Picking up a Mac Studio M4 Max today

[Non-Euclidean]

So, after reading tons of Apple articles about M* hardware over the last few years I finally decided to replace my (apparently unresponsive) 2010 Mac Mini. I tried starting the mini this weekend and the power light comes on, but nothing ever makes it to the display. Being a die-hard Trekkie, I was also holding out for the M5 (The Ultimate Computer), but that can always be a MacBook of some flavor

It will also replace my current desktop, Windows 10 i7-5820K (32G RAM), which I built back in 2012 2016. Aside from regular usage, a bunch of Handbrake encoding and I will move Plex off of my Synology 918+ and over to the Mac. I figure I can map the drives.

Looking at the refurbs last week, the Mac Studio Apple M4 Max chip with 14‑Core CPU and 32‑Core GPU 512/36 (1699) was too nice to resist.

I still have an unopened replacement magic trackpad and an external disc drive. I forget what type of disc it reads. I might have bought it to rip music originally. OTOH, I have a LG 16X BluRay/CD/DVD drive in a OWC Mercury chassis connected to the PC also.

I exerted no self control and made some Amazon orders today:
Satechi keyboard
Satechi Tbolt 4 hub, used for $87. I'll cope with the lack of Tbolt 5 for that price.
OWC 1M2 40, which I will connect to the Studio not the hub.
Samsung 9100 2TB
OWC Mercury Elite HDD enclosure for one of the spare WD Red 10TB NAS drives I upgraded from in the NAS.

I was contemplating the Satechi Mac Studio base, but it doesn't work for my purposes. I will have the Mac off the desktop, and don't want a bunch of spaghetti dangling down, so the hub makes more sense. Then I saw the the Spigen stand and given dust issues it seemed like a good idea. The shelf below the mac mini has the externals (barely visible). I may swap and put the Studio on the lower shelf, I also now have a diagonally mounted router (Mikrotik) to the right of where the mini is.

While I did see some videos talking about upgrading the internal SSD, and I did previously update the 2010 mini RAM and HD before, I decided not to do that with the Studio. Instead I should be fine with the 2TB SSD as working drive for Handbrake or other apps and the 10TB HDD for bulk storage and time machine.

I currently don't see or have a pressing need to change monitors, currently I run 2 on the PC. The latest being a LG 31.5" FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS AMD FreeSync, 1ms MBR Response Time, Refresh Rate 75Hz. Is there any preference with a Mac when hooking up monitors between HDMI or DisplayPort?

I didn't used the 2010 Mini a lot, so I am essentially a novice. I have been surfing articles on what to do first, apps to install, etc.

 

[neomorpheus]

Make sure to also get some kind of air filter, because those Macs are a PITA to open up and properly clean.

 

[Ifti]

The satechi air filter/stand is great - I've used it since I got my Studio in March, and checked it this weekend and the studio has no dust touching it whatsoever.

Also the 1M2 - did you get the 40 or 80G version? The latter is seriously fast!

 

[Non-Euclidean]

The satechi air filter/stand is great - I've used it since I got my Studio in March, and checked it this weekend and the studio has no dust touching it whatsoever.

Also the 1M2 - did you get the 40 or 80G version? The latter is seriously fast!

I got the 40 model. The specs listed are:

Read Speed	14700 Megabytes Per Second

Media Speed	13400 Megabytes Per Second

Data Transfer Rate	14700 Megabytes Per Second

I figured 40G would cover that. I also didn't see the 80G model on Amazon.

OK, looking at OWC site. Only $219 for the empty chassis! Barely more than the SSD card!
I think I'll wait a bit and attempt to endure the 40G model. But, man, so much pretty hardware from OWC.

 

[neomorpheus]

I'm this close in picking that one up, but paying that much for something that could potentially be replaced in the next couple of months is concerning for me.

I think that i will wait a bit longer.

 

[Non-Euclidean]

I'm this close in picking that one up, but paying that much for something that could potentially be replaced in the next couple of months is concerning for me.

I think that i will wait a bit longer.

That way lies madness!

But if I read things right, the M5 is more a modest tweak for AI purposes and the M6 will be a bigger step.

You can forever be waiting, but if your current machine is still sufficient then why not. I built my last windows box in 2016.

 

[neomorpheus]

That way lies madness!

But if I read things right, the M5 is more a modest tweak for AI purposes and the M6 will be a bigger step.

You can forever be waiting, but if your current machine is still sufficient then why not. I built my last windows box in 2016.

I dont currently have a Mac and want to have one, but it will be my primary machine.

I agree that you will be forever waiting but sometimes, some devices are good.
Apple seems to have increased their priority on GPU's and the M5 seems like a big leap over the M4 and since they dont allow EGPU (in their typical anticonsumer ways) whatever you buy needs to be good enough for a while.

