Buying an M2 Mac mini? Watch this FIRST!
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This will be my last Mac mini buying guide for a while, but it’s also the most important for anyone who is totally confused about which M2 Mac mini to buy. Let’s get into everything you need to know before buying!
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CHAPTERS
00:00 - Intro
00:50 - Trend Micro
02:10 - You’ll need more stuff
03:41 - Don’t be tempted by the Mac Studio
04:23 - Two options
05:54 - Bluetooth problems?
07:00 - You don’t need that
What do you do with your Mac mini?
Sad to say...but my old 2011 Mac Mini gets more action than my M1 Mac Mini. As a hobbyist, I'm...for the moment...addicted to testing Linux distributions on the ancient Macmini5,1. My perfectly wonderful M1 sits there too much playing my Apple Music for me in the background. However, when I ask more of that M1, it utterly crushes the 2011 model into dust! Frankly...I need to put on my big boy trousers so I can run and test Asahi Linux which is the only purpose-built Linux distro for Apple Silicon. I'm too nervous about "losing" my M1 Mac experience. So...do I pay for therapy? Or...do I just run out and by an M2 Mac MIni? Decisions, decisions...
I got the M2 pro. Basically because with my use the M1-8Gb version sometimes beachballed a bit. So, the extra money gave me the 16Gb RAM and 512 Gb of storage. I kept my docking station - including both an SSD-slot and a M2-slot, meaning that I've got about 6Gb of extra storage - and am very happy with it. My old M1 (8Gb/512Gb) I handed to my husband, who is new to Mac and is now happily using it, especially together with his Iphone and Ipad.
I use mine mostly as a backup machine to play World of Warcraft on, I use an M2 16gb 256gb and a few usb4 external ssds for extra apps
I want to produce music with Ableton 11 and color grade videos
first use case for me is to have a dedicated machine to take all the photos off my iPhone. Totally seems overkill but my Windows laptop doesn't play nicely with the iPhone.
Thanks Mark for this info it helped me decide which Mac mini to buy.Great job
The 16/512 (both!) should be the regret-free minimum for most users for many reasons in many videos.
Excellent advice, thank you.
omg the reassurance i needed at the end, i was stuck on which one to get the m2 or m2 pro cause i wanted to do graphic design work and a little bit of gaming, but now i know im just gonna go for the m2
I think the main problem with the mac mini m2 base model is the number of ports. I just recently bought the m2 pro. and I filled up the ports real quick I even had to use a 4x USB port hub and a USB C dongle.
my connections are:
Elgato HD60x (USB A)
4 port USB hub connections (USB A)
-Audio interface
- Camera dummy battery
- Monitor LED strip
USB C connections
-2nd Monitor
-External SSD
-Keyboard
-USB C dongle (for SD card reader and video capture card)
Hey Mark, if I'm planning on getting the Setachi hub and adding storage to it (1 TB), do you think it's ok to get the 256 gb Mac Mini or rather 512 gb?
I'm just not sure if the 256 gb would have any drawbacks even with the 1 TB in the Setachi.
Hi Mark. Thanks very much for your quick & great review. This is really helpful in deciding what Mac to get. I can't justify buying a Mac for £1,000+ but the Mini looks good. So, I can you use ANY display monitor and keyboard? I have the 2012 Mac book Pro and I'm thinking of trading this in for a Mac Mini. Thanks
Spitting honest review. I like it. Thanks for sharing this. Subbed!
Welcome onboard!
After your excellent advice i think im going with the base model ( $599 ). My current Mac Pro 5,1 2012 is used for music, home video's etc. running Mojave. Love this machine and will use it till it dies but it is getting dated. I have an M1 air for work etc. I could go on and on. Thanks for your excellent advice.
I’ve bought the base M2 with 256gb storage. Not bothered about speed transfer as it’s plenty fast enough for me. Will be getting a dock though which can take either sad or m.2 storage
Question- Is the Mac Mini M2 24GB, 1TB SSD good option for a professional music studio? Can you run multiple to several virtual instruments and plugins with such configuration?
