M1 Pro or Intel MacMini

[Gargiulo]

I'm ready to upgrade my Late 2014 MacMini to either a 2018 Intel or a 2022 M1 (hopefully sooner than later). Now, I'm guessing it's a no-brainer—wait for the new M1's. But if anyone has any info to refute or persuade, please let me know. I'm a creative that uses the big Adobe Creative Suite apps: InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom, After Effects and Premiere...sometimes all at the same time!

 

[magbarn]

M1 is a no brainer unless you need to do a dGPU via TB3 or really need bootcamp. Apple is basically abandoning Intel at this point.

 

[mcnallym]

Only after effects not currently native M1 and that in beta.
Coming from a 2014 then even the current M1 mini will big leap forward

2014 only supported 16gb so unless hitting memory li it already then that shouldn’t be an issue.

So 2022 mini should be absolutely fine for you.

 

[wilberforce]

I'm ready to upgrade my Late 2014 MacMini to either a 2018 Intel or a 2022 M1 (hopefully sooner than later). Now, I'm guessing it's a no-brainer—wait for the new M1's. But if anyone has any info to refute or persuade, please let me know. I'm a creative that uses the big Adobe Creative Suite apps: InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom, After Effects and Premiere...sometimes all at the same time!

I have discovered that some Adobe apps (LR, PS) are memory hogs on M1, more so than on Intel. Keep that in mind when you upgrade.

 

[Jorbanead]

I have discovered that some Adobe apps (LR, PS) are memory hogs on M1, more so than on Intel. Keep that in mind when you upgrade.

Memory leak issue?

 

[pshufd]

How about a 2020 iMac 27? Stronger CPUs than the mini and discrete graphics and easy to upgrade RAM. These are starting to show up in the used market ahead of the rumored Apple Silicon launch.

 

[wilberforce]

Memory leak issue?

No, no memory leak, repeatable after restarting, does not increase with time. Could be poor implementation by Adobe, but nothing we can do about that, other than beg Adobe. It appears to be extra memory required for Adobe's GPU acceleration on M1 (which instead uses separate VRAM on an Intel machine). If you disable the GPU acceleration in LR and PS, the memory usage on M1 is about the same as on Intel. But disabling GPU acceleration makes for laggy and choppy response, so is not a solution.

 

[wilberforce]

How about a 2020 iMac 27? Stronger CPUs than the mini and discrete graphics and easy to upgrade RAM. These are starting to show up in the used market ahead of the rumored Apple Silicon launch.

Yes, I still prefer my 2020 27" iMac to my 14" M1 Pro for LR and PS work. Relatively cheap and easy to upgrade to 32 or 64GB RAM.
5k screen is great. Get i7 minimum.
Then again, M1 update of 27" iMac is expected this year.

 

[killawat]

don't get the intel Mac mini lol. Want mine? M1 is the future.

 

[pshufd]

Yes, I still prefer my 2020 27" iMac to my 14" M1 Pro for LR and PS work. Relatively cheap and easy to upgrade to 32 or 64GB RAM.
5k screen is great. Get i7 minimum.
Then again, M1 update of 27" iMac is expected this year.

If you need something now to generate revenue, then the 2020 27" iMac is a good option. There is a lot of liquidity in these things too and I subscribe to having a backup system.

 

[satcomer]

If you need something now to generate revenue, then the 2020 27" iMac is a good option. There is a lot of liquidity in these things too and I subscribe to having a backup system.

You should invite into smart NAS especially if travel a lot!

 

[pshufd]

You should invite into smart NAS especially if travel a lot!

I am not traveling but I have a home NAS set up. There's just no access from the outside world though. It would be something to look into though.

 

[satcomer]

I am not traveling but I have a home NAS set up. There's just no access from the outside world though. It would be something to look into though.

Find the smart nat App Store and look for a VPN sever app in your Smart NAS and turn it on when you go out with your smart phone if you keep your music collection on smart NAS! This way you could turn your Smart phone VPN on not play all your music in the coffee shop or school!