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2018 Mac mini i7 vs Mini with M1?

Pekk1s

Pekk1s

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 10, 2020
1
0
Hi there,

I was about to buy 2018 mac mini with i7 and 32gb ram but now things got complicated. How do you guys think i7 compares to new M1? Or vice versa šŸ˜ In Apple sites they compare i3 to M1 and M1 is 3x faster than i3? So I can't tell how much better or worse this new chip is šŸ˜³

I'm total noob with these and I just need computer that can handle light video editing and recording with Logic. Is this new mini with M1 and 16gb ram enough for this kind of use?

Greetings Pekka

Ps. Also not fan of "new" color
 
With the M1 Mini you are limited to 16GB of RAM which is not enough for my taste. OTOH you do get a proper GPU.
 
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ADGrant said:
With the M1 Mini you are limited to 16GB of RAM which is not enough for my taste. OTOH you do get a proper GPU.
Click to expand...
My early view on this would be that the upcoming M1 chips are not heavily dependent on RAM due to optimization. How that is reflected in benchmarks etc. remains to be seen. Nevertheless, interesting route in the future, I hate upgrading RAM that costs ridiculous amounts of money from Apple.
 
Pekk1s said:
I'm total noob with these and I just need computer that can handle light video editing and recording with Logic. Is this new mini with M1 and 16gb ram enough for this kind of use?
Click to expand...
For video, the old Mac mini has only the intel UHD 630, and sure you can do very basic video editing, I am sure the newer one will be remarkably better, even if only half of what apple claims it can do is true.

Anyway, it is worth waiting for review and actual figures from real world users, because there are a lot of unknowns right now.
 
Iā€™m in the same boat. Wanted to replace my 2016 MBP w/ an mac mini and planned to buy the i7 then upgrade the RAM myself to 32GB. Only concern was graphics, but the only intensive work I use the machine for is photo editing. Really curious to see how the new machine delivers
 
dahlblom said:
My early view on this would be that the upcoming M1 chips are not heavily dependent on RAM due to optimization. How that is reflected in benchmarks etc. remains to be seen. Nevertheless, interesting route in the future, I hate upgrading RAM that costs ridiculous amounts of money from Apple.
Click to expand...
RAM is a tricky prospect here. Optimizations and virtual memory can do a lot. But the machine shares the memory with the gpu, and 3D graphics with complicated textures, or high resolution frame buffers use a lot of it. I have plans to upgrade my Mac mini 2018, but as my old trusty MBP bought 6 years ago needs to go first, I ordered the M1 MBP.
 
dahlblom said:
My early view on this would be that the upcoming M1 chips are not heavily dependent on RAM due to optimization. How that is reflected in benchmarks etc. remains to be seen. Nevertheless, interesting route in the future, I hate upgrading RAM that costs ridiculous amounts of money from Apple.
Click to expand...
RAM use is more of a function of the software than the hardware. AS Macs are running the same Mac software that the Intel Macs use, just recompiled for a different instruction set.
 
Pekk1s said:
Hi there,

I was about to buy 2018 mac mini with i7 and 32gb ram but now things got complicated. How do you guys think i7 compares to new M1? Or vice versa šŸ˜ In Apple sites they compare i3 to M1 and M1 is 3x faster than i3? So I can't tell how much better or worse this new chip is šŸ˜³

I'm total noob with these and I just need computer that can handle light video editing and recording with Logic. Is this new mini with M1 and 16gb ram enough for this kind of use?

Greetings Pekka

Ps. Also not fan of "new" color
Click to expand...
The m1 will be significantly faster CPU wise (by how much is the question - given the i7 is only about 1.7X (in Geekbench 5 multicore) faster than the i3, I would say the m1 should be ahead of the i7 in the mini by a still significant margin).

The GPU in the M1 will murder the i7 by up to 6X - there's just no comparison.

All in a package that uses significantly less enegery than the intel mac.

