Desktop versions Adobe creative cloud and adobe illustrator on Mac mini?

I agree with those who advocate lots of RAM and storage.

I have a M4 Mini with 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD. I can open and edit a 500 MB (½ GB) Photoshop image with Photoshop Elements with only a little lag in loading the file.

I doubt if you'll be editing such large files but you should consider 24 GB of RAM to be sure you have enough for future projects.

Opening the same file on a "slow" external SSD (500 Mbs) took about 1 ½ times as long to load but once loaded was as quick as it was on the very fast boot drive.

I would not get a Mac with less than 1 TB of storage. Additional internal storage is expensive but you can get external NVMe storage much cheaper and nearly as fast.

woodmeister50 wrote:

Make sure to get a MacMini with as much RAM as you can afford.

...and as much internal storage as you can afford. Abode apps may not be 100% happy relegated to a slow external drive.

I don't quite get what the problem is, but try to log-in to Adobe, download Adobe Creative Cloud.app and let it install Photoshop, Lightroom or other Adobe stuff you have licensed.

Make sure to get a MacMini with as much RAM as you can afford.