2023 MacBook Pro and Mac mini (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Nothing to see here.

Mini also updated. Nothing to see there either.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

So, it appears they did supercharge the Mac Mini somewhat.

They allowed the addition of 32GB of ram whereas the M1 maxed out at 16GB.

It's a $200 price difference between a maxed-out Mini (10-core) and the base STUDIO (12-core) with that memory and 1TB drive.

What you gain with the STUDIO is a 24-core GPU compared to 16-core on the MINI

BUT...the Mini is M2 and the studio is not

So, the gap has been considerably narrowed when considering a top-spec Mini to base Studio. I am wondering if the new Mini outperforms the base studio due to its M2 chip.

 

[Greg.K]

Looks like the M2 Pro Mini can have a 12 core CPU w/ 19 GPU cores. But the M1 Max Studio still has some advantages (400 GB/s memory bandwidth, for one)

 

[Sam Posten]

The base mini is a MONSTER for $599. Education discount make it $499. That. Is. AMAZING.,

 

[Clinton McClure]

Even my base M1 mini is a monster, especially when I stacked it up against a 10 year old i5 processor.

 

[Sam Posten]

Nothing to see here.

Mini also updated. Nothing to see there either.

For a studio owner sure it’s not a compelling switch. But to wave off the whole launch of their most popular laptops and new supercharged and lowest cost desktops as nothing to see here couldn’t be further from the truth for the rest of the world.

 

[Sam Posten]

That they launched these as a video seems to indicate they are saving powder for the big launch of something new, soon, presumably the AR goggles.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

For a studio owner sure it’s not a compelling switch. But to wave off the whole launch of their most popular laptops and new supercharged and lowest cost desktops as nothing to see here couldn’t be further from the truth for the rest of the world.

To the rest of the world, SAM. To the rest of the world.

 

[JohnRice]

For a studio owner sure it’s not a compelling switch. But to wave off the whole launch of their most popular laptops and new supercharged and lowest cost desktops as nothing to see here couldn’t be further from the truth for the rest of the world.

I agree. The base Mini is a barn burner of a steal. I'd probably spend the $200 for 16GB, but that's going to be more than most people ever need or want.

The Pro version stops making sense very fast though, considering the base model Studio. Especially if you're looking for GPU power. I mean, just upgrading to 32GB gets you so close to the Studio it might not make much sense.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I agree. The base Mini is a barn burner of a steal. I'd probably spend the $200 for 16GB, but that's going to be more than most people ever need or want.

The Pro version stops making sense very fast though, considering the base model Studio. Especially if you're looking for GPU power. I mean, just upgrading to 32GB gets you so close to the Studio it might not make much sense.

Yes, if you're looking for GPU performance, but what exactly do people do on the Mac that makes that much use of GPU though? Apple's not known for hardcore gaming afterall where GPU's definitely needed (and has been by-far the #1 use for that... at least in the Windoze world). OTOH, an M2 Pro Mini can have 12-core CPU vs the 10-core lesser-per-core(?) CPU of the base model Studio... even though memory bandwidth will still be lower.

Seems to me like the lines are so blurred that it maybe doesn't make too much sense to shop for either of them at this point unless you definitely need the machine w/in this next month or so -- seems like a very close call between them depending on exactly what you want/need since it's not like the base Studio buys you much, if anything meaningful, in terms of expandability (unlike in the Wintel world). IF you already have something that serves you well enough (that's lesser than both a suped-up M2 Pro Mini or a base M1 Max Studio) so you can wait, might as well just wait for the M2 upgrade to the Studio instead -- then, even if whatever M1 Max Studio is definitely more than enough power for you, you could be saving some $$$ to get that instead...

Me? I'm wondering if I shouldn't just get a M2 Pro Mini to get my feet wet in the Mac world, LOL... but even the base model for that ain't exactly cheap -- and I'd probably want 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD, but at that point, I might as well throw in the higher core count too, LOL, which brings it all to $2.2K and right where the base model Studio is... so I don't know, especially since I don't actually need a new machine more powerful than my current Wintel-based one...

