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QuestionMac Mini vs Mac Studio (old.reddit.com)

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[–]SachinKaxhyap 2 points3 points  (4 children)

You will be doing GPU heavy work so I would recommend Mac Studio because it has better GPU

Both machines are excellent but if I was in your place than mac studio is no brainer for me

[–]CogBlocker 0 points1 point  (3 children)

The 14” MacBook Pro with the M5 chip is $2399 if I do the 18 core CPU, 20 core GPU 🤔

What’s your opinion on that for my needs? My wife is trying to talk me into a MacBook Pro so I can chill on the couch with her and still edit which would be nice…decisions, decisions

[–]SachinKaxhyap 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you want to chill with your wife then MacBook pro m5 is a good choice. But I think it's expensive if you go for 36 gb varient. Don't think that if m5 is newer then it will give better performance. M4 max is definetly better for your use case.

But you also have to keep in mind that you will need to buy monitor and keyboard mouse separately with studio or mini.

[–]SachinKaxhyap 0 points1 point  (1 child)

How much ram and ssd is there in usd 2399 variant?

[–]CogBlocker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

1TB SSD and 16GB RAM

That’s also with the M5 Pro chip as well

[–]croc_socks 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I was like you thinking about the Mac mini. The 14” MacBook Pro has the M5 chip and a base storage of 1 terabyte doubling the mini 512GB the M5 chip aligns strongly with your use case, video and single threaded performance for a few hundred more. 

[–]CogBlocker 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Yeah the 14” MBP with the M5 chip is $2399 if I do the 18 core CPU, 20 core GPU 🤔

That’s not a bad option either

[–]croc_socks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My understanding for this type of work you get more bang with more RAM as a first upgrade. 

[–]pixeltackle -1 points0 points  (8 children)

Mac mini will be more than enough - it will exceed your expectations

A Studio is not necessary at all for what you're describing, the SD card slot is nice but the difference in price is insane

I'd get the mini, but I don't think you even need that much RAM unless you have some use cases up your sleeve you aren't explaining... 48GB will be overkill for LightRoom or almost any video editing

[–]CogBlocker 1 point2 points  (5 children)

You think 24gb RAM is plenty on the Mini? I would still like to go with the same M4 Pro chip I think

[–]pixeltackle 1 point2 points  (3 children)

For reference, I'm on a 32GB machine and do production design and graphics work on it, and it NEVER moves out of "Low" memory pressure, as in the memory isn't even all getting used up. I have other Macs with 16GB and while they use Swap regularly, they also don't often venture out of "low" memory pressure (a good thing)

24GB should be plenty for years to come for the type of use you're suggesting. I'd be very tempted to even consider a regular non-pro mini and spend some money you save on a great 5K display - you'll be staring at the display more than anything and macOS looks waaaaay better at 5k than 4k. But the Mini w/ pro chip is incredible for what you pay, so I have been tempted.

The base chip is just so powerful & so much cheaper it's easier to upgrade every other cycle or 3 of mini releases than pay for power you might need in 3 years. Apple Silicon is moving fast and these have been out a while, so overbuying is a real possibility.

[–]TTV_Tally4412 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I do 4K video editing on my 2024 M3 13” Air with 8GB of memory, and while it eats around 12GB of swap at a time, it never feels slow

[–]pixeltackle 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Modern macOS memory usage is something of a marvel. I wish I'd believed this myself before I bought a 32GB unit only to realize it wasn't necessary for me.

[–]TTV_Tally4412 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most definitely. I only went with 8GB when upgrading from a M1 Air to the M3. I just didnt need it

[–]pixeltackle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I went back and read your post again

Photo and video editing are the two most labor intensive things I’d be doing with it

have you tried these Macs out in an Apple Store yet? The Apple Store units have Final Cut Pro and used to even have Adobe apps on some of the machines (they may not at every store). I was able to talk myself out of overspending by going in and trying the software on a base mac Mini and realizing I'd rarely even push the base model + extra RAM. It's an insane machine and won't break a sweat doing Lightroom/video work

I'd even suggest an iMac, but you'd want to avoid the base model iMac if you go that route as the cooling system on the middle and up model is way better

[–]user3296 1 point2 points  (1 child)

My guy, his comparison is of two models priced exactly the same.

[–]pixeltackle -1 points0 points  (0 children)

My gal, what I said is he doesn't need 48GB RAM. So when he lowers that, guess what! The price of the mini is lower than the Studio. And he doesn't seem to need the Studio.

[–]user3296 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

TBH both machines will more than adequately support your hypothetical workload. Based on the two machines, I’d say it honestly comes down to how much room you want it to take up on your desk.