M1 Mac mini versus Intel I7 (and ram) question

[apple fan23]

Hi, I could really do with some advice from those with better tech knowledge.
I have a MacBook Pro 2020, i7, 4 ports, 32gb Ram. Yes, the fans get a bit noisy sometimes (while doing nothing much)

How would this compare to a specced up Mac mini m1, 16gb ram? Would the Mac mini be slower as there is less ram or is the M1 as good as everyone says and can beat the i7 and 32gb of ram?

(I have a 27" 2017 iMac, 32gb ram, i7, which I am going to pass on to someone else and so need to replace it. Was hoping for Apple to announce new iMacs, but alas! I don't need tons of power but am no light consumer either, and notice in the activity monitor I am usually using around 24gb of memory. With my iMac gone I need a new set up so thinking of the new Studio display and connecting it to my MacBook or getting a Mac mini (or Mac studio but that's probably overkill))

Thanks for any help!

 

[leman]

Depends on what you do. M1 Mini will be certainly faster if your workload needs less than 16GB of RAM, but it might bog down if your workload needs more RAM.

The only way to know is actually get the M1 machine and run it though the most demanding things you do.

 

[apple fan23]

Thanks! hmmm not going to buy it on trial I think, I need some idea whether it would be worth it, or just sticking with my MacBook!
Does the activity monitor give an indication of what I do? It's usually around 24gb on my iMac (which I'm gonna give away).... I usually have tons of light programs open - many, many preview windows (PDF's), web tabs, database and I watch streaming services like Netflix.

 

[4sallypat]

..... thinking of the new Studio display and connecting it to my MacBook or getting a Mac mini (or Mac studio but that's probably overkill))

Thanks for any help!

If you are running any memory intensive programs/apps then consider getting the base Mac Studio.

If you are just a video streamer, web hopping, multiple browsers, light / casual user then the M1 Mini would be an excellent upgrade from Intel machines.

I had the M1 Mini (base) for over a year and loved it - it never got hot, never heard fan spin up, no spinning beach balls. I would have kept it for the new Studio Display, but when I learned that the M1 Mini can not support 2 TB displays, I was forced to upgrade to the Mac Studio base.

Now I am happy with dual Apple displays (27" Thunderbolt + 27" Studio).

Just don't know what to do with the 32GB base RAM since I never really use it to even get close to that.....

Trade in + EDU discount and Apple Card cash back came out to $1400 for the base Mac Studio.

 

[apple fan23]

Thank you! How do I know how much ram I need, and is 16gb in a M1 machine the same as 16gb in an Intel machine?

I am no light user and I am no intensive user either - somewhere in between. I used to do photo and video editing but not anymore so now just using it - well, see my post above. My Mac activity monitor says about 24gb memory used, most of the time - can I take that literally and so I need more than 16?

 

[Lihp8270]

Thank you! How do I know how much ram I need, and is 16gb in a M1 machine the same as 16gb in an Intel machine?

I am no light user and I am no intensive user either - somewhere in between. I used to do photo and video editing but not anymore so now just using it - well, see my post above. My Mac activity monitor says about 24gb memory used, most of the time - can I take that literally and so I need more than 16?

You can’t really look at how much is used. As the OS will allocate as much of it as possible.

You want to look at the pressure e

 

[apple fan23]

ah, so the activity monitor is not that useful for this then. Thanks. Am a bit concerned to go down from 32gb to 16gb - but perhaps the M1 chip will make up for it. Price difference between Mac Mini specced up and Mac Studio is HUGE tho, hence perhaps sticking to my macbook....

 

[leman]

Thank you! How do I know how much ram I need, and is 16gb in a M1 machine the same as 16gb in an Intel machine?

16GB is 16GB, but some experiments suggest that M1 is better at multitasking in memory-starved scenarios than Intel machines. Basically, if you have multiple memory-hungry apps open, M1 might let you get away with it. But if you really work with large datasets (e.g. editing huge images or videos or something like that), 16GB will be a performance limitation

ah, so the activity monitor is not that useful for this then.

It is useful — look at memory pressure indicator in the memory tab.

 

[4sallypat]

ah, so the activity monitor is not that useful for this then. Thanks. Am a bit concerned to go down from 32gb to 16gb - but perhaps the M1 chip will make up for it. Price difference between Mac Mini specced up and Mac Studio is HUGE tho, hence perhaps sticking to my macbook....

