Which M2 Pro processor?

[icemantx]

Which Mac Mini M2 Pro processor would you get and why? 10/16 vs 12/19? Wondering if the $300 premium is worth it or not. This is for home use (think Photos, Safari, iMovie, etc…)

I am thinking I would not miss the extra cores enough to justify the $300 up-charge (coming from late 2014 iMac 27” i5)

Thoughts?

 

[jdb8167]

Two more performance cores will make a difference if you use software that uses a lot of parallel cores. What you listed: Photos, Safari, iMovie, etc aren't likely to make much use of extra performance cores. If you use something like Handbrake and use the CPU compression instead of the hardware compressor you will see a significant difference with the 12-Core version.

The extra GPU cores are similar. Do you use software that makes use of the GPU? Again from what you listed, probably not too much.

 

[JPack]

If your upgrade cycle is nearly a decade and involves light consumer applications, stick with the M2. Use the money towards 16GB RAM and 1TB storage instead. Or simply save it. You're better off using the $300 to upgrade the mini every 5 years.

 

[icemantx]

Two more performance cores will make a difference if you use software that uses a lot of parallel cores. What you listed: Photos, Safari, iMovie, etc aren't likely to make much use of extra performance cores. If you use something like Handbrake and use the CPU compression instead of the hardware compressor you will see a significant difference with the 12-Core version.

The extra GPU cores are similar. Do you use software that makes use of the GPU? Again from what you listed, probably not too much.

That’s what I was thinking. I do encode video, but not every day. I used to use Handbrake, but my use case evaporated when I no longer “backed up” blu-rays. As for GPU, nothing I do is really intensive so that’s why I think the 10/16 is more than enough for me.

 

[Svetlin]

This is for home use (think Photos, Safari, iMovie, etc…)

I would suggest saving the money and going 10/16, the machine will still be a lot faster than your current iMac!

 

[icemantx]

I would suggest saving the money and going 10/16, the machine will still be a lot faster than your current iMac!

Agreed. Since I am getting the M2 Pro Mac mini plus the Apple Studio Display, I will be able to upgrade just the Mac mini much sooner than the 8+ years I have been using my current iMac. What helped me keep it going over the years was upgrading the RAM to 32GB and swapping the Fusion Drive for a 2TB SSD. I got my money’s worth out of it.