Probably what I should do is consider a used/refurbed base model of something M1-based... or maybe a refurbed MacBook Pro perhaps (since I don't currently have a working laptop nor iPad of some kind)...

_Man_

 

[JohnRice]

Yes, if you're looking for GPU performance, but what exactly do people do on the Mac that makes that much use of GPU though? Apple's not known for hardcore gaming afterall where GPU's definitely needed (and has been by-far the #1 use for that... at least in the Windoze world). OTOH, an M2 Pro Mini can have 12-core CPU vs the 10-core lesser-per-core(?) CPU of the base model Studio... even though memory bandwidth will still be lower.

Seems to me like the lines are so blurred that it maybe doesn't make too much sense to shop for either of them at this point unless you definitely need the machine w/in this next month or so. IF you already have something that serves you well enough (that's lesser than both a suped-up M2 Pro Mini or a base M1 Max Studio) so you can wait, might as well just wait for the M2 upgrade to the Studio instead -- then, even if whatever M1 Max Studio is definitely more than enough power for you, you could be saving some $$$ to get that instead...

Me? I'm wondering if I shouldn't just get a M2 Pro Mini to get my feet wet in the Mac world, LOL... but even the base model for that ain't exactly cheap -- and I'd probably want 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD, but at that point, I might as well throw in the higher core count too, LOL, which brings it all to $2.2K and right where the base model Studio is... so I don't know, especially since I don't actually need a new machine more powerful than my current Wintel-based one...

Probably what I should do is consider a used/refurbed base model of something M1-based... or maybe a refurbed MacBook Pro perhaps (since I don't currently have a working laptop nor iPad of some kind)...

_Man_

I would get a refurb base model Studio and call it a day. Trust me, I have it, and the extra two CPU cores aren't going to make a difference.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I would get a refurb base model Studio and call it a day. Trust me, I have it, and the extra two CPU cores aren't going to make a difference.

I don't know about that. IF I spend the $2K-plus to get something like that, my most likely use would be video editing/processing, which does make use of extra cores -- also, I imagine 12-core (plus faster cores) should be better for whatever other multi-tasking/processing... although again, the RAM (and/or cache?) performance/bandwidth is lower to offset at least some of those gains.

That was actually largely why I went w/ my current Wintel-based (or rather, WAMD-based, LOL) PC 3 years ago to run something like DaVinci Resolve (amongst other things)... BUT, as you know, my life has been turned upside-down since then, so I haven't even touched Resolve (or anything else that needs the extra power) the last couple years... BUT if I'm gonna spend that kinda $$$ and basically relegate my current machine to 2ndary duty, the extra CPU cores (and faster-per-core performance) probably would be desirable even if not absolutely needed. Just don't know whether the 12-core M2 Pro would actually be better than 10-core M1 Max. I don't see why choose the base model Studio over the suped-up Mini if that's the case. Would there be significantly better expandability w/ the base model Studio? Doesn't seem like it offhand.

Anyway, as I also said, I actually don't need a new, powerful machine upgrade, but just mostly intrigued by Apple's recent offerings to consider finally getting my feet wet...

_Man_

 

[JohnRice]

I don't know about that. IF I spend the $2K-plus to get something like that, my most likely use would be video editing/processing, which does make use of extra cores -- also, I imagine 12-core (plus faster cores) should be better for whatever other multi-tasking/processing... although again, the RAM (and/or cache?) performance/bandwidth is lower to offset at least some of those gains.

That was actually largely why I went w/ my current Wintel-based (or rather, WAMD-based, LOL) PC 3 years ago to run something like DaVinci Resolve (amongst other things)... BUT, as you know, my life has been turned upside-down since then, so I haven't even touched Resolve (or anything else that needs the extra power) the last couple years... BUT if I'm gonna spend that kinda $$$ and basically relegate my current machine to 2ndary duty, the extra CPU cores (and faster-per-core performance) probably would be desirable even if not absolutely needed. Just don't know whether the 12-core M2 Pro would actually be better than 10-core M1 Max. I don't see why choose the base model Studio over the suped-up Mini if that's the case. Would there be significantly better expandability w/ the base model Studio? Doesn't seem like it offhand.

