Mac mini 8/16GB - 256/512GB and multiple open tabs

[daniramirezescudero]

I'm a journalist. I work mainly with the following services open simultaneously: mail app, Spotify, grammarly, WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Calendar, Deepl, Bluetooth connected keyboard + mouse + loudspeaker and heavy browser usage (Brave mainly)

I usually can have 20 tabs open. I type in several Google docs and grammarly. I do not video of photo edit. I don't use big files, occasional big PDF's.

I think I must upgrade from 8GB to 16GB of memory due to the multiple tabs. I heard of the low speed of the SSD of the base model 256GB which doesn't occur with models from 512GB. BUT, maybe people are exaggerating? I'm sure it'll be slow for video/content creators but maybe not for me.

Do you think I MUST upgrade memory or SSD or both? With both upgrades the price rises to €1500 close to the price level of macbook M2.

Any opinions what device I should take?

*Currently I use a MacBook 15" mid 2015, 16GB 256GB. Works fine but tempted to upgrade, not an urgency atm. I use only 100GB of the SSD, so the upgrade to 512GB would be only for a faster SSD, not for the needing really more capacity.

 

[jaehaerys48]

RAM upgrade should be prioritized. The SSD speed difference won't be nearly as noticeable if you aren't doing content creation.

 

[MBAir2010]

My mac mini m1 is excellent with 8gb ram and 256gb ssd.
i never felt limited when i type, enhance photos or improve my comics i drew on the iPad.
since my macbook air with the same specs served me well for over a year, i purchased the mini with confidence.
this was an upgrade from intel mbp ‘12 with 16 gb ram
which is a huge difference in speed.

as i type im also researching facts and ideas and that “sidebar” Stage Manager
were the program options on the left are an asset in both Ventura and Sonoma.

i hoped this helped.

 

[Fishrrman]

16gb of RAM is the first priority...

 

[meson]

The base model is more than adequate for your usage.

You are better off saving your money and replacing the machine in 3-6 years when you need more resources or want to access new macOS features. I’ve never understood the advice to shell out 3-4 times as much for cpu gains that are made up in one or two generations and way more ram than you actually need. Unless it’s a smallish business expense or your budget allows for the splurge, you are far better off just buying what you need now and upgrading when it makes sense.

 

[picpicmac]

16gb of RAM is the first priority...

For someone who mostly does text editing and running Grammarly? No, 16GB is overkill for typical office writing. The OP already stated they do not do video editing or photography.

 

[picpicmac]

You are better off saving your money and replacing the machine in 3-6 years when you need more resources or want to access new macOS features.

Concur.

For a business a desktop computer should amortized over 60 months. Then replace with new model.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Currently I use a MacBook 15" mid 2015, 16GB 256GB.

Fortunately, your current Mac can provide fair insight. While amidst your typical workflow, launch Activity Monitor and go to the Memory section. There are several details available but, for the most part, focus on the Memory Pressure graph:

Check if your Mac needs more RAM in Activity Monitor

Use Activity Monitor on your Mac to see if memory is being used efficiently and if you need more memory (RAM).

support.apple.com

With that said, I’ll go with the assumption you should stick with 16GB of RAM. I don’t know what specific region/country you’re in but I recommend routinely checking the refurbished section of the online Apple Store. For example, at the moment, I’m not seeing any notable deals in the France market. However, in the Germany store, there’s the following configuration, a 150 € savings verse new — if I’m not mistaken:

Gebraucht & Refurbished - Mac - 16 GB

Spare bis zu 15 % beim Kauf eines refurbished Mac. Von Apple getestet und zertifiziert, mit 1 Jahr Garantie. Kostenlose Lieferung und Rückgabe.

www.apple.com

 

[Rumorology]

I have a Mac Mini M2 with 8GB. I have Plex media server running on it always, have Teams, Signal, WhatsApp, use multiple profiles and tabs for Safari, Firefox, and Arc browser. Plenty of browser apps too like Proton Mail and Outlook for web which are always running. Have DevonThink almost Altais open too and of course have the LittleSnitch, Popclip, and Scansnap home always loaded. Stupid creative cloud app is always running too and I use Adobe Acrobat Pro semi frequently.

