I do daily for 8-9hrs, I like the Magic Mouse, but then again, I have a light touch on it. I see people trying to death grip it and I'm boggled by that. Granted, I say this with a sticker reading YMMV.
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M4 Pro Mac mini - form over function?
- Thread starter Peter_M
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I do daily for 8-9hrs, I like the Magic Mouse, but then again, I have a light touch on it. I see people trying to death grip it and I'm boggled by that. Granted, I say this with a sticker reading YMMV.
I used wired computer speakers and AirPods. Thus having the audio jack at the rear results in a clean look.
I'm currently using a late 2015 27" iMac primarily for Lightroom and Photoshop. I've noticed that it’s starting to feel slow, with adjustments in Lightroom and Photoshop not being as smooth as they used to be. I'm also experiencing delays when loading photos into the catalog.
Do you think the new Mac mini would be sufficient for these tasks, or would it be better for me to wait for the Mac Studio with the M4 chip?
Any insights would be greatly appreciated!
Do you think the new Mac mini would be sufficient for these tasks, or would it be better for me to wait for the Mac Studio with the M4 chip?
Any insights would be greatly appreciated!
Max out the RAM to 64 GB and the new Mac mini Pro should do a superb job on still images work. Do not cheap out on the RAM; images work has always responded well to more RAM. Even though less RAM will work, 64 GB is a sort of an optimal sweet spot.
That said, once you get to a maximum Mac Mini the Studio (Max not Ultra) usually is a better choice if you can wait. Or if you cannot wait you could do what I did when the M2 Studio was similarly delayed and buy an M4 MBP with Max chip. If at that time I could have built an M2 Mac mini with 64 GB RAM I would have bought one instead of the MBP, because my 2016 MBP still works fine for field work.
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Sure it would make for a clean look. But that is not awkward. Awkward is needing to plug headphones into the back, and most pro headphones are wired not wireless.
There is such a thing as an awkward look. The Mac Pro from way back had a better solution which was to have jacks on BOTH the front and back.
By "switching out your USB-A gear", you mean buying a few new cables, right? Because that's what we're talking about here.
God yes. I do a lot of graphic design on an M1 Mac and it's very usable. And by all accounts the base M4 should be about 2x as fast.
Wrong calculation. MBP is not 1.55 as that is the display included. You need to subtract that to get the correct volume.
Posted by me, and quoted by you: "it includes a screen, trackpad, keyboard, battery, and more speakers, among other things."
Yeah, but why calculate something thats already off? Just do the calculation without the top lid so the numbers have better value.
It doesn`t matter anyway. The only pointers towards "thermal issues" are entirely made up as a mindgame in someone`s head.
It`s like worrying about floodings on the top of Mount Manganui when asleep in London.
Hand in hand with the Thermal performance is the acoustic performance [under load]. With a desktop it is often easy to compensate for increase thermal issues by just revving up the fan. The concern is if the new mini Pro can avoid/limit thermal throttle while remaining quiet. Hopefully this will be the case, but some testing will be needed.
I have ordered one for same such work and I while I am extremely curious about this same heat issue, I know firsthand the large difference in heat generated in the first place when comparing intel i7 and M series chips.
I have little doubt that m4 pro mini under constant load will throttle less and make less fan noise than any intel mini, and it would be just plain silly if this struggles thermally compared to m2 pro mini.
Now i'm not saying it's impossible and I'm anxiously awaiting both benchmark results as well as my machine next friday. Can't wait to see who's right. Oh and by the way, for me I think the form matches the function perfectly. This is a mini, after all, and we have no indication **YET** of any compromises to thermals.
Interestingly, the one in your pic is sold by a whole bunch of different no-name vendors, and at least the few I tried were junk. YMMV, though, because it depends on the chipset used, the logic board design, the firmware, and build quality. However, if it shares the same shell and design, it's probably not going to be good quality.
And therein lies the problem. If you use third party dongles and hubs, you are introducing another potential failure point. This potential failure point gets amplified by using cheap third party no-name models. However, if you can simply replace the cable without dealing with hubs, that usually works well.
We do not have enough information about the internal structure and airflow steering accommodations to disprove their animation which describes SINGLE direction airflow in from the front, split through upper chambers, then out the back. While I find *their* description terribly clever for such limited explanation, I do not find your offhand dismissal convincing--especially since you have no more information than anyone else.
I have everything from this which I use with an iPad pro when traveling to connect audio recording gear and a midi keyboard, to a thunderbolt 4 dock, several usb hubs. I've had reliable performance out of all of them across all price ranges from $12 for low power 5Gb devices up to $140 tb dock operating at 40Gb. The one of this type I've found that failed was the cable on my WAAY overprices Satechi one from the Apple Store I bought before I knew any better, which had a weak built-in cable. Of course as always, your mileage will always vary.
Of course there is no certainty until we actually see the machines used…
But the M4 is in the 5 mm thin iPad and that thing rarely gets warm to the touch with a display and battery sitting directly on it.
Plus the old Mini had tuns of wasted space…
But the M4 is in the 5 mm thin iPad and that thing rarely gets warm to the touch with a display and battery sitting directly on it.
Plus the old Mini had tuns of wasted space…
OK, USB-C hater here (I've expounded enough on other threads) but I don't see lack of USB-A as a big issue for the M4 Mini - my Studio already has a bunch of USB-C to A adapters plugged in and they sit there out of sight, out of mind...
It helps that the ethernet, HDMI, power and audio sockets haven't been dumped.
The base M4 is actually ahead of the game c.f. the M2 with 3 TB4 ports + 2 USB-C/3.2 ports.
But the less good news - and where the form-over-function rears its head - is:
The M4 Pro model has actually lost a TB port (and hence has one less USB port overall) c.f. the M2 Pro. Since even the regular M4 can support 4xTB4 (and does on the iMac) this looks like a mixture of form-over-function (no space on the unnecessarily-small rear panel or motherboard edges) and penny-pinching (Apple save a TB re-timer chip and some mainboard circuitry - but somehow that wasn't a problem with the M2 Pro).
Even the regular M4 could have had 4xTB4 - but maybe you can justify that "because entry-level" - but the M4 Pro isn't entry-level (if the "pro" means anything, it's that).
Then.. the front USB ports sound like a feature - except they haven't been added - they've been moved from the back to free up space. Front USB is a nice extra for memory sticks etc. - but not at the expense of rear, out-of-sight/out-of-mind connectivity. (C.f. the Studio where the rear panel is much the same as the M2 Pro Mini and the front sockets are extra).
And in these rare instances, you can turn it on with a keyboard. And if that’s not available, yes, sometimes, like once or twice a year, you will have to slightly raise the 700 gram Mini. Remember to lift with your legs, not your back.