Mac Mini M4

[Pakorn]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and long time user of pc and thinking of moving to mac Mini 4.
I have a few questions, apologize in advance if that sounds like silly questions.

- I use my pc to transcode and edit videos + photos. Videos using h265.
Would Apple Mini able to do that correctly as well compared to pc world ?
- I see SSD is quite limited with the entry level Mini M4. Is there a way to use a NAS as storage pool ? In case answer is yes, do I need to edit my photos locally on my SSD drive and transfer or can I edit directly on my NAS.
- Do I need an antivirus ?

Thanks

 

[bogdanw]

- I use my pc to transcode and edit videos + photos. Videos using h265.
Would Apple Mini able to do that correctly as well compared to pc world ?

Yes.
Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices https://support.apple.com/en-us/116944
What software are you using?
HandBrake is available for macOS https://handbrake.fr

- I see SSD is quite limited with the entry level Mini M4. Is there a way to use a NAS as storage pool ? In case answer is yes, do I need to edit my photos locally on my SSD drive and transfer or can I edit directly on my NAS.

macOS can only read NTFS. It can read-write FAT & ExFAT
I use Acasis TBU405 Air & Lexar NM790 1TB https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/thunderbolt-3-m-2-nvme-ssd-enclosures.2027925/post-33837377

- Do I need an antivirus ?

No.
Protecting against malware in macOS
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/security/sec469d47bd8/web

 

[Pakorn]

Yes.
Using HEIF or HEVC media on Apple devices https://support.apple.com/en-us/116944
What software are you using?
HandBrake is available for macOS https://handbrake.fr


macOS can only read NTFS. It can read-write FAT & ExFAT
I use Acasis TBU405 Air & Lexar NM790 1TB https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/thunderbolt-3-m-2-nvme-ssd-enclosures.2027925/post-33837377

No.
Protecting against malware in macOS
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/security/sec469d47bd8/web

I use Handbrake on pc but I read that it is not doing very well with a mac. Just wondering if transcoding with CPU h265 will be fast enough or would it take much more time ?

Well, my idea is to make a NAS with TrueNAS, that I find much better than an external enclosure that will take some space on my desk. This way I would like to do the following for example for a movie to compress (I take the more resource burining process but can be also photo edit).

Option 1 :
- Move movie from NAS to local ssd
- Edit
- Move movie from local ssd to NAS

Option 2:
- connect to NAS and transcode directly the file located in the NAS drive.

Hope I am clear on this, not so easy to explain.

 

[Fishrrman]

For video intensive work, DO NOT settle for a "base level" Mini.

I'd suggest at least 32gb of RAM, and a 1tb SSD.

 

[theluggage]

macOS can only read NTFS. It can read-write FAT & ExFAT

That's not going to affect files stored on a NAS accessed via SMB file sharing. Anyhow, most NASs are Linux-based and will be using ext4 or ZFS filesystems.

- connect to NAS and transcode directly the file located in the NAS drive.

The network is always going to be slower at data transfer than the internal SSD - whether it will be quicker to copy the file, transcode it and then copy back the result us, I suspect, a case of try it and see with your files & settings: too many variables to guess.

However, it's not transcoding that will be the issue, because you want your editor to work smoothly - transcoding is coffee break time.

If you're going to be copying a lot of files over the network - or trying to edit - then it might be worth getting the $100 10Gbps Ethernet option on your Mac. Your NAS, network switch and cabling will all need to be 10Gb-capable to get the advantage (or even 2.5G will be faster than regular 1Gb)

 

[bogdanw]

I use Handbrake on pc but I read that it is not doing very well with a mac. Just wondering if transcoding with CPU h265 will be fast enough or would it take much more time ?

I have the cheapest Mac mini M4 (16GB RAM 256GB SSD) let me know what encoding test do you want performed with Handbrake.
Example jellyfish-160-mbps-4k-uhd-h264.mkv from https://repo.jellyfin.org/archive/jellyfish/ takes about 9 seconds to convert to h265.

 

[Pakorn]

9 secs for 500 MB is really fast, but did you use slow encoding quality 18 or what else ?

 

[Pakorn]

For video intensive work, DO NOT settle for a "base level" Mini.

I'd suggest at least 32gb of RAM, and a 1tb SSD.

Oh ok but that's a break dealer because price will be much higher than expected...

 

[bogdanw]

9 secs for 500 MB is really fast, but did you use slow encoding quality 18 or what else ?

Video encoder: Apple VideoToolbox H.265 10bit, Constant Quality CQ 55, the default configuration for the preset H.265 Apple VideoToolbox 2160P 4K https://handbrake.fr/docs/en/1.9.0/technical/video-videotoolbox.html
CQ is in this case from 0 to 100.

The included QuickTime Player can also provide hardware-accelerated conversion from H.264 to H.265
https://support.apple.com/guide/quicktime-player/export-movies-qtp20e395859/mac

You don't need more RAM for encoding, the file is not loaded into RAM.


And don't get scammed by Apple into paying $400 for 1TB. I got the Acasis 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure for $54 and Lexar 1TB NM790 is about $70. You can find more tested enclosures and SSDs in the "Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosures" thread linked above.

 

[Pakorn]

Video encoder: Apple VideoToolbox H.265 10bit, Constant Quality CQ 55, the default configuration for the preset H.265 Apple VideoToolbox 2160P 4K https://handbrake.fr/docs/en/1.9.0/technical/video-videotoolbox.html
CQ is in this case from 0 to 100.

The included QuickTime Player can also provide hardware-accelerated conversion from H.264 to H.265
https://support.apple.com/guide/quicktime-player/export-movies-qtp20e395859/mac

You don't need more RAM for encoding, the file is not loaded into RAM.
View attachment 2509360

And don't get scammed by Apple into paying $400 for 1TB. I got the Acasis 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure for $54 and Lexar 1TB NM790 is about $70. You can find more tested enclosures and SSDs in the "Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosures" thread linked above.

Beautiful. Would you recommend Mini M4 with 512GB or 250GB is enough ?
Thanks for all the info.

 

[Mrbobb]

Editing projects direct from NAS should be the same deal with PC or Mac, it DEPENDS on the size of the files you are working with and somewhat on the behavior of the editor ur using. In general, is preferable to keep things local than going across the LAN while ur editing, but that depends on your files size and memory size.

 

[drrich2]

Would you recommend Mini M4 with 512GB or 250GB is enough ?

I'm skeptical of 256 GB and consider 512 GB a minimum, but I have a few questions that impact this:

1.) Do you intend to use a NAS or an external SSD?

2.) Will this external SSD (Thunderbolt 3 enclosure, I'm guessing) be used as...

-----A separate external disc for holding large files, libraries and maybe large app.s (e.g.: games)?
-----Or will you make the external drive the Startup Disc, essentially using it as though it were the internal drive, while likely ignoring your internal SSD almost entirely?
-----A related topic I've seen mentioned is where you put your 'home folder,' but I'm not conversant in that.

- I see SSD is quite limited with the entry level Mini M4. Is there a way to use a NAS as storage pool ?

How did you make the jump from Apple's often considered grossly overpriced internal SSD upgrades to a NAS without considering an external Thunderbolt SSD instead? A multi-bay NAS (for redundancy/backup) can do things most simple external SSD devices can't, but if keeping the budget down is your goal, unless you already have one, better check the prices!

Do I need an antivirus ?

You will hear different answers over time on that, but some say 'yes,' and do you want to risk passing on even PC-specific malware when you forward an e-mail, etc...? I like Bitdefender for Mac, and it's well-rated.