Do you do any photo, audio, video, CAD/CAM work ?

I did not do any memory intensive work with the M1 Mini (base) with 8GB which was more than adequate for me even compared to my $2000 work Mini i7 w/ 32GB RAM which ran hot, fan spins up, and lagging apps / spinning beach balls...

Apple's SOC Unified Memory is WAY different than socketed DDR memory - UM has more efficient use of memory and faster than the Intel based memory.

Now I do have the Mac Apps Pro bundle for $199 (FCP, Logic, Mainstage) and plan to dabble in video editing with the Mac Studio which may put pressure on the RAM.

 

[Lihp8270]

What is your typical workload?

 

[satcomer]

You Intel nerds need new topics! Traditional RAM in PC is really different to unified memory to silicone chip directly, than mean a direct connection to a processor to run more efficiently and not through board on PC machines! totally different language and setup!

 

[4sallypat]

You Intel nerds need new topics! Traditional RAM in PC is really different to unified memory to silicone chip directly, than mean a direct connection to a processor to run more efficiently and not through board on PC machines! totally different language and setup!

Yah, I agree - you would not believe how many Intel brainwashed people are still out there that keep claiming more RAM is needed when the Apple SOC Unified Memory came out and blew their socks off.

Well that's what happened to me going from a 32GB Intel Mini to an 8GB Apple M1 Mini = night and day difference without the fan spin ups, thermal throttling, etc....

 

[apple fan23]

My workload is currently on a 32gb iMac (which I need to replace) and it’s many web-tabs open, many, many PDF’s open, note taking etc. So all fairly light stuff but all open at the same time. I want a large screen for Netflix and the like and for having all these multiple apps open side by side. I am no longer using any video or image editing programs but would like a computer that can just about handle it if I ever get back into that (my imac could only just handle 4K video in Final Cut).

So what would you say - do I stick to my macbook pro 32mb, i7, or do I buy a mac mini 16gb (am worried it’s not enough) (or wait for an updated version of the mini), or do I go for the expensive mac studio?

(I wish I could afford the xdr display as films would look epic on that but that’s besides the point)

 

[abruisedapple]

I have a M1 Mini 16gig RAM and can say it is fast enough for standard+ home working, and quite frankly the RAM never hits headline or need spins that beachball. I probably get to about 14Gig of RAM with some compressed but it seems to swap in and out so fast and so well.

Apps
I use Teams with loads of audio and video, Outlook, Office Apps (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote), Mail, Safari (20+ tabs), dev tools (VScode, Github, iTerm), Docker (20 containers?), One Drive, Deezer for music, Calendar plus other little apps.

I also have it hooked up to two Samsung 28" LU28R55 displays at 3840x2160 via HDMI and USBC/TB and they work amazingly well. I do get some blips (4 a day) where the TB display goes black for about 5 seconds but that seems to be the standard M1 Mini display hardware thing.

I use an Apple MM2 Bluetooth mouse and a 3rd party iClever keyboard fine.

I thought about upgrading to the Studio but this M1 is such a beast for my needs above that unless I suddenly want to do loads of video and picture editing at stupid scale then I will keep this for ages. Apple will give me £200 now for it which ain't going to happen.

 

[leman]

You Intel nerds need new topics! Traditional RAM in PC is really different to unified memory to silicone chip directly, than mean a direct connection to a processor to run more efficiently and not through board on PC machines! totally different language and setup!

Repeating this kind of nonsense is just giving fuel to folks who claim that Apple users lack technical understanding. Intel has been using unified memory since at least 2012. There is very little difference in memory topology between Apple Silicon and any Intel SoC since Sandy Bridge.

P.S. The efficiency you mention is power efficiency and has nothing to do with performance. In fact, base M1 DRAM interface has identical bandwidth and latency to Intel CPUs using the same type of LPDDR4X RAM.

 

[abruisedapple]

My workload is currently on a 32gb iMac (which I need to replace) and it’s many web-tabs open, many, many PDF’s open, note taking etc. So all fairly light stuff but all open at the same time. I want a large screen for Netflix and the like and for having all these multiple apps open side by side. I am no longer using any video or image editing programs but would like a computer that can just about handle it if I ever get back into that.

