Mac Mini from Mac Pro. Should I?

[Capster]

I bought a Mac Pro (2013) just about 3 years ago now. I paid £1300 for it (John Lewis in the UK reduced it when they discontinued the model). I believe this is my model https://everymac.com/systems/apple/...n-e5-gray-black-cylinder-late-2013-specs.html (and I upgraded the RAM to 32GB).

Is there any point in me looking at changing to the new Mac Mini range? When I compare the specs of my machine with the Mac Mini i7
https://everymac.com/ultimate-mac-c...7&prod2=MacMiniIntel030&prod3=MacMiniIntel030
It seems that everything is mostly a big upgrade, with the exception of the graphics card.
I almost never play games on it, but is it even worth thinking about changing, as it seems that the graphics would be significantly worse.
Thanks for any opinions.

 

[Fishrrman]

I looked at the comparison numbers you provided thru the link above.
I was surprised that the Mini does as well as it does, vis-a-vis the old Mac Pro.

For that reason, I'd have to say the upgrade "looks good to me".
Make sure you get the i7 version of the Mini.
I'd suggest 16gb of RAM and a 512gb SSD as the best "blend" of components/value.

The video on mine is fine for everything I've tried it with (my demands are not overly great).
If you wanted "more", video-wise, you could add an external GPU (which is now easy).

For even more "value", consider an Apple-refurbished model (if they're available there).
That's what I did -- happy with the purchase.

 

[iAssimilated]

This is purely an observation but it feels like my 8,1 Mac mini actually performs better than my 5,1 Mac Pro I use at work. My mini specs are in my signature and the Mac Pro: 3.2GHz Quad-Core Xeon, 48GBs RAM, 512GB Samsung EVO, and Radeon RX 480.

With that said, most of the time they do perform two completely different roles.

 

[iluvmacs99]

I bought a Mac Pro (2013) just about 3 years ago now. I paid £1300 for it (John Lewis in the UK reduced it when they discontinued the model). I believe this is my model https://everymac.com/systems/apple/...n-e5-gray-black-cylinder-late-2013-specs.html (and I upgraded the RAM to 32GB).

Is there any point in me looking at changing to the new Mac Mini range? When I compare the specs of my machine with the Mac Mini i7
https://everymac.com/ultimate-mac-c...7&prod2=MacMiniIntel030&prod3=MacMiniIntel030
It seems that everything is mostly a big upgrade, with the exception of the graphics card.
I almost never play games on it, but is it even worth thinking about changing, as it seems that the graphics would be significantly worse.
Thanks for any opinions.

Basically, the difference between a Mac Pro and a Mac Mini is the underlying thermal constraint of the Mini. The Mac Pro, despite being trashcan, has good thermal running characteristics within reasonable professional usage, so it can perform long sustained computational work without being throttled down and overheating. So it is good for that kind of work, be it in video production or in music production where you need to bounce multiple tracks. Whereas with the Mini, the initial specs while seemed quite impressive at first glance, with its desktop CPU runs a bit hotter and may throttle more often. The Mini's strength is in short boost work; meaning that if you need a short sustained boost in your computational work, then the Mini is excellent for that until it throttles the speed and goes into longer sustained work. In the longer run, your current Mac Pro will benefit from its ability to sustain compute work longer at the same speed rather than the Mini which goes fast first, then settles down to a more reasonable speed over the duration of the work.

Which is why I use my PowerMac G5 for music work and Mac Pro for video and digital imaging work, because they do best in longer sustained computational work despite being slower and has better thermal management as opposed to my Mini which needs an external fan to keep the internal temperature as low as I could without being throttled.

So it really comes down to what you want the Mac computer to do. If you are in creative creation in music and video production (as work or hobby), the Mac Pro is better suited for that. The Mini is a good fast general all around purpose computer.