I am considering selling my 2020 M1 Mac Mini 16Gb 1TB and replacing it with a 16" Macbook Pro to be used both at home and when out and about (albeit the out and about use will be minimal). I am growing impatient at waiting for a 32Gb option on the M1 Mac Mini and given the fact that I already have the monitor, keyboard and mouse, for me it seems to be a no brainer. As an amateur photographer I wish to take advantage of the 32Gb power in Lightroom especially when working on stitching panoramics and post processing these types of images. I have watched a number of youtube videos on the advantages of the 32Gb RAM and although I am not into Video, I want to future proof my system for the long term. Has anyone gone down this route and if so any feedback/comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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Replace M1 Mac Mini with new 16" Macbook Pro
- Thread starter jason124
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If you can swing it financially, go for it. If it were me, I'd wait until they upgrade the mini. I have two LG ultra fine monitors, so the ability to plug both into the thunderbolt ports rather than having to use one with an HDMI adapter would be good.
It sounds like you are more interested in the additional RAM than anything else. The next round of Macs will most certainly be catering to the more robust system configurations. Albeit they will be much pricier as well.
Adobe is not known for creating applications that aren't resource hogs. That trend is never going to change. Odds are pretty good, even if you did get a loaded MacBook Pro, you'd still end up replacing it in less than 5 years. Gone are the days of being able to upgrade RAM... or so it would seem. No one has seen any real picture of their pro-end hardware. Hard to sell someone on spending 5K or more on a computer than has soldered RAM, storage, and on-board GPU knowing full well it will be obsolete in less than a year.
Adobe is not known for creating applications that aren't resource hogs. That trend is never going to change. Odds are pretty good, even if you did get a loaded MacBook Pro, you'd still end up replacing it in less than 5 years. Gone are the days of being able to upgrade RAM... or so it would seem. No one has seen any real picture of their pro-end hardware. Hard to sell someone on spending 5K or more on a computer than has soldered RAM, storage, and on-board GPU knowing full well it will be obsolete in less than a year.
That impatience is going to cost you.
The only point of "future-proofing" is the hope (sometimes misguided) that it will result in lower long term average cost.
Making this switch now just guarantees you spending more, not less.
However, if you don't mind spending more, and now want a laptop, then get a laptop. I think getting a laptop, which is the most expensive way of getting performance per dollar, just because you don't want to wait for a desktop update, is not the most cost-effective option.
There will be lots of desktop updates in 2022. I think you may have great regrets and kicking yourself for not waiting and seeing what is released
The only point of "future-proofing" is the hope (sometimes misguided) that it will result in lower long term average cost.
Making this switch now just guarantees you spending more, not less.
However, if you don't mind spending more, and now want a laptop, then get a laptop. I think getting a laptop, which is the most expensive way of getting performance per dollar, just because you don't want to wait for a desktop update, is not the most cost-effective option.
There will be lots of desktop updates in 2022. I think you may have great regrets and kicking yourself for not waiting and seeing what is released
Are you noticing significant slowdowns doing that work with current setup?
I am a pretty frequent Lightroom user on a late 2013 16gb MPB. I don’t really do panos but have been editing 45mp photos on this machine. Usable but is showing it’s age with a couple of different issues (including random crashes). I guess I attributed these to overheating and some other bottlenecks, maybe not ram. I decided to upgrade to a new M1 MBP with 16gb ram and 1Tb ssd. I don’t see myself upgrading the camera anytime soon (5+years) so figure I should be able to get at least that amount of time out of the new machine considering editing on the 2013 model isn’t terrible. Personally I think future proofing is impossible, but I do try to keep my machines for 7 or 8 years. That was successful for me with my old 2002 TiBook and 2013 MBP. I like the idea of buying higher quality and less often, also from a sustainability standpoint.
I’ve been tempted to get a mini but I really like to use my computers on the couch or watch movies in bed, so opted to pay a bit more for the versatility.
I am a pretty frequent Lightroom user on a late 2013 16gb MPB. I don’t really do panos but have been editing 45mp photos on this machine. Usable but is showing it’s age with a couple of different issues (including random crashes). I guess I attributed these to overheating and some other bottlenecks, maybe not ram. I decided to upgrade to a new M1 MBP with 16gb ram and 1Tb ssd. I don’t see myself upgrading the camera anytime soon (5+years) so figure I should be able to get at least that amount of time out of the new machine considering editing on the 2013 model isn’t terrible. Personally I think future proofing is impossible, but I do try to keep my machines for 7 or 8 years. That was successful for me with my old 2002 TiBook and 2013 MBP. I like the idea of buying higher quality and less often, also from a sustainability standpoint.