Thank you! Love the video! I'll get the M2 8GB one. Seems like it would be great to use for school.
Thanks Mark. I heard that intial setup is difficult if you don't have an Apple keyboard and Apple mouse. Something about the OS having trouble recognizing third party accessories. Is that true?
Great video Mark Ellis. I currently have an 2020 Macbook Pro (Intel) with 16GB ram. Would you suggest the M2 16GB or M2 Pro 16GB. I am doing photo editing (raw processing) and 4K video editing in Premiere. Thoughts?
Thank you for the review with no tests!! And HI from Russia! God bless!
another down to earth presentation, also good to get prices in £s and the proper pronunciation of ZED 🙂
I am new here. Really like your channel and a down-to-earth attitude. I used to use Magic Mouse for over than 10 years. I switched to MX3 and never looked back. It just great for my palm.
I love the Mac Mini . I have an older one and it’s still amazing.
Thank you. I ended up buying the mac mini M2PRO 16GB Ram. I am planning on doing Video editing.
I did purchase a high end BenQ monitor as well. I also have the Latest I Mac Pro M2MAX 32gb 1TB that I use often and I had thought about just buying another lap top. In the end, I am happy with my choice.
Thanks Javier
I went with 16gb/256gb/10gbe. Lower on ssd since tb4 allows ultra fast external storage and I can work off my nas fast with 10gbe.
That was a fantastic straightforward review. Sick and tired of the reviewers trying to out-tech other reviewers, leaving those of us who just want uncomplicated advice/suggestions mystified and unsatisfied. Well done!
Much appreciated!
Indeed..
Hey Mark, great video. I decided to get the M2 mini with 24GB of RAM and a 1TB HD. Just waiting for it to get delivered. 😁
Great video! Greetings from central Japan!
very well explained, straight to the point.. 👍
New subscriber.Glad to find you. Thank you.
Welcome onboard!
What colour switches are fitted to your NuPhy Air 96?
this is a great review, thank you
I'm configuring an M2 Mac Mini on the Apple site, and I'm torn if I should either upgrade the RAM to 16GB, upgrade the storage to 512GB, or just get the basic one?
Thank you for plainly and clearly answering the basic question that I had. I’m off to buy the entry level basic with external storage and the footprint connector hub thingy!
So, do you recommend the base or M2 Pro if I do 4K 60 fps video editing?? Or doesn't matter?
I have a question, is the M2 Mac mini compatible with an older iMac? I have the iMac desktop 27 inch (2013) model with the 3.5GHz quad-core intel core i7 with memory 8GB. I am currently running on macOS Catalina and for some reason it does not let me update to the newer verisons and I cannot update certain adobe apps because my mac is not updated. Do you think that I need a Mac mini ??
Thanks, very useful.
Thanks for the Bluetooth info. Would like to see some compare.
Done. Base model Mac Mini M2 purchased will use with my existing HP monitors. HP Prodesk will go up for sale. Son had for Christmas my iPad Pro 12.9 (2018 model) he loves it. Went for the Logitec Mouse and Logitec minimalist keyboard too. Sold old AirPod Pros. 2s ordered. Sold old pair of AirPods. Out with the old tech and in with the new. Thank you Mark your reviews are solid everyman with no bull I love them. Plus the fact that my brother Mark Ashworth knows a fella who knows you. Small world and all that.
Love your reviews mate. I always get lowest possible SSD Mac mini as I use external drives like yourself and cloud backups. I spend the extra $$ on unified memory to run hungry apps like video editing software and the likes 💪👍
I recently switched from macbook air m1 2020 base model to mac mini m2 pro base model. honestly basic tasks feels the same. video editing and photo editing are a lot smoother. but also I could still do video editing work 4k footage in my macbook air m1 just fine. So if you have m1 devices and its going to hurt you financially to upgrade. I suggest stick with the m1 devices.
Another great review! I bought the M2 Mac mini with 16 GB unified RAM and 512 GB storage. For me the perfect machine. Ports I don't care as I rarely use them.