I am not sure if there will be a difference in performance with this load if measured using a tool or side by side with a more powerful mac, but I can’t notice it and am glad that I went with the base model.

Of course, I don’t know if it will slow down with the next MacOS version or the one after but for now, it is working flawlessly.

 

[phrehdd]

If you go over to YouTube and look at some of the videos on this topic or simply comparing models, they nearly all say to not go with 8 gigs RAM. Some seem also to think Apple is doing a disservice offering it at all. I agree with the latter.

I had an M1 512/16 Mini. Wonderful machine … until I had multiple tabs in Safari and a couple of intensive apps open. Those apps would stutter or freeze up. Ultimately, I ended up with a Studio Max with 1Tb internal and 64 gigs RAM. The RAM could have been less and I would possibly be okay.

Some folks like myself find that the M series of Macs have very odd memory management if any at all. For your sake, do go with more RAM and if possible, the 512 SSD. The larger SSD is not so much about speed but from a moderate to heavy user with files and such, it’s a sweet spot for many with respect to cost and real time use. It is also small enough to make backups and TM go swiftly enough.

That is my peanuts for the gallery.

 

[daniramirezescudero]

My mac mini m1 is excellent with 8gb ram and 256gb ssd.
i never felt limited when i type, enhance photos or improve my comics i drew on the iPad.
since my macbook air with the same specs served me well for over a year, i purchased the mini with confidence.
this was an upgrade from intel mbp ‘12 with 16 gb ram
which is a huge difference in speed.

as i type im also researching facts and ideas and that “sidebar” Stage Manager
were the program options on the left are an asset in both Ventura and Sonoma.

i hoped this helped.

I think M1 256GB base model doesn't have the SSD issue of the M2 chips base model with 256GB. May be a good bargain to buy as second hand.

 

[daniramirezescudero]

I have a Mac Mini M2 with 8GB. I have Plex media server running on it always, have Teams, Signal, WhatsApp, use multiple profiles and tabs for Safari, Firefox, and Arc browser. Plenty of browser apps too like Proton Mail and Outlook for web which are always running. Have DevonThink almost Altais open too and of course have the LittleSnitch, Popclip, and Scansnap home always loaded. Stupid creative cloud app is always running too and I use Adobe Acrobat Pro semi frequently.

I am not sure if there will be a difference in performance with this load if measured using a tool or side by side with a more powerful mac, but I can’t notice it and am glad that I went with the base model.

Of course, I don’t know if it will slow down with the next MacOS version or the one after but for now, it is working flawlessly.

Thanks, this is what I needed to know. Real use with the used daily apps. You use much more things than me, I think the base model should work perfectly for my usage.

 

[daniramirezescudero]

If you go over to YouTube and look at some of the videos on this topic or simply comparing models, they nearly all say to not go with 8 gigs RAM. Some seem also to think Apple is doing a disservice offering it at all. I agree with the latter.

I had an M1 512/16 Mini. Wonderful machine … until I had multiple tabs in Safari and a couple of intensive apps open. Those apps would stutter or freeze up. Ultimately, I ended up with a Studio Max with 1Tb internal and 64 gigs RAM. The RAM could have been less and I would possibly be okay.

Some folks like myself find that the M series of Macs have very odd memory management if any at all. For your sake, do go with more RAM and if possible, the 512 SSD. The larger SSD is not so much about speed but from a moderate to heavy user with files and such, it’s a sweet spot for many with respect to cost and real time use. It is also small enough to make backups and TM go swiftly enough.

That is my peanuts for the gallery.

All YouTubers shout out to upgrade to 16GB and if possible to 512GB SSD for speed issue. They advice for content creators or people that manage big files etc. I think for standard users this may not apply.

Thanks for the tip of Time Machine, I do the backups in separate SSD I purchased. I use 100GB of my SSD, 256GB is fine for me. Thanks!

