Buying Advice - M4 pro - 12core or 14core

[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!