what is the latest intel or even rumors re a new Mac Mini?

[wfriedwald]

I am debating whether to (now) buy an current 2024 M4 Mac Mini or to possibly wait to for the next iteration - although I wouldn't want to wait as long as six months. Does anyone have any idea when the next edition is going to arrive, or educated speculation?

thanks for any feedback!

w

 

[Adelphos33]

There have been basically no rumors on M5 desktops. Rumors suggest the first M5 Macs will be MacBook Pros, which could be late this year or early next year. Seems like the M5 Mac mini, iMac, Studio etc will be next year if at all. Not sure if mini or iMac get M5 at all (though recent patterns suggest so)

 

[wfriedwald]

thanks ... so then instead of waiting, the optimum strategy would be to get a new M4 Mac Mini ASAP to get the maximum use out of it before the next model arrives in 2026 or later.

I am currently using an M1 MacBook c2020 - so I imagine any M4 machine would be noticeably faster. Yes!

thanks for the response!

 

[Fishrrman]

New Mini's often seem to be released at the end of October.
Do you want to wait at least that long?

Old saying applies:
If you NEED it now, BUY it now.
If you don't absolutely need it RIGHT NOW, might be worthwhile to wait.

 

[wfriedwald]

thank you! that is very good advice!

From now on, I shall endeavor to wear "The Shoes of the FishRRman!"

thanks again!

 

[meson]

thanks ... so then instead of waiting, the optimum strategy would be to get a new M4 Mac Mini ASAP to get the maximum use out of it before the next model arrives in 2026 or later.

I am currently using an M1 MacBook c2020 - so I imagine any M4 machine would be noticeably faster. Yes!

thanks for the response!

Is the M4 hardware notably faster, YES! Will that make a noticeable difference in your real world use, I would say unlikely unless there is something about your workflow that leaves you waiting significant amounts of time to finish processing.

For my daily usage, my M1 machines are just as responsive as the day I bought them. There is no need for me to change. If I had photo edits, renders, compiling cycles where I had to wait minutes or hours for processes to complete, then yes new hardware would be amazing.

I would certainly love to have the new smaller footprint machine on my desk, but it'll be a while until I need to upgrade. Is there something about your use of the M1 that has you feeling like you need to upgrade? If so, what do you do that has you waiting long periods for the machine?

 

[wfriedwald]

Is the M4 hardware notably faster, YES! Will that make a noticeable difference in your real world use, I would say unlikely unless there is something about your workflow that leaves you waiting significant amounts of time to finish processing.

For my daily usage, my M1 machines are just as responsive as the day I bought them. There is no need for me to change. If I had photo edits, renders, compiling cycles where I had to wait minutes or hours for processes to complete, then yes new hardware would be amazing.

I would certainly love to have the new smaller footprint machine on my desk, but it'll be a while until I need to upgrade. Is there something about your use of the M1 that has you feeling like you need to upgrade? If so, what do you do that has you waiting long periods for the machine?

I feel like I get a lot of beach ball, even for relatively simple stuff - opening a folder, etc. I don't know if a faster processor would fix that or if there's another way to get around that. Hmmm... thinking!

w

 

[meson]

I feel like I get a lot of beach ball, even for relatively simple stuff - opening a folder, etc. I don't know if a faster processor would fix that or if there's another way to get around that. Hmmm... thinking!

w

That's odd. The ssd is fast enough that you shouldn't have to wait on beach balling when opening a folder for something stored locally.

Out of curiosity, do you have data stored on external drives with spinning HDDs? If so, the beach balling is reflecting the speed limits of the drive and not so much the Mac, but with really large amounts of data they are still much more cost effective.

If you are getting beach balling accessing things on the internal drive, make sure you have a good back up, I would recommend using Disk Utility and running the First Aid utility to see if that helps. Then consider reinstalling MacOS. On the first attempt, I would just install overtop of what is there. If that doesn't fix it then double check that back up and wipe the drive and reinstall. If that still doesn't get the machine running right, then definitely go get that M4.

I'm starting to get old, I think, I love a new machine, but I hate the process of installing everything from scratch and reconfiguring all of my settings from app to app and across the system.

 

[wfriedwald]

so yes, I'm currently using a 2020 M1 MacBook air.

the apps are on the internal hard drive, which is 251 GB, of which only 21 GB are free. I know, if there were more free space it would probably be faster. (I keep trying to look for more stuff to move OFF the internal drive...)

the apps are on the internal drive, but all the data is on external drive - many external drives, in fact! These are standard drives, not SDD, and I know it would also be faster if they were all SDD drives.

so there's lots of reasons why the system isn't as speedy as it ought to be!

w

 

[Honza1]

You need bigger drive more than anything else. My M1 MBP and M4 mini feel same and behave same, no beachball or any GUI delays. Unless I time high cpu load operations (e.g., video conversion) I have no idea which machine I am using. And sure, in few specific operations the M4 mini (base) beats M1 MBP (Pro). Nothing really groundbreaking, though.
Filling SSD above 80% will slow down everything. I use SD 1TB card on my MBP to offload stuff where I am willing to wait and keep my SSDs below 75% full. Works great.
On Mini it is easy, I have added fast NVME enclosure with ssd and have as much space as I need - and fast one.

