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So how silent is the M2 Pro Mac Mini?
- Thread starter Freida
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Base Mac Mini Pro with 10 cpu cores, 16 gpu cores, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSDI forgot to mention above, that I capped FPS at 60. I can go to 100 FPS or more, but it's actually not needed
I have a M2 Pro Mac mini with 3 monitors attached to it. I have not heard the fan yet. Absolutely silent. Another revelation is WiFi 6E. I have a Linksys 6E router. and have been running the Speedtest app. With CAT 8 ethernet cable attached, I'm getting 930Mbps download speed consistently which is peak performance given my 1 Gigabit internet plan and my current internet hardware. On Wifi 6E, I'm getting about 910Mbps consistently after several tests. In the same location with my M1 MacBook Air (which has Wifi 6 I believe), I'm getting around 260Mbps download speeds. Huge impact of 6E. I'm in an apartment building with lots of WiFi interference for WiFi 6 and earlier. And the Mini is about 25 feet away from the Linksys, in another room with a wall and the kitchen fridge in between.
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Until now, my Mini M2 Pro is totally silent. Love it.
Oh.. and no high pitch tone.
Oh.. and no high pitch tone.
received my M2 Pro Mini last Friday (about a week early). It is pretty quiet, even running a Handbrake conversion and doing Adobe Lightroom Classic stuff that use to send my Mini Intel i7 into take-off mode. Fan never goes above around 2300 RPM. Since I have a spinner drive nearby, it's easily noisier than everything else.
(I am less impressed for the speed gains for workflow though with photography than I thought I'd get, but that's for another thread)
(I am less impressed for the speed gains for workflow though with photography than I thought I'd get, but that's for another thread)
I completely agree with you on the speed gains.
I'm coming from 2017 MBP and its a bit underwhelming.
Sure, its super quiet which is amazing but its not as snappy and fast as I expected.
The gains are felt but not as much as I hoped.
Regardless, Its a great machine so I will probably keep it but I am contemplating with the idea to hold onto my MBP another year. ;-)
I'm coming from 2017 MBP and its a bit underwhelming.
Sure, its super quiet which is amazing but its not as snappy and fast as I expected.
The gains are felt but not as much as I hoped.
Regardless, Its a great machine so I will probably keep it but I am contemplating with the idea to hold onto my MBP another year. ;-)
The only thing that is really noticeably faster is the new AI masking, by a few seconds, so that's cool. Fullscreen viewing is around the same and has a similar pause before display.
I think if I was doing video all day like the YouTube folk like to harp on I'd be more impressed.
OK, back to the fan...
That's disappointing. Photo processing is the activity on my iMac Pro that's been feeling slow. Maybe I should wait for a future generation of Apple Silicon?
Regarding that M2 Pro (or any) Mac mini fan, where does the air come from that the fan expels out the back? I couldn’t spot an air intake opening in any of the teardown vids. Am I blind or what am I missing? Does the bottom lid have air gaps?
Yesterday I was totally nuts. Also, I guess I was mostly impatient. So, I ordered by Apple Store the minus-noise-print Mac Mini M2 Pro 10c, 32 Gb Ram, and 512 Gb SSD. But now, I'm already thinking I could stretch my wallet a bit for a 1 TB SSD instead.
Dear forum colleagues, should I cancel and update? And we all know about fans getting crazy next summer like a season rule because of Climate Change.
Dear forum colleagues, should I cancel and update? And we all know about fans getting crazy next summer like a season rule because of Climate Change.
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Surprisingly, the fresh air inlet is at the bottom of the mini, just around the black plastic cover. So the mini can breath-in the dust around...
The 1TB is much faster than the 512GB, on the mini M2 Pro (around 6000 MB/s, while it stays at 3000 MB/s on the non-Pro version). If you have the money, get it! Personally, I think that the configuration 32GB/1TB is just too costly, for what we get. Note that the price puts you in the Mac Studio territory. The upgrade pricing marketing of Apple is just insane and stupid.
