I picked up a base model M4 Mac Mini following the move as I am currently sitting in the living room/dining room until we convert the garage and my PC is a noisy beast and well does not get the WAF, so got a base mac mini, which will go to the wife, but it does what I want it to do but need more performace for some things, which is why waiting for the M5 studio to come out as with the pro mini by the time you add the extra cpu/gpu and memmory your up close to a base studio anyway,
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Worth a wait for M5 at this point?
- Thread starter jazzer15
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It's implicit: this thread was started in the Mac mini sub-forum, and it's typically assumed that most conversations started in this sub are going to be expecting responses related to minis.
An A19 laptop running macOS will still be much faster (especially in terms of light load responsiveness - which is what most laptops need) than the majority of the PC business laptops out there running Windows 11 on intel integrated graphics.
Weird edge case when looking at the configurations available on the M4 Pro Mini vs the M4 Mini - you have a choice of 24Gb on the M4 Pro but have to pay £400 to go to 48Gb (no 36Gb option!). So for £1799 you could have an M4 Pro with 48Gb RAM (and 512Gb storage) whereas if you don't need to pay that much a basic M4 Max Mac Studio runs you to £2099 and that has 36Gb of RAM and loads more cores etc (the same 512Gb storage). And there's 10Gig Ethernet on the Studio which is an optional extra on the Mini.
Whereas on the M4 you can pick 24Gb or 32Gb but no more ram after that.
Apple’s “weird edge case” pricing structures are always there to “guide” (force, lol) you into buying the machine they really think/want you should buy, rather than the cheaper one.
And in all honesty…. it’s usually the correct choice. TO AN EXTENT.
Spending 1800 quid on a mac mini when there’s a far more capable studio available for 2100 probably makes no sense… except for that 36GB on the base studio is a bit…. poo.
So you end up upgrading THAT… and then… well there’s no point spending 3000 quid on a mac studio if it doesn’t have more storage/better gpu/whatever. Whoever decides on the apple pricing structures is a frickin evil genius i tell you. They’re exquisitely crafted to extract maximum revenue. So many times, it’s a case of “well if i’m in for this much i may as well get X”. NO. STOP.
As to the other part of your question regarding the fan, it seems to have two speeds - silent and full throttle. It just takes off for no apparent reason and I have to put the computer in sleep mode to get it to stop. Then when I wake it up again I get one quick loud fan roar and it settles in again until the next time it decides to take off. It can go weeks or even months without doing this (which is why I haven't done anything about it yet) and other times it can happen on and off all day long for days.
I figure maybe there is a sensor issue based on the research I've seen online, but it is the kind of intermittent problem that is a pain to diagnose and since the iMac is a 5 year old intel, I figure it is probably worth replacing rather than paying to get fixed even if they can find the problem.
Sounds like an issue this could be controlled in software? Something like macs fan control?
You know, I tried that a while ago and it didn't help, but it was on a prior OS. I just downloaded it again and I'm going to give it a try one more time. You never know.
It could be a physical issues though - fan could be clogged with dust or a sensor (or the fan) is dying. If you can get some known fan control profiles working you could determine for yourself if dust is getting in the way - I think it might have been mentioned already about taking the back panel off to clean the dust off but do take care when doing that.
If you have an Apple Store nearby, book an appointment. It doesn’t cost to get it looked at! And I’m often surprised at how little some things cost to fix.
It's a late 2020. The last intel iMac. BTO i7 3.8Ghz w/1TB SSD and now has 32GB RAM. My wife has a 2015.
Ah right, so they would look at a 2020. Nothing to lose having them have a look I guess. Especially if you don’t fancy taking the back off an iMac.
You are spot on. EVIL GENIUS is a perfect description. They must have the very best psychologists in the world working on that stuff.Apple’s “weird edge case” pricing structures are always there to “guide” (force, lol) you into buying the machine they really think/want you should buy, rather than the cheaper one.
And in all honesty…. it’s usually the correct choice. TO AN EXTENT.
Spending 1800 quid on a mac mini when there’s a far more capable studio available for 2100 probably makes no sense… except for that 36GB on the base studio is a bit…. poo.
So you end up upgrading THAT… and then… well there’s no point spending 3000 quid on a mac studio if it doesn’t have more storage/better gpu/whatever. Whoever decides on the apple pricing structures is a frickin evil genius i tell you. They’re exquisitely crafted to extract maximum revenue. So many times, it’s a case of “well if i’m in for this much i may as well get X”. NO. STOP.
Good Luck on the monthly "Patch Tuesdays". Cross your fingers, toes and eyes that the patches don't crash Windows like it did to me a few times. I started using Windows in the late 1990's. I've been using Mac's now for 10 years and do not intend to go back to Windows. Like I said Good Luck with Windows and their patches.
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Honestly, the M4/M4 Pro are already incredibly powerful and you'd be good for years - the jump to M5 will likely be incremental rather than revolutionary. If your fan is dying and you need a machine now, I wouldn't sweat waiting another year+ for what'll probably be like 15-20% performance gains - grab the M4 Pro and enjoy it!
Great point about the RAM - 24GB is definitely the sweet spot for gaming through CrossOver/Wine since macOS shares memory between system and GPU! The unified memory architecture is awesome but yeah, 16GB can get tight fast with demanding games. OP, if you're gaming at all, prioritize getting 24GB on the M4 over waiting for M5 with base RAM!
Look at January's patches:
Microsoft investigates Windows 11 boot failures after January updates
Microsoft is investigating reports that some Windows 11 devices are failing to boot with "UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME" errors after installing the January 2026 Patch Tuesday security updates.
I couldn't wait for the M5 to come out because I needed a computer to do my 2025 taxes. The tax software was incapable with the tax software because I needed a newer OS system for the tax software since I'm running macOS Catalina on my 27 inch iMac. So the choice was to get a cheap Windows computer or the M4 Mac Mini. I picked the Mac Mini 24 GB 1 TB SSD running macOS Sequoia. OS is supper fast. I'd never go back to MS Windows.
I'm not going to argue with your choice of replacement, nor with your very reasonable decision to eschew all things Windows... but what tax software were you using that isn't just web-based, these days?
TurboTax. I get it cheaper getting the keycode from Sam's Club. Plus I needed a new computer anyway, the iMac is getting old.
TurboTax does indeed have a fully web-based version of their software; I use it most years myself, because I rarely have anything complex enough to warrant an actual human tax guy. I mean... I can't claim to fully understand their business model, but I have to believe that your Sam's Club license would grant you access to the same resources on the website.