Are you ķidding? For this stuff it will be in idle mode all the time. This machine is really very very fast.
Just upgraded from an M1 to an M2 Mac Mini because the Bluetooth and network LAN port issues were driving me crazy. I can report the Bluetooth issues et al are fixed. I've noticed no performance differences between the two computers. Just the elimination of the Bluetooth problems was worth the upgrade. I did increase the storage on the new machine to 512 and stuck with 16 GB of RAM. I can't imagine a more ideal everyday computer that doubles as a music production powerhouse.
Do you have normal or pro m2
@@rehanjr.8602 Unless it's a demanding studio enviornment the vast majoriy of users would have no problem with the normal. I think I read that Logic can't really take advantage of the Pro chip (check that). You're paying for the 16GB and 512 SSD I don't think you need anything else. That's the spec that will work for 90% (?) of you hobbiest out there. Anything beyond that spec probably isn't needed. I would build an SSD external drive for icing on the cake.
Glad I found this video. I been thinking of getting a mac mini for music production. I probably will opt for the mac mini pro as i do a fair bit of music recording and video editing.
Glad I could help!
Will the 8GB mac mini be good for someone like me who would use it mostly for Logic X Pro?
I have a 2010 MacBook Pro that I desperately need to upgrade. Was wondering about a Mac mini and this video was very helpful. I just use it for basic needs: backup iPhone, music, word processing, etc. I want to venture into content creation. I think the basic M2 model with the accessories you mention would be plenty for me. Sound about right? Also, hoping to get quite a few years out of the setup
The M2 Is worth it for adobe editing apps?
4k heavy sony vid and 5K gorpro footage on premiere, multiple timelines, whats the lowest spec mini pro or pro would you get?
My macbook air M1 mostly used on desk with external monitor, should I buy Mac Mini M2 to replace?
Audio production might be a special use case. My understanding is that fastest single core performance is desireable Especially to reduce tracking latency. I think the Pro is the baseline for this. Great advice BTW.
great vid, super useful. thanks
No problem!
Very Helpfully! Thanks.
I’ve just ordered my M2 basic.
Thanks this was exactly what I needed to hear, in terms of weighing up options. My type of work involves doing things like Ableton and Sibelius at the same time, and I know I need as much processing power as possible, and to also accomodate for soft ware updates etc. Also the type of stuff I do with Ableton involves performing live for which a laptop would normally be the best option, but I’m interested in the Mac mini pro for its portability, like the laptop. And you obviously get more bang comparing price points of Mac minis vs MacBooks 🎉
Def bought the base model with a new red dragon keyboard to start building my art site. Good info
Amazing video really informative. I watched your other videos where you were trying to break the Mac mini with logic 😂 But I need help, I just want to record R&B vocals with pre brought instruments using logic so I want to know what specs I’d need for Mac mini or any other suggestions
This was great. I just an m2 and it does still have wonky Bluetooth problem - but I'm doing audio and I have like 12 usb things plugged in I'm guessing the electrical field is messing with it, cuz when I move it away sometimes it's better 🤷♂️
Thanks, Mark, for another great video. One aspect that seems to be omitted from every comparison discussion here or by others is: how long does the purchaser intend to be able to effectively use the Mac? In my case, while my demands are low (eg personal photo editing) compared to someone such as yourself, I aim to do what I can to future-proof myself as much as possible, with the goal of getting something like 10 years from my purchase. (Call me "The 10 Year Man".) So, taking such a perspective -- relatively ordinary user with 10 year window -- how does that change the ideal specs? I'm thinking M2 Pro with 32 Unified Memory. Thanks again for your great content; it's been helpful.
Why? What do you actually plan on doing with it? That matters more than how long you want to have it for tbh.
My 2014 Mac mini is still kicking... though very slowly now. But you can't beat this kind of power and sustainability for that price.
Mark just want to thank you for helping me pick the m2 mac mini with 16gb unified memory and 512 ssd storage. I feel comfortable with my purchase and look forward to more of your insight into the apple world.
Glad to help!
