*** The official 2023 and 2024 Mac mini thread (it has the M2 chip, the M4 chip and everything!) ***

Donnie Fisher said:
In what way do you find it dragging? See I wonder about this myself sometimes ... is the computer actually dragging, or is it that as a user I'm getting quicker, and then end up waiting on computer more often.
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You see this is why I’m not even sure if it’s the system, or whether there’s a software issue somewhere. Export times have slowed but most noticeably is the Enhance/AI Denoise. Even my fairly modest X-T5 files take 1 minute to run the enhance feature. I can’t recall exactly but it never took this long in the past, was more around half that. Doesn’t sound like a big deal but when you’re batch processing it soon adds up.

Processing my GFX files has become a real slog - I’ve seen an image enhance take upwards of 4 minutes. Again, I don’t recall it being that slow but then again that could be my mind playing tricks on me as I’ve not had the GFX all that long.
 
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Picked up my MMM4 from Milton Keynes this morning, I'm sure the store has moved to the opposite side of the part of the shopping centre it's in, it's definitely been refurbished and the upper floor has gone. Waiting for some bits to be delivered before I can set it up and I'm 3D printing a button actuator as I type.
 
GMac11 said:
You see this is why I’m not even sure if it’s the system, or whether there’s a software issue somewhere. Export times have slowed but most noticeably is the Enhance/AI Denoise. Even my fairly modest X-T5 files take 1 minute to run the enhance feature. I can’t recall exactly but it never took this long in the past, was more around half that. Doesn’t sound like a big deal but when you’re batch processing it soon adds up.

Processing my GFX files has become a real slog - I’ve seen an image enhance take upwards of 4 minutes. Again, I don’t recall it being that slow but then again that could be my mind playing tricks on me as I’ve not had the GFX all that long.
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Do you build and edit from smart previews? Lightroom is slow for me on any computer with library and files on a fast SSD but build smart previews and enable "edit from smart previews" in settings and its instant
 
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.:SAmSuNG:. said:
Cant be many people that need anymore than the 1gb ethernet?
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Can't see it for most users.

Reuben klang said:
The base model with 10gb Ethernet is the way to go.
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What is the use case for having 10gb ethernet out of interest?

I had a quick nosey at upgrading my network a while ago but it would cost me a fortune and just can't see that id benefit that much apart from slightly quicker transfers to my backup server.
 
punky_munky said:
This just seems anti-consumer whilst still ticking the repairable box.
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Not sure it does tick the repairable box. Hopefully Apple will, in the near future be forced to offer replacement parts for these things at cost. You can't claim repairability when you need specialist software and parts that the manufacturer won't sell you to be able to repair it. Right to repair means you have access to the tools and parts you need, easily and at reasonable cost.

Apple would literally lose billions if that was the case though because a bunch of services would pop up immediately offering to take your 256GB SSD to 4TB for about £500 instead of £1200. I would 100% do that.

As others have said, Apple are very good at offering you an excellent base model with some serious flaw in the spec and then they keep tempting you up the spec ladder. "Well, you're going to want 512gb at least but perhaps for another £200 you should get 1tb. Now its £1000 though you might as well get the base pro model and then stick 1tb in that"

Suddenly you have got from a £500 machine to a £1600 machine.
 
vail3r said:
Can't see it for most users.



What is the use case for having 10gb ethernet out of interest?

I had a quick nosey at upgrading my network a while ago but it would cost me a fortune and just can't see that id benefit that much apart from slightly quicker transfers to my backup server.
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It's mainly if you work out of your NAS, or have many users sharing 1 central storage. Think Linus Tech Tips, having all the editors working, editing videos with it all stored centrally.

Like you said, moving files at home, photos, videos over from internal HD to the NAS. It makes little difference if it takes 2mins or 15mins for me. If I play video or music from it, it doesn't take advantage of the speed.
 
Feek said:
I think we're in the extended Christmas return period now so you could buy it, use it for nearly two months to see if it meets your requirements and then return it if it doesn't.
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What bugs me, or concerns me isn't the speed of the Pro (although it will be nice), but the RAM. I want more. I have 32G of RAM in my iMac and it is what really made it last this long. It doesn't need to go into a swap file due to all that RAM.

So, upgrading the RAM to 24G might be the way to go for me, I know it's £200, but with edu it drops it to £500 before adding that back on so it will probably be around £680. Man Math tells me that is only £80 upgrade the RAM :D
 
Raymond Lin said:
What bugs me, or concerns me isn't the speed of the Pro (although it will be nice), but the RAM. I want more. I have 32G of RAM in my iMac and it is what really made it last this long. It doesn't need to go into a swap file due to all that RAM.

So, upgrading the RAM to 24G might be the way to go for me, I know it's £200, but with edu it drops it to £500 before adding that back on so it will probably be around £680. Man Math tells me that is only £80 upgrade the RAM :D
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That was what I was going to do but then I was impatient and wanted to get it straight away!

Interestingly on all the Apple Silicon machines I have Mac OS uses loads of swap even when there is ram left. I think it puts stuff in swap to keep a good chunk free for if a big amount is suddenly needed.

I did a bit of stress test with my base model last night with the activity monitor open and with photoshop, Lightroom and Final Cut all open and working between them the memory pressure didn’t go yellow very often so it seems to cope well.
 
3D printed button finished, just got to see how well it works. I know a lot of people will say why bother, just leave it in sleep mode. I will leave it in sleep when not using but the reason is, I can.

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Raymond Lin said:
Having slept on it...I think the base model is the way to go. The money jump to the Pro....that money can go towards the next Steam Deck if I want to play games better. I don't play games much these days anyway and to spend £800 more on to play Baldur's Gate in Ultra setting instead of high is just not financially responsible. I might as well just get it again on my PS5. Plus, with edu discount, it's only £500, vs £1260 for the Pro, that is like 150% more money.
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I think you're right, I'm not playing BG3 at the moment - however I am playing an older, less demanding game and when playing it on Ultra I heard the fans ramp up and down a lot, whereas I never heard them on my 16" M1 Pro.
 
I keep ummming on whether to get an M4 to replace one of my 2018 Mini's (64GB, 1TB, 10Gb); sure it'll be a bit snappier but £2300 though :eek:
Anyone know what the Edu discounts are like?

Raymond Lin said:
The SSD is not soldered on !!!!
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I wonder if it's the same setup as with the Studio? If so, then maybe the Polysoft Services guys might be able to get a third-party SSD upgrade out for the Mini like they're doing with the Mac Studio.
 
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