Decision Paralysis: iMac, Mini, Studio...gah!

[blufrog]

I keep bouncing between these three, because of a couple of reasons:

* iMac has an Apple display. I love the display of my iMac 5K, and Apple displays in general
* Mini/Studio - by the time I spec'd a Mini, I'm at Studio prices, and that memory bandwidth is tempting me.

I do mostly basic stuff with the Mac...building software, and using the desktop apps that come with the system. I use a few additional apps for photo editing, and basically that is it.

I want to get into video editing, but it won't be anything too complicated or with videos hours long.

So to the dilemma...

M4 is going to be pretty decent no matter what. I don't have anything newer than 2015 iMac 5K. It's been a while (it's still going strong!).

iMac sadly doesn't come with anything better than M4. I wish Apple would create another 27" iMac 5K (or 6K) but that doesn't seem to be anything that will happen any time soon.

iMac (and Studio) have TB4, whereas Mini will have the new TB5.

Is M4 Pro faster than a base Studio with M2 Max 12/38/32 (CPU/GPU/Mem)??

If I get either the Mini or the Studio, I'm going to be wanting a Studio display, and that's an instant £1500 to the cost.

I keep debating a Mini with M4 Pro 14/20/24 and 1 Tb storage but with the display problem, or a maxed out iMac because it comes with a screen. The Studio is the kicker because I don't know (I guess no-one does quite) how M4 Pro will compare against M2 Max. From everything I can find, M2 Max may just edge out the M4 Pro.

The advantages of the iMac are that I can use it simultaneously with my PC without needing to switch sources on my 4K display. It gives me a better display for the Mac and photos, editing, etc. As good as my 4K display is, it is getting old and starting to show its age.

The downside to the Studio at this point is it is 2 generations old. To keep with the M4, it becomes a choice between Mini and iMac.

What I'm trying to get down to is this: given my workloads, am I losing anything going for an iMac? It's quite possible I would be very happy with it and wonder afterwards what I was worried about, but I guess the "unknown" in this (for me) is the Apple silicon, and its performance.

Everything I have read says it is nothing short of outstanding, and M4 is far enough along that even the basic M4 will be very good.

I have an iPad Air M1, and before that had an iPad Mini 2, and I just can't fault the performance of the iPad Air. Silky smooth.

So... do I lose much going for an iMac? My iMac 5K is 10 years old, and still great, except for the fact I can't upgrade the OS anymore, and the GPU lacks VRAM to be useful (a damn shame).

I'm just looking to the next 10 years, because that is probably how long I'll have this next Mac, too.

Thanks for making it this far.

 

[sunapple]

I suspect the iMac will be enough, performance-wise. That is also the simplest option, complete system out of the box at a good price. I would only go for Mac mini if you wish for a bigger screen that is also replaceable. To make the jump to Studio or M4 Pro seems like overkill.

Best to wait on reviews and benchmarks to compare performance. Especially sustained performance in real life would be interesting, though probably not enough of a deciding factor given your usage.

 

[blufrog]

I suspect the iMac will be enough, performance-wise. That is also the simplest option, complete system out of the box at a good price. I would only go for Mac mini if you wish for a bigger screen that is also replaceable. To make the jump to Studio or M4 Pro seems like overkill.

Best to wait on reviews and benchmarks to compare performance. Especially sustained performance in real life would be interesting, though probably not enough of a deciding factor given your usage.

Yes. I'm waiting to see what else happens this week.

Part of the problem is the computer guy inside me just wants top spec - if I was building a PC right now, that's what I'd do - but my use-case with a Mac isn't that demanding overall. The only difference this time is I'm wanting to try video editing, so want something that can handle it.

Just reading the forums, plenty of people are happy with M1 and M2 performance, and there are even people exclusively editing content on iPad Pro, so with that said, it does appear that at this time, pretty much anything would be absolutely fine.

Of course, I'd add memory and not stick with the base. I just got away with 8 Gb on my previous Mac, but there were times memory usage exceeded that and it started to compress memory. I must say though, despite it doing that, it still seemed fast; it didn't lag or beachball (I had to try REALLY hard to do that).

