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Mini M2 (non-Pro) 24GB/512GB : what would be the work limitations?

Cham2000

Cham2000

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 11, 2022
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The question may seem stupid, but I'm trying to figure out if my mini choice will be enough for all of my needs, even on a long period of time. Suppose you have the following standard M2 mini: 24GB ram, 512GB ssd (not counting the choice of Ethernet port), and the Apple 27" Studio display. What kind of work you'll not be able to perform with it, or that would be too slow or laggy? Of course, I expect that editing several large 4k videos may be painful or very laggy. I also expect that "big and intense" 3D games would have a very low FPS level on this computer, if all the game settings are set to "best". But what else?

In other words: Without editing large 4k videos and playing games at their best settings, is the mini M2 24GB/512GB the "best computer"? **

Any experience and/or opinions on this?


__________
** The notion of "best computer" may seem absurd or ambiguous. I consider that the computer is the "best" when it lets you do everything you need or want to do comfortably, without frustration, for the minimal price possible. A professional that have to edit many large 4k videos in a short period of time will frustrate a lot, when using the minimal mini, so it's not the "best" computer for him. But excluding this task, the mini may be a low price "ideal computer".
 
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If I was still doing professional 3D work, I sure as hell wouldn’t be using any configuration of any Mini
 
digitalField said:
but 24gb of ram is not enough, FOR ME, for the amount of Chrome browser tabs i like to keep open at once.
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Not enough, just for Chrome? Geez! How many tabs are you keeping opened at once?
You should use some bookmarks instead...
 
It all depends on how patient you are.

You could edit multi-cam 4K video on that Mac mini. You could start the export and then go make lunch. You could come back from lunch and be finished, and then enjoy the rest of your day.

Or, you could have a maxed out Mac Studio Ultra. You could start the export and then sit there sweating bullets watching the progress bar while your client is on the phone demanding the final result.

Is time money? If so, get a high end Studio Ultra. The additional cost will pay for itself soon enough with your increased productivity.

Do you edit for fun with no deadline pressure? Go with the regular M2 and 24GB.

Hell even a base model with 8GB model will edit 4K video just fine so long as you aren't loading it up with simultaneous effects.
 
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Cham2000 said:
The question may seem stupid, but I'm trying to figure out if my mini choice will be enough for all of my needs, even on a long period of time. Suppose you have the following standard M2 mini: 24GB ram, 512GB ssd (not counting the choice of Ethernet port), and the Apple 27" Studio display. What kind of work you'll not be able to perform with it, or that would be too slow or laggy? Of course, I expect that editing several large 4k videos may be painful or very laggy. I also expect that "big and intense" 3D games would have a very low FPS level on this computer, if all the game settings are set to "best". But what else?
Click to expand...

Honestly, there are very few Mac games out there that won't be just fine on this configuration of M2 Mac mini. 512GB might be limiting if you want to, say, install every Blizzard game that has a macOS version and then your collection of 64-bit Intel and/or Apple Silicon native Mac games from Steam or the Mac App Store; but that's more of a "games take up a lot of storage" kind of thing.

Editing 4K videos will depend heavily on the codecs used. The standard M1 was able to edit 8K in some situations (not high-end ones mind you) and should've been able to do most 4K workflows with ease. So, an M2 with 24GB of RAM strikes me as not being something I'd worry about. Obviously, if you're doing higher-end workflows, that's where you'll probably want an M1 Pro or M2 Pro over the standard M1 or M2.



Cham2000 said:
In other words: Without editing large 4k videos and playing games at their best settings, is the mini M2 24GB/512GB the "best computer"? **

Any experience and/or opinions on this?


__________
** The notion of "best computer" may seem absurd or ambiguous. I consider that the computer is the "best" when it lets you do everything you need or want to do comfortably, without frustration, for the minimal price possible. A professional that have to edit many large 4k videos in a short period of time will frustrate a lot, when using the minimal mini, so it's not the "best" computer for him. But excluding this task, the mini may be a low price "ideal computer".
Click to expand...

Based on my experience on even a base configuration M1 (7 GPU Core; 8GB RAM; 256GB SSD), I'd say a 24GB RAM M2 would work fine. Whether you go with 512GB or higher sort of depends on how much you plan on storing on the machine at once (for gaming, I might opt for a 1TB just so you're not constantly uninstalling and reinstalling games whenever you decide you want to play something not currently installed; but for video editing workflows [where most use an external drive of some sort], I'd say 512GB should be fine).