And as I mentioned, at this point, the wait is definetly shorter than before and chances are, the prices would be the same.

I can wait a bit longer, since one of 2 things will happen:

1- M5 Max has a monstrous GPU and I'm good for many years.

2- M4 Max gets even more price cuts, which would be easier to justify.

 

[Non-Euclidean]

I returned the Satechi slim Tbolt hub. Not enough ports.
Looking at OWC products now. But seeing threads talking about Caldigit over OWC for hubs.

Also getting more .3 and .7m Tbolt cables

I also discovered that both my older SSDs (Crucial P5 1TB (unformatted), Samsung SSD 860 EVO (NTFS) were not recognized by the Satechi hub. I eventually connected them directly to the Studio and all was well.

 

[Non-Euclidean]

Looking at Tbolt 5 docks, wanting some future proofing, but not able to justify a requirement for 10G or the display port when I am not going to 6K/8K display (soon) or needing heavy local net transfer, I went with a CalDigit TS5 over a TS5+.

I also ditched Android and went iPhone. My wife has always been an iPhone user, but I wanted the flexibility and cheaper storage of Android phones. Starting from the mid 80's at college, I have been in the PC/windows world, built 6+ windows boxes, and went with Palm/Windows/Android phones. I am, however, my wife's tech support and Google has gone from "Don't be Evil" to "Bend 'em over sideways and monetize the @#$4 out of them because these idiots aren't paying attention or shrieking loud enough". Last week I finally decided to upgrade (from a Note8), ordered a Pixel 10 Pro, failed to get a good activation, then decided to return it and go for an iPhone. I will have to learn a bunch, but I am only being exploited to buy pricey hardware, not monetized for advertising. My closest tech friend said I was going to the "Dark Side" when i mentioned getting an iPhone a couple weeks ago. Obviously opinions vary here.

We went to a Verizon store, and activated the refurb 15 I got her last week and I found every excuse to say yes, err ask about promotions and ended up with a a 17 Pro and they will give me $300 for my Note8. Holy crap for getting $300 for it! That is the closest I have come to winning the lottery. I am still working on getting the messages over. I used the Apple Move to Ios app, but it didn't move the messages and now the iPhone is more or less done with the migration and doesn't appear to respond when I restart the Move it Ios app.

I am jumping in with the iPhone, but its going to be fun.

 

[maflynn]

I'm this close in picking that one up, but paying that much for something that could potentially be replaced in the next couple of months is concerning for me.

I think that i will wait a bit longer.

That's always the risk, but the average release date is closer to 2 years then then 1 year. I guess at the end of the day, does the M4 offer what you need now and the future, and do you need to buy this soon or can you wait? I'm thankful, that I'm not in this situation, as I'm unsure what I'd do.

 

[edubfromktown]

I returned the Satechi slim Tbolt hub. Not enough ports.
Looking at OWC products now. But seeing threads talking about Caldigit over OWC for hubs.

Also getting more .3 and .7m Tbolt cables

I also discovered that both my older SSDs (Crucial P5 1TB (unformatted), Samsung SSD 860 EVO (NTFS) were not recognized by the Satechi hub. I eventually connected them directly to the Studio and all was well.

CalDigit TS3+ has been awesome for me.

I connect it to Studio M1 Max and Pro 14" M3 MBP these days and in the past M1 Mini and i5 13" MBP.

 

[edubfromktown]

So, after reading tons of Apple articles about M* hardware over the last few years I finally decided to replace my (apparently unresponsive) 2010 Mac Mini. I tried starting the mini this weekend and the power light comes on, but nothing ever makes it to the display. Being a die-hard Trekkie, I was also holding out for the M5 (The Ultimate Computer), but that can always be a MacBook of some flavor

It will also replace my current desktop, Windows 10 i7-5820K (32G RAM), which I built back in 2012 2016. Aside from regular usage, a bunch of Handbrake encoding and I will move Plex off of my Synology 918+ and over to the Mac. I figure I can map the drives.

Looking at the refurbs last week, the Mac Studio Apple M4 Max chip with 14‑Core CPU and 32‑Core GPU 512/36 (1699) was too nice to resist.

I still have an unopened replacement magic trackpad and an external disc drive. I forget what type of disc it reads. I might have bought it to rip music originally. OTOH, I have a LG 16X BluRay/CD/DVD drive in a OWC Mercury chassis connected to the PC also.

I exerted no self control and made some Amazon orders today:
Satechi keyboard
Satechi Tbolt 4 hub, used for $87. I'll cope with the lack of Tbolt 5 for that price.
OWC 1M2 40, which I will connect to the Studio not the hub.
Samsung 9100 2TB
OWC Mercury Elite HDD enclosure for one of the spare WD Red 10TB NAS drives I upgraded from in the NAS.

