Finally buying a new mac (M4 Mini)

[roxics]

First new mac since 2017. Even then I was using my 2012 Mac Mini until Feb 2024 when a power surge fried it. Been on my 2017 MacBook Pro i7 for everything since then.
I do professional video editing. Recently moved from Premiere Pro to Resolve. Now it's time to get a second mac again and I'm planning to pick up a 16/256 Mini.

I'm hesitant. I've been on 16/512 for the last fifteen years with three macs. Even then I'm always running out of internal storage. But because adding 256 to the internal storage is going to cost me more than half the price of a base mini itself ($450 vs $679 for the 512 model), I'm considering just going base with an external SSD and starting fresh with macOS and installing all my big apps externally.

Just wondering what other people's experience has been with this method. Especially if you're using Resolve regularly.

Why I'm thinking this might work. I recently upgraded to a iPhone 12 Pro with 256 from an iPhone 8Plus 256 and decided that for the first time since my iPhone 3Gs I would start fresh. As in, not backup my old phone to the new. Months later I still have less than half the storage used, whereas I was always running out of storage before. So I think my mac problems are similar. Every time I get a new mac I copy the old to the new and I can't even tell you what is using up most of my disk space anymore. Probably just legacy app stuff I don't need.
I already run more than twelve external hard drives for video and photo storage as is, so I'm used to running external disks. I've just never installed apps to them. Although I used to do that on Windows machines.

Let me know your thoughts on this method for those that have done it.

 

[roxics]

First new mac since 2017. Even then I was using my 2012 Mac Mini until Feb 2024 when a power surge fried it. Been on my 2017 MacBook Pro i7 for everything since then.
I do professional video editing. Recently moved from Premiere Pro to Resolve. Now it's time to get a second mac again and I'm planning to pick up a 16/256 Mini.

I'm hesitant. I've been on 16/512 for the last fifteen years with three macs. Even then I'm always running out of internal storage. But because adding 256 to the internal storage is going to cost me more than half the price of a base mini itself ($450 vs $679 for the 512 model), I'm considering just going base with an external SSD and starting fresh with macOS and installing all my big apps externally.

Just wondering what other people's experience has been with this method. Especially if you're using Resolve regularly.

Honestly I'm perfectly happy with the performance of my 2017 Macbook Pro. Right now it's doing triple duty as a my editing machine for work, Plex server, and daily driver for everything else (writing, web browsing, etc). I really would rather not spend the money on a new machine at all, but I figure that I have the money now, and Ithe price is a low as I think they will get for a new mini ($450) so I should as an insurance policy should something happen to my macbook pro. I would be screwed without a second machine. Although I do have an old 2012 PC running win10 I could fall back on. Still I figure $450+tax and an external SSD for $35 plus enclosure is probably a small price to pay for extra security. Plus it couldn't hurt to have a newer faster machine.

 

[BB1970]

First new mac since 2017. Even then I was using my 2012 Mac Mini until Feb 2024 when a power surge fried it. Been on my 2017 MacBook Pro i7 for everything since then.
I do professional video editing. Recently moved from Premiere Pro to Resolve. Now it's time to get a second mac again and I'm planning to pick up a 16/256 Mini.

I'm hesitant. I've been on 16/512 for the last fifteen years with three macs. Even then I'm always running out of internal storage. But because adding 256 to the internal storage is going to cost me more than half the price of a base mini itself ($450 vs $679 for the 512 model), I'm considering just going base with an external SSD and starting fresh with macOS and installing all my big apps externally.

Just wondering what other people's experience has been with this method. Especially if you're using Resolve regularly.

Why I'm thinking this might work. I recently upgraded to a iPhone 12 Pro with 256 from an iPhone 8Plus 256 and decided that for the first time since my iPhone 3Gs I would start fresh. As in, not backup my old phone to the new. Months later I still have less than half the storage used, whereas I was always running out of storage before. So I think my mac problems are similar. Every time I get a new mac I copy the old to the new and I can't even tell you what is using up most of my disk space anymore. Probably just legacy app stuff I don't need.
I already run more than twelve external hard drives for video and photo storage as is, so I'm used to running external disks. I've just never installed apps to them. Although I used to do that on Windows machines.

