Anyone return the base M4 for M4 Pro?

[redheeler]

The 16 GB RAM seems to be the biggest limitation with this base Mac mini. I can't even fathom that people were defending it back when it was 8 GB. That would be a nightmare to use when even with 16 GB I've seen orange memory pressure.

Otherwise it seems to be performing just fine for me. For things like Docker containers I'm going to stick to my Linux PC and its 32 GB of fully upgradable DRAM. All that stuff runs beautifully on there and memory is never a concern.

 

[Populus]

The 16 GB RAM seems to be the biggest limitation with this base Mac mini. I can't even fathom that people were defending it back when it was 8 GB. That would be a nightmare to use when even with 16 GB I've seen orange memory pressure.

Otherwise it seems to be performing just fine for me. For things like Docker containers I'm going to stick to my Linux PC and its 32 GB of fully upgradable DRAM. All that stuff runs beautifully on there and memory is never a concern.

It usually goes from green to yellow to red, isn’t it? I don’t remember seeing orange memory pressure…

 

[Miles Fu]

The 16 GB RAM seems to be the biggest limitation with this base Mac mini. I can't even fathom that people were defending it back when it was 8 GB. That would be a nightmare to use when even with 16 GB I've seen orange memory pressure.

Otherwise it seems to be performing just fine for me. For things like Docker containers I'm going to stick to my Linux PC and its 32 GB of fully upgradable DRAM. All that stuff runs beautifully on there and memory is never a concern.

I am also thinking maybe the M4+24G will be the better choice., the 8G more RAM will make quite much difference.

 

[srikat]

It usually goes from green to yellow to red, isn’t it? I don’t remember seeing orange memory pressure…

In this context, Yellow = Orange. We are all referring to the same.

 

[ocat]

I went with the standard M4 32 GB 1TB plus 1TB external storage, the pro versions were temping but I had a good look at what Im actually doing and what is possible for the future, after most updates to the OS there are more process running in the background taking up ram, after a major update there is a string of new process taking up ram and cpu cycles. Apple didn't up the minimum ram to 16 GB to be nice, they're going to plaster the ram down the road with AI process, one thing I do with all of my mac"s, the 2011 i5, refurb M1 16 GB/256 GB and M4, I do terminal edits shutting down much of the eye candy and fancy motion like gene effect and so on, for me I don't care about that stuff, and the increase in performance is very noticeable.

I have only one graphic intensive app, on my M1 I was running a external 1TB ssd, 32" 1080 Asus monitor and 4K 42" LG TV running at 1080P, everything worked fine, the TV was for large graphics that I wanted, I replaced the main monitor with a 32" 4K Asus Proart, I also added a high speed document scanner and updated laser printer, the M4 runs everything just fine, the M1 will run it just fine also, but so it goes, the M1 is now in the TV room as a media server running Ventura, and what a great machine to dedicate for media, just a little heads up, on the M4, replace all of your usb type A storage sticks to high speed type C, sitting around wait for these older things just sucks, use the higher speeds you now have, needless to say you need a hub, but you may have stuff you need to run on A.

PS, if your running Little Snitch 6, you will notice an increase in traffic, Im currently studying what to shut off.

 

[Populus]

Apple didn't up the minimum ram to 16 GB to be nice, they're going to plaster the ram down the road with AI process

I’ve thought about this as well. However, I really think that once they cease support of a feature or macOS version for a device, they will do that for all the model variants regardless of whether they have 16, 24 or 32GB of RAM.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m gonna get either 24GB or 32GB, to multitask better and not fall into swapping. But I know that once Apple axes the M4 mini, or certain features, they will do it for all variants regardless of the amount of RAM.

 

[jqc]

In this context, Yellow = Orange. We are all referring to the same.

View attachment 2453399

How much RAM is enough On my M1 MBP with 8GB I am constantly in the orange, with 2-5GB of swap. this mainly a lot of tabs and office - multiple large excel files, ppt, Teams, Sharepoint, etc. Hardly ever run FCP or Pixelmator but do on occasion. Looking at the attached activity monitor, does the 6GB of swap mean that I should be good with 16gb to avoid swap? (e.g., 8gb+6gb=14gb)

Also just to be clear, I have never had an "out of memory" message or noticed my computer slowing down.

