I'm putting this in here because there's more than just the Mac Mini:
I know it might be a bit early, especially since the new Mac Mini isn’t out yet, just announced. We also don’t know if the Mini M4 Pro will throttle under load (they could have made the case a bit bigger, honestly…). Still, maybe there are some knowledgeable opinions on this, not necessarily just based on previous Apple Silicon models, but more on a technical sense of what programs benefit most from hardware upgrades.
My wife is a graphic designer. She primarily works with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign and, though less often, with AfterEffects and Adobe Animate. Right now, she’s still using an iMac 2011 27: i7, SSD, 32GB RAM, and a Quadro k3100m, kept alive with Opencore on Ventura. But it’s clear we need an upgrade, especially since Ventura is likely the last macOS version that will run reasonably well on it (there’s no AVX2 support on the iMac, and it’s increasingly a workaround, plus Adobe programs are also beginning to require AVX2).
So here’s the question: Does she need the M4 Pro, or do you think the M4 will be enough, of coures maxing out the RAM to 32GB? Or maybe both are essential... I know, more is always better. But since budget is a factor, any nuanced perspectives on this? And please, no comments like ‘coming from a 2011 iMac, everything will be faster.’ I know that, but that’s not the point. This is a technical question: For these programs, does a better processor make a significant difference, or can this be neglected or...? Any expert advice would be much appreciated!
I know it might be a bit early, especially since the new Mac Mini isn’t out yet, just announced. We also don’t know if the Mini M4 Pro will throttle under load (they could have made the case a bit bigger, honestly…). Still, maybe there are some knowledgeable opinions on this, not necessarily just based on previous Apple Silicon models, but more on a technical sense of what programs benefit most from hardware upgrades.
My wife is a graphic designer. She primarily works with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign and, though less often, with AfterEffects and Adobe Animate. Right now, she’s still using an iMac 2011 27: i7, SSD, 32GB RAM, and a Quadro k3100m, kept alive with Opencore on Ventura. But it’s clear we need an upgrade, especially since Ventura is likely the last macOS version that will run reasonably well on it (there’s no AVX2 support on the iMac, and it’s increasingly a workaround, plus Adobe programs are also beginning to require AVX2).
So here’s the question: Does she need the M4 Pro, or do you think the M4 will be enough, of coures maxing out the RAM to 32GB? Or maybe both are essential... I know, more is always better. But since budget is a factor, any nuanced perspectives on this? And please, no comments like ‘coming from a 2011 iMac, everything will be faster.’ I know that, but that’s not the point. This is a technical question: For these programs, does a better processor make a significant difference, or can this be neglected or...? Any expert advice would be much appreciated!
