I use Lightroom a lot on my M2 Pro Mini; I expect you'll be fine with this. I had the 2018 i7 (6-core) and this is much quieter. Though not as fast as I thought it would be, except for the AI for detecting people, sky, objects etc.
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So how silent is the M2 Pro Mac Mini?
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I use Lightroom a lot on my M2 Pro Mini; I expect you'll be fine with this. I had the 2018 i7 (6-core) and this is much quieter. Though not as fast as I thought it would be, except for the AI for detecting people, sky, objects etc.
The iMac is quieter? I guess you mean the mini M2 Pro?
Did you heard the fan during your work on the mini? What about the internal temperature during your main workflow?
Oops that wasn't clear was it.
My previous Intel i7 Mac Mini was far noisier, as the fans would ramp up routinely during Lightroom use. The only time the new M2 Pro fan gets at all audible is during something like Handbrake conversions that go on for a long time.
I've head my Mac Mini M2 Pro (10/16/32GB/1TB) for three weeks and it has been completely inaudible until today. I suspect what triggered the fans at full blast was Microsoft OneDrive for Business even though Activity Monitor was showing nothing for CPU load. I was working on two Word documents at the same time (imagine that), renamed one of them, closed and opened them again - pretty much enough challenge to throw OneDrive into a fit. So, the fan was on full blast with cold air and my Mini was cold to touch. I waited 5 minutes and then restarted the Mini from the Apple menu but that didn't work. There was no signal over Thunderbolt port to my Dell U3821DW monitor. My Mini was MIA. I pressed and held the on/off switch until it restated again with a chime, but no luck again. I then unplugged the Mini from power, plugged back in, and pressed the on/off button, but still no signal to the monitor. I unplugged again and started again, and it finally booted correctly. All is well now although I can't explain the weird restart and multiple failures to boot. So, I am now working off of iCloud Drive Documents folder with periodic manual saves, and will then copy the final document to OneDrive folder when done. And this isn't the first time OneDrive has acted up on me. Previous issues led me to ditch Microsoft 365 subscription with 1 TB personal OneDrive in favor of 2TB Google Drive for personal pictures, videos, and documents back-up. So far, Google Drive has been very reliable with no quirky behavior.
Thanks for sharing. How do you know it was OneDrive, also during the failed reboots?
I don't know for sure but I suspected OneDrive because it gave a sync error and the only work I was doing at the time involved Word and OneDrive. But that's hardly conclusive and it's possible that other issues contributed to my Mini acting up.
Have you tried with your mini placed on a small support, to make it a bit higher on your desktop? The BT and WiFi antennas are located below the mini. I suspect that the signal is weak and interferences from other cables and peripherals may be strong enough.
Thanks for the suggestions. It didn't look like a BT or WiFi issue and I have never had any issues with either although I keep my Mini connected to a switch using a Cat6 Ethernet cable. There was a tear down video indicating that BT antenna is attached to the black plastic plate on the back of the Mini where all the ports are. When my Mini finally booted correctly, I was able to type in my password without issues using my Magic Keyboard with Touch ID via BT. The WiFi antenna is indeed right below the circular plastic cover on the bottom.
as of today, i still have not heard the fans ramp up once (where they would on my 2019 intel imac); ie bouncing a 'dense' logic project, or exporting a final cut video.
the only other sound i hear from the mini seems to mysteriously coincide with playing audio thru the built-in speaker 😉
the only other sound i hear from the mini seems to mysteriously coincide with playing audio thru the built-in speaker 😉
Since how long did you got your mini? And which one (M2 Pro?)? And what about the internal temperature?
(sorry, you may already have answered these questions from me before, but I can't remember everyone's mini on this forum...)
My mini is coming in a week. I'm now pretty impatient and excited!
m2 pro, and february 2 (corrected date)
no idea about the internal temperature (and don't really care, unless the thing catches fire or melts). but check thru this thread, others have reported their internal temps...
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ha, sorry... february 2 (i had quickly opened the calendar app and saw 'january')... thanks!
the first time the fans ramp up (if they ramp up), i will report it here, and will eat my hat.
(full disclosure: my hat is made of chocolate)...
(full disclosure: my hat is made of chocolate)...
I got my M2 mini (16/512) about two weeks ago; I installed iStat Menus right away as I always do with my Macs - force of habit, I guess, going back to the 2007 iMac. lol
In the past two weeks, I've never heard the fans spin up, even when doing 4K transcodes with Handbrake (VideoToolbox for the most part, so that's probably why). The CPU core average temps are usually between 35-40°C and the fan never goes above 1700RPM. In fact, it has only shut off entirely on a handful of occasions - usually for an hour or two, at the most. It's always running at 1700RPM, but I can't hear it above the ambient noise of my house. When doing the transcodes, the CPU temperature peaked at 63°C but even then, the fan speed remained constant, at 1700RPM.
edit: just checked again, and it seems I was reading the chart wrong. The fan is either off, or running at 1700RPM (never higher) and it's spent more time off than on. I'm attaching a screenshot of the chart - the peaks are 1700RPM and the valleys are 0RPM.
In the past two weeks, I've never heard the fans spin up, even when doing 4K transcodes with Handbrake (VideoToolbox for the most part, so that's probably why). The CPU core average temps are usually between 35-40°C and the fan never goes above 1700RPM. In fact, it has only shut off entirely on a handful of occasions - usually for an hour or two, at the most. It's always running at 1700RPM, but I can't hear it above the ambient noise of my house. When doing the transcodes, the CPU temperature peaked at 63°C but even then, the fan speed remained constant, at 1700RPM.
edit: just checked again, and it seems I was reading the chart wrong. The fan is either off, or running at 1700RPM (never higher) and it's spent more time off than on. I'm attaching a screenshot of the chart - the peaks are 1700RPM and the valleys are 0RPM.
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Thanks for reporting
Sorry if I missed it, but it's the basic M2 and not the M2 Pro, right?
Had the mini m2 pro for a few weeks nows, I routinely export hundreds of photos with lightroom and do some light photoshop masking in parralel, never heard the fan kicks in once.
Considering the M2 Pro 16/512 from a 2015 iMac. A few questions for @PatNaf you if you don't mind:
- What was your computer before the Mini Pro and what config did you purchase?
- How much snappier do you feel like LR became with the Mini? Did you get a nice bump in speed using LR with previews drawing, etc? I know this is subjective.
Right. 8/10/16/512 model.Thanks for reporting