Which Mac Mini ?

justa1972

justa1972

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Justin
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Hi all

Could do with some computer help please !

I think its getting time to retire my 2019 27" iMac as its starting to struggle with LR etc.

Basically i want to spend as little as possible and thought about the Mac Mini that starts at £599 - of course its pretty basic and comes either 16gb ram- my current iMac has 48gb but I understand that the newer M4 macs require less memory ?

So would the basic model be quick enough for Lightroom ? Its pretty much all I use a PC for now days...

I'd even consider a PC if it was cheaper although I would be loathed too !

thanks
 
I changed from a mini PC to an M4 Mini 6 months ago after two years of reading PC Pros recommendations. Compared to my two years old NUC PC I found the Mini about the same speed in the majority of tasks apart from Lightroom which certainly showed an improvement. I’ve nearly come to terms with the Macs obstructive operating system which should not be a problem for you. Sods law meant that the month I finally made the change to a Mac PC Pro removed the Mini from it’s recommendations replacing it with the new crop of Co Pilot mini PC’s. Always tthe way.
 
I recently retired my late-2012 iMac 27 and though about going for a MacMini.

But, I already had a 13” MacBook Air M2 (8GB and 512GB) bought in early 2024 (best laptop I’ve ever used, a refurbed M4 with 16GB or more would be even better) So, I’m using that with a Benq MA270U 27” monitor.

Can use both screens if I want to, or just use the laptop on its own. Can also plug a fire stick or an Apple TV box in the monitor and watch tv if I want. Very happy with this, it’s a really nice setup and is what I would suggest.

My daughter/SIL retired their Late 2013 iMac 27 and have gone with a Mac Mini (I can’t remember the specs but can ask) and Benq MA320U set up. They’re very pleased with the setup, which came out at around the same cost as one of the new 24” iMac machines.
 
velocette said:
I changed from a mini PC to an M4 Mini 6 months ago after two years of reading PC Pros recommendations. Compared to my two years old NUC PC I found the Mini about the same speed in the majority of tasks apart from Lightroom which certainly showed an improvement. I’ve nearly come to terms with the Macs obstructive operating system which should not be a problem for you. Sods law meant that the month I finally made the change to a Mac PC Pro removed the Mini from it’s recommendations replacing it with the new crop of Co Pilot mini PC’s. Always tthe way.
Click to expand...
What’s a Co-Pilot mini PC ?
 
Ok
GeeJay57 said:
I recently retired my late-2012 iMac 27 and though about going for a MacMini.

But, I already had a 13” MacBook Air M2 (8GB and 512GB) bought in early 2024 (best laptop I’ve ever used, a refurbed M4 with 16GB or more would be even better) So, I’m using that with a Benq MA270U 27” monitor.

Can use both screens if I want to, or just use the laptop on its own. Can also plug a fire stick or an Apple TV box in the monitor and watch tv if I want. Very happy with this, it’s a really nice setup and is what I would suggest.

My daughter/SIL retired their Late 2013 iMac 27 and have gone with a Mac Mini (I can’t remember the specs but can ask) and Benq MA320U set up. They’re very pleased with the setup, which came out at around the same cost as one of the new 24” iMac machines.
Click to expand...
i must admit I’m a bit disappointed my 2019 iMac hasn’t lasted a bit longer !
 
My last computer was a 2019 iMac with an i9 CPU and 128 gigabytes of RAM and I now have a Mac Mini with an M4 Pro CPU and 48 gigabytes of RAM. I use Capture One, not Lightroom, and I don't know how things would go with Lightroom, but, in my case, the Mini is a lot quicker. For instance, Capture One is at least twice as fast and the Topaz suite is probably 5-10 times faster.

On my M1 Pro MacBook with 16 gigabytes of RAM, working on Capture One is also faster than on my 2019 iMac. That's in spite of the fact that the RAM is eight times smaller. I can use Capture One + Affinity Photo + Affinity Designer + Safari + Telegram + Signal + Texpad in parallel in those 16 GB without any problem.
 
Citizen of Bath said:
My last computer was a 2019 iMac with an i9 CPU and 128 gigabytes of RAM and I now have a Mac Mini with an M4 Pro CPU and 48 gigabytes of RAM. I use Capture One, not Lightroom, and I don't know how things would go with Lightroom, but, in my case, the Mini is a lot quicker. For instance, Capture One is at least twice as fast and the Topaz suite is probably 5-10 times faster.