Just bought the mac mini M2 and upgraded to 24 unified and 1Tb drive. Going to be running parallels and multiple users for the family.
external of device finishing is very nice subject to preloaded software
Great review and tips! I am a graphic designer and only use the Adobe suite applications. I have a 27 inch mac at work and am looking to buy the M2 mac mini for home. I am about to retire and will still do the occasional freelance job. I still want some performance which is why I am looking at the Mac mini and a non-apple monitor. At the Apple shop a salesperson was pushing the Mac Studio but do I really need it? After watching your review I am confident that the M2 mac mini should be enough for me. Mark, would you agree?
Thank you for the info. It definitely helped me understand the basics. I am on the fence to buy the mini or new all in one m3 pc.
Glad it was helpful!
I have been a Windows Fanboy and reconsidering going back to Mac Mini. I just do web development for my Blog so not a huge amount of work and one can get a Mac version of MS 365 Office, so not a big deal anymore for compatibility.
Last month, I found my Mom a refurbished MM2023 on Amazon (base model w/Apple warranty & still eligible for Apple Care!) for $483.12. Such a deal!
I use a Mac mini Pro M2 with 32GB of Ram for video, design and photography. I have external Crucial 2TB drives, track pad rather than a mouse and a Wacom Pro tablet, handy because I use both trackpad with right hand and Wacom pen with left hand. I did splurge on the Apple display eeek. By the way do you or anyone else ever experience problems with your keyboard in that when typing all of a sudden the cursor seems to swap its position on the page and all of a sudden your typing somewhere else within your sentence? Its really annoying when your not looking at what your typing as you can be typing away but it is wrecking what your doing.
thank you mark for the very informative video. my wife and i are moving on from our 2011 imac 21'. i was looking at the lowest base m2. is 8gb for memory a deal breaker? i don't feel like moving up to 16gb unless i have to. the only heavy usage we would do would just be basic editing of family vacations and pictures. would that be enough or should i bump up to 16gb?
I’m making the same upgrade! I’m running large projects in Logic and need to know if 8gb would be enough!
@@karlchop im not very tech savy so im trying to educate myself. have u checked out any monitors? My 12’ imac i think had the base 21 incher. i was lookin at the 27’ ASUS ProArt Display PA278CV. I hope i can keep everything under $1k.
I am tempted to forgo on purchasing the imac 24 as I have a 2010, 21" destop that runs quite well. I used mostly illustrator and photoshop occasionally. Anyway, I am tempted to just get the mini instead of the 24 imac destop. I believe I can hook up an mini to my 21 imac. I just need more information if it is worth it and the process of hooking it up. I am not that techy so I am flying blind and trying to ecomonical about which direction to go in. Get a ew 24 imac or the mini mac. Or would it be best to just get mini and a new screen.
The other must have is the 10GbE ethernet addition.
I didn’t even know this existed as I’ve had an iMac for ten years and only just upgrading now. This seems insanely good value compared to an iMac!
Can you stream (I mean upload) 4k live video using the base model M2? Come to think of it, can you do it on an M1?
Hi Mark, I like your video and it's really helpful. I'm just wondering does your USB Hub affects the ventilation of your Mac Mini? Thank you. :)
I can tell you both the SSD and the hub I have hanging out the back get hot. The MacMini sometimes gets warm. Additional cooling isn't needed.
How do I get my plugins from my old MacBook Pro ? To the max mini should I re download or ?
I think this was my favourite video yet of yours. Quick, snappy, lots of fun camera work and little snippets of humour. I think I’ll go and buy a Mac Mini now…
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hi mate. cool vid. I'm after a new keyboard. Do you know if they have a UK distributer and what did you do about the USA key layout? Has the mouse been replaced too?
Mr. Ellis! ThanksMuch!==
I have the M2 mac mini with 16g mem and 1T ssd. I use it for logic pro X and surfing. I couldn't be happier and I'm defintely GLAD I got the internal 1T ssd. I do have The Sabrent 4 bay docking station with 6Tb hd and a 2T ssd/sata. Good to go!
