Upgraded Mac mini vs 14” MacBook Pro vs Mac Studio

[barry.pearson]

TL;DR - I had a base Mac mini and was running out of RAM, do I purchase a new 16GB version, a base 14” MacBook Pro or grab the Mac Studio since it’s price is similar to the 14” MBP?

I’m sorry if there have been a thousand threads like this one, but I was just looking for some opinions as I’m stuck with what I should do.

I recently (as in last week) sold my base M1 Mac mini (8GB/256GB) and got most of my money back. I purchased this almost a year to the day ago and was hesitant about moving from Intel to Apple Silicon so opted for the cheapest Mac mini available. As the year went on it became clear that I had made a mistake. At the very least I should have opted for the 16GB RAM upgrade, and I was also constantly running into hang ups and stutters as I had more and more apps open.

My hope was that there would be a new Mac mini, either a new design, or something with perhaps the rumoured M2 processor, and I would pick up one of them to replace my outgoing Mac mini, failing that I was also looking a the 14“ MacBook Pro in it’s base configuration (16GB/512GB). Now the introduction of the Mac Studio has thrown a spanner in the works as it’s within touching distance of the cost of a 14” MacBook Pro, for what appears to be significantly better specs.

My use isn’t that demanding, and I believe the M1 Mac mini was capable of keeping up if it wasn’t for the poultry 8GB RAM. My typical use case is editing a basic podcast within Garage Band with around 4-6 audio tracks, using Affinity Photo to create images 4K sized images across 10-15 layers with a few basic effects added, then using the audio, images and some video files within iMovie to put together a video using a few layers. I will typically be swapping back and forth between Affinity and iMovie as I work, and because I may need to re-edit the audio I will keep Garage Band minimised. I will also have a few other apps running such as Safari, Skype, Messages, Pages, OneNote and Mail.

So my question is, what are people’s thoughts on the following three options:

1. Purchase a new Mac mini, but upgrade it to 16GB/512GB, plus a dock with a memory card reader and front ports at a cost of around £1200. I already own a monitor, webcam, keyboard and mouse so this would be my total cost.
2. Purchase the Mac Studio in it’s base configuration 32GB/512GB for £2000, again I already have a monitor, keyboard, mouse and webcam so I’m set to go.
3. Purchase the base MacBook Pro 14” 16GB/512GB for £1800. I could then potentially sell my monitor and peripherals and re-coup around £400-500. This would bring the effective cost to around £1400 and I would have the option to work away from my desk if I desired.

I’m just looking for people‘s pros and cons to each. I know that I don’t need the MacBook Pro/Mac Studio - in fact at the moment I’m surviving with just an iPad - but I’d like to get something that will last me at least 5 years into the future. So if I were to start creating more complex videos, images and audio I would at least have the headroom to do so.

If you read all of this, thanks! I look forward to your views.

 

[the8thark]

My use isn’t that demanding

I feel this quote from your above post answers everything.

If you don't need the grunt then you do not need the studio.

The big question now is do you need the portability. If yes, then the MBP with 16GB RAM is your go to. However if you do not need the portability then probably get the high end Mini with 16GB RAM.

The base M1 (8 core version of cause) has huge headroom to do a lot of amazing stuff. Really the main choice is do you need more than 16GB RAM? If not then you are set to go.

Of cause please do get other opinions other than just my own.

 

[barry.pearson]

@the8thark Hey, thanks of your input. I didn’t intend to look at getting the Studio, it’s only since it’s price is so close to the 14” MBP that I even considered it, and that is only a consideration as I need more than just the two ports of a 13” MacBook Air/Pro.

Portability would be a ‘nice to have’. Realistically if I had a MBP it would likely spend 90% of it’s time being used at my desk, if I want to lounge around using a computer I have an iPad.

Had the Mac mini had seen a M2 refresh I think I would feel better about picking on up with the RAM/SSD upgrades, but now I’m just thinking that the standard M1 is 1-2 year old hardware.