 

[Soondae]

As Honza stated; your Air SSD is way too full, your memory swap file is too small causing the pauses (beach balling), Back when I was running a stock Intel 2018 mini I circumvented this by an external SSD 500GB drive (usbC) that I off loaded all my music, documents and photos to, left it connected all the time, Now on my M4 Mini I went again with the 256 GB basic model on account I purchased a dock with NVME drive build in and am running a 1TB SSD on it. Even with the M4 I would run into your issue if I left all my files on the 256GB drive, so I now run everything of the NVME drive. A good rule to adhere to in my opinion is to not exceed 50% Mini (or your Air) SSD usage. Your M1 Air will definitely benefit from this.

If this is too difficult for you then your next unit should be 512 GB memory SSD, it's simple to do a time machine back up to an external drive or NAS and then restore from the back up to the new unit. I did it from my 2018 Intel Mini to my M4 Mini and it was flawless.

Good luck

 

[bzgnyc2]

I feel like I get a lot of beach ball, even for relatively simple stuff - opening a folder, etc. I don't know if a faster processor would fix that or if there's another way to get around that. Hmmm... thinking!

so yes, I'm currently using a 2020 M1 MacBook air.

the apps are on the internal hard drive, which is 251 GB, of which only 21 GB are free. I know, if there were more free space it would probably be faster. (I keep trying to look for more stuff to move OFF the internal drive...)

the apps are on the internal drive, but all the data is on external drive - many external drives, in fact! These are standard drives, not SDD, and I know it would also be faster if they were all SDD drives.

so there's lots of reasons why the system isn't as speedy as it ought to be!

All else being equal I doubt a new machine will fix these beach ball issues. Even my Mac Mini 2018 doesn't beach ball like that. An M4 will certainly clock faster than an M1. It's possible that in the act of migrating to a new machine you fix the issues that lead to beachballing but replacing your computer isn't the only way to fix them. And if the cause has to do with the external drives then replacing the main unit won't fix anything.

A few questions for now:
1) Do you get this beachballing doing simple stuff on the internal drive (e.g. accessing things in /Applications or your home folder assuming it is located there) or only the external?
2) Are you external drives formatted HFS+ or APFS?
3) How much RAM do you have and what does Activity Monitor show under Memory -> Memory Pressure/Usage?
4) Which macOS are you running?

 

[MacCheetah3]

Some good troubleshooting questions:

A few questions for now:
1) Do you get this beachballing doing simple stuff on the internal drive (e.g. accessing things in /Applications or your home folder assuming it is located there) or only the external?
2) Are you external drives formatted HFS+ or APFS?
3) How much RAM do you have and what does Activity Monitor show under Memory -> Memory Pressure/Usage?
4) Which macOS are you running?

Check if your Mac needs more RAM in Activity Monitor

Use Activity Monitor on your Mac to see if memory is being used efficiently and if you need more memory (RAM).

support.apple.com

so yes, I'm currently using a 2020 M1 MacBook air.

the apps are on the internal hard drive, which is 251 GB, of which only 21 GB are free. I know, if there were more free space it would probably be faster. (I keep trying to look for more stuff to move OFF the internal drive...)

the apps are on the internal drive, but all the data is on external drive - many external drives, in fact! These are standard drives, not SDD, and I know it would also be faster if they were all SDD drives.

so there's lots of reasons why the system isn't as speedy as it ought to be!

w

It seems you (now) recognize there are some other areas worth considering an upgrade. I’m not so much as discouraging a new Mac, but, as stated by others already, it’s probably not going to be the “upgrade” you hope until other things are addressed. Even if you purchase a new Mac, it seems, you’ll need to budget for more internal storage as well as also still possibly external — that last part being key.

Even though HDDs are still notably more cost effective in capacity, and can be plenty fast, one of the downsides is they need to spin up after ‘sleeping’. In the few seconds it requires the HDD to fully ‘awaken’, your Mac needs to wait (i.e., will display the beachball/pinwheel). This is despite whether the drives are empty or nearly full.

If you wanted to upgrade your external storage, it doesn’t mean you need to toss out all of the drives you currently have. In fact, just adding one external SSD may be enough. Basically, it’s preferred to have an SSD for commonly accessed files. You can use your HDDs for archival (i.e., only occasionally accessed) and backup.