@@scotj2servu. For my purposes scot, I couldn't be happier. Thanks for the reply.
Thanks for the great breakdown. I'm planning to buy an M2 at the end of the month. My current laptop has 8gb of ram and 256gb of storage and it's starting to struggle on me when I'm running TTRPG sessions with Roll 20, 2-3 Google sheets tabs, and Discord all going, so I'm thinking I'm going to upgrade to the 16gb of universal memory. I'm also thinking about upgrading the SSD. I know the external drives are good, but I saw that the internal one gets a processing upgrade if you go up one level, and I want this computer to last a long time. $1000 still seems like a pretty decent price to get this machine at, but I would love to hear if I might be wrong about that.
Hello. A great tutorial. Now, I have a late 2014 iMac 27" which is struggling a bit. Being a photographer I have well over 120,000 photos mounted on an external drive This machine will no longer upgrade to latest OS but I love the screen which which you can no longer buy on an Imac. I rather like the idea of a M2 Mac Mini However can you confirm if I can somehow use a Mac Mini using my screen as a monitor. Also can I transfer the data from my Mac to a Mini like I would when purchasing a new iMac? I need at least 2TB. Thanks again for your information. John
I too have an old iMac (2013) and am planning on buying a Mac Mini M2 shortly. When in the Apple store exploring options, I asked the question about using my old iMac as a monitor and they said it could not be done. Perhaps someone has figured a work-around for it but I googled it too and except for statements saying it cannot be done I came up empty. Good luck.
Hi Mark! I’m getting into music producing and I’ve really been thinking about getting a Mac Studio for a dell computer.
What are your thoughts? Should I just get an IMac computer instead and get a Mac mini?
Bought the base version with the plan to keep it for less than a year when M3 Max MBPs are out and I can afford one. I was really surprised how powerful this silent little machine is. I can open Signal, Telegram, Chrome with 20 tabs, Notion, Photoshop, Lightroom, Premiere Pro, do stuff in the terminal and have VSCode open too without any issues, it starts to swap but memory allocator is very smart about what you're actually using, together with memory compressor and fast internal SSD, the low physical RAM on these unified memory machines doesn't really matter unless you're into VMs and Docker or heavy music and video workflows. General browsing, coding, video and photo editing this machine kicks ass. Just grab the base and be happy!
that's all i needed to hear
If i understood it correctly, u are using M2 Mac Mini for ur video editting and photo editting.
that's what i hear from him and the video. if you don't know why you need to upgrade, you probably don't need an upgrade.
Thank you for this! My current computer’s fan starts to kick in once I get notion open + other things I have open at the same time. Good to hear it doesn’t give you issues
If you no longer want to have issues with Bluetooth dropouts, ban any connection of USB 3 devices to your computer. Intel issued an explicit warning over 10 years ago and I was able to verify its validity (Mac and PC). A Faraday cage can suppress interference, but it's not always easy to implement.
Yes the mx3 mouse is excellent (had one for over 8 months now), that being said I also prefer and own the logi MX Keys keyboard, horses for courses etc.
I bought a mac mini m2 for my wife it is very good and stacks up well against my M1 mac studio. When you consider the potential of the mac mini and compare it alongside other non mac base units at the same price point, there is is not much to be said; the Mac is superior.
Apple peripherals can go fish most of the time (if you can avoid the false lure of because it's made/designed by Apple it must be excellent), core Apple hardware at this time is very strong. Now that much of the 3rd party software out there has caught up with the M series of processors, the greater potential is unlocked by not having to run the Rosetta wrapper for legacy/intel compatibility.
In terms of software I use the Mac Studio for the heavy lifting (Cubase 13 Pro, Final Cut Pro, Wavelab Pro, Spectral Layers 10 etc.)
My wife uses Serif Affinity Designer and Photo on a daily basis with numerous instances and and assortment of other various apps including considerable numbers of browser tabs.
I can understand why folk would opt for the mac min pro with the extra RAM (certainly for working on more memory intensive applications). The internal storage space is not so much of a concern as NVME drives and chassis costs are very low (you can easily bung most file libraries and plugins on an external drive whilst installing the essential app files on the internal storage.