I wouldn't get 32gb ram unless you know you absolutely need it for your specific case. In most tests, the 16 performs identical and there is almost zero difference.
And as others said, get the 1tb as you will get double the ssd speed.
And as others said, get the 1tb as you will get double the ssd speed.
I never understood why going through RAW files there is always delay to show the image. With so much processing power and fast SSD I would expect that 20mb file to be shown without any delay.
Right now, you click to next image which loads up in lower resolution and then in 1 sec it shows you the proper image. So annoying and its been like this for years.
I was expecting instant pop 'ipad style'
Right now, you click to next image which loads up in lower resolution and then in 1 sec it shows you the proper image. So annoying and its been like this for years.
I was expecting instant pop 'ipad style'
Apple Store makes cancellation easy. I guess I will stretch the wallet to the Mac Mini M2 Pro 12c, 32 Gb RAM, and 1 TB. Because I'm running three 4K monitors, actually. But I'm thinking in order later an Apple 5K monitor. Anyhow, it's too bad that Apple left the Mac Studio M2 for the distant future. I thought Apple wanted to solve that high-pitched noise sooner than later.
Anyway, thanks for your reply!
Can you tell us why you need the 32gb ram? Because you could save money there. Also, the 12c 19c gpu may not be worth it either so another potential save.
I've been using my M2 Pro 16/512 for almost a week, and I finally was able to detect the fan running last night. I was doing an iMovie export of a 44 minute 1080p video and a handbrake encode of a different 44 minute 1080p video at the same time. The only way I was able to hear it was by almost pressing my ear against the body of the Mac Mini. From more than 2 inches away from the unit, there was no noise.
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Because future monitors. As I mentioned, I'm running three 27" 4K Benq monitors at 60 HZ. But I love to keep up with new standards, like 5K or 8K, no idea where the market will go from here. But I will tell you one thing because I have been using computers for almost 40 years. The 32 GB RAM will be normal in a two-year period. And I'm buying for four years long, so...
I've been on 16gb for past 10 years and if we were on Intel I would have to go at least 32gb now if not more. However, with AS I've noticed its slightly different so unless you use specific program that requires more (which you would know by now) than 16gb is enough. (plenty of tests and benchmarks to prove it).
Up to you of course but I think you should try 16gb and test it for 2 weeks. If you think its not enough then you can always return for refund but I'd assume you will be fine.
Up to you of course but I think you should try 16gb and test it for 2 weeks. If you think its not enough then you can always return for refund but I'd assume you will be fine.
You'll notice a difference if you often batch a lot of exports (for me that's rare) and some tools under LR and Photoshop are faster for sure. If your workflow is all put on the local drive it will also help a bit as the soldered-on NAND chip is quicker, some do that and then archive to a Thunderbolt external or NAS later, but I'm too lazy as my external SSD is already pretty fast. I did try moving the Lightroom catalog file(s) to the 1 TB local drive and the difference was negligible. Some of this is on Adobe, I'm sure.
I think I just set my bar a little too high for what it's like to work on a single image vs. the 6-core i7 I was using.
If you're ready to upgrade, it's a fine time to do so. it also might be good to look at used/refurb Mac Studios as their price is dropping. these are better for video if that matters to you since they have 2x the encoding engines.(If you notice, a lot of the YouTuber "benchmark testing" is massive exports of photos or videos. I'm not sure even the majority of pros are doing that on a daily basis.)
Just got my M2 Pro base model (16/512) and it's totally silent. I'm pushing it hard during the initial setup and it's cool, quiet, and FAST!
Yeah, same for me. The fan stays always on 1700rpm. With even gaming (dota 2) it doesn't speed up. Super silent machine
My M2 Pro is also silent. Still yet to hear the fan speed up from its idle setting, but I am generally disappointed with the speed increase coming from the i7 Intel mini, not to mention other issues that remain.