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AVBeatMan

macrumors 603
Nov 10, 2010
5,968
3,849
I copied all of the files from my 2014 Mac mini (SSD) to an external SSD drive via USB 3. About 5200 files and 50+ GB.

I then went to my MacBook Pro M1 and connected it using a USB-C to USB 3 connector cable.

I imported the music into Music (formerly known as iTunes). It was so fast I thought I had not selected all of the music on the external drive - the popup showing import progress went away in under a minute. When Iscrolled down through the Album list in iTunes, all of he albums appeared. 50+ GB copied from external SSD via USB3 to M1 SSD in under a minute.

But what I really wanted to do was import the songs but not copy to the internal SSD (I deliberately chose the 256 GB SSD for the M1 MBP).

So I selected all of the files that got copied to the M1 MBP SSD Music folder and deleted them. Again, this took less than a minute, much faster than it would take if I deleted the same amount / size of files from my 2014 Mac mini with SSD.

I then changed the setting in Music to import but not copy files to hard drive (Music preferences -> Files tab -> de-select "Copy files to Music Media folder when adding to library"). I again imported, but this time the files were not copied to the M1 MBP SSD. I then played an entire album, chosen at random. Even though the music only existed on the external drive, the playback was the same as if the files were loaded from the internal SSD - I did not notice any skips, delays, or other playback issues.
I'm trying to decide between 512GB and 1TB. How many songs is 50GB? I have about 10,000 on an external SSD.
 
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AVBeatMan

macrumors 603
Nov 10, 2010
5,968
3,849
You’ve definitely got a lot to look forward to, and love there. I’ve not had a laptop since the 15” was released with the TouchBar, and I only had that less than 6 months as I developed a complete hatred for the TouchBar. Though everyone has different opinions on that.

I didn’t really get much in the way of choosing this time around. It’s a present from my folks for Christmas, yeah it’s ridiculous, I’ll be 46 come Christmas Eve and the wife’s just turned 36. But my parents still insist on going a bit mental for Christmas presents, birthday presents, because they were out shopping presents, any bloody excuse presents.

We’ve tried talking them out of it many times - I’ve been trying most of my life, but that just ends up in an argument. They did ask for some guidance though, so I’m almost entirely certain it’s a MacBook Air 512GB, I’d expect 8G of RAM.

Usually I’m a bit of a RAM freak, but this time I don’t see 8GB being an issue. At least from the ridiculous amount of videos and articles I’ve been through. It’ll cope with my needs just fine.

As for the laptop form factor, you’ll love going back to it, I think. There’s just that element of freedom, taking it anywhere you like. I miss working in the garden in the summer - I work from home anyway, even pre-pandemic.

I’ve already got a new 28” 4K monitor and TB3 hub sitting on my desk in preparation. Don’t get me wrong, I can work on a 13” screen quite happily most of the time. But sometimes, particularly when programming, I like a bit more real estate.

.... And I’m waffling on, I do apologise, see signature :D
Good to read your comments re 8GB RAM. I've been searching all over for the past week or so trying to decide between 8 and 16GB RAM. I'm not a heavy user and don't do any photo editing or gaming so I'm pretty sure 8GB will be enough for me. It seems you are a much more heavy user than I am and if you think 8GB RAM is enough for you (and you being a bit of a "RAM freak") than it makes me think more confidently that it'll be enough for me.
 

VitoBotta

macrumors 6502a
Dec 2, 2020
888
347
Espoo, Finland
I switched from a late 2017 i5 iMac to the M1 Mini 8/512 and the difference in performance was quite noticeable. I am replacing the 8/512 with a 16/256 though because I've had a few issues with insufficient memory. Other that that, I'm impressed.
 
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kevinleecutler

macrumors member
Jun 24, 2020
63
31
I switched from a late 2017 i5 iMac to the M1 Mini 8/512 and the difference in performance was quite noticeable. I am replacing the 8/512 with a 16/256 though because I've had a few issues with insufficient memory. Other that that, I'm impressed.
what were you doing that caused that? the geek in me is just curious
 
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TrueBlou

macrumors 601
Sep 16, 2014
4,531
3,619
Scotland
Good to read your comments re 8GB RAM. I've been searching all over for the past week or so trying to decide between 8 and 16GB RAM. I'm not a heavy user and don't do any photo editing or gaming so I'm pretty sure 8GB will be enough for me. It seems you are a much more heavy user than I am and if you think 8GB RAM is enough for you (and you being a bit of a "RAM freak") than it makes me think more confidently that it'll be enough for me.

Well, I certainly wouldn’t like to offer much advice, when I’ve yet to actually use the system myself. But I have read dozens, upon dozens of articles on the M1 and watched more in-depth videos than I can remember, since it was released.

From what I’ve seen though, it’s incredible just how much performance they are squeezing out of an 8GB system, with little to no performance impact.

Other than personal use, I’ll be using mine for iOS and macOS development and everything related to my journalism - so, writing (well, a BBC micro can handle that :D), editing images, including some very large PSDs, PNG, JPEG, Vector and so on, along with video capture and editing in up to 4K.

I’m used to doing these things on an iMac with either 32, or 64GB of RAM. Yet, I’m not in the least bit concerned that my Air will have just 8GB...... Ok, I was definitely a bit concerned. But having seen live demos of video editing 3 4K h.265 along with an additional h.264 stream I’m utterly blown away with its capabilities.

I’ve also watched live demos of large image editing, and again, I’ve come away astounded.

There will be circumstances for which 16GB would undoubtedly be better - otherwise it wouldn’t exist as an option. But I’m 97% certain that I won’t be hitting that limitation.

