I have a fan issue with my 27 inch iMac 2020 and am planning to replace it. I was going to try to hold out until the M5s came out, but now it seems like they may not be out until mid-2026, so I'm thinking maybe I should just get an M4 or M4 Pro. Would I likely be missing anything significant by not waiting other than possibly an extra year or so of support life?
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Worth a wait for M5 at this point?
- Thread starter jazzer15
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For general computing you won't miss anything. If you play modern games however M5 would be considerably better probably. But for modern and upcoming PC games run via CrossOver/Wine 24GB of RAM is more important than M5 vs M4 consideration, it's often a bottleneck that makes games unplayable due to swap file which emerges on 16GB machines in some games requiring 16GB of RAM because Mac doesn't have dedicated additional video RAM. So M4 24GB would be better than M5 16GB for PC games.
You could be waiting forever no guarantee of any M5 Mac mini ever.
If you're having issues currently, I say just replace it now unless you fancy potentially limping along for months on a nearly 6 year-old Intel Mac with a fan issue. The M4 will feel like a rocket ship next to that 2020 iMac, and the M5 will feel like a slightly faster rocket ship.
Hmm. There's an idea. Or perhaps I would decide in that time that the M4 works fine for my purpose. My wife also needs a computer as she is using an even older intel iMac. And while my needs aren't necessarily very high end, hers are much more basic. I could, I suppose, buy an M4 for me now and transfer to her when/if the M5 comes out.
If you need a new Mac now then get one now. As mentioned, there is no guarantee a M5 Mac mini will ever be released and even if it is, it may not be out until summer.
You should probably tell us what you actually plan on doing with the thing though. However, if you're fine with a 2020 iMac, chances are you'd be fine with just an M2 Mac mini too. I'm currently using an M4 Mac mini and had the M1 before that, and for my business usage the real world difference between the two is not really very much performance-wise.
You should probably tell us what you actually plan on doing with the thing though. However, if you're fine with a 2020 iMac, chances are you'd be fine with just an M2 Mac mini too. I'm currently using an M4 Mac mini and had the M1 before that, and for my business usage the real world difference between the two is not really very much performance-wise.
My use is fairly basic day to day tasks -- browser, email, Word, Excel plus some photo editing (either Lightroom or On1 Photo Raw), some video with iMovie and some music programs, including Logic. These latter uses (photo and video and music) tend to be on the lighter side. I'm not recording and mixing a lot of tracks and I'm not doing daily photo or video editing, but these are things that I use (not professionally) -- sometimes somewhat regularly, sometimes less so.
jazzer...
M4 Mini, 32gb of RAM, 1tb SSD.
You will pay a little more for these internal upgrades now.
But as time goes by, you will be GLAD that you spent the money "up front" as the demands of the OS continue to grow in the future...
TIP:
Save 10% or so by buying from the Apple online refurbished store...
M4 Mini, 32gb of RAM, 1tb SSD.
You will pay a little more for these internal upgrades now.
But as time goes by, you will be GLAD that you spent the money "up front" as the demands of the OS continue to grow in the future...
TIP:
Save 10% or so by buying from the Apple online refurbished store...
Lightroom AI Denoise benchmarks show that having better GPU performance greatly speeds things up if you have large files or many files to process, so M4 Pro would be a noticeable advantage over M4 for this specific function. I'm curious though how well M5 performs for stuff like this. Will M5 be a big jump like 35% or more over M4, or just a smaller incremental jump like 15%? In absolute terms though, people out there in internet land say that M4 is a good performer overall for Lightroom. It's the Pros that want the M4 Pro (or M4 Max or M3 Ultra Mac Studio).
If you're buying a Mac mini now, in your shoes I'd probably get an M4 24 GB, with an external TB 4 / USB 4 SSD for your photo and music stuff. You would put the main applications and plug-ins on the internal drive, but sample libraries (which take up much more space) can go on an external SSD.
support.apple.com
While I'm no expert for Logic and Lightroom, it seems to me that in that context and because you don't have pro needs, 512 GB internal storage would likely be fine as long as you have sufficient external storage, but that's up to you to decide. In my case I had an M1 Mac mini with 1 TB internal SSD for years, but it was total overkill since my main data was on external storage anyway, so when it came time to upgrade to the M4, I downgraded the internal storage. After over a year, I still have over half the 512 GB internal storage free on my M4 Mac mini.
If you're buying a Mac mini now, in your shoes I'd probably get an M4 24 GB, with an external TB 4 / USB 4 SSD for your photo and music stuff. You would put the main applications and plug-ins on the internal drive, but sample libraries (which take up much more space) can go on an external SSD.
Move Logic Pro for Mac and MainStage content - Apple Support
To save space on your Mac, relocate the Logic Pro and MainStage Sound Library to an external drive.
While I'm no expert for Logic and Lightroom, it seems to me that in that context and because you don't have pro needs, 512 GB internal storage would likely be fine as long as you have sufficient external storage, but that's up to you to decide. In my case I had an M1 Mac mini with 1 TB internal SSD for years, but it was total overkill since my main data was on external storage anyway, so when it came time to upgrade to the M4, I downgraded the internal storage. After over a year, I still have over half the 512 GB internal storage free on my M4 Mac mini.