I was contemplating the Satechi Mac Studio base, but it doesn't work for my purposes. I will have the Mac off the desktop, and don't want a bunch of spaghetti dangling down, so the hub makes more sense. Then I saw the the Spigen stand and given dust issues it seemed like a good idea. The shelf below the mac mini has the externals (barely visible). I may swap and put the Studio on the lower shelf, I also now have a diagonally mounted router (Mikrotik) to the right of where the mini is.

View attachment 2567307

While I did see some videos talking about upgrading the internal SSD, and I did previously update the 2010 mini RAM and HD before, I decided not to do that with the Studio. Instead I should be fine with the 2TB SSD as working drive for Handbrake or other apps and the 10TB HDD for bulk storage and time machine.

I currently don't see or have a pressing need to change monitors, currently I run 2 on the PC. The latest being a LG 31.5" FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS AMD FreeSync, 1ms MBR Response Time, Refresh Rate 75Hz. Is there any preference with a Mac when hooking up monitors between HDMI or DisplayPort?

I didn't used the 2010 Mini a lot, so I am essentially a novice. I have been surfing articles on what to do first, apps to install, etc.

Congrats.

You got your money's worth out of the 2010 Mini!

I still run two 2011's (one to stream Sonos music and the other for uptime and latency monitoring of Internet hosted resources using Intermapper).

My M1 Max still gets the job done and works great with ON1 Photp RAW 2026 (recently ditched LrC after using it the product since Lightroom 3).

 

[neomorpheus]

That's always the risk, but the average release date is closer to 2 years then then 1 year. I guess at the end of the day, does the M4 offer what you need now and the future, and do you need to buy this soon or can you wait? I'm thankful, that I'm not in this situation, as I'm unsure what I'd do.

View attachment 2569873

It is indeed a tough spot.

I might get a base mini because yesterday I was fixing a customer PC to Mac migration and realized that I am very rusty on MacOS and might not be able to wait that long.

So get the Mini and an external drive and then wait.

Then again, I saw a nice Mini M4 Pro for $1099 which could held until the M5 Studio gets a "price break" in the form of refurbished or sale that apple loves to do via amazon, Microcenter or Ipowerresale and then forget about giving tim apple more money for at least 5 years.

If I get the plain mini, I would then repurpose it as a server or something.

 

[Non-Euclidean]

Congrats.

You got your money's worth out of the 2010 Mini!

I still run two 2011's (one to stream Sonos music and the other for uptime and latency monitoring of Internet hosted resources using Intermapper).

My M1 Max still gets the job done and works great with ON1 Photp RAW 2026 (recently ditched LrC after using it the product since Lightroom 3).

What I kind of wish I had seen before, were the trash cans at OWC starting ~500.00. 12 Core Xeon would be a great Plex Server. If I can only think of the right purpose for it, but also wary at the older O/S limitations, but I see you can force newer OS installs with the right tool.

But, as was pointed out, its big power eater in comparison to just about anything else.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

I'm this close in picking that one up, but paying that much for something that could potentially be replaced in the next couple of months is concerning for me.

I think that i will wait a bit longer.

I have figured through the years that time is precious, so waiting for the Mac M5 would wasted time and risk-taking relating to the state of my finances at the moment...as well as my health or wellness, all compared to the same issues as I wait for the new model to arrive. As such, I have decided to buy a M4 Mac Studio now, instead of waiting for the M5 Mac. The monitor is a BenQ 27" 5k. "Buy and enjoy it now if you can afford it, since there is no tell what the future will bring you" Is my motto now that I am old.

I have done the same with cameras (buying the present model) that has all the technical problems ironed out, instead of waiting for the future model. Yes, Canon would prefer that I trade-in the camera (s) I use now for next year's model, but in reality it takes quite a long time for me to outperform all the features incorporated in the present camera .

 

[JoeG4]

I went with the Spigen stand myself, after spending probably more time thinking about that than i did thinking about buying the mac studio lol. I like how it looks, and the dust in my house isn't that bad so it has done just fine.

I got my m4 max mac studio from B&H, at the time it was $1799 on sale and if you use their store credit card you get 'free' sales tax. They just recently had them for $1799 again so, for anyone considering a Mac Studio, it's definitely worth a check!

 

[AlaskaMoose]

I went with the Spigen stand myself, after spending probably more time thinking about that than i did thinking about buying the mac studio lol. I like how it looks, and the dust in my house isn't that bad so it has done just fine.

