Mac Mini M6 worth it from M2 Pro (old shape)?

[Fozziebear40]

Hi, I used to be on top of all the improvements in Macs from the Intel days but got rather blasé with M chips, the M1 being a beast in its day.
I have an M2 Pro, 16/512GB which pootles along fine for my needs. Photoshop, Affinity Publisher and Microsoft Office. I am not interested in any AI stuff.

I've always liked the new Mac mini size but never felt I'd get much improvement so never bought one. Looking at the new ones, I am wondering if it's worth it now? The M6 with 16/512GB is £1,099, the base M5 Pro is £1,699. Mine traded in would get £290. So the cheapest upgrade would cost £809, as I type this I think I know what the answer is.

 

[aakshey]

Hi, I used to be on top of all the improvements in Macs from the Intel days but got rather blasé with M chips, the M1 being a beast in its day.
I have an M2 Pro, 16/512GB which pootles along fine for my needs. Photoshop, Affinity Publisher and Microsoft Office. I am not interested in any AI stuff.

I've always liked the new Mac mini size but never felt I'd get much improvement so never bought one. Looking at the new ones, I am wondering if it's worth it now? The M6 with 16/512GB is £1,099, the base M5 Pro is £1,699. Mine traded in would get £290. So the cheapest upgrade would cost £809, as I type this I think I know what the answer is.

Doesn't seem you really need the upgrade.

Wait for M7 Pro or something. Go big or go home.

If you're compelled to upgrade, either of M6/M5 Pro are great options, but probably not worthwhile upgrades for you because they'll feel like upgrades only on paper + slightly snappier. Not worth spending so much on.

If and when you do upgrade, ensure you get at least 24 GB RAM, at least 1TB storage. And I can comfortably say you can easily delay any upgrade for a year or two right now.

 

[zgagato]

Doesn't seem you really need the upgrade.

Wait for M7 Pro or something. Go big or go home.

If you're compelled to upgrade, either of M6/M5 Pro are great options, but probably not worthwhile upgrades for you because they'll feel like upgrades only on paper + slightly snappier. Not worth spending so much on.

If and when you do upgrade, ensure you get at least 24 GB RAM, at least 1TB storage. And I can comfortably say you can easily delay any upgrade for a year or two right now.

I second that. have a top spec M2 pro mini with 1 TB internal SSD. Our mini still has higher memory bandwidth, more thunderbolt ports (+1) and usb A ports. Also I think the cooling in this old case is better than the M4 pro and M5 pro Minis. Wonder if the mini M6 still has removable SSD like the M4? Not that the 3rd party SSDs are worth it at those prices 🙁

 

[FreakinEurekan]

If it’s working for you (you said it is,) and if it’s still getting updates (the M2 will certainly handle Golden Gate,) you’re fine.

I was in a similar situation when the M4 came out, my M1 mini was “working fine” - but, I had a friend that DESPERATELY needed a new computer and the cost to go to M4 Pro was affordable. So I went for it. But that was a “convenience” update, not a required one. Which is to say, if you just WANT to upgrade - go for it! But no, you don’t “need” to upgrade.

 

[zgagato]

Maybe it is a good idea wait for the new minis to be in the refurb store? or Amazon sale? then you can decide weather to get it or not. The normal prices won't get better anyway. There is no rush.

 

[Fozziebear40]

Thank you all, it's what I suspected. Keeping my M2 Pro for now, and yes zgagato, the refurb store is the way to go.

 

[teohyc]

Straight up, no.

For the simple fact that the new computer won't help you get more work done.

That's the criteria I use when deciding whether to upgrade.

 

[iSuzan]

I asked myself the same question and I answered with "no".

I have a nearly spec'd out Mini M2 Pro (12 CPU/19 GPU, 2 TB SSD, 32 GB RAM). And it even has more TB4 ports...

So no... I don't need one. And I hope my brain reminds me all the time I will watch the tests of the new M6/M5 Pro Minis...

 

[Smartwatchlover]

Hi, I used to be on top of all the improvements in Macs from the Intel days but got rather blasé with M chips, the M1 being a beast in its day.
I have an M2 Pro, 16/512GB which pootles along fine for my needs. Photoshop, Affinity Publisher and Microsoft Office. I am not interested in any AI stuff.

I've always liked the new Mac mini size but never felt I'd get much improvement so never bought one. Looking at the new ones, I am wondering if it's worth it now? The M6 with 16/512GB is £1,099, the base M5 Pro is £1,699. Mine traded in would get £290. So the cheapest upgrade would cost £809, as I type this I think I know what the answer is.

That’s quite funny as today I decided to do exactly the opposite.

I have an old iMac 21.5” bought in 2017 and I need to upgrade my main workstation to the current M based architecture. My idea was to wait and see what the new Mac Mini would have brought in terms of performances, basic storage and price.

Well, after having seen the monster price here in Europe for a Mac Mini M6 with 512GB of storage (an astonishing 1,299 Eur or 1,515 USD), I simply went to Vinted and bought a Mac Mini M2 Pro with 512GB of storage at 750 Eur.

The 550 Eur that I have saved will fund my next Apple Watch Ultra 4.

 

[eSaF-Eddie]

My M4 Mini is less than a year old and I am debating with myself whether to get a slightly specced out M6 with 1TB Storage and 24GB Memory. To me Apple has confused the Mini line up and specifications, plus there is rumoured talk of the M7 in 2027, I think I may hold off and see where the Apple dice falls.

After all I don't think I will gain much by rushing into an M5 or M6 upgrade apart from bragging rights.
At the moment that is how I feel today but I may wake up tomorrow with a different mind set that will see me clutching my credit card in a sweaty palm.

 

[retta283]

I agree with those that say only upgrade if you will really appreciate the difference. Otherwise you're basically spending money on nothing but a different form factor which on a desktop is not really the best place to invest your money. M-series Macs are releasing at a steady enough tick that it's not quite a big deal to wait another year or two, and even if you find yourself needing more and buy shortly before a refresh, you'll still have solid hardware.

I bought M4 MBP shortly before M5 came out but wasn't too fussed by it, this machine will still do what I want for at least another 5 years if not closer to 10, based on how strongly the M1 series is holding up; notwithstanding that we can't ever see the future truly. It's a good time to have a Mac regardless of whether it's last year's model or this year's model, so you can at least console yourself with that fact.

 

[Fishrrman]

Wait, wait, wait...
Until '28...
And the great m8...!

 

[Swissfashion]

I asked myself the same question and I answered with "no".

I have a nearly spec'd out Mini M2 Pro (12 CPU/19 GPU, 2 TB SSD, 32 GB RAM). And it even has more TB4 ports...

So no... I don't need one. And I hope my brain reminds me all the time I will watch the tests of the new M6/M5 Pro Minis...

I wouldn’t have bought the M6 with your specifications. I have the 10 core CPU and 16 GB RAM, which sometimes chokes on DXO when I make ton of edits to a photo.

I wouldn’t have “upgraded “ to the M6 with that spec.