Help me choose the right Mac Mini M4

[MacD]

Now that the M4 Mac Mini is out and it supports 3 monitors, I want to know what I should choose?

I have iMac 2019 i9 3.6 (8-Core) w/ Radeon Pro Vega 48 8GB, 40GB RAM, and 2TB nVME.

Geekbench shows that on average, the M4 (10-Core) is slightly over 2 times faster than my i9 chip, for both single and multi-core scores. I have three screens, iMac 27" screen, 32" BenQ color corrected monitor, and an old 27" apple Thunderbolt monitor.

Rarely do I ever run out of RAM. I do a lot of development (web) work, but also got a DJI drone this year and been doing a lot more video work, but things like stabilization and other things are slower than I would like them to be. I spent the extra from for the Radeon Pro Vega in the iMac thinking I would do more video, but only started doing it in the last year. Was never impressed with the fact I spent the extra $$$ on the Vega, don't feel I got my moneys worth out of it, as it didn't seem to perform faster than I expected. I don't really play any games, but do play Minecraft occasionally.

M4 w/ 32GB of RAM, 2TB SSD, is $1799.

M4 Pro w/ 48GB of RAM, 2TB SSD is $2399
M4 Pro (12/16/16core) w/ 48GB of RAM is $2599.

Plus I will be buying another monitor, to replace the one on the iMac (not Apple studio, too much $$$).

Will I get my money's worth going with a M4 Pro. Do I need the same amount of RAM that I have now (~48GB), or would I be able by with less on M4 (or perhaps need more like 64GB).

Or should I be going the Mac Studio route? Anyone have experience jumping form 2019 iMac to like M2 Pro or something for comparison?

Thanks for any input. Budget is not such a factor, more of what is the best machine for me and to not be wasteful.

 

[Fishrrman]

You have 40gb installed RAM on the iMac you have NOW.
You say:
"Rarely do I ever run out of RAM..."
...which suggests to me that you ARE "pushing against the edge of the envelope" now and then.

So... I'll reckon that "going down" to 32gb on an m-series Mac is going to "constrain you", at least as often, perhaps more.
(For whatever reason, the m-series Macs seem to require "more" in terms of RAM.)

Thus...
Looks like "the middle choice" above might be your best.

I'd hold off from buying right away.
Wait until these are in peoples' hands, say 3 weeks into November to start getting "good reports" on how they're doing.

You might even consider waiting until Apple starts offering refurbs (I reckon 3 months from now). That $400 "upcharge" for 48gb of RAM is on the steep side...

 

[MacD]

So... I'll reckon that "going down" to 32gb on an m-series Mac is going to "constrain you", at least as often, perhaps more.
(For whatever reason, the m-series Macs seem to require "more" in terms of RAM.)

I'd hold off from buying right away.
Wait until these are in peoples' hands, say 3 weeks into November to start getting "good reports" on how they're doing.

Then I may want to go 64GB. Yes, the memory and SSD is extremely expensive.

Yea, may be worth waiting for some reviews on how fast it is in real-life tests, like exporting video, etc.