2018 Mac Mini should have a Core i9 w/ Vega 20 Option

[CLS727]

Same as the top spec 15" MacBook Pro.

I feel like I have to buy a eGPU to get this thing to do any kind of work.... Apple Photos keeps crashing with my 250gb library of about 35,000 photos/videos.

 

[macdos]

Same as the top spec 15" MacBook Pro.

I feel like I have to buy a eGPU to get this thing to do any kind of work.... Apple Photos keeps crashing with my 250gb library of about 35,000 photos/videos.

How much RAM do you have installed?

 

[CLS727]

How much RAM do you have installed?

 

[harriska2]

I wonder if 32gb would help with the photos. I have only a few thousand photos and no crash yet (since November). I also have 8gb memory. But then, I am referencing my photos to a really, really slow external drive. The photos are not in the Photos database, just a reference. Does that make a difference?

 

[NaimNut]

Apple Photos may be your problem.

I have about the same size catalogue in Lightroom CC with no problems.

 

[RyanXM]

Same as the top spec 15" MacBook Pro.

I feel like I have to buy a eGPU to get this thing to do any kind of work.... Apple Photos keeps crashing with my 250gb library of about 35,000 photos/videos.

The issue isn't the specifications of the Mac mini, it is the fact that you are using consumer grade software to manage a photo library that is 250GB and over 20,000 photos. iPhoto would behave the same way when it was the consumer grade option on Mac OS X. I would HIGHLY (STRONGLY) suggest using something like Lightroom or even Pixave as they are better at managing a library that large.

Also, if you are wanting a Core i9 with Vega in a Mac mini, you might as well get an 27" 5K iMac or an iMac Pro (can be found for under $3500 on eBay). A fully loaded Mac mini without the Vega is over $4000 and you don't even have a 5K DCI-P3 display with it.

 

[macdos]

Apple Photos may be your problem.

I have about the same size catalogue in Lightroom CC with no problems.

I prefer Bridge for organizational reasons. https://creative.adobe.com/products/download/bridge

Bridge is actually free within the CC family.

I have some 40000 photos using 750 GB.

I also believe Apple Photos is the problem. It does a lot of silly facial recognition and stuff using ”machine learning” algorithms, and it also fracks up the original images. Dunno if it can even handle RAW images. Software for Iphone users.

 

[Ploki]

Same as the top spec 15" MacBook Pro.

I feel like I have to buy a eGPU to get this thing to do any kind of work.... Apple Photos keeps crashing with my 250gb library of about 35,000 photos/videos.

Why, so it would overheat?
The i7 is more powerful than the i9 in the MacBook Pro and benches higher.

(shoutout to intel for using stupid marketing names, obviously it works great)

And the issue with your crashing is probably (most likely) software based.

You opened a thread which has absolutely no connection to the issues you're having. If you want help with your problems, open a thread that describes the issue, not a pointless rant.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Same as the top spec 15" MacBook Pro.

I feel like I have to buy a eGPU to get this thing to do any kind of work.... Apple Photos keeps crashing with my 250gb library of about 35,000 photos/videos.

Photos is know to have issues with very large libraries, so a different GPU is not going to help you.

Solutions are to split the library into two, or shift to different software, such as Lightroom.

 

[sunapple]

This cannot be more complicated than a RAM issue, a powerful GPU would be wasted on an app like Photos. Are there other tasks that your Mini can't handle?

The issue isn't the specifications of the Mac mini, it is the fact that you are using consumer grade software to manage a photo library that is 250GB and over 20,000 photos. iPhoto would behave the same way when it was the consumer grade option on Mac OS X. I would HIGHLY (STRONGLY) suggest using something like Lightroom or even Pixave as they are better at managing a library that large.[...]

I have a 200GB library in Photos with 17000 photos/videos, all family / personal stuff. How is that not "consumer grade"? Photos should be able to handle it, mine is doing fine (2015 MBP). Maybe it's doing background tasks.

