I have an M2 MacMini, 16GB, 512GB. I do nothing particularly intensive on it. I am assuming it’s not worth me upgrading to the new M4 MacMini. Would you guys agree with that?
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Who's buying the new Mac Mini this week?
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Yes. Why would you even consider it? Your emails won't fly faster on an M4.
Thank you. My finances thank you too. I’m always rather tempted by the latest and greatest.
I'm waiting for reviews to try and decide between the M4 and M4 Pro.
Currently have a M1 13" MBP that spends 90% of its time docked which is starting to feel a little bit sluggish with lightroom classic and Da Vinci resolve since I added a 4k external display. Rather than spend tons more on an upgraded Macbook Pro that will also spend most of its life docked I figure a fast mac mini + keeping the old M1 MBP for light portable use will be a good compromise.
Currently have a M1 13" MBP that spends 90% of its time docked which is starting to feel a little bit sluggish with lightroom classic and Da Vinci resolve since I added a 4k external display. Rather than spend tons more on an upgraded Macbook Pro that will also spend most of its life docked I figure a fast mac mini + keeping the old M1 MBP for light portable use will be a good compromise.
For the first time in my life I sprang for not-the-base-model of something.
I ordered the M4 Pro model (not 14 core; I still have some restraint!) out of sheer caprice, even though I don't render or compile, so a vanilla M1 chip would be more than good enough. I'm hoping to hold on to it for a long while, so the longevity pays me back.
The launch keynote said M4 Pro chip makes games with ray-traced effects look "WAY more compelling." Can anyone recommend a non-gory game with ray-traced effects, so I can be compelled? I wanna be compelled.
I ordered the M4 Pro model (not 14 core; I still have some restraint!) out of sheer caprice, even though I don't render or compile, so a vanilla M1 chip would be more than good enough. I'm hoping to hold on to it for a long while, so the longevity pays me back.
The launch keynote said M4 Pro chip makes games with ray-traced effects look "WAY more compelling." Can anyone recommend a non-gory game with ray-traced effects, so I can be compelled? I wanna be compelled.
I had it in my cart (24/512 GB) and was going through the steps to place my order when I realized my Veteran's discount wasn't showing. I called Apple and they said not all new products are eligible for the discount so I'll wait a couple of moths for Amazon or Best Buy to discount them...
Tempted. I use an iMac M1 for music production and it was a great choice for the change to Apple Silicon. Especially the all in one setup with a lovely screen. It's been good, but there are some bottlenecks in performance as more apps chew up more respources now. I was going to stick with it though, especially while they were reducing the number of performance cores in the chips. (Performance cores are everything in music production as the apps don't use the other cores.) But the increase to an optional 10 performance cores changes things.
I'm considering trading up to a Mac Mini and taking something like a Dell monitor to get something resembling a Pro iMac setup. I will miss the lovely iMac monitor but the performance matters more. That said, it's a toss up between the M4 Macbook Pro and the M4 Mac Mini Pro.
Pros for the MBP are the additional ports (yeah some music stuff still uses SD cards!) and the ability to do dual monitors which is pretty useful for production. Benefit of the Mini is lower cost, no batter maintenance and the ability to customise the setup a bit more (though in honesty I would probably just get Apple extras like the keyboard etc.)
Either way, pleased to see the performance chips offering a big upgrade from M1 for music, (admittedly at a higher cost.)
I'm considering trading up to a Mac Mini and taking something like a Dell monitor to get something resembling a Pro iMac setup. I will miss the lovely iMac monitor but the performance matters more. That said, it's a toss up between the M4 Macbook Pro and the M4 Mac Mini Pro.
Pros for the MBP are the additional ports (yeah some music stuff still uses SD cards!) and the ability to do dual monitors which is pretty useful for production. Benefit of the Mini is lower cost, no batter maintenance and the ability to customise the setup a bit more (though in honesty I would probably just get Apple extras like the keyboard etc.)
Either way, pleased to see the performance chips offering a big upgrade from M1 for music, (admittedly at a higher cost.)
