the Studio has double the video encode/decode engines compared to the mini, if you’re using a mainstream video codec for your footage.
(Or double double for the Ultra).

 

[chrfr]

Now I’m within Apple’s 14-day return window. My options would be:

• Return and upgrade to a Mac Mini with 48GB RAM.
• Return and go for a Mac Studio instead (M4 Max and 36GB RAM).
• Keep what I have and rely on proxies/workarounds in Premiere.

a 48GB Mac mini gets to being $200 less expensive than the Studio with 36GB RAM and 1TB storage. Unless you're doing something that's purely dependent on having 48GB RAM but not a faster CPU, the mini makes no sense to buy at that price.

 

[Infriad]

a 48GB Mac mini gets to being $200 less expensive than the Studio with 36GB RAM and 1TB storage. Unless you're doing something that's purely dependent on having 48GB RAM but not a faster CPU, the mini makes no sense to buy at that price.

Yeah, I’ve more or less made up my mind. I’ll be returning the Mini and going for the Studio instead

 

[FatLouie]

Yeah, I’ve more or less made up my mind. I’ll be returning the Mini and going for the Studio instead

Take a look at the refurbished Studios and save some money. If you are a U.S. veteran, you can combine the refurbish with a veterans discount and save even more money.