Let me know your thoughts on this method for those that have done it.

I wouldn't go under 512. It’s a nice peace of mind knowing you have headroom. Plus Macs and the way they sometimes handle storage (syncing with iCloud, system data, etc) can be a little wonky.Just spend the extra few bucks now. In a few months it will be a distant memory and you'll be glad you did.

 

[raythompsontn]

I do professional video editing

You should not be skimping on any resources. The extra just becomes the cost of doing business. Go for the extra memory, 24Gig of memory and at least 512GB of storage. If I was you I would seriously upping the storage to 1TB. If you are truly doing video editing professionally, as in your primary source of income, don't sell your resources short. Time is money and if rendering a video can be done in 1/2 the time, that is money. After the years the extra cost would pay for itself.

 

[ultratiem]

I wouldn't go under 512.

It’s insane that is an option for an Apple product in 2025. And to go from 256 to 512 inflates the price a whopping 30%. This is insane. How are people ok with this?

This entire planet’s arc has been six clowns trying to see who can shove the most crayons up their noses as they wail across the desert in a jet powered, monkey driven rocket ship.

 

[ultratiem]

Unlike others, I would never pay Apple 30% of the cost of a machine just to increase the storage 256GB. That is insane. Cook is insane.

The mini is worth its weight only at base configuration. If you change anything, the performance to cost plummets like a rock. You are better off getting 2 minis… seriously.

I would personally move to remote storage. I have a 4TB in an USBC4 enclosure, so can sustain speeds of 3Gbps, which means 60GB transfers in 35s. Given the bandwidth of the mini is actually really poor, and so too are the base SSD, an external won’t be that much slower. It also frees up your data from the physical machine and mine also acts as a TM backup. Yes, I have a cable coming out of Mac Studio. But the cost of the unit, even factoring in the enclosure price is still oodles better than paying Apple.

If you are adamant about internal space, then choose a third party solution. Lots of people are manufacturing SSD upgrades for the M4 mini exclusively, for half of what Apple wants in most cases. Some advertise in these forums. Pick up the base and upgrade it to 2TB yourself.

 

[dmccloud]

I wouldn't go under 512. It’s a nice peace of mind knowing you have headroom. Plus Macs and the way they sometimes handle storage (syncing with iCloud, system data, etc) can be a little wonky.Just spend the extra few bucks now. In a few months it will be a distant memory and you'll be glad you did.

For roughly the same price as upgrading from 256GB to 512GB internal storage, you can pick up a 4TB external SSD such as the Crucial X9/X9 Pro/X10 Pro. You could also go with an M.2 SSD and either a Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 5 enclosure if the speed is critical to your workflow. I have a pair of 4TB Crucial SSDs I use with my MBP because they're small and light enough that they add no discernible weight to my laptop bag.

 

[G5isAlive]

Don't forget on Apple Silicon storage is not just storage...if you run low on RAM, which I would think is likely doing video editing, Apple Silicon is quite happy doing page swaps to storage. So you may think you have 256 storage space, but things slow down when you get close to filling it. Get 512. At least.

There are plenty of threads that will tell you how to use a) external storage or b) some products out of china that you can substitute yourself. If you are using this commercially only you can determine if the risks outweigh Apple Costs. Can't you write this off your taxes?

 

[spatlese44]

For what it's worth, I've been running base model Mac Mini's for years now. I have an M1 and an M2. SMART/Health Information reports 6% and 1% percentage used respectively. There's about 50GB free on each of them as they are basically the same setup. I've got external drives on both of them to offload some rarely used files and at the current rate of wear, the SSD should last 70 years or something. Long beyond useful life. I've got 20GB in Developer stuff that could go. How big are the apps you plan to put external? If they fit, I think you would want them on the internal.

By choosing not to upgrade ram and storage, I saved $400 on each machine or $800 total. Now you get the upgrade to 16GB for free. I'm probably going to get an M4 mini and this time I think I will upgrade to 512. I'd say 50GB free space is about as low as you should go. Probably too low. Maybe it was always the either ram or storage upgrade never made the sense and the to upgrade both cost almost as much as the base model. Now I get both for less than the money I saved.