I got my m4 max mac studio from B&H, at the time it was $1799 on sale and if you use their store credit card you get 'free' sales tax. They just recently had them for $1799 again so, for anyone considering a Mac Studio, it's definitely worth a check!

I did buy the Spigen stand, but I would have like a similar but about an inch taller. The filter is "ok," but it won't prevent dust and smaller particles from getting inside the Studio. Also, unlike the top of the stand above the filter, the filter's frame below does not have a silicone seal all around its edge. If you look at the air intake ports on the Studio, you will notice that the very small holes aren't much larger than the small holes in the Spigen filter. Yes, the Spigen stand and filter are well designed. The filter will stop lint, pet hair or fur, and this is good. I like it

 

[maflynn]

I might get a base mini because yesterday I was fixing a customer PC to Mac migration and realized that I am very rusty on MacOS and might not be able to wait that long

The funny thing is, that's how I bought my studio, I started off looking at the M4 Mini, then I figured I needed the increased ram, and cores, I opted for the M4 Pro Mini, which I bought, but for some tasks the performance wasn't as good as I had hoped. I returned it and gotten the Studio - very happy with that

 

[edubfromktown]

What I kind of wish I had seen before, were the trash cans at OWC starting ~500.00. 12 Core Xeon would be a great Plex Server. If I can only think of the right purpose for it, but also wary at the older O/S limitations, but I see you can force newer OS installs with the right tool.

But, as was pointed out, its big power eater in comparison to just about anything else.

The old Intel Mini's are amazing and a lil power hungry (85 watts max).

I owned an M1 Mini for ~1 year prior to upgrading to an M1 Max Studio. The Mini was far more power thrifty (39 watts max, 7 at idle) compared to its bigger cousin (115 watts max, 11 at idle).

I had to upgrade my UPS to a 1500 VA unit for power protection similar to what I "got away with" using a 650 VA (along with a couple of displays and peripherals) on the Mini.

 

[neomorpheus]

so waiting for the Mac M5 would wasted time

If the M4 launched this month, then yes, waiting for the M5 is definitely a waste of time, but given that at this point, the M5 is definitely around the corner, it doesn't really hurt to wait a bit more, I think.

But your advice is solid otherwise.

Personally, the closer that I could buy one would be by either black Friday or cyber Monday, since those are the days that my bank offers a deep discount on Apple gift cards, which would definitely help with the price.

The funny thing is, that's how I bought my studio, I started off looking at the M4 Mini, then I figured I needed the increased ram, and cores, I opted for the M4 Pro Mini, which I bought, but for some tasks the performance wasn't as good as I had hoped. I returned it and gotten the Studio - very happy with that

Slowly researching, looks like there are several things that I could do with a plain Mini as a server, so I can see myself using both.

Believe it or not, besides maybe some gaming and playing with AI programs like LM Studio, I dont have much demand for a Max chip, but at the same time, I dont want to buy a new Mac every other year either, so will must likely end up with a Max and relax until it dies or apple abandons it.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

If the M4 launched this month, then yes, waiting for the M5 is definitely a waste of time, but given that at this point, the M5 is definitely around the corner, it doesn't really hurt to wait a bit more, I think.

But your advice is solid otherwise.

Personally, the closer that I could buy one would be by either black Friday or cyber Monday, since those are the days that my bank offers a deep discount on Apple gift cards, which would definitely help with the price.

Slowly researching, looks like there are several things that I could do with a plain Mini as a server, so I can see myself using both.

Believe it or not, besides maybe some gaming and playing with AI programs like LM Studio, I dont have much demand for a Max chip, but at the same time, I dont want to buy a new Mac every other year either, so will must likely end up with a Max and relax until it dies or apple abandons it.

I do understand what you have said, since I too have felt the urge to buy computers (Mac's usually), and cameras as close as possible to the release day.

 

[Non-Euclidean]

Question. When I have the money, I can't exhibit self control, prices come down enough and I want to look into a better (5K/whateverK) display, do FreeSync or GSync mean anything in this ecosystem?

 

[Non-Euclidean]

Recent setup, but not quite done yet.
I need to stop being lazy and get the Satechi working for both the PC and Mac so I can more/repurpose the DAS keayboard.

 

[avro707]

The old Intel Mini's are amazing and a lil power hungry (85 watts max).

You want a Mac Pro with Dual W6800 Duo setup and Xeon W3275M. That uses power! It can be over 400w.

But it is also very fast at the things I need it to do. It runs from stored solar power, the whole house does so I barely pay anything for electricity aside from connection/admin type fees.

 

[rb2112]

I'm this close in picking that one up, but paying that much for something that could potentially be replaced in the next couple of months is concerning for me.

I think if you picked up the M4 Max now you would not have to replace it for YEARS.