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Swapping Intel Mini for M1!

BvizioN

BvizioN

macrumors 603
Original poster
Mar 16, 2012
5,705
4,826
Manchester, UK
Just a bit of background story! I purchased the Mac Mini Intel version mid September this year. I knew Macs with Apple silicone were coming, just didn't think the Mini would be one of the first. I use Mini mostly for video editing, Lightroom and a bit of Adobe aftereffects. Not the mosy powerfull, but have great LG 4K monitor, wireless keyboard and mouse and kind of like Mac mini. I find myself doing lots of video editing on Luma Fusion, iPad Pro, particularly when traveling. So you can understand my disappointment when Apple announced the new Mac Mini with M1 chip on November. It felt like it made my 2020 Intel Mac mini instantly obsolete. The 14 days return period had week passed over a month ago, and we were on a lock down in UK so Apple stores were only open for order pick-ups and stuff like that. When Apple stores did open on the 2nd of December (2 months and a half after I purchased Mac Mini) I went to the store to have a chat with the staff and see if there is any possibility I could swap The Intel version with the M1. The guy I spoke to wasn't to sure due to the length of time passed, but he said he would speak to his manager. After 5 minutes he comes back, apologizes to me for keeping me waiting and said, yes... we would swap it for you. Just bring the Intel Mini in the box with the power cord, and we will do the swap. 30 min after, I was in store with the Intel mini, the guy did the scanning and other stuff to make the swap process, gave me a receipt, and £90 back for the price difference. I had very low expectation about the whole thing, so this did far exceed it. So far loving the M1 Mac mini. The only issue that I had only once so far (not sure if that was the keyboard or mini) when I would type, it kept adding bunch of letters on the field, but restarting did resolve the issue. Everything is so snappy, using it is a real joy. Just though I would share with you guys, in case you recently purchased an Intel Mac that has passed the 14 days returning period and you want it to swap it with M1 Macs, don't hesitate to talk to Apple staff. I mean, it wouldn't happen if you don't try.
 
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vicfalc09 said:
How is the video editing on the low spec M1?
Click to expand...


I have the M1 MBA (8 core GPU, 8GB RAM, so not quite the base model but not too far off) and video editing has been rather impressive.

Annoyingly I don't have numbers for any of the larger projects I have done so far, but for a quick and dirty test just now, I threw together a 6 minute mix, in FCP, of 4k h.264, 10 bit 4K h.265 and a couple of H.264 1080p clips. I added 23 transitions, a handful of text and colour grading.

I exported it as 4K Apple ProRes 422, which worked out at a file size of 20.46GB. The export took 1 minute 49 seconds, not too bad for a quick and dirty test.

This is all done with the MBA docked and connected to my 4K display, so I lose a little performance from it. For instance my Cinebench scores are consistently 400-500 points lower than just using the MBA and it’s own internal display.

What I do like, even when I'm editing large projects is that the entire system, FCP itself, whizzing around the timeline and the preview, have all remained perfectly responsive. Scrubbing is incredible, you really need to push the bugger to its limits to get stuttering in the preview window. There are some great videos on YouTube which you can watch to see how well it copes. Have a look at various videos from The Everyday Dad and Max Tech to get a good idea of how well these wee systems cope, even when pushed.
 
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Apple_Robert said:
Great Apple experience. I like reading those kind of stories. If Apple gets the BT issue fixed, I will upgrade my 2018 mini to the new M1.
Click to expand...

What BT devices would you be using? Admittedly the vast majority I use with my MBA are more modern devices, but I haven't encountered a problem so far. If (unlikely, but y'know), I happen to have any of the same you'd be using, I could do some testing and let you know how it fares.
 
TrueBlou said:
What BT devices would you be using? Admittedly the vast majority I use with my MBA are more modern devices, but I haven't encountered a problem so far. If (unlikely, but y'know), I happen to have any of the same you'd be using, I could do some testing and let you know how it fares.
Click to expand...
Just the Apple keyboard and Magic Trackpad. With my current mini, it can take several attempts to log in, due to the the keyboard dropping out and not all characters received or possibly duplicated. The trackpad will randomly freeze and I have to turn off and on to resolve. It is inconvenient but, nothing major for me. If I use those two devices wired, there is no problem.
 
Apple_Robert said:
Just the Apple keyboard and Magic Trackpad. With my current mini, it can take several attempts to log in, due to the the keyboard dropping out and not all characters received or possibly duplicated. The trackpad will randomly freeze and I have to turn off and on to resolve. It is inconvenient but, nothing major for me. If I use those two devices wired, there is no problem.
Click to expand...

I’ve not encountered issues with my Magic Keyboard and Magic TrackPad 2, they’ve been perfectly responsive and always connected, even at login.

I’d have to dig out their predecessors to try them, I keep the Wireless Keyboard and Magic TrackPad v1 due to the replaceable AA batteries.

I can say that with, for instance, my Bluetooth Satechi keyboard, I have to do an extra tap at login. One to wake the keyboard up so it reconnects and then I can type in my password. But it’s quick to perform that process.
 
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TrueBlou said:
I have the M1 MBA (8 core GPU, 8GB RAM, so not quite the base model but not too far off) and video editing has been rather impressive.

Annoyingly I don't have numbers for any of the larger projects I have done so far, but for a quick and dirty test just now, I threw together a 6 minute mix, in FCP, of 4k h.264, 10 bit 4K h.265 and a couple of H.264 1080p clips. I added 23 transitions, a handful of text and colour grading.

I exported it as 4K Apple ProRes 422, which worked out at a file size of 20.46GB. The export took 1 minute 49 seconds, not too bad for a quick and dirty test.

This is all done with the MBA docked and connected to my 4K display, so I lose a little performance from it. For instance my Cinebench scores are consistently 400-500 points lower than just using the MBA and it’s own internal display.

What I do like, even when I'm editing large projects is that the entire system, FCP itself, whizzing around the timeline and the preview, have all remained perfectly responsive. Scrubbing is incredible, you really need to push the bugger to its limits to get stuttering in the preview window. There are some great videos on YouTube which you can watch to see how well it copes. Have a look at various videos from The Everyday Dad and Max Tech to get a good idea of how well these wee systems cope, even when pushed.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback. Im just starting to dabble with editing 4K GoPro footage and want to ensure the move to the M1 makes sense.
 
vicfalc09 said:
Thanks for the feedback. Im just starting to dabble with editing 4K GoPro footage and want to ensure the move to the M1 makes sense.
Click to expand...

Well, again very quick and dirty, but I've just thrown together an 11 minute 9 seconds (to be exact :D) 4K GoPro test.
Handful of separate clips, chopped up so I could add in more effects and transitions, here's what I ended up with.

30 transitions - Fade/Cross Dissolve/Divide/Push/Wipe/Blur/Black Hole and so on.
29 effects - Comic/Background Squares/Fun House/Glass Block/Insect Eye/Wave/Newsprint/Security and so on.

Like last time for a bit of consistency, I exported in Apple ProRes 422 which made a file of 39.02GB. Total time to export came in at 4 mins 18 seconds.

Like I say, quick and dirty, but it gives you at least a little to go on.
 
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