So what would you say - do I stick to my macbook pro 32mb, i7, or do I buy a mac mini 16gb (or wait for an updated version), or do I go for the expensive mac studio?

(I wish I could afford the xdr display as films would look epic on that but that’s besides the point)

sounds like you need to determine if you need a fixed computer or mobile computer (laptop) first..... I also have a 2015 16Gig i7 256G SSD and the difference is night and day, albeit 5 years apart (M1 Mini came out in 2020).

 

[apple fan23]

I don’t need a mobile computer at all - only a desktop. I am only considering using my macbook as the main desktop because I already have it and it would save me spending money on a mac mini or mac studio....

I am just one of the many who were hoping for a new iMac and now I am wondering how best to replace my iMac...

 

[satcomer]

Repeating this kind of nonsense is just giving fuel to folks who claim that Apple users lack technical understanding. Intel has been using unified memory since at least 2012. There is very little difference in memory topology between Apple Silicon and any Intel SoC since Sandy Bridge.

P.S. The efficiency you mention is power efficiency and has nothing to do with performance. In fact, base M1 DRAM interface has identical bandwidth and latency to Intel CPUs using the same type of LPDDR4X RAM.

Thank PC nerd!

 

[abruisedapple]

I don’t need a mobile computer at all - only a desktop. I am only considering using my macbook as the main desktop because I already have it and it would save me spending money on a mac mini or mac studio....

Ic. FWIW I always buy my apple k it from their refurb site - instant 15% and same as new, although you cannot trade in any old kit.... perhaps sell on a 3rd party site?

Also, reference no new iMac 27" then personally I think it gives us more choice....such as Mini M1 plus your choice of monitors, which I have done and is amazing.....27" feels a little too small in 2022 doesn't it?

 

[apple fan23]

yeah, definitely looking around for options of where to buy. A refurbished 2020 iMac is an option too. But need to figure out what I want/need first!
I am imagining it might be crazy to get the mac mini 16gb (M1) if I already have a laptop with 32gb (intel). Just looking at ram - that would be a step down. Right?

 

[abruisedapple]

yeah, definitely looking around for options of where to buy. But need to figure out what I want/need first!
I am imagining it might be crazy to get the mac mini 16gb (M1) if I already have a laptop with 32gb (intel). Just looking at ram - that would be a step down. Right?

The one thing I have learnt from discussions on these forums is that they are views and suggestions.....I reckon find one on Apple refurb (16g/256g?) and buy it then play with it and if not happy send it back in your 14-day refund window

 

[4sallypat]

yeah, definitely looking around for options of where to buy. A refurbished 2020 iMac is an option too. But need to figure out what I want/need first!
I am imagining it might be crazy to get the mac mini 16gb (M1) if I already have a laptop with 32gb (intel). Just looking at ram - that would be a step down. Right?

No step down - your Intel Mac memory is no match for the Apple SOC unified memory.

It's not crazy to "step down". I did that with from an Intel i7 w/ 32GB that ran hot and noisy to a M1 w/ 8GB without any heating, throttling nor any fan spin ups.

 

[apple fan23]

It's not crazy to "step down". I did that with from an Intel i7 w/ 32GB that ran hot and noisy to a M1 w/ 8GB without any heating, throttling nor any fan spin ups.

Wow that’s quite a change. I wouldn’t dare. But good to know that “it is no match” and so not quite the same.... thanks

 

[MauiPa]

why wouldn't you just run activity monitor and view your ram usage when you are running what you think would take a lot? Easy and will give you the answer. I used to have a 16GB MBP I7, but watching my ram usage, I easily determined that I only needed an 8GB M1 MBP. I have had no problems, I have seen "memory pressure" (when the ram usage gets over 7GB) a few times, but rarely. I usually keep the safari caches cleared, and don't keep a lot of stuff open that I am not using. I do use Handbrake (and yes videotoolbox is quicker, less load on thermal and gives better results than using CPU encodes), Numbers, safari, Xcode sometimes, so I'm not a heavy user.

 

[MauiPa]

Wow that’s quite a change. I wouldn’t dare. But good to know that “it is no match” and so not quite the same.... thanks

try activity monitor an see what you are actually using. I also went to an 8GB M1 MBP. - best computer ever