In favour of the i7
- User upgrade able to 64GB (I did it myself to my i5 - its quite easy)
- 4 thunderbolt ports instead of 2
- Ability to run bootcamp and virtualise windows
- Option for 10Gb ethernet
- Wait for native apps - if run under Rosetta 2 you might won't get the speed benefits
 
The M1 may have a better integrated GPU, but it is under-powered compared to being able to use an eGPU with the Mac Mini, and using a much more powerful dedicated AMD card with Metal accelerated pro apps.

However, the M1 does not support eGPU's according to a TechCrunch article published today.

If you know you need a powerful GPU for the long term, and need to be able to upgrade, then sticking with the i7 version (along with the ability to upgrade RAM beyond 16GB and 10Gb ethernet) may be the way to go for now.

I'm sticking with my 2019 13 inch MBP for now, only because I want to be able to upgrade my graphics card (via eGPU) on a yearly basis ... until Apple has an integrated GPU, dedicated Apple GPU, dedicated AMD GPU, or eGPU option for the Apple silicon Macs that is as powerful as the NVIDIA 3000 series or AMD 6000 series cards.
 
christcc2 said:
The M1 may have a better integrated GPU, but it is under-powered compared to being able to use an eGPU with the Mac Mini, and using a much more powerful dedicated AMD card with Metal accelerated pro apps.

However, the M1 does not support eGPU's according to a TechCrunch article published today.

If you know you need a powerful GPU for the long term, and need to be able to upgrade, then sticking with the i7 version (along with the ability to upgrade RAM beyond 16GB and 10Gb ethernet) may be the way to go for now.

I'm sticking with my 2019 13 inch MBP for now, only because I want to be able to upgrade my graphics card (via eGPU) on a yearly basis ... until Apple has an integrated GPU, dedicated Apple GPU, dedicated AMD GPU, or eGPU option for the Apple silicon Macs that is as powerful as the NVIDIA 3000 series or AMD 6000 series cards.
Click to expand...
It does have 2 thuderbolt 3 ports so theoretically it can support an external GPU. So it might be only a software driver are not written for the GPU. Whether this will be written in future is unknown.
 
I ordered one of these today, trading in my existing Mac Mini for $500 off, and I fear I'll regret it. I'm "upgrading" from a 2018 i5 Mac Mini (the one Apple currently sells as the most premium Mac Mini option...) with an eGPU case running an Radeon 570. The new Mac Mini GPU is "up to 6 times faster than the previous model Mac Mini", my Radeon 570 was 5.6x faster than the onboard GPU, so it sounds like that's going to be a wash if the new Mac Mini doesn't support eGPU. And when Apple talked about how much more powerful the M1 was than previous gen, they said it was 3 times faster, but they were comparing it against the i3 model. They said the SSD would be fast because it's one of the newest model SSDs, but Apples tech support chat told me the SSD in the 2018 model would be faster due to using PCIe.
 
Pekk1s said:
Hi there,

I was about to buy 2018 mac mini with i7 and 32gb ram but now things got complicated. How do you guys think i7 compares to new M1? Or vice versa šŸ˜ In Apple sites they compare i3 to M1 and M1 is 3x faster than i3? So I can't tell how much better or worse this new chip is šŸ˜³

I'm total noob with these and I just need computer that can handle light video editing and recording with Logic. Is this new mini with M1 and 16gb ram enough for this kind of use?

Greetings Pekka

Ps. Also not fan of "new" color
Click to expand...
M1's CPU will beat the 8th Gen Intel 6-core Core i7. Maybe not by 3x, but still by a healthy margin. I base this off the fact that the A12Z in the Developer Transition Kit can also beat that same CPU by a healthy margin.

M1's GPU will beat the Intel UHD 630 graphics handily with the caveat/requirement that the app in play (whether 64-bit Intel emulated via Rosetta 2 or native for 64-bit ARM) uses Metal.