Anyway, as I also said, I actually don't need a new, powerful machine upgrade, but just mostly intrigued by Apple's recent offerings to consider finally getting my feet wet...

_Man_

You need to check real world performance by people using the software you propose, rather than speculating.

On the Studio, as anticipated, Photoshop processes were cut to about 1/4 the time compared to my previous 6 core i7 Mini, but some things, like Topaz filters, were cut from 3-5 minutes to 5-10 seconds. These processors are almost magical. So, let's say the 12 core cuts that by 20%. Who cares if one second is cut off those processes? Plus, how much is GPU a factor for your video processing? You have a lot more GPU with the Studio. I suspect Topaz filters use GPU quite a bit, where Photoshop doesn't

 

[Sam Posten]

Me? I'm wondering if I shouldn't just get a M2 Pro Mini to get my feet wet in the Mac world, LOL... but even the base model for that ain't exactly cheap -- and I'd probably want 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD, but at that point, I might as well throw in the higher core count too, LOL, which brings it all to $2.2K

$599 base model and done. You are so stuck in the Windows mindset and influenced by maniacs like me and Ron you are overthinking it. Get a cheap mini and add a 2tb thunderbolt ssd. Seriously the base RAM is fine. You aren’t doing 3d rendering right? You aren’t gaming on it? Base ram is fine.

 

[Citizen87645]

I'm in on the new Mini. My Intel Mini is 5 years old now and this is perfect timing to switch. Along with my Costco rewards this should be a fairly painless upgrade.

Honestly, for what I'm doing most times, the Intel is still fine. The only part that feels long in the tooth is the onboard 128gb storage, where I have to manage things a bit. But even then it's more like an annual activity of cleaning out some junk. Which is ultimately not a bad thing.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

$599 base model and done. You are so stuck in the Windows mindset and influenced by maniacs like me and Ron you are overthinking it. Get a cheap mini and add a 2tb thunderbolt ssd. Seriously the base RAM is fine. You aren’t doing 3d rendering right? You aren’t gaming on it? Base ram is fine.

Hehheh... I just get a little OCD nutty "window-shopping" (no pun intended, LOL) more than anything else... plus it's partly the computing tech/potential geek I've pretty much always been, which is my variation on the GAS thing -- that's why I did stuff like own a copy of (the shortlived) NextStep OS for Intel-based machines back in the day (before NT came out)... The video editing/processing thing has been a long-running part of that though going back to the old days of needing to do analog-to-digital conversion/capture (though 3D rendering for such was always just a totally unnecessary, gaudily fanciful thing, if I ever do that)...

_Man_

 

[Ted Todorov]

The new MacMini + an Apple Studios Display sounds like a perfect replacement for my mom's 1st get 27" iMac retina (2014?) definitely time for an upgrade, stuck on some ancient MacOS, etc.

 

[JohnRice]

I'm still having difficulty getting past the belief that 8GB of RAM simply isn't enough. I need to monitor the RAM use on my Studio for a while to see if that's still the case.

 

[uncledougie]

When they finally offer a touchscreen option, somebody give me a call. I know the theoretical reasons not to include that feature, keeping MacBooks and iPads for different purposing. But I’d actually start downloading some of the digital copies included with films if I had the confidence of an all-in-one unit that would last. We had an iPad Pro while traveling in Europe in the fall of ‘21 and used it to keep up with the current Ted Lasso episodes. I was astonished at the clarity of not only picture but sound. My laptop use has diminished to a few sessions a month, but with tweaking of the one screen feature I’d likely increase my (admittedly kindergarten level) accessing of it.