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After a good 15 years I decided to switch to Windows. I bought myself a Lenovo Worstation, you can't believe how quiet this thing is not to mention 256GB ram expansion and a ton of pci-e expansion slots to upgrade along with ability to swap out CPU's. Unfortunately the only way to gain speed on a mac is to constantly buy a new one and really just tired of that.
By the way I bought it thru kajiji and saved about $1500 canadian, i paid a total of $2,250 canadian, 32gb ram, 1 TB drive and 8 gig graphics card. I'm sad in a way moving away from apple and was hoping apple would do something with the mac pro but it doensn't look like it. Honestly this thing runs like a charm and not missing my mac. I would urge anyone to consider a lenovo workstation, the upgradability is fantastic and refreshing.
By the way I bought it thru kajiji and saved about $1500 canadian, i paid a total of $2,250 canadian, 32gb ram, 1 TB drive and 8 gig graphics card. I'm sad in a way moving away from apple and was hoping apple would do something with the mac pro but it doensn't look like it. Honestly this thing runs like a charm and not missing my mac. I would urge anyone to consider a lenovo workstation, the upgradability is fantastic and refreshing.
A number of influencers on YouTube recommend the M4 over the M4 Pro on the grounds of cost savings, but be mindful that's Thunderbolt 4 vs. 5, and some people run their Mac Mini off an external Thunderbolt SSD drive. Whether you'd notice a meaningful difference between 4 and 5 is another story. Perhaps not, but be aware.
If you decide to go with external storage, be aware there are different degrees. Some people just use it to put some files on, some put their Home Folder on it (I've read; haven't tried this) and some make it their Start Up Disc, and they may even largely ignore their Mac's internal SSD. There have been extensive discussions on this in the past - such as whether in a given scenario Apple Intelligence works (and how does and doesn't care whether it does, perhaps?).
Even a base M4 Mac Mini should be more than powerful enough to do those things, from what I understand.
How long do you tend to keep a Mac if it doesn't develop a serious problem? If you're an 8+ year guy who likes to invest in getting something more 'up-gunned' so it holds its own longer, you're in a different boat from someone who tends to upgrade at 4-5 year intervals.
But if you wait and get the M5, the M6 is just around the corner.
Frankly, unless a user is doing mainstream movie video and audio production, or commercially producing games (or playing them), even 'just' the M4 is overkill.
But we do like our 'new and shiny' products, so there will always be a market for the next one up.
Frankly, unless a user is doing mainstream movie video and audio production, or commercially producing games (or playing them), even 'just' the M4 is overkill.
But we do like our 'new and shiny' products, so there will always be a market for the next one up.
There’s plenty of base model Mac Mini M4’s out there on the used market.
I was shopping around, and looked at all the models - Pro, Studio, and Ultra.
The base Mini and Ultra were the ones keenly priced. Many of these were people who had grabbed one in Nov ‘24, and not liked Mac OS, having come from a PC. Others were put off by the extra cost of peripherals. So some very low use stuff is out there. Many with Apple Care.
In the end, I decided that a base Mini M4 was the ideal way to step in. The single-core performance is way up there with the best of today, and I do music on Cubase, so this was an important factor.
The fan noise was a home-studio concern, so I ruled out the Pro models. This seemed sensible.
The new M4 Studios were being discounted, so used prices weren’t much below new price.
M3 Ultras are dropping in price very quickly now, but any announced delay on the M5, and the price will stabilise again - although there’s a few good bargains for base M3 Ultras to be had.
I would have liked to go with an M3 Ultra, but in the end, I decided that having come from a 2015 i7 MacBook Pro, it would be perfectly ok to grab a base M4 Mini, and see how far it would take me.
I reasoned it would be easy to sell on, if I wished to upgrade later.
Now I’d decided, I looked at SSD speeds and bandwidth. So, the difference in internal SSD speed between 256,512, and 1TB isn’t much - all around 2GB/sec.
24GB for music seemed ideal, but I went with the base config of 16GB, for availability, price, and knowing that I wouldn’t be making huge demands on it - my MacBook Pro was 16GB after all.
2 months in now. My purchase was £150 off list price. It was immaculate. The owner had plugged it in once, and hated Mac OS. But had held onto it since last year.
So far I am very pleased with it. The 256GB SSD is half full now, with Cubase and Plugins, but I won’t be adding to that as I only do music on this machine. Performs much better than I anticipated. Bags of headroom, zero fan, cool running, and very snappy operation indeed.
Now, it seemed the best idea was to get a good TB4 hub with it’s own good power-supply.
I bought a Razer Chroma.
Two OWC TB4 enclosures, and two Samsung 1Tb 990 Evo plus NVME’s.
I don’t have anything on the USB3 ports that draw power - a small hub powers itself.
My soundcard and DAC are self-powered and run on the front USB-C outlets.