I’ve been tempted to get a mini but I really like to use my computers on the couch or watch movies in bed, so opted to pay a bit more for the versatility.
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It sounds like a good idea to me. I do have a 13” 2015 MBP which runs at a snails pace with Lightroom almost to the stage of being unusable. At least with a 16” MBP I could work in the kitchen if I fancy it rather than behind a desk and when the mood takes me I can hook it up to my 27” monitor. The versatility of the one computer looks attractive but I do appreciate all of the comments re value for money.
Consolidating a laptop and a desktop is an excellent reason to get one of the new MBPs. I also found the 2015 13" MBP is now dreadful for Lightroom, actually now sluggish for just about everything (didn't used to be that way, 5 years ago). Also, having all files on one computer is an advantage despite cloud syncing.
But if you are just replacing a desktop with a new MBP, to use essentially as a desktop, now is not a good time - not just before new desktops are released.
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I consolidated a loaded 2017 27" iMac and a 2018 i5 MBP for a 16" MBP with m1 max 32GB and absolutely do not regret it one bit. I've had the 16" since the 1st week of shipping and I cannot sing enough praises for it. Probably the best all around mac for my usage that I've owned since my 2009 13" MBP. Highly recommend.
Just for workflow reference - I'm no creative artist, so yes I overdid it. However, that being said, I run tons of large acrobat files along with Safari, Outlook, Slack, iTunes, Word, Excel, and other office productivity work and it's much more taxing than most people would suspect. Not helping the efficiency cause, I have a 38" UW UHD LG Monitor that I use as my main second screen at my office.
My 2018 13" choked on everything when hooked up to my home office external 4k monitor until I plugged it in to an eGPU. The 16" MBP obviously never does.
I'm usually floating between 50 - 70% ram usage, 10 - 25% CPU usage, and 13 - 50 % GPU usage depending on what I'm working on and whether I'm connected to my home office 27" 4k monitor or my 38" UW at the actual office.
It's heavy, especially compared to the 12" macbook I had when I was traveling a lot, but it's still portable, and nothing like the 17" Powerbook "brick" I lugged around college to the tune of scoliosis.
However, if you're going to only ever really sit in one room and do stationary work (ie you don't see yourself milling about the house or going to other workspaces), then maybe wait for the 2022 desktop updates.
Just for workflow reference - I'm no creative artist, so yes I overdid it. However, that being said, I run tons of large acrobat files along with Safari, Outlook, Slack, iTunes, Word, Excel, and other office productivity work and it's much more taxing than most people would suspect. Not helping the efficiency cause, I have a 38" UW UHD LG Monitor that I use as my main second screen at my office.
My 2018 13" choked on everything when hooked up to my home office external 4k monitor until I plugged it in to an eGPU. The 16" MBP obviously never does.
I'm usually floating between 50 - 70% ram usage, 10 - 25% CPU usage, and 13 - 50 % GPU usage depending on what I'm working on and whether I'm connected to my home office 27" 4k monitor or my 38" UW at the actual office.
It's heavy, especially compared to the 12" macbook I had when I was traveling a lot, but it's still portable, and nothing like the 17" Powerbook "brick" I lugged around college to the tune of scoliosis.
However, if you're going to only ever really sit in one room and do stationary work (ie you don't see yourself milling about the house or going to other workspaces), then maybe wait for the 2022 desktop updates.
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If you can wait for the new M1 Pro/Max Mini, I'd do so because if you go for the 16", the XDR display on these new machines will totally ruin you for other displays outside of extremely expensive high end stuff.
I'm looking at my TV and PC's 27" 4k monitor like they're hot garbage now and proper HDR is freaking expensive still
As far as the M1 Pro/Max machines go - mine is the best all-around computer I've ever owned. Powerful. Responsive. Quieter than my liquid cooled desktop 99% of the time. Portable, great battery life.
I'm looking at my TV and PC's 27" 4k monitor like they're hot garbage now and proper HDR is freaking expensive still
As far as the M1 Pro/Max machines go - mine is the best all-around computer I've ever owned. Powerful. Responsive. Quieter than my liquid cooled desktop 99% of the time. Portable, great battery life.
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