Buying Advice - M4 Pro - 12 core or 14 core

[kshitijshah]

I was wondering if it was worth splurging the extra $ 200 on the full-fat version of the M4 Pro or going for the 12-core and getting the 1TB drive. I don’t think in my use case of photo editing and general use I would be able to utilize the 14-core to the fullest. However, having a full 2 extra Performance cores makes it tempting. I am
buying the M4 Pro to get the Thunderbolt 5 and use multiple displays. I plan on keeping the machine for at least 5 years.

 

[Gabebear]

It's only $180 more with the education discount(which is now never verified)

I ordered the binned 12 core version...

I would have liked to see some benchmarks, but the M4 already looks like a great chip and adding TB5 and better monitor support is enough. The double memory bandwidth over the M4 should help with larger screens(I have two 5k screens). I'd imagine the lower core count on the GPU will end up mattering to me more than the lower CPU core count.

If AI performance actually does end up being something that matters the Neural-Engine is identical between the M4-Pro variants.

 

[haralds]

Don't overlook the 20-core GPU vs 16 on the full spec version for photo editing.

 

[brig2221]

I've been struggling with this all day. Put in an order for the base Mini M4 Pro and I've been contemplating cancelling and re-ordering with the unbinned 14-core version, just can't decide whether I would even be able to tell the difference.

 

[srikat]

I've been struggling with this all day. Put in an order for the base Mini M4 Pro and I've been contemplating cancelling and re-ordering with the unbinned 14-core version, just can't decide whether I would even be able to tell the difference.

That was me yesterday.

Ultimately, I told myself that $200 over 5 years = $40 per year and went with the upgraded chip.

 

[emoon3]

The way I look at it, the mac studio will only be $600 dollars more than the base M4 Pro mini if current pricing models hold. Every upgrade to the mini closes that gap.

So paying $200 for the unbinned m4 brings that difference to $400.

And for $400, you get an extra 8GB of RAM, a possible storage upgrade, twice the number of GPU cores, double the media engines.

So I ordered the 12 core mini. If by the time the studio comes out next year, I feel the need for more performance, I'd rather put that money towards that upgrade.

It gives me six months or so to test if I really need that power.

*edit AND you get the 10 GBe upgrade also.

 

[brig2221]

Ok, you've convinced me to stick with the binned M4 Pro. You are 1,000% correct that once you start encroaching on Mac Studio pricing, you're probably making a mistake.

 

[kshitijshah]

The way I look at it, the mac studio will only be $600 dollars more than the base M4 Pro mini if current pricing models hold. Every upgrade to the mini closes that gap.

So paying $200 for the unbinned m4 brings that difference to $400.

And for $400, you get an extra 8GB of RAM, a possible storage upgrade, twice the number of GPU cores, double the media engines.

So I ordered the 12 core mini. If by the time the studio comes out next year, I feel the need for more performance, I'd rather put that money towards that upgrade.

It gives me si months or so to test if I really need that power.

very helpful. thanks

 

[ChrisA]

I was wondering if it was worth splurging the extra $ 200 on the full-fat version of the M4 Pro or going for the 12-core and getting the 1TB drive. I don’t think in my use case of photo editing and general use ...

The extra cores and RAM are very useful if you are running virtual machines. Many times I'll have a virtual machine with 4GB and 4 cores running Linux. The VM takes away for the macOS side. This is the only use case where I notice how many CPU cores I have. But for editing still photos, I'd think maybe you want more GPU cores, not more CPU cores.

 

[apostolosdt]

Get the best you can afford!

 

[lenningj]

more is better of course, throw the wallet at the screen $$$ 😅

 

[Guenter]

Emoon3, there is a large price gap between the m4pro and the m4max on the macbook pro. If apple makes the same gap between the m4pro mini and the m4max studio the next studio will be much more expensive.

 

[emoon3]

Emoon3, there is a large price gap between the m4pro and the m4max on the macbook pro. If apple makes the same gap between the m4pro mini and the m4max studio the next studio will be much more expensive.

The Mac Studio has always been 1999. The base pro mini has always been around 1200-1300.

See here.

The large pricing gap between the m4 pro and m4 max Macbook Pro has always existed.