With this setup, the Mini’s power supply only has to take care of itself, which keeps temps down, and minimises the risk of the internal fan spooling up. Especially as my HDMI graphics usage is a lowly 1440p 21/9 curved Samsung monitor - with a fairly static DAW image.
External drive speeds are just above 3GB/sec, which is great for flying in samples, and loading projects, and the audio side is very stable. I keep an old Samsung 500GB Evo 850 SSD connected in a TB3 enclosure, and this is my Time Machine drive, which achieves around 400MB/sec.
The only concession I have made, is to put all my music and project folders on the external drives. This is quite normal anyway.
I bought some little silicone feet to raise the Mini, for air-flow, and on/off button access.
I have stuck with Sequoia 15.7, and not upgraded to the latest Cubase. I will wait till Oct 2026 before loading Tahoe and Cubase 15 - as I like to stay a year behind the releases, to avoid early-adopter woes.
Of course, if you want to use Apple’s Logic, then Tahoe obviously isn’t a problem.
I didn’t have to worry about graphic performance, just using one 1440p monitor, but I’m sure the Mini M4 would run a single 5K screen quite efficiently, without extra heat build up.
I certainly wouldn’t be waiting for an M5 Mini. A 15% boost in single-core performance is attractive, but I’m impressed very much by the M4’s abilities so far, for what I need.
The only change I might make later, is to either buy a used Mini M4 with 24GB of RAM, a 16-core Max Studio with a 1TB SSD, or a bargain-basement M3 Ultra Studio base model.
I was shopping around, and looked at all the models - Pro, Studio, and Ultra.
The base Mini and Ultra were the ones keenly priced. Many of these were people who had grabbed one in Nov ‘24, and not liked Mac OS, having come from a PC. Others were put off by the extra cost of peripherals. So some very low use stuff is out there. Many with Apple Care.
In the end, I decided that a base Mini M4 was the ideal way to step in. The single-core performance is way up there with the best of today, and I do music on Cubase, so this was an important factor.
The fan noise was a home-studio concern, so I ruled out the Pro models. This seemed sensible.
The new M4 Studios were being discounted, so used prices weren’t much below new price.
M3 Ultras are dropping in price very quickly now, but any announced delay on the M5, and the price will stabilise again - although there’s a few good bargains for base M3 Ultras to be had.
I would have liked to go with an M3 Ultra, but in the end, I decided that having come from a 2015 i7 MacBook Pro, it would be perfectly ok to grab a base M4 Mini, and see how far it would take me.
I reasoned it would be easy to sell on, if I wished to upgrade later.
Now I’d decided, I looked at SSD speeds and bandwidth. So, the difference in internal SSD speed between 256,512, and 1TB isn’t much - all around 2GB/sec.
24GB for music seemed ideal, but I went with the base config of 16GB, for availability, price, and knowing that I wouldn’t be making huge demands on it - my MacBook Pro was 16GB after all.
2 months in now. My purchase was £150 off list price. It was immaculate. The owner had plugged it in once, and hated Mac OS. But had held onto it since last year.
So far I am very pleased with it. The 256GB SSD is half full now, with Cubase and Plugins, but I won’t be adding to that as I only do music on this machine. Performs much better than I anticipated. Bags of headroom, zero fan, cool running, and very snappy operation indeed.
Now, it seemed the best idea was to get a good TB4 hub with it’s own good power-supply.
I bought a Razer Chroma.
Two OWC TB4 enclosures, and two Samsung 1Tb 990 Evo plus NVME’s.
I don’t have anything on the USB3 ports that draw power - a small hub powers itself.
My soundcard and DAC are self-powered and run on the front USB-C outlets.
With this setup, the Mini’s power supply only has to take care of itself, which keeps temps down, and minimises the risk of the internal fan spooling up. Especially as my HDMI graphics usage is a lowly 1440p 21/9 curved Samsung monitor - with a fairly static DAW image.
External drive speeds are just above 3GB/sec, which is great for flying in samples, and loading projects, and the audio side is very stable. I keep an old Samsung 500GB Evo 850 SSD connected in a TB3 enclosure, and this is my Time Machine drive, which achieves around 400MB/sec.
The only concession I have made, is to put all my music and project folders on the external drives. This is quite normal anyway.
I bought some little silicone feet to raise the Mini, for air-flow, and on/off button access.
I have stuck with Sequoia 15.7, and not upgraded to the latest Cubase. I will wait till Oct 2026 before loading Tahoe and Cubase 15 - as I like to stay a year behind the releases, to avoid early-adopter woes.
Of course, if you want to use Apple’s Logic, then Tahoe obviously isn’t a problem.
I didn’t have to worry about graphic performance, just using one 1440p monitor, but I’m sure the Mini M4 would run a single 5K screen quite efficiently, without extra heat build up.
I certainly wouldn’t be waiting for an M5 Mini. A 15% boost in single-core performance is attractive, but I’m impressed very much by the M4’s abilities so far, for what I need.
The only change I might make later, is to either buy a used Mini M4 with 24GB of RAM, a 16-core Max Studio with a 1TB SSD, or a bargain-basement M3 Ultra Studio base model.