 

[cjsuk]

If you're doing video editing, I'd bag the 256 gig one, get an OWC 1M2 enclosure and put a cheap 4TB Samsung NVMe SSD in it. That'll give you decent read/write unlike half the ready made external wart ones. Despite that, I mostly ship stuff around on Samsung T7 shield ones.

I don't do a lot of video in Resolve but I do use Adobe products (Lightroom/Photoshop) a lot. My M4 mini with 16 gig hasn't hit a wall with anything yet.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

First new mac since 2017. Even then I was using my 2012 Mac Mini until Feb 2024 when a power surge fried it. Been on my 2017 MacBook Pro i7 for everything since then.
I do professional video editing. Recently moved from Premiere Pro to Resolve. Now it's time to get a second mac again and I'm planning to pick up a 16/256 Mini.

I'm hesitant. I've been on 16/512 for the last fifteen years with three macs. Even then I'm always running out of internal storage. But because adding 256 to the internal storage is going to cost me more than half the price of a base mini itself ($450 vs $679 for the 512 model), I'm considering just going base with an external SSD and starting fresh with macOS and installing all my big apps externally.

Just wondering what other people's experience has been with this method. Especially if you're using Resolve regularly.

Why I'm thinking this might work. I recently upgraded to a iPhone 12 Pro with 256 from an iPhone 8Plus 256 and decided that for the first time since my iPhone 3Gs I would start fresh. As in, not backup my old phone to the new. Months later I still have less than half the storage used, whereas I was always running out of storage before. So I think my mac problems are similar. Every time I get a new mac I copy the old to the new and I can't even tell you what is using up most of my disk space anymore. Probably just legacy app stuff I don't need.
I already run more than twelve external hard drives for video and photo storage as is, so I'm used to running external disks. I've just never installed apps to them. Although I used to do that on Windows machines.

Let me know your thoughts on this method for those that have done it.

You have "been on 16/512 for the last fifteen years with three macs." Even ten years ago 16 GB of RAM was the maximum, the most one could put in a $4k Macbook Pro; but today Apple allows 128 GB RAM, suggesting that Apple knows some folks will needing more, especially for things like professional video editing.

1) You "do professional video editing" which is extremely resource intensive on both RAM and mass storage. RAM demands by OS and apps increase very year. The RAM used in 2015 for professional video editing will not continue to be appropriate for the next 5-10 years of professional video editing.

2) Your professional video editing workflow has been sub-optimally swapping to disk and you apparently have gotten away with it. But it is not appropriate. We really need to buy computing capability to suit our needs, and for professional video editing that means more RAM, better memory bandwidth and more fast mass storage than what a base Mac mini provides.

3) Once one gets past the base level the base Mac mini is no longer a cost effective bargain. You need to figure out how to financially get into a Studio or a MBP with enough RAM. I suggest looking for an M2 Studio or an M2 MBP. IMO you are on the right track thinking about offloading to external SSDs, but I lack the expertise to advise on how best to do it with video.

 

[roxics]

You have "been on 16/512 for the last fifteen years with three macs." Even ten years ago 16 GB of RAM was the maximum, the most one could put in a $4k Macbook Pro; but today Apple allows 128 GB RAM, suggesting that Apple knows some folks will needing more, especially for things like professional video editing.

1) You "do professional video editing" which is extremely resource intensive on both RAM and mass storage. RAM demands by OS and apps increase very year. The RAM used in 2015 for professional video editing will not continue to be appropriate for the next 5-10 years of professional video editing.

2) Your professional video editing workflow has been sub-optimally swapping to disk and you apparently have gotten away with it. But it is not appropriate. We really need to buy computing capability to suit our needs, and for professional video editing that means more RAM, better memory bandwidth and more fast mass storage than what a base Mac mini provides.