 

[daniramirezescudero]

Fortunately, your current Mac can provide fair insight. While amidst your typical workflow, launch Activity Monitor and go to the Memory section. There are several details available but, for the most part, focus on the Memory Pressure graph:

Check if your Mac needs more RAM in Activity Monitor

Use Activity Monitor on your Mac to see if memory is being used efficiently and if you need more memory (RAM).

support.apple.com

With that said, I’ll go with the assumption you should stick with 16GB of RAM. I don’t know what specific region/country you’re in but I recommend routinely checking the refurbished section of the online Apple Store. For example, at the moment, I’m not seeing any notable deals in the France market. However, in the Germany store, there’s the following configuration, a 150 € savings verse new — if I’m not mistaken:

Gebraucht & Refurbished - Mac - 16 GB

Spare bis zu 15 % beim Kauf eines refurbished Mac. Von Apple getestet und zertifiziert, mit 1 Jahr Garantie. Kostenlose Lieferung und Rückgabe.

www.apple.com

I live in Spain, for now the refurbished market doesn't have so much offer and you earn may e 100 euros max, I would purchase a new one as you don't save so much money.

I check the activity monitor but I only see live results. It would be awesome to have a historical graph of so.

I do think the 16GB may be an advisable upgrade just to make it a bit more future proof. It may be a bit overkill with my usage but better to have more than too less I guess.

 

[Thirio2]

I have a 16Gb m2 mini and only have 1 numbers spreadsheet and 1 safari tab open most of the time and typically show 7-8 Gb ram used. Memory pressure stays in the green. I stayed with 256 SSD and bought a 2Tb SSD and enclosure for about $200 total. If I were considering 512 Gb SSD I would also consider the m2 pro. Finding one on sale would make the price difference between it and the base plus upgrades at retail quite a bit smaller.

 

[JustAnExpat]

>heavy browser usage

I really hate it when people use this phrase. Different websites have different memory requirements. Having a set of websites open that's mostly text and CSS is not going to use a lot of RAM. Having websites that are basically remote applications (think Google Docs/ Google Maps/ Microsoft Office 365) is going to eat RAM like crazy.

If you can afford it, get the 16GB upgrade.

 

[HDFan]

I usually can have 20 tabs open.

Different websites have different memory requirements.

The number of tabs open is not the critical factor. More important is much memory each tab uses.

launch Activity Monitor and go to the Memory section. There are several details available but, for the most part, focus on the Memory Pressure graph:

I have a couple of tabs that use ~1 GB of memory each. Some use as little as ~8 MB. It all depends upon the website.

Assuming that you are going to keep the system for a while I would figure out your current memory needs then upgrade to the next memory increment to give yourself room for the ever increasing memory requirements of new apps.

 

[Basic75]

Speed is not a good reason to choose a 512GB SSD over 256GB, especially for your use cases. I'd wager you wouldn't even notice the difference.

Longevity and/or speed are IMHO good reasons to choose 16GB of RAM over 8GB as everything just becomes fatter and even the M1 generation of Macs is fast enough to last a very long time unless hampered by too little non-upgradeable RAM.

And you can always add an external SSD, but you can't add external RAM.

 

[picpicmac]

I agree with the latter.

YouTube "content creators" hawk controversy to get views.

Please read my signature line.

Typical human using a computer hardly uses their computer at all.

I ended up with a Studio Max with 1Tb internal and 64 gigs RAM.

You are a power user. Most people are not like you.

 

[macuros]

@daniramirezescudero Maybe this will interest you: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ce.2403061/page-2?post=32782006#post-32782006

For your needs, the base model is more than enough. Unless you want to keep your Mac for as long as possible. In that case, maybe go with 16GB RAM, otherwise save your money. I rather buy the base model and upgrade every few years.

I don't fall for future proofing (what is that anyway?!). Your work is typical office work. Buy the base and enjoy your Mac. M2 processors are way better and faster than Intel's.

 

[phrehdd]

YouTube "content creators" hawk controversy to get views.

Please read my signature line.

Typical human using a computer hardly uses their computer at all.


You are a power user. Most people are not like you.

My challenges didn’t require a CPU or RAM intensive “power user” app to be open to have issues at times with just pages of Safari or other browsers open. Certainly when I did open those art apps, issues started to occur predictably. Those that plan to keep their computers for a good few years should get slightly more than what they need today. That is fairly common practice for those that consider their computer an investment of sorts.