 

[Ploki]

This cannot be more complicated than a RAM issue, a powerful GPU would be wasted on an app like Photos. Are there other tasks that your Mini can't handle?



I have a 200GB library in Photos with 17000 photos/videos, all family / personal stuff. How is that not "consumer grade"? Photos should be able to handle it, mine is doing fine (2015 MBP). Maybe it's doing background tasks.

Background tasks, GPU and stuff like that has nothing to do with a Crash.

Crash can happen due to a software issue, corrupted library or in extreme case a hardware malfunction (such as faulty RAM or bad blocks on a disk).

 

[NaimNut]

I prefer Bridge for organizational reasons. https://creative.adobe.com/products/download/bridge

I prefer roasted potatoes over mashed.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/garlic-roasted-potatoes-recipe-1913067

 

[CLS727]

Thanks for the replies... yes, when I open "activity monitor", my RAM in use is always between 9gb and 11gb, so yes I think the issue is Apple Photos itself.

I do have a Creative Cloud membership already so I will try out Lightroom... have never used it before.

Cheers

 

[jtara]

What are you doing when it crashes?

You can only look at a very small number of photos at a time!

I guess it has to index, make thumbnails, and do silly things like make "memories" whether you want them or not, organize into albums whether you want it to or not, in background. (Or is that just on iOS?) (And, yes, I know you can probably turn off all the silly "helpful" features.)

I have a 2012 Mac Mini with 16GB, and have never had any trouble with the Photos app. But, then again, I don't have zillions of photos. Just every photo I ever took on any iOS device.

Where is the library stored? What kind of media? (Built-in flash, built-in hard drive, external hard drive, etc.?)

If it crashes, it's just crappy software. Decent software shouldn't crash at all. Maybe slow down, but not crash. Maybe you have an actual hardware problem.

Others here can probably suggest alternative software for large libraries.

A fast graphics processor is unlikely to help. Once all that silly "helpfulness" is done to your entire library, it shouldn't take much for it to keep the silliness up to date.

 

[Chundles]

That doesn't sound right. My library is a similar size with 32k photos and 1700 videos and it opens nice and quick on my 2013 MBP with 8GB RAM.

 

[RyanXM]

I have a 200GB library in Photos with 17000 photos/videos, all family / personal stuff. How is that not "consumer grade"? Photos should be able to handle it, mine is doing fine (2015 MBP). Maybe it's doing background tasks.

Having worked at the Apple Store as a Genius (I despise this term to describe a retail employee), more times than not, when someone had a library that large, iPhoto wasn't efficient, but Aperture was. I haven't worked at the store for over 4 years, but I do have clients who are photographers and NONE of them use Photos for any organization or editing. Photos, especially with iCloud Photo Library turned on, isn't efficient in anyway with handling large libraries. My sister has a library that well over 300GB and complains about Photos constantly. It simply isn't meant to manage a library that large. Its very inefficient at doing so...I've tried using said Photos Library on a 2018 15" with i9/32GB/4TB and guess what, still inefficient. It's not a horsepower problem, it's the coding of Photos. It EATS up RAM!

 

[sunapple]

Having worked at the Apple Store as a Genius (I despise this term to describe a retail employee), more times than not, when someone had a library that large, iPhoto wasn't efficient, but Aperture was. I haven't worked at the store for over 4 years, but I do have clients who are photographers and NONE of them use Photos for any organization or editing. Photos, especially with iCloud Photo Library turned on, isn't efficient in anyway with handling large libraries. My sister has a library that well over 300GB and complains about Photos constantly. It simply isn't meant to manage a library that large. Its very inefficient at doing so...I've tried using said Photos Library on a 2018 15" with i9/32GB/4TB and guess what, still inefficient. It's not a horsepower problem, it's the coding of Photos. It EATS up RAM!

I guess I’m lucky Photos is working fine for me, I’ll keep it in mind should any problems arise in the future. It’s just so convenient, I have it all in sync between Mac, iPhone and iPad