3) Once one gets past the base level the base Mac mini is no longer a cost effective bargain. You need to figure out how to financially get into a Studio or a MBP with enough RAM. I suggest looking for an M2 Studio or an M2 MBP. IMO you are on the right track thinking about offloading to external SSDs, but I lack the expertise to advise on how best to do it with video.

You should not be skimping on any resources. The extra just becomes the cost of doing business. Go for the extra memory, 24Gig of memory and at least 512GB of storage. If I was you I would seriously upping the storage to 1TB. If you are truly doing video editing professionally, as in your primary source of income, don't sell your resources short. Time is money and if rendering a video can be done in 1/2 the time, that is money. After the years the extra cost would pay for itself.

People get this weird idea in their head that all video editing needs super resource intensive computers. It doesn't, at least not the kind of footage I edit. Which is typically 8bit 1080p or 4K 8bit/10bit H264/5 files. I've been editing video on computers since 1999 when I built and AMD K6-2 running at 300Mhz on 64megabytes of ram. Which back then was DV footage. Also had a small G3 iMac for a bit back in the early 00s. I've being doing pro video editing since 2006. I've been editing HD and 4K video on a 2012 Mac Mini since 2013 and up until Feb 2024. None of my input codecs/resolutions have changed. So I expect (based on what I've heard) that compared to all my old machines, this one is going to scream. I'm really happy with the performance I get on my 2017 Macbook Pro, so if this does at least that, I'll be happy.
But I get the same thing when I talk to the PC guys. They're all like "you need [insert newest powerful GPU that's at least $500] if you're going to edit video." It's like guys, no you don't. Maybe if you're editing some really high res stuff with a ton of effects and you're working in a high end fast paced post house. I work from home on mostly youtube-destined promotional videos for corporate clients. 99.9% of which are 1080p.

That said, I pulled the trigger on a 16/256 base mode for $450 today. Added $90 more stuff. Which was a 1TB M.2 SSD and an external aluminum enclosure for it. I'll just need to hook my external drives to it. I'll keep my Macbook pro as my Plex server and run the new mini as my general purpose and work machine. Hopefully this mini will last me at least 11 years like my last one did. Which I would still be using it it hadn't been for a power surge. Which sucks, but I think I've remedied that with some new more powerful surge protectors.

 

[splitpea]

[deleted]

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

First new mac since 2017. Even then I was using my 2012 Mac Mini until Feb 2024 when a power surge fried it. Been on my 2017 MacBook Pro i7 for everything since then.
I do professional video editing. Recently moved from Premiere Pro to Resolve. Now it's time to get a second mac again and I'm planning to pick up a 16/256 Mini.

I'm hesitant. I've been on 16/512 for the last fifteen years with three macs. Even then I'm always running out of internal storage. But because adding 256 to the internal storage is going to cost me more than half the price of a base mini itself ($450 vs $679 for the 512 model), I'm considering just going base with an external SSD and starting fresh with macOS and installing all my big apps externally.

Just wondering what other people's experience has been with this method. Especially if you're using Resolve regularly.

Why I'm thinking this might work. I recently upgraded to a iPhone 12 Pro with 256 from an iPhone 8Plus 256 and decided that for the first time since my iPhone 3Gs I would start fresh. As in, not backup my old phone to the new. Months later I still have less than half the storage used, whereas I was always running out of storage before. So I think my mac problems are similar. Every time I get a new mac I copy the old to the new and I can't even tell you what is using up most of my disk space anymore. Probably just legacy app stuff I don't need.
I already run more than twelve external hard drives for video and photo storage as is, so I'm used to running external disks. I've just never installed apps to them. Although I used to do that on Windows machines.

Let me know your thoughts on this method for those that have done it.

This is what I would do in your case:
1. Purchase the base model (mini M4 16/256)
2. Purchase a thunderbolt box + 2TB nVME
3. Install Mac OS and all the apps to the external thunderbolt box and run entirely on the external storage.
4. When the warranty expires, purchase 3rd party 2TB drive and replace the internal 256GB drive.
5. Run all apps from the internal drive.
I would also consider to runs all from the upgraded internal drive, but that would probably ruin the Apple warranty on the mini M4.