Mac Studio or the new Mac mini?

Question

Level 1

4 points

Mac Studio or the new Mac mini?

I am thinking of getting a Mac mini in the next dew weeks or the current Mac Studio. Maybe wait for the new Mac Studio in a few months that has more power, I think. I am a photographer and currently use an older MacBook Pro 16" from 2019 and although it works fine I would like to have something on my desk with a bigger monitor to replace my older Mac Pro from 2010. The Mac mini M4 looks like a bargain right now but since there are no more upgrades after purchase anymore this may turn out to be a problem in the future. I keep my computers a long time. I still use a Mac Pro from 2010 and although it works fine I can't upgrade to the newest OS due to its age.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 14.6

Posted on Nov 15, 2024 01:08 PM

Reply

Answer 1

tbirdvet

Level 6

16,697 points

Nov 17, 2024 04:33 PM in response to emendoz13

I just traded in my Mac Studio M1 in for the new Mac Mini M4 pro.. The performance appears to match (and exceed in some areas). I wanted to future proof my Mac and try using using the TB5 ports when hardware becomes more available. Also takes up a lot less desk space. There is one YouTube video that runs a comparison between the units and it backs up what I discovered as well.

Reply

Answer 2

emendoz13 Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 16, 2024 11:54 AM in response to WheelieNick

Thanks! Are you a photographer and do you use the Mac mini? Whatever I decide to get will probably have 64 gigs of memory like my 2016 MB pro and at least a 1T hard drive, I use external HD for cataloging my images.

Reply

Answer 3

Nov 16, 2024 02:42 PM in response to emendoz13

Intel Macs starting with retina models introduced in late 2012, the RAM was soldered to the board for maximum reliability. No model after that has modifiable RAM.

a few years later, the SSD components were also soldered in place. Starting about 2017 models, these have NOT been commodity SSD drives, so even if they had been in a slot, they would NOT be replaceable.

With Apple-silicon Macs, the supplied High Bandwidth Memory is on the same chip-carrier as the Processor for maximum SPEED as well as reliability. Designing it otherwise means you can't get the desired speed, because sockets/slots, and "off board" design rules preclude fastest access.

The amazing performance of these systems on a chip comes at a cost of no user upgradeability.

Buy what you need now, especially for RAM memory, because the only way to UPGRADE is to sell the computer you have and buy a computer that better meets your needs. But since computers are a commodity (a particular model is just like every other sample of that model, they have no ART value) that is not such an outrageous way to proceed.

Reply