 

[blufrog]

Well... my wallet isn't happy but after much deliberation, I'm going for a MBP instead!!

I can get all the goodness of the M4 Pro, 24 Gb RAM, 1 Tb HD, and a display/keyboard/trackpad, for merely £300 more than the Mini of the same spec (and I would still need to buy the display, keyboard, and trackpad for the Mini).

TB5 is too much of a change to pass up. M4 with TB4 is like buying yesterday's hardware.

 

[Clincero]

I am in a similar situations, and I am curious how you arrive at such a small price difference - when I try to spec a mini and a MBP, the prices differ by about twice as much. The MBP still seems to be better value, but it is a lot of money. Perhaps we should wait for the Mac Studio M4 to add another confusing option to the mix.

 

[blufrog]

I am in a similar situations, and I am curious how you arrive at such a small price difference - when I try to spec a mini and a MBP, the prices differ by about twice as much. The MBP still seems to be better value, but it is a lot of money. Perhaps we should wait for the Mac Studio M4 to add another confusing option to the mix.

Depends on the spec and where you live. I'm in the UK.

The Mini I went for (M4 Pro 14/20/16, 24 Gb RAM, 1 Tb SSD) is £1800.

14" MBP with same specs is £2400.

I need to add keyboard/trackpad to the Mini, which adds £300, making the Mini £2100.

£300 more I get a mobile computer with awesome screen.

 

[StoneJack]

I keep bouncing between these three, because of a couple of reasons:

* iMac has an Apple display. I love the display of my iMac 5K, and Apple displays in general
* Mini/Studio - by the time I spec'd a Mini, I'm at Studio prices, and that memory bandwidth is tempting me.

I do mostly basic stuff with the Mac...building software, and using the desktop apps that come with the system. I use a few additional apps for photo editing, and basically that is it.

I want to get into video editing, but it won't be anything too complicated or with videos hours long.

So to the dilemma...

M4 is going to be pretty decent no matter what. I don't have anything newer than 2015 iMac 5K. It's been a while (it's still going strong!).

iMac sadly doesn't come with anything better than M4. I wish Apple would create another 27" iMac 5K (or 6K) but that doesn't seem to be anything that will happen any time soon.

iMac (and Studio) have TB4, whereas Mini will have the new TB5.

Is M4 Pro faster than a base Studio with M2 Max 12/38/32 (CPU/GPU/Mem)??

If I get either the Mini or the Studio, I'm going to be wanting a Studio display, and that's an instant £1500 to the cost.

I keep debating a Mini with M4 Pro 14/20/24 and 1 Tb storage but with the display problem, or a maxed out iMac because it comes with a screen. The Studio is the kicker because I don't know (I guess no-one does quite) how M4 Pro will compare against M2 Max. From everything I can find, M2 Max may just edge out the M4 Pro.

The advantages of the iMac are that I can use it simultaneously with my PC without needing to switch sources on my 4K display. It gives me a better display for the Mac and photos, editing, etc. As good as my 4K display is, it is getting old and starting to show its age.

The downside to the Studio at this point is it is 2 generations old. To keep with the M4, it becomes a choice between Mini and iMac.

What I'm trying to get down to is this: given my workloads, am I losing anything going for an iMac? It's quite possible I would be very happy with it and wonder afterwards what I was worried about, but I guess the "unknown" in this (for me) is the Apple silicon, and its performance.

Everything I have read says it is nothing short of outstanding, and M4 is far enough along that even the basic M4 will be very good.

I have an iPad Air M1, and before that had an iPad Mini 2, and I just can't fault the performance of the iPad Air. Silky smooth.

So... do I lose much going for an iMac? My iMac 5K is 10 years old, and still great, except for the fact I can't upgrade the OS anymore, and the GPU lacks VRAM to be useful (a damn shame).

I'm just looking to the next 10 years, because that is probably how long I'll have this next Mac, too.

Thanks for making it this far.

Mac mini m4

 

[blufrog]

Mac mini m4

Thanks, but there is this to consider:

14" MBP with same specs is £2400.

I need to add keyboard/trackpad to the Mini, which adds £300, making the Mini £2100.

£300 more I get a mobile computer with awesome screen.