 

[loby]

Ok, you've convinced me to stick with the binned M4 Pro. You are 1,000% correct that once you start encroaching on Mac Studio pricing, you're probably making a mistake.

This is my thought as well...

Apple is good at getting you to impulse buy the mini pro NOW instead of WAITING 6 or 7 months for the Mac Studio. Just the base Mac studio with the M4 is going to be something that users might sell their M4 Mac mini Pro for...

So REALLY the question is can you wait 6 or 7 months for the M4 Mac Studio. If you CAN'T then buy the Mac mini Pro.

With this logic...I MIGHT just get the base Mac mini and then WAIT for the Mac Studio.

But I am battling LOGIC vs. WANT...

 

[brig2221]

This is my thought as well...

Apple is good at getting you to impulse buy the mini pro NOW instead of WAITING 6 or 7 months for the Mac Studio. Just the base Mac studio with the M4 is going to be something that users might sell their M4 Mac mini Pro for...

So REALLY the question is can you wait 6 or 7 months for the M4 Mac Studio. If you CAN'T then buy the Mac mini Pro.

With this logic...I MIGHT just get the base Mac mini and then WAIT for the Mac Studio.

But I am battling LOGIC vs. WANT...

Luckily for me my personal use case in no way would justify a full-on Mac Studio. I am literally the target consumer for the Mac Mini, want a good device with a small footprint with plenty of power, which the M4 Pro version will deliver in spades.

I always get a bit of FOMO when passing on some upgrades, this 14-Core vs. 12-Core binned M4 Pro chip decision being the latest. Thanks to a lot of reading in these forums, I'm now 99% sure I will never max out the performance cores on the binned version of the M4 Pro, so what would upgrading to a chip with two additional performance cores get me? Probably nothing is the most likely answer and why I'm now content to be extremely happy with the binned M4 Pro version.

 

[kshitijshah]

Luckily for me my personal use case in no way would justify a full-on Mac Studio. I am literally the target consumer for the Mac Mini, want a good device with a small footprint with plenty of power, which the M4 Pro version will deliver in spades.

I always get a bit of FOMO when passing on some upgrades, this 14-Core vs. 12-Core binned M4 Pro chip decision being the latest. Thanks to a lot of reading in these forums, I'm now 99% sure I will never max out the performance cores on the binned version of the M4 Pro, so what would upgrading to a chip with two additional performance cores get me? Probably nothing is the most likely answer and why I'm now content to be extremely happy with the binned M4 Pro version.

my thoughts exactly. went with the binned m4 pro and spent the money on a 1tb ssd

 

[Rychiar]

I just bought a base mini for $499. That should tide me over til the studio and then i can use it as a media server after with my TV. With 16gb ram standard now it should be at least functional for graphic design and photography use for the next 6 months(likely still way better than my mixed out 2017 imac). The Pro is just too big a price leap and too close to the studiio. I was excited about thunderbolt 5 but the truth is there is zero use case for this until maybe a year from now if someone starts making affordable thunderbolt Drive housings or a new studio display launches…. Wi-Fi 7 woulda been more useful but they decided to screw us there….

 

[brig2221]

I just bought a base mini for $499. That should tide me over til the studio and then i can use it as a media server after with my TV. With 16gb ram standard now it should be at least functional for graphic design and photography use for the next 6 months(likely still way better than my mixed out 2017 imac). The Pro is just too big a price leap and too close to the studiio. I was excited about thunderbolt 5 but the truth is there is zero use case for this until maybe a year from now if someone starts making affordable thunderbolt Drive housings or a new studio display launches…. Wi-Fi 7 woulda been more useful but they decided to screw us there….

I'm still glad I got the Pro because I think I will enjoy having the extra power, but you bring up a very good point about the Thunderbolt 5 enablement with the Pro chip probably being a big nothingburger with no applicable use case in the near term.

What I'm finally starting to learn and understand is, for Apple enthusiasts like us (you know, posting on a website forum named "MacRumors"), we are going to be itching to upgrade in 3-4 years for the most part, which completely vacates the need to future proof anything. Probably best to buy what you need in the moment for the cheapest price and then do it over again in 3-4 years.

 

[Rychiar]

I'm still glad I got the Pro because I think I will enjoy having the extra power, but you bring up a very good point about the Thunderbolt 5 enablement with the Pro chip probably being a big nothingburger with no applicable use case in the near term.