As a point of comparison my M1 Macbook Pro only as 8GB RAM and I am still able to perform a series of formidable tasks (again Cubase and Final Cut) without becoming excessively frustrated with slower performance issues; the unified memory architecture does provide a discernable advantage.
Finally there is the power consumption of the unit itself; essentially faster speeds for less power/energy and we are all too aware of how much the cost of energy has risen so harshly over the last 2 years.
I have the 8/256 model and it works great. I’m so glad I didn’t waste money on spec bumps. It does skip a beat.
What are you doing, just navigating the internet ? LMAO
Definitely doesn’t open more than one tab on their browser at a time lol
same here, I'm a web developer and also run 12 web servers for a pretty large UK company so am fluent in command line Linux etc and know my tech pretty well and I also do video editing sometimes. I also use it to run as a plex media server and it handles it all with ease, my old quad core i7 Macbook pro with 16GB ram is a million miles off the new base level M2 and cost 3 times as much as it was the best version in its day, the way unified memory works now means that yes if you have the spare money to blow on more memory then feel free, but actually its not necessary at all for most users, if you are a power user you will know you are but in my long experience in the tech world I can say hand on heart most people THINK they need more power than they actually do in the real world (gamers aside and why would you buy a mac if thats you!), I have multiple 1U Xeon multi-core multi processor servers in my house in a server rack, I wish to god they were as power efficient as these little mac mini beasties, their writing is on the wall for replacement by some apple silicon !
@@craigsketo Just wait until you start getting memory overload warnings, I have the M1 Air with 16 gigs, and have been getting lately the warnings I need to close some apps because no memory left. SO good luck with 8 gigs..
Enjoy! It's a great machine.
I currently have a 16GB(RM), 512 GB(SSD) Mac mini and I have no issues whatsoever. No Blue tooth issues, nada. I run Logic Pro on it and it runs smooth as butter. No need for the Mac mini M2 version upgrade. The macstudio is really an overkill for most users.
You can save hundreds more (enough to buy all the peripherals) by getting a used or refurb M1 mini. (Mine has never had any Bluetooth issues, and I have the Satechi dock sitting on top of it rather than underneath ... much easier to get at the SD slot.)
8GB/512GB is, I think the ideal configuration for most users. I'm running a law office on this thing, with two 32" monitors, and the apps that I use (Office for Mac, Firefox and Thunderbird) load and run in seconds. Photo files get opened, processed, and saved equally quickly. Unless you're editing videos, the M1 has all the power you could ever want. If you're doing routine document processing and web browsing, the M2 is simply not worth the extra money, because there's no real-world benefit in shaving half a second off of any operation.
Hey Sir my monitor has 1.4 HDMI port and Mac mini m2 have HDMI 2.0 can I get display output with this and which cable HDMI to connect 1.4 or 2.0
I’m jumping waaay up from a mid-2010 Mac Pro to this Mac Mini M2. I went with the 8/512 version. Fingers crossed it will work well for my needs. 😊
Great video. thank you for clearing some issues that were playing on my mind, I now know to get the Mac Mini Pro. I am between being a graphic designer hobbyist to trying to make a living out of it.
Considering the 8gb mac mini. For music production. I'm not racing against the clock, but I don't want sw quitting on me either. Don't need to run multiple instances of spitfire orchestra, but I wonder how many Kontakt 7 and 3rd party vsts and plugins it'll take before running into issues.
I think you once did a vid about this, but it wasn't for the standard mac mini 8Gb?
Or am I mistaken? All the best 👍
I'd grab the 16GB version.
@@MarkEllisReviews Many thanks
Hi Mark, I have a late 2017 IMac which is as slow as a slug now! How about doing a video on how to connect a Mac Mini to an existing IMac, as I don’t really want to buy another monitor. Thanks in advance
You might be able to use luna display or similar product to use your old iMac with mac mini
Thanks, I think I really only need the basic Mac mini.