Fwiw I'm upgrading from a 27" iMac, as well. I bought a Studio Display second-hand (people who own these things tend to take decent care of them, I just did a dead pixel scan) for a fraction of the price, and, yeah, sprang for touch-ID keyboard. Price was a bit of a lift, but not awful, and it's inevitable...though, really, an M1 or M2 Mac mini would have sufficed, since I don't render or compile.
M4 Pro top spec processor, 64gb memory and 2tb HD. £2800 to replace a 3 year old M1 Pro Macbook Pro with 32gb memory and 1tb HD. Will perhaps keep the old laptop for the 3 times a year I need it or maybe sell it and work out how to use my 13" iPad pro to compensate.
Can't wait.
Can't wait.
I originally ordered the base M4 Pro model, but I wasn’t strong. 😅 Cancelled and ordered the 14-core CPU upgrade and 1tb storage.
I try to go with things as stock models, easier to swap if there are issues and faster delivery. That's just me and what my needs are. I've got the M2 Pro Mini, stock, and I love it...but so excited for the M4 and FINALLY a Studio Display!
That’s a good point! My shipping date went from Nov 8 with the stock model to Nov 23. 🥲 I plan on using this as my main computer for the next 3 years at least, so I think the extra money and wait is worth it in my case. I’m coming from an M1 Max MBP. Congrats on the mini and studio display! Going to be a sick combo 🤙 Did you trade in the m2 pro mini and if so, do you mind sharing how much you got for it?
I'm actually giving my M2 Pro to my spouse. They have an m1 stock, so it's going to be a good improvement over that. The M2 pro is still a great machine, but I wanted to get the redesigned mini and a good solid monitor. I have a Samsung m80 and it's ok, but not great.
I still have my Mac Pro 5,1 with Open Core running on it...still a solid machine!!!
For some people it's about whether they have legit need and for some it's just enthusiast itch to have the latest and greatest because why not (and money is not issue per se). I'm more in the latter category. Upgrading 2020 M1 8/512 to M4 Pro 14/20 (otherwise base); $300 trade in for my current mini is not unreasonable based on ebay pricing. 0% Apple financing is great, which means no obvious reason to pay upfront. I should be good for another 5 years or so at least.
Please elaborate. I've got an M4Pro Mac Mini BTO on order, and I won't be able to use my old 27" iMac as a screen, so I'm torn between a current very good sale on the M80D 4K 32" Samsung ($399 + they throw in a 2-terabyte external SSD) vs. the newly out $799 Asus 5K 27" monitor. I'm a mainstream home user, not a professional (my eyes glaze over if you say 'gamma' or start talking about 'color spaces'), but I do like sharp text. Monitor reviews that touch on text quality may be based on the Windows experience, not suffering Mac scaling issues.
There may be many people in my position. What do you think of the text quality? If you sat back around 4 feet or so, do you think it'd look different vs. a 5K 27" display then? (I'm crashed in my Lazy Boy recliner at home).
I've had 2 of them go out. Very flimsy quality. Other than that they are just an ok monitor. I've had flaky connectivity as well with HDMI and the USB ports.
How about this scenario and which do you recommend? Use is home office, MS suites, email, internet, and Lightroom Classic for heavy RAW image post-processing plus Topaz plugins. 60mb+ per image.
Current kit is early 2019 5k iMac i9, 64MB, 2TB SSD.
New Mini or Studio M2MAX? Education pricing (budget is fine for both). Will use with Apple Studio Display.
Mini
Current kit is early 2019 5k iMac i9, 64MB, 2TB SSD.
New Mini or Studio M2MAX? Education pricing (budget is fine for both). Will use with Apple Studio Display.
Mini
- Apple M4 Pro chip with 14‑core CPU, 20‑core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
- 64GB unified memory
- 4TB SSD storage
- 10 Gigabit Ethernet
- Three Thunderbolt 5 ports, HDMI port, two USB‑C ports, headphone jack
- Apple M2 Max with 12‑core CPU, 38‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine
- 96GB unified memory
- 4TB SSD storage
- Front: Two USB-C ports, one SDXC card slot
- Back: Four Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, one HDMI port, one 10Gb Ethernet port, one 3.5 mm headphone jack