What I'm finally starting to learn and understand is, for Apple enthusiasts like us (you know, posting on a website forum named "MacRumors"), we are going to be itching to upgrade in 3-4 years for the most part, which completely vacates the need to future proof anything. Probably best to buy what you need in the moment for the cheapest price and then do it over again in 3-4 years.

I've honestly been using a base $499 M2 mini for the last year and it does everything amazingly... except it chokes when I'm editing a bunch of raw photos cus of its lack of RAM...but it does still allow me to edit them which is impressive since I've always had $3000 machines in the past. I'm selling it for $350 to try the M4 with 16 this week. I have an M2 Max Mac studio with 64 gigs of ram at work but it doesn't like blow my mind. if I'm working on a standard photoshop Vehicle wrap document(which can be quite large in size) I can't tell much difference between it and my mini for editing

 

[brig2221]

I've honestly been using a base $499 M2 mini for the last year and it does everything amazingly... except it chokes when I'm editing a bunch of raw photos cus of its lack of RAM...but it does still allow me to edit them which is impressive since I've always had $3000 machines in the past. I'm selling it for $350 to try the M4 with 16 this week. I have an M2 Max Mac studio with 64 gigs of ram at work but it doesn't like blow my mind. if I'm working on a standard photoshop Vehicle wrap document(which can be quite large in size) I can't tell much difference between it and my mini for editing

I'm constantly amazed at how many anecdotal stories I read and hear directly from others just like yours. Paraphrasing, "Hey the Pro/Max chip and 2x-3X the RAM is great, but honestly, the base model is still a beast and does a great job of everything I throw at it, slower yes, but still does a great job".

Apple really has outdone themselves IMHO with their base model devices since the M-series chips were launched, and I think that's going to continue to be the case now that 16GB of RAM is the standard.

 

[phrehdd]

If I were you, I would spend the money and get the M4 Pro Mini for your photo work. Rather than bump up to higher end version, spend the money on RAM. If I am remembering this correctly, the M4 Pro Mini beats the M2 Ultra Studio in most performance tests. This has plenty of photo editing power for most non professionals. (If someone has better comparison please share)

If I were to buy today, I would get the M4 Pro fitted with 1 terabyte storage and 64 gigs or RAM, along with external storage of any sort. I wouldn't bother with bumping up to the more expensiveM4 Pro but the standard cores.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

...we are going to be itching to upgrade in 3-4 years for the most part, which completely vacates the need to future proof anything. Probably best to buy what you need in the moment for the cheapest price and then do it over again in 3-4 years.

I would argue that it is never appropriate to simply "buy what you need in the moment" because we only use a new purchase in the future. Sure it is easy-lazy "to buy what you need in the moment," but it is poor decision making. OK to choose a short 3-4 year life cycle; but then plan for that life cycle, which is 100% in the future. It is not future proofing, it is just common sense planning.

 

[joptimus]

How about efficiency? Are the binned or full chip versions more efficient?

 

[bp1000]

If you dont want to spend the extra money, dont. The trade off is very minor, quantifiably, seconds to minutes of waiting longer when running projects that require compiling, processing etc.

Realistically if I was doing this all day and it was my job, I place more value on my time and I would not be looking at the mini, but next years studio. As it turns out, the 14 core m4 pro is faster than the current Mac Studio M2 Ultra. So up speccing an m4 pro that approaches M2 Ultra prices, I would still pick the mini on that basis.... but, I'd wait until next year's Studio if I was a pro user and upgrading.

Any m4 is a beast for most people. The base m4 with more ram and external storage if best value, easily.

 

[cjsuk]

Eh. So much overpurchasing. Went with a base M4 with 16Gb/512Gb for photography stuff. My M1 Pro / 16Gb MBP is fine and handles RAWs with no issues at all in Lightroom and the M4 base is considerably quicker even though it has less performance cores. I might have to wait a few more seconds on a denoise in Lightroom but the thing is mostly 4 threads or less so anything else is just money burned.

I really just want to get rid of the laptop itself because it is permanently docked to my studio display and I hate having a fat incendiary battery plugged in all day every day.

It will be absolutely fine and I booked some plane tickets to go somewhere interesting to take photos with the left over money.