Hi Mark. My 2012 27 inch Imac finally died 😢 so I took the plunge and got a refurbished M2 Mac Mini from Apple. I went for the 16gb memory model with the 256 gb storage. Planning on using my 1tb ssd as the external storage but need to update the OS on it as I was using it on the Imac. Great channel keep up the good work.
You answered my questions thank you
I've been driving myself crazy trying to figure out what computer to buy for editing videos on my new action camera. I thought I'd be able to just buy a cheap laptop and it would be fine but obviously not. As someone who doesn't know anything about computers, it made my head spin. I think the m2 Mac mini is the way to go. Hopefully I'm making the right decision but your video makes me feel more at ease. Thank you
Thanks for the excellent review, which confirmed that I only need the basic Mini. I've been changing my mind for days now, but you succinctly established an essential fact for me. I'm not a gamer, nor an editor; I keep a lot of music on an external hard drive and edit photos a lot. I also write passages and am currently learning latin online.
I’m like you going back and forwards trying to decide which one to buy. I do like to keep mine for a long time. Like 5-10 years and also stay within my budget. I’m thinking the M1 with 16/512, but what about the Bluetooth issues. So may go the M2 16/512.
What do you recommend for just photography and not video editing?
@huntermartin4725. I use an M1 MM 2020, with 16GB memory for Lightroom, lots of web tabs open, MS Office Apps open all at the same time, running on a Mac Pro Display XDR and a Dell U2715H at the same time. Absolutley no problems noticed. So I think you should be absolutely OK with an M1 but if you are flush *££/$$) then get the M2 MM but I would always get more memory: such as 16GB.
Hi Mark, great video, but one thing is confusing to me, at 4:44 min you're saying that the 8 Gb ram on the mac mini can be max out to 24 Gb and also on the M2 pro mac mini same idea. Never heard that before or can't find nothing online. Can you please clarify that? Thanks a lot.
I am going to use the M2 Mac mini prodominately for day trading. I was just wondering which one you suggest (MINI or pro) and the configurations?
2:18 That unboxing reaction 😆
I'm still using my 2013 'Trashcan' Mac Pro and want to replace it with a Mac Mini, which I'm sure will be better in every way, but am waiting for time M3's to be announced!
Do you think it's wise to wait? I don't want to get a M2 only for it to be superceded shortly after.
Also, whilst I'm not doing video or audio or coding, I do do high-end Photoshop (often working with very large and complex PS files), so would a Mac Mini be good for this, or should I be looking at 'Pro' or even Studio?
Thanks in advance!
Thank you so much 🙏 for this video. You made my day at 3:03.I was under the table laughing. I bought, out of whatever desperation, the battery guzzling previous terrible mouse model. I had thrown that one out the window once. Unfortunately ground floor and landed very soft in the garden. Since then I use the Logi MX mouse, too. I'm writing these lines on a 2020 Mac mini M1 with 16 GB RAM and 256 SSD. Connected to it is an OWC Thunderbolt Dock and two Eizo 32 inch monitors. Two external hard drives, one external NVme and a grave of death for all other stuff. It's high time to do some cleaning up. Today, I would also go for the 16 GB and probably 1 TB internal SSD. Keep up the good work, please. Servus. An otherwise very quiet long-time subscriber from Bavaria.
Haha - I will! Thank you for the lovely comment!
I've been thinking about waiting for a new 27" iMac to come out to replace my late 2014 model. As a casual user; would I be better off choosing the Mac Mini with a decent monitor?
You could be waiting a long time. Go for the Mac mini!
Last month, I went for a 16 GB RAM Mac Mini over an iMac to replace my 2013 iMac. It’s cheaper. I got decent an ergonomic monitor (on sale) which I can raise. Cheap speakers (with external power) do a great job. I will get a webcam when I need one. Get an external SSD and make sure it’s the default drive for Documents, Music and Photos. There’s a setting in Time Machine to ensure that external SSD are backed up as well. I got a small 1TB external SSD and a 6TB powered back up drive for Time Machine.
Just base model for me, browsing streaming and home hub stuff.