The 16GB of RAM will be the real limiting factor here. Though if you're only doing light video editing and Logic recording, you should be fine. It should be noted that the M1 Macs that came out today are replacements to Apple's lowest end Intel Macs. We haven't yet gotten to the mid or even high end yet.
 
BigSplash said:
I'll be the guinea pig; just ordered a 16GB M1 mini.
Click to expand...
Guinea pig #2 - I just ordered a 8GB M1 Mini.

Will compare against my trusty old 2012 i7 quad core Mini Server 2.6GHz with 16GB....

I have a feeling that the M1 Mini will run circles around the old i7 even with half the RAM due to the RISC design of the core elements and it will run cooler than my i7 that needs a cooling fan underneath....

Will report back after I get her next week:
Screen Shot 2020-11-11 at 2.28.26 PM.png
 
ADGrant said:
With the M1 Mini you are limited to 16GB of RAM which is not enough for my taste. OTOH you do get a proper GPU.
Click to expand...
That seems to be the only draw back for the amazing M1 Mac Mini . As the guy says it blows most Mac to pieces and for a budget price in the UK of just 700:rolleyes:Where does this leave the intel Mac, s?:oops:If i had not had a iMac i would buy it. And this is only the budget modal.Plus you don,t even need a eGPU?:oops:Surely pricing for the Intel Mac.s will go down.How did it go when Intel took over from Power Mac?Heres one of my fav utubers
Before i saw the new Mac Mini i saw this
. the new Mac should blow this one away.
 
DreamPod said:
I ordered one of these today, trading in my existing Mac Mini for $500 off, and I fear I'll regret it. I'm "upgrading" from a 2018 i5 Mac Mini (the one Apple currently sells as the most premium Mac Mini option...) with an eGPU case running an Radeon 570. The new Mac Mini GPU is "up to 6 times faster than the previous model Mac Mini", my Radeon 570 was 5.6x faster than the onboard GPU, so it sounds like that's going to be a wash if the new Mac Mini doesn't support eGPU. And when Apple talked about how much more powerful the M1 was than previous gen, they said it was 3 times faster, but they were comparing it against the i3 model. They said the SSD would be fast because it's one of the newest model SSDs, but Apples tech support chat told me the SSD in the 2018 model would be faster due to using PCIe.
Click to expand...
From the reviews of it it does not support eGpu. as someone has said on here.
You can,t upgrade the Ram i take it you want be able to upgrade the SSD either?
Where to now for Intel?
 
Last edited:
On the 2020 intel i5 mini, Apple seems to be using newer SSD now, October, than what they used in March - showing 2200MB writes, 2500 reads. I wanted the now old model to wait on Big Sur m1 for now, and to run Windows.

(The battery on my old MacBook was dying, was always plugged into hub with LG 4K and peripherals, Ethernet, so felt it was time to buy.)
 
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Pekk1s said:
Hi there,

I was about to buy 2018 mac mini with i7 and 32gb ram but now things got complicated. How do you guys think i7 compares to new M1? Or vice versa šŸ˜ In Apple sites they compare i3 to M1 and M1 is 3x faster than i3? So I can't tell how much better or worse this new chip is šŸ˜³

I'm total noob with these and I just need computer that can handle light video editing and recording with Logic. Is this new mini with M1 and 16gb ram enough for this kind of use?

Greetings Pekka

Ps. Also not fan of "new" color
Click to expand...
According to this guy it will be up to any job.https://youtu.be/KIAUiFoYPtQ?t=118 from the reviews it blows me away ,what will the higher end ones be like :oops:I don,t know why it went back to the old color.
 
I bought this (i7/32/1TB) in March. I need to run VMWare VMs.
Mostly with Linux and FreeBSD

That, it can still do better and 32GB helps a lot there.

Everything else, it's the M1 will probably outperform it (SSD is probably faster, too).

I also paid about 1000 CHF more for i7/32/1T than M1/16/1T costs now. So i7 also "wins" there, too...
(Bought about two weeks before they lowered prices on storage...)
 
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