Obviously, I won’t know for sure until I use it in my everyday workflow. We’re all going to have different experiences in the real world, after all. But if you don’t have particularly demanding needs, I don’t think 8GB will disappoint.
 

VitoBotta

macrumors 6502a
Dec 2, 2020
888
347
Espoo, Finland
Well, I certainly wouldn’t like to offer much advice, when I’ve yet to actually use the system myself. But I have read dozens, upon dozens of articles on the M1 and watched more in-depth videos than I can remember, since it was released.

From what I’ve seen though, it’s incredible just how much performance they are squeezing out of an 8GB system, with little to no performance impact.

Other than personal use, I’ll be using mine for iOS and macOS development and everything related to my journalism - so, writing (well, a BBC micro can handle that :D), editing images, including some very large PSDs, PNG, JPEG, Vector and so on, along with video capture and editing in up to 4K.

I’m used to doing these things on an iMac with either 32, or 64GB of RAM. Yet, I’m not in the least bit concerned that my Air will have just 8GB...... Ok, I was definitely a bit concerned. But having seen live demos of video editing 3 4K h.265 along with an additional h.264 stream I’m utterly blown away with its capabilities.

I’ve also watched live demos of large image editing, and again, I’ve come away astounded.

There will be circumstances for which 16GB would undoubtedly be better - otherwise it wouldn’t exist as an option. But I’m 97% certain that I won’t be hitting that limitation.

Obviously, I won’t know for sure until I use it in my everyday workflow. We’re all going to have different experiences in the real world, after all. But if you don’t have particularly demanding needs, I don’t think 8GB will disappoint.

I also bought 8GB because of those YT videos/reviews. Whether 8GB are *actually* enough depends on which apps you use and how optimized they are for the new arch. In my case for the stuff that I use 8GB are definitely not enough.
 

The Cockney Rebel

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 16, 2018
2,823
3,428
Well, I certainly wouldn’t like to offer much advice, when I’ve yet to actually use the system myself. But I have read dozens, upon dozens of articles on the M1 and watched more in-depth videos than I can remember, since it was released.

From what I’ve seen though, it’s incredible just how much performance they are squeezing out of an 8GB system, with little to no performance impact.

Other than personal use, I’ll be using mine for iOS and macOS development and everything related to my journalism - so, writing (well, a BBC micro can handle that :D), editing images, including some very large PSDs, PNG, JPEG, Vector and so on, along with video capture and editing in up to 4K.

I’m used to doing these things on an iMac with either 32, or 64GB of RAM. Yet, I’m not in the least bit concerned that my Air will have just 8GB...... Ok, I was definitely a bit concerned. But having seen live demos of video editing 3 4K h.265 along with an additional h.264 stream I’m utterly blown away with its capabilities.

I’ve also watched live demos of large image editing, and again, I’ve come away astounded.

There will be circumstances for which 16GB would undoubtedly be better - otherwise it wouldn’t exist as an option. But I’m 97% certain that I won’t be hitting that limitation.

Obviously, I won’t know for sure until I use it in my everyday workflow. We’re all going to have different experiences in the real world, after all. But if you don’t have particularly demanding needs, I don’t think 8GB will disappoint.
Well said.
 

TrueBlou

macrumors 601
Sep 16, 2014
4,531
3,619
Scotland
I also bought 8GB because of those YT videos/reviews. Whether 8GB are *actually* enough depends on which apps you use and how optimized they are for the new arch. In my case for the stuff that I use 8GB are definitely not enough.

Absolutely, as I've said many times, M1, or Intel, your workload and of course, the apps you use are ultimately the deciding factor in any such decision.

Out of curiosity, what have you been using that is causing you issues - I'm hoping as the majority of the programs I use have already been optimised, I won't be too badly affected. But it's always nice to hear what others are finding, y'know, just in case.
 

VitoBotta

macrumors 6502a
Dec 2, 2020
888
347
Espoo, Finland
Absolutely, as I've said many times, M1, or Intel, your workload and of course, the apps you use are ultimately the deciding factor in any such decision.

Out of curiosity, what have you been using that is causing you issues - I'm hoping as the majority of the programs I use have already been optimised, I won't be too badly affected. But it's always nice to hear what others are finding, y'know, just in case.

Mostly web dev stuff, plus several tabs in Chrome/Safari, Slack etc. The computer was slowish because of memory pressure and it literally became unusable when I tried to test with the Docker preview.
 

TrueBlou

macrumors 601
Sep 16, 2014
4,531
3,619
Scotland
Mostly web dev stuff, plus several tabs in Chrome/Safari, Slack etc. The computer was slowish because of memory pressure and it literally became unusable when I tried to test with the Docker preview.

Yeah with Slack still in beta I’d expect issues, on the bright side, I didn’t think there was any version of Docker that was able to run at all on M1 yet, so progress at least, even if it is still knackered ?
 

VitoBotta

macrumors 6502a
Dec 2, 2020
888
347
Espoo, Finland
Yeah with Slack still in beta I’d expect issues, on the bright side, I didn’t think there was any version of Docker that was able to run at all on M1 yet, so progress at least, even if it is still knackered ?
Slack beta for M1 actually works pretty well! Super snappy. I have joined the Docker preview program so I could download and install the tech preview with support for M1. It kinda works, but performance is still poor and had some issues with some images not working properly.
 
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torbjornhb

macrumors regular
Dec 15, 2016
190
161
Just tried to convert some film clips using Handbrake. Or, clips might be an understatement, cause the original file is a mp4 file on 450mb the thing is that the fans really go crazy on my new MBP M1 8gb/256gb. Anyone else experienced this?
 
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