On my M1 Pro MacBook with 16 gigabytes of RAM, working on Capture One is also faster than on my 2019 iMac. That's in spite of the fact that the RAM is eight times smaller. I can use Capture One + Affinity Photo + Affinity Designer + Safari + Telegram + Signal + Texpad in parallel in those 16 GB without any problem.
Click to expand...
Wow that’s impressive from the MacBook Pro ?!

48 GB of RAM in a Mac mini would be expensive !!
 
I have just invested in the base Mac mini m4 , bought a docking station to fit under it. And a plug in 1TB external SSD to store all my Lightroom files , this is obviously extendable as needed . Don’t get conned into buying apples overpriced memory or ram it’s not needed
P.S I use Lightroom classic and photoshop with a topaz plug in ( old purchased versions de.noise and sharpen) and a focus point plug in .
I can download several hundred Nikon Z8 45mp raw files in less than five minutes probably closer to 3 minutes
 
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the black fox said:
I have just invested in the base Mac mini m4 , bought a docking station to fit under it. And a plug in 1TB external SSD to store all my Lightroom files , this is obviously extendable as needed . Don’t get conned into buying apples overpriced memory or ram it’s not needed
P.S I use Lightroom classic and photoshop with a topaz plug in ( old purchased versions de.noise and sharpen) and a focus point plug in .
I can download several hundred Nikon Z8 45mp raw files in less than five minutes probably closer to 3 minutes
Click to expand...
What’s the reason for a docking station ? What monitor do you use ?
 
I have a Mac with Apple M2 Pro chip and 16GB Memory. It is absolutely fine with LR .
 
justa1972 said:
What’s the reason for a docking station ? What monitor do you use ?
Click to expand...
To get extra usb ports at the front . Mainly for one of my card readers ..it’s a 27inch monitor a Xmas gift from the wife I’ll let you know the specs later. P.s if you have access to a Costco near you it works out sub £500 for the Mac mini
 
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justa1972 said:
Wow that’s impressive from the MacBook Pro ?!

48 GB of RAM in a Mac mini would be expensive !!
Click to expand...

I do agree with you ;) Basic models are cheap, but they can get really expensive when you add something extra. Mine is used for work, which is why I chose the 48 GB model. As other posters have said, 16 GB should be enough.

You should see a big difference with the M chip. This processor's internal architecture is much more advanced than the Intel you have in your 2019 iMac.
 
Nikon f1.8 said:
All that birthday money must be gone by now ;)
Click to expand...
Nope , so far flash gun , new jeans, pair of Skechers trainers, few cigars , dvd player for the Mac mini . And still got quite a few notes in my wallet .. the joys of having six kids ,ten grandkids etc etc
 
There is apparently a rush to buy minis to run ai models. You definitely want more memory for that. 24gb or so was suggested as baseline.

On the on the other hand is m5 mini due soon by any chance? And an update to more survivable 512gb ssd starting spec.... I am almost tempted to pick one up but then i quickly start dreaming about macbook pro 16 m5!
 
LongLensPhotography said:
There is apparently a rush to buy minis to run ai models. You definitely want more memory for that. 24gb or so was suggested as baseline.

On the on the other hand is m5 mini due soon by any chance? And an update to more survivable 512gb ssd starting spec.... I am almost tempted to pick one up but then i quickly start dreaming about macbook pro 16 m5!
Click to expand...
You've got me thinking and I can't decide whether to go for a M4 version or wait for the M5....

I'm guessing the M5 will go up in price...
 
the black fox said:
I have just invested in the base Mac mini m4 , bought a docking station to fit under it. And a plug in 1TB external SSD to store all my Lightroom files , this is obviously extendable as needed . Don’t get conned into buying apples overpriced memory or ram it’s not needed
P.S I use Lightroom classic and photoshop with a topaz plug in ( old purchased versions de.noise and sharpen) and a focus point plug in .
I can download several hundred Nikon Z8 45mp raw files in less than five minutes probably closer to 3 minutes
Click to expand...
Hi Jeff

Just been reading about the docking station - seems a good idea !

Looking at the Ugreen version you can add this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-NV...sprefix=nvne+ssd+,electronics,328&sr=1-2&th=1

Is this what you did ? So you don't have extra cables etc ?

thanks
 
nope got a exterior plug in one which was already in the house so cheapest option , between me and my lad we do have a fair bit of stuff . I could probably have not bothered with the dock as my CFexpess card reader is permanently plugged into the Mac mini
 
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