New Mac for Illustrator/Photoshop business use

[Connorw5]

I work for a small company that specialized in custom large format printing. We have designers that currently work on 2013 mac pros and need to upgrade. They are mainly working with large files in illustrator and photoshop. I'm torn between the M2 Studio and the new M4 mac mini. If we went with the M2 max studio id go with the base processor 64gb ram and 1tb storage. If I go with M4 mini id Max out m4 pro, 64gb ram, 1 tb storage. From a core standpoint both are similar only difference is mini has 20 core gpu vs 30 core with the studio. I'm wondering if anyone has any insight on the better option here, Or are these overkill for these programs? I'm not sure how much illustrator relies on cpu, I'm sure its a major part. I've also see some issues on adobe forums with apple processors causing illustrator to run slow, but that may be due to external programs causing the issue.

I'd like to wait to buy the new m4 studio whenever that comes out but we are having enough compatibility issues with the 2013's that it would be best if we upgrade now

Any help is appreciated, thank you!

 

[PerfectTommy]

Similar boat. I was about to pull the trigger on a refurb M2 Ultra (base spec), but knew it was a little overkill for my needs (Photoshop, Figma, some video, InDesign, Lightroom, etc). After seeing the benchmarks of the M4Pro smoke M2s for singe and multicore... I decided to get a relatively loaded up M4Pro Mini. I figure, if the real world tests show the 20 core GPU cores won't cut it (or it runs loud/hot), I can cancel the order or return. I have a feeling it's still going to be more than enough for me (coming from a loaded 2017 Intel iMac). I just never felt like the M2 Max, even with the 38-core GPU upgrade as gonna make me happy knowing the M4Pro performance is so much better on the CPU side and I liked the TB5 ports.

The top-end M4 Pros aren't shipping till like early/mid December now.

 

[Andrey84]

I work for a small company that specialized in custom large format printing. We have designers that currently work on 2013 mac pros and need to upgrade. They are mainly working with large files in illustrator and photoshop. I'm torn between the M2 Studio and the new M4 mac mini. If we went with the M2 max studio id go with the base processor 64gb ram and 1tb storage. If I go with M4 mini id Max out m4 pro, 64gb ram, 1 tb storage. From a core standpoint both are similar only difference is mini has 20 core gpu vs 30 core with the studio. I'm wondering if anyone has any insight on the better option here, Or are these overkill for these programs? I'm not sure how much illustrator relies on cpu, I'm sure its a major part. I've also see some issues on adobe forums with apple processors causing illustrator to run slow, but that may be due to external programs causing the issue.

I'd like to wait to buy the new m4 studio whenever that comes out but we are having enough compatibility issues with the 2013's that it would be best if we upgrade now

Any help is appreciated, thank you!

I'd recommend going for the professional machine (Mac Studio), rather than the casual one.
The new Mac Mini has this new much smaller enclosure and nobody knows how it will fare under sustained high CPU load over months and years.
Mac Studio has had more testing and it's massive, so it should run cooler.
Performance wise, M2 Max vs M4 Pro, I'm sure your employees won't see any difference at all.

 

[Andrey84]

I work for a small company that specialized in custom large format printing. We have designers that currently work on 2013 mac pros and need to upgrade. They are mainly working with large files in illustrator and photoshop. I'm torn between the M2 Studio and the new M4 mac mini. If we went with the M2 max studio id go with the base processor 64gb ram and 1tb storage. If I go with M4 mini id Max out m4 pro, 64gb ram, 1 tb storage. From a core standpoint both are similar only difference is mini has 20 core gpu vs 30 core with the studio. I'm wondering if anyone has any insight on the better option here, Or are these overkill for these programs? I'm not sure how much illustrator relies on cpu, I'm sure its a major part. I've also see some issues on adobe forums with apple processors causing illustrator to run slow, but that may be due to external programs causing the issue.

I'd like to wait to buy the new m4 studio whenever that comes out but we are having enough compatibility issues with the 2013's that it would be best if we upgrade now

Any help is appreciated, thank you!

I'm watching MKBHD's review of the Mac mini, I also checked the benchmarks. The M4 Pro is 30% faster than M2 Max, both in single-core and multi-core tests.

The best thing to do is to find as many reviews as possible, where they focus on thermal performance, and maybe even buy one machine and test it for yourself. Because, if the thermals are indeed OK, you won't only save the desk space, you'll have a 30% faster CPU and a system which will be supported the latest Mac OS for 1-2 years longer.

 

[Andrey84]

First review about sound... fan noise

 

[PerfectTommy]

There's a couple reviews now that show the new Mini M4 Pro is a monster with Photoshop. It's biggest issue is simply having less GPU cores than Max or Ultra for the tasks/software than can lean on them (Premiere, for example).

Still waiting for more reviews, but for my similar workflow, for $2500 the 14/20 Pro with 64GB of RAM and 1TB SSD seems like as good (or better) performance as the M2 Ultra Studio for significantly less. For video stuff, it seems to hover somewhere between and M1 and M2 Max. Again, that's for my tools and workflow.

So much of these decisions has to with what you're using the machine for day-to-day. There's a bit of a wait on the top-end Pro's with 64GB... so it will be interesting to see more real world reviews as they roll in.

 

[splifingate]

Focus your attention on RAM . . . all the Mx Series will be exceptionally performant with your Use-Case.

Get ones with as much RAM as your budget allows. The more, the better.

My M2 Studio has 64GB of RAM, never breaks a sweat, and I find that it's always waiting on me

The only other qualifier I imagine may be of impact to you are which variants allow for multiple displays. Some allow more than others. Both the Studio and the new Minis should allow your people the display options they desire.