 

[CharlesShaw]

I'm thinking that if I keep Activity Monitor closed, I'll be much happier with my base M4 mini.

 

[Miles Fu]

I'm thinking that if I keep Activity Monitor closed, I'll be much happier with my base M4 mini.

Can't agree with you more

 

[Miles Fu]

I'm thinking that if I keep Activity Monitor closed, I'll be much happier with my base M4 mini.

I've closed that already after keeping it open for several days. I don't need to worry about that as long as it can operate smoothly.

 

[picpicmac]

More memory did not equate to more performance, either.

Art is quite insistent, repeating in many of his videos, about buying more RAM. His testing with Photoshop shows that over and over: the more RAM the better the performance in Photoshop.

Video encoding is enhanced in the Max and Ultra chips because of the extra encoders.

The differences between the M4 and M4 Pro are highlighted by Art for the purposes of the professional for whom time is money. In his most recent video he clearly stated that the base M4 variant is fine for amateurs who can wait the extra minute or two.

 

[mattopotamus]

The performance leaps from M1 -> M2 -> M3, etc seem to be pretty significant. For this reason, I just stick to the base models. I'd rather upgrade every 2-3 years for the entry level price than pay $1300+ for a device that is nearly matched by a base model a few years later.

This works with my use case. I do not do anything demanding, but I do always crave a little more power after a few years.

 

[Che Castro]

I didn’t return but I canceled my base m4 preorder for base m4 pro

 

[jqc]

I've closed that already after keeping it open for several days. I don't need to worry about that as long as it can operate smoothly.

Curious what did you see with 16GB RAM? What type of usage and seeing consistently orange memory pressure and large swap?

The performance leaps from M1 -> M2 -> M3, etc seem to be pretty significant. For this reason, I just stick to the base models. I'd rather upgrade every 2-3 years for the entry level price than pay $1300+ for a device that is nearly matched by a base model a few years later.

This works with my use case. I do not do anything demanding, but I do always crave a little more power after a few years.

Like I said above, I actually dont notice any "slowness" for my use case on the M1 base model MBP. I also have a M1 Max MBP with 64gb RAM and while I always have green memory pressure and zero swap, I really dont notice any day-today difference in speed between the two (but better screen, more ports, HDMI, SD card reader is very noticeable). In this context, your strategy might be the sanest one.

 

[Miles Fu]

Curious what did you see with 16GB RAM? What type of usage and seeing consistently orange memory pressure and large swap?




Like I said above, I actually dont notice any "slowness" for my use case on the M1 base model MBP. I also have a M1 Max MBP with 64gb RAM and while I always have green memory pressure and zero swap, I really dont notice any day-today difference in speed between the two (but better screen, more ports, HDMI, SD card reader is very noticeable). In this context, your strategy might be the sanest one.

When I do PS+LR with other APPs open, I see the yellow color of RAM pressure, but everything works fine

 

[iamthedudeman]

I have a 512 mini. I restored mine from backup so I don't have a

The performance leaps from M1 -> M2 -> M3, etc seem to be pretty significant. For this reason, I just stick to the base models. I'd rather upgrade every 2-3 years for the entry level price than pay $1300+ for a device that is nearly matched by a base model a few years later.

This works with my use case. I do not do anything demanding, but I do always crave a little more power after a few years.

Exactly. I usually just buy the base model with 512gb SSD. The base M4 is faster in single core and about the same in multi-core vs the M3 Pro. It is slightly better than the M3 Pro from last year. I paid $699 for my M4 Mini with M4/512 SSD. In two years I will get $350-$400 for a trade in and only pay $350-$300 for a new M6 when it comes out in two years.

This new M6 will be slightly better than or equal to the M4 Pro 14 core from this year. You're paying more today for future performance. I would rather have a base pro M6 than a Pro M4 and pay very little to upgrade.

On the day to day usage I don't think you will see a big difference between the two. For sustained workloads yes, other than that, probably no. Add a good external SSD and you are good to go.