Some options:

More budget friendly:

SAMSUNG T7 Portable SSD, 4TB External Solid State Drive, Speeds Up to 1,050MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen 2, Reliable Storage for Gaming, Students, Professionals, MU-PC4T0T/AM, Gray

www.amazon.com

Faster and better heat dissipation:

OWC 4TB Express 1M2 40Gb/s Portable NVMe SSD USB4 (Thunderbolt Compatible/USB-C) Ultra Fast External SSD Drive with Aluminum Heat Sink Enclosure

Express 1M2 - 4TB Ultra-fast, compatible, and reliable portable USB4 NVMe SSD. Build your own or choose ready-to-run solutions.

www.amazon.com

With a lot of peripherals, especially bus-powered drives, an external/independently powered dock or hub can be useful.

Thunderbolt 4 Dock, WAVLINK Docking Station with Quad 4K@60Hz Monitors, Four Thunderbolt 4 Ports, 98W PD, 2.5G RJ45 Ethernet, SD V4.0, 10Gbps USB3.1, for MacBook Pro/Air etc

Specification 1.Model: WL-UTD41Pro 2.Ports(15-in-1): (Front) 1x 3.5mm Audio/Mic, 1x SD Card Slot (312MB/s), 1x USB-A (10Gbps, 7.5W), 1x Upstream Thunderbolt 4 Port (40Gb/s, 98W), 1x Power Switch (Back) 1x DC In (20V/10A; 200W), 3x Downstream Thunderbolt 4 Ports (40Gb/s; PD15W; 8K), 1x USB-A (10Gb...

www.amazon.com

UGREEN Revodok Max 208 Thunderbolt 4 Dock 8-in-1 40Gbps TB4 Hub 3 x TB 4 Dual 4K@60Hz or Single 8K Display, 85W Charging, Gigabit Ethernet, 3 x USB A 3.2 for Mac M1/M2/M3/M4 Pro/Max

UGREEN Revodok Max 208 Thunderbolt 4 Dock, 8-in-1 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 Hub Docking Station with Dual 4K@60Hz or Single 8K Display, 85W Charging, Gigabit Ethernet, 3x USB A 3.2 for Macbook Laptops

www.amazon.com

Again, these are things to consider.

 

[wfriedwald]

You need bigger drive more than anything else. My M1 MBP and M4 mini feel same and behave same, no beachball or any GUI delays. Unless I time high cpu load operations (e.g., video conversion) I have no idea which machine I am using. And sure, in few specific operations the M4 mini (base) beats M1 MBP (Pro). Nothing really groundbreaking, though.
Filling SSD above 80% will slow down everything. I use SD 1TB card on my MBP to offload stuff where I am willing to wait and keep my SSDs below 75% full. Works great.
On Mini it is easy, I have added fast NVME enclosure with ssd and have as much space as I need - and fast one.

totally a good point - do you think re-fitting my existing M1 MacBook Air with a newer, bigger hard drive would be less expensive and difficult than just getting a new Mini to use as my main machine? I am open to suggestoins!

 

[wfriedwald]

hey thank ALL of you for the amazing and very helpful feedback.

I use a program (recommended) called SPACE GREMLIN to analyze and diagram the contents of a hard drive - based on this diagram, can anyone suggest something that I could off-load from the internal startup drive to an external drive?

(Also - is swapping out the drive on the current MacBook air with a larger drive something to think about?)

I currently have the bulk of my frequently-usable data on an external (standard, not SSD) 5TB drive - if I put it on an external SSD drive, would that speed things up? (I also have many, many external drives filled with music, books, video, and more video...)

thanks again for everyone's input!

w

 

[Honza1]

You cannot upgrade ssd in your Air, that is technically impossible. SSDs are soldered in. Buying 256GB SSD Air was mistake, that is for people who use few applications and store most of their large stuff in iCloud or external drives (if they even have any). Like if you are youngster with large Music library and large Photons library, both shared through iCloud with ios devices. Then it works fine.

Your drive is mostly consumed by stuff stored in your own Library for few applications. That is very difficult to move anywhere else and actually do anything with. Cleaning other stuff is goign to have relatively smallish effect at lots of pain.
You would have to move your home folder to external drive - and if that is even possible it is surely NOT something you should do, lots of things can go wrong.

Your best choices are: either get rid of NeoFinder and Swinsian, whatever they are for, or get larger ssd mac. M4 mini with at least 512GB SSD, preferably 1TB.

You can add some really fast SSDs to these macs, there are some nice docking stations for minis which include fast ssd enclosure and you can get >1GB/sec speeds easily.

 

[wfriedwald]

thanks again for the feedback!

NeoFinder - a great program which I use to catalog the contents of all of my hard drives, whether they're currently online or not - different from (and better than) spotlight. But Yes, I believe I can move these files to an external drive.

and Swinsian - this is my basic music player program, more flexible than iTunes / Apple MUSIC (it can easily manage a library of over 10TB worth of M4As & MP3s.) I do NOT know if I can move the files to an external, I'll write to their tech support.

thanks - this is a good start, at least!