CausticPuppy said:
It all depends on how patient you are.

You could edit multi-cam 4K video on that Mac mini. You could start the export and then go make lunch. You could come back from lunch and be finished, and then enjoy the rest of your day.
Click to expand...

Multi-cam 4K shouldn't be that demanding for even a base M1. Hell, Apple demoed the A12Z Bionic Developer Transition Kit smoking that kind of workflow like it wasn't that big of a deal.

CausticPuppy said:
Or, you could have a maxed out Mac Studio Ultra. You could start the export and then sit there sweating bullets watching the progress bar while your client is on the phone demanding the final result.

Is time money? If so, get a high end Studio Ultra. The additional cost will pay for itself soon enough with your increased productivity.
Click to expand...

Last I checked, most video software isn't optimized for M1 Ultra. Most post-production software in general seems not to be. Obviously, that's a temporary problem likely to be fixed before too long. But that seems to be not the best buy for that kind of thing RIGHT NOW.

CausticPuppy said:
Do you edit for fun with no deadline pressure? Go with the regular M2 and 24GB.

Hell even a base model with 8GB model will edit 4K video just fine so long as you aren't loading it up with simultaneous effects.
Click to expand...
That, I'll definitely buy. And is a good distinction that isn't made often enough around here. Kudos!
 
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Alex Cai said:
M2 Pro 16gb 512Gb is better than M2 24Gb 512Gb
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Why? Please, could you elaborate? Yes, obviously, the M2 Pro is faster, have a better GPU, and have two more TB ports. But that base configuration is still 230$CD (taxes included) more than the M2 24GB/512GB, and doesn't have enough ram. This is one reason why I'm asking my silly question here, to try to figure out if I should go with the M2 or the M2 Pro with less ram instead. The ram upgrade to 32GB is insanely costly for the M2 Pro, and I do need a lot of ram since I multitask a lot with many apps open at the same time. I don't want to pay for an overkill computer, for what I may need in the future. I'm also worrying about the long term viability of the M2 Pro with its higher power consumption and its thermal constraints. I have the strong impression that the M2 24GB is a better alternative.
 
"Mini M2 (non-Pro) 24GB/512GB : what would be the work limitations?"

If you're worried about "limitations" of the above configuration, the solution to your worries is easy:

Get the m2PRO Mini.
The base configuration is 16/512.
If 16gb of RAM doesn't seem like enough, "bump it up" to 32gb.

Worries -- be gone...!
 
I went for the 24GB/512 myself, I run a lot of apps at once though they often aren't doing much so the processor speed isn't terribly important. I also expect RAM needs to slowly creep up over time.

It being cheaper than the Pro with less RAM pretty much sealed the option for me. Upgrading the RAM in the Pro made it basically Studio price and at that point I'd be waiting for an M2 Studio.
 
Cham2000 said:
Why? Please, could you elaborate? Yes, obviously, the M2 Pro is faster, have a better GPU, and have two more TB ports. But that base configuration is still 230$CD (taxes included) more than the M2 24GB/512GB, and doesn't have enough ram. This is one reason why I'm asking my silly question here, to try to figure out if I should go with the M2 or the M2 Pro with less ram instead. The ram upgrade to 32GB is insanely costly for the M2 Pro, and I do need a lot of ram since I multitask a lot with many apps open at the same time. I don't want to pay for an overkill computer, for what I may need in the future. I'm also worrying about the long term viability of the M2 Pro with its higher power consumption and its thermal constraints. I have the strong impression that the M2 24GB is a better alternative.
Click to expand...
Are you using the PC for yourself, or is a customer calling you because they need their stuff done right away?

The regular M2 can handle video editing fine for example, but it sure wont render as fast as the Pro model, but its not like you cant go outside and breath some air or something until it finishes lol.

Kinda like my Elantra Sport isnt as fast as maybe a Veloster N, but am I ever in a rush to go somewhere? No
 
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Fishrrman said:
If you're worried about "limitations" of the above configuration, the solution to your worries is easy:

Get the m2PRO Mini.
The base configuration is 16/512.
If 16gb of RAM doesn't seem like enough, "bump it up" to 32gb.

Worries -- be gone...!
Click to expand...
This isn't answering the question (please, read it again!). The problem with your suggestion is it's much more costly! Upgrading the M2 Pro with 32GB gets you almost in the Studio territory!
 
M2 Pro 16GB 512Gb

I think the pro is easier to sell than the high-end version of the base mini so that it is easy to replace it with a better product
 
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