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Switching my Mac Pro (2013) to MacMini 2018?

Switching Mac Pro (2013) to MacMini 2018?

  • Yes

    Votes: 13 48.1%

  • No

    Votes: 14 51.9%
  • Total voters
    27
dannielsen.dk

dannielsen.dk

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 25, 2018
4
1
Denmark
I am considering switching my Mac Pro (2013) 3.7Ghz Xeon out with the new MacMini 3.2 GHz 6-core Intel Core i7 processor. I use it mostly for Photoshop, Lightroom and CaptureOne.
And some times Final Cut.

Will it be a good idea?
 
IMO the only reason to do it would be if you absolutely wanted to use a TB3 external GPU for gaming or something. Otherwise that seems to be a rather horizontal move.
 
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It might not be as powerful. You can buy one and try it out for a few days to see if it can handle the load. If it can't then you can return it.
 
GPU is most certainly less powerful.
You'll need an eGPU to make a an all across the board upgrade..
 
As only have a quad Xeon then should find the mini has more cpu grunt, but the gpu will be lower. Would get an egpu as well, or try and hang on until the iMac is refreshed.

May well see a 6 or even 8 core make it to the iMac, without needing an egpu as well.
 
dannielsen.dk said:
I am considering switching my Mac Pro (2013) 3.7Ghz Xeon out with the new MacMini 3.2 GHz 6-core Intel Core i7 processor. I use it mostly for Photoshop, Lightroom and CaptureOne.
And some times Final Cut.

Will it be a good idea?
Click to expand...

No.

For your useage I would not get a Mac mini. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE my 2018 Mac mini, but I use it for audio production which does not require a powerful GPU.

For your usage, the graphics cards on the 2013 Mac Pro will be much much better.
 
Thanks for all you inputs!

Yes I have in mind that I may need a eGPU, But then I also have the opportunity to upgrade in the future and with 6 core I think the processor is faster. And the "old" Mac Pro 2013 doesn't have Thunderbolt 3 and it has DDR3 ram and I don't know how long the operating system can upgrade (?)
 
I was also thinking of upgrading from the 2013 Mac Pro quad-core to the 2018 Mac Mini. I use Final Cut Pro every day.

Ultimately, the new Mac Mini doesn't help me save more time or money. I won't be able to make more videos because I can let the Mac Pro export videos overnight even if the processor is slower than the 6-core.
 
teohyc said:
I was also thinking of upgrading from the 2013 Mac Pro quad-core to the 2018 Mac Mini. I use Final Cut Pro every day.

Ultimately, the new Mac Mini doesn't help me save more time or money. I won't be able to make more videos because I can let the Mac Pro export videos overnight even if the processor is slower than the 6-core.
Click to expand...
and you cant let mini do that because... ?
 
dannielsen.dk said:
I am considering switching my Mac Pro (2013) 3.7Ghz Xeon out with the new MacMini 3.2 GHz 6-core Intel Core i7 processor. I use it mostly for Photoshop, Lightroom and CaptureOne.
And some times Final Cut.

Will it be a good idea?
Click to expand...

Which GPU type are in your MP?

My wife 2018 Mac mini runs a LG 32" 4K display without a hitch when my Twin D300s really struggled, even on Apple built in software. PS was a no-go area. Hence my move to Affinity Photo.
 
Ploki said:
and you cant let mini do that because... ?
Click to expand...

Both the Mac Pro and Mac Mini are capable of video editing (the work I do).
There's no need to upgrade when the new computer can't save me time or help me make more videos.
The bottleneck for me is not the computer.
So even if the Mac mini is 10 times faster, it won't help me make more videos.
(because I can run the Mac Pro overnight to export videos)
 
teohyc said:
Both the Mac Pro and Mac Mini are capable of video editing (the work I do).
There's no need to upgrade when the new computer can't save me time or help me make more videos.
The bottleneck for me is not the computer.
So even if the Mac mini is 10 times faster, it won't help me make more videos.
(because I can run the Mac Pro overnight to export videos)
Click to expand...
yeah sure.
if i had a 2013 Mac Pro I'd probably skip this mini as well.
 
Reality4711 said:
Which GPU type are in your MP?

My wife 2018 Mac mini runs a LG 32" 4K display without a hitch when my Twin D300s really struggled, even on Apple built in software. PS was a no-go area. Hence my move to Affinity Photo.
Click to expand...

My Mac Pro 2013 is with the 'AMD FirePro D300 2048 MB' and the Processor is '3,7 Ghz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5'
 
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dannielsen.dk said:
My Mac Pro 2013 is with the 'AMD FirePro D300 2048 MB' and the Processor is '3,7 Ghz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5'
Click to expand...

The best advice I can give is RAM.

I have 24GB running and that made a substantial difference to my editing (photos) speed. However the downgrading from 4k to whatever this Eizo is has also improved speed.

It seems, at the moment that we are both on the cusp as far as upgrading is concerned. Certainly personally there seems little to make me jump into the Mac mini from where I am and unless you go. the eGPU route the same seems to be true for you.

Having absolutely no intention in getting involved in Video (which is so far outside my comfort zone it is invisible) the differences in photographic editing speeds are becoming very small indeed at each 'up grade'. In a strange way my memory of editing 6.5mb files (raw) from my first digital camera seems little different from editing the 50mb files from my Fuji X-T2 today. Both were/are a bit glitchy and I would like them to be smoother and simpler - so not much has really changed in 15 years or so (except I am a lot worse off):(
 
I bought a Mac Mini because may Mac Pro 2010's motherboard and powersupply failed (i'm not very good at repairing computers myself). I put it's Radeon RX 580 in a eGPU and internal harddisks in a external enclosure, all connected to the Mini. This equipment takes as much space as the Mac Pro did. After upgrading RAM to 32GB i noted that the mini is sometimes a bit faster and mostly just as fast as the Mac Pro. So there is i think no urgent need to abandon a working and upgraded Mac Pro for a Mini.
 
I use basic i3 Mac mini 2018 (128 GB SSD) for photo editing, DTP, 2D illustration and it is OK for my need. Of course I have upgraded the RAM myself and added an external SSD for additional fast storage.
 
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