Thank you for showing actual footage of the M4 scrubbing through a fully edited video and showing it performing well while actually on the editing timeline! Most other reviews I've seen either just show how fast it can render the video which I don't mind waiting for anyways or use a benchmark for the editing software that's hard to translate into actual day to day performance. I was considering the M4 Pro but after watching this I don't think I need it and can save a lot of money just going with the base model. Thanks for the help. 👍
It gets hot when you constantly write on it. But I use it since 1,5 years and I haven't found anything better overall. I made a Comparison Review over on my German Channel.
Great review! This was the first review I saw with fan noise, temps, and power consumption. That is some amazingly low power consumption. I wish you had a Pro model to test.
Now Since Sequoia 15.1 Apps can be installed on external media when downloaded from the Mac App Store. Other apps can often still be moved to external media and run from it.
Apple Intelligence is available in the EU on the Mac (but not iPhone and iPad), but only if you set the language to US english as that is the only language currently supported.
The Temperature of the Chip itself doesn't influence it's life time since they are designed for more then 100° for years and silicon doesn't degrade with heat.
Heat is the #1 reason for failures by far. Yes it is true, the chip is fine at 98c, but it's the board and other parts that will degrade or fail over time of high temps. This was a stress test, short period, so 98c is OK, plus Apple certainly designs to get that heat away from other parts, I still prefer lower temps higher fan noise any day. Macs tend to run hot as Apple likes less fan noise, I would use fan control and ramp up the fans, it's still not noisy and yes it can save you from problems. I feel letting the heat go so high is the main reason some Macs end up with board failures. These tiny enclosures and lower fan speeds will lessen the life depending on usage, with M1 MacBooks I saw failures because they ran hot and people would use them on beds or a couch so heat built up instead of dissipating. I don't blame Apple, people want thin, tiny computers and no noise, and I saw failures from heat on all brands.
@@TheFeedRocket I think you got this totally wrong, the CPU Die is at 98° not the Board, the PC itself or anything else. It's the CPUs Die Temp nothing more. And no, CPUs don't degrade from high heat.
@@TheFeedRocket and this #1 reason for failure it complete nonsense, if you can please provide my with some Sources for Fact Checking. I never heard of a System failing because of high CPU Die temps and I'm a IT professional and was working in IT for 15 Years before getting self employed. I even was a professional overclocker back in the day. I never ever heard that a CPU was failing just because of high Die Temps. No, maybe with High Voltages as well, not the case here. You can even run CPUs without a cooler and they will just throttle as hell but not die.
I just used the Internal Speaker first but would go with a USB4 Dock or a DAC if I would do so. Also most Monitors have Headphone out so you don't loose a Port.
I don't typically watch computer reviews but for some reason I watched the whole thing. I'm not even in the market for a Mac Mini! However I did look it up and in my country it's even cheaper than I expected. Very interesting - really does sound like a great deal. Good job for the video.
Suggest me i am editor and colorist in davicni resolve. I am also using after effects. Is this machine is good for my editing task? 16 gb ram or 24 gb ram with 256 ssd. Please tell me sir 🙏
I do photo work and at times upscale video etc. From what others have said, the M4 Pro can have fans kick in fairly quick and can be audible. How was your experience? I know that the M4 Pro is more than enough power but consider the footprint of the new Mini may be the culprit for heat dispersion challenges. Your thoughts please?
As I said in the Video the Fan doesn't even Spin when the CPU is under 100% Load. Just when GPU and CPU are tacked at 100% is starts to be audible but far from annoying. You can hear it in the Video as well.
Is the Mac Mini M4 base worth getting if the RAM and Storage is upgraded to 24GB and 512GB, or is it purely the chip that will hold back its performance? Here in South Africa upgrading those 2 components is still a lot cheaper than the pro modal.
@@Kristof_InsertRandomText for Photography it doesn't hold you back at all since it even outperforms the M3 Max MBP with 64GB RAM. I create 8-10 Videos a month on a professional level and could do this at the Mini as well just with longer export times.
This is a great review! Could you tell us more about the SSD drive that you mention....is it an 'over-the-counter' device or did you have to construct it?
It's a SSD Enclosure where you can put a M.2 SSD Inside. It doesn't need any tools and there aren't any out of the box that are this fast and that cheap. It's the ZIKEDRIVE USB4 Enclosure.
Excellent! I was looking for a photo-oriented review and got from you all the info I needed. I think that for Capture One + Topaz and no video making, M4 non-pro and 24 Gb of RAM will put me on the safe side for years. MfG
1st time viewer, and after having watched many reviews on the mac mini m4 I have to agree with others on your no nonsense approach, and I love the amount of detail you give, a full picture!... thanks +1 subscriber!... P.S. Do people often tell you that you look quite a lot like Post Malone? lol
Would you recommend me getting the base m4 Mac mini if my only purpose to use it is to edit 4K videos in FCP and doing color grading? And running off external ssds? I don’t think that m4 pro will be necessary and i am trying to avoid paying more for ssd upgrade
I have no experience with Final Cut, but I dropped 4K 60 from my R5 II HEVC 4:2:2 into FCP 11 this days and I went just fine as long as you are just cutting and grading. Everything that is GPU Effects will make is much slower. But for Basic Editing and Grading this is just fine.
thanks dear to give these valuable feedbacks, I am a video editor and I generally use after effects and premiere for my workflow. Does after effects run smoothly?
I don't use either of this tools since they suck. I use Pugetbench to get a Premier Pro Comparison and thats it. I use and highly recommend Resolve and Fusion for such work and as a benefit you will get way less headache from it then from Adobe.
Like I said I can do everything that I do daily with just this 16GB of RAM but who knows whats there to come? I think it depends on how long you plan to keep this PC.
I would highly recommend 24 or 32, if you multitask IE run say Photoshop, Final Cut, multiple browser windows / tabs...etc. I run into a wall with 16GB, I crash at least every other day now on my M1 16gb iMac. I might have multiple browser windows with multiple tabs open while editing or using photoshop, Apple Music, multiple finder windows, maybe a few web apps as well. Also I hear Apple Intelligence eats up gigs too. So yeah if you're organized and only use a few apps at once you will good. If you like opening lots of apps, tabs in finder, photos, listen to music etc. Go for 24 or 32. I'm going for 32 at minimum on my new system or more thinking about generative AI, but I multi task or just lazy and leave stuff open.😄
@@davision-en Sadly this Combination is not available in INDIA, 16+256 / 512 or 24+512 variant Edit - I just Check... it's possible & I Order one for myself :) Thanks for the review
@@davision-enI am thorned between the M4 and M4 Pro model as well. If budget would be no issue would you recommend the Mac Mini M4 Pro over the base M4 model for Thunderbolt 5, higher memory bandwidth and more CPU/GPU power?
@@FilipCools If the Budget is there I would go with a M4 Pro, as I said I can do everything I do on the M4 Base but I also use a MBP 16" with M3 Max for now and M4 Max soon. You don't need to but you never know when you need it.
The problem is that I’m not photographer nor video maker and even I don’t know persons who is. So apple is lacking software to be used with and the only use is for videos and graphics?
Apple marketing genius, "lets introduce the problem, move the start button to a place that gives people something to complain about", waits 3 years then reverses it... apple fan boys go mad and upgrade.
I have multiple Apple devices - Apple watch (3), phone, iPad (2), TV, and a Macbook Pro, however, IMO the $600 base Mac Mini 4 does not deserve the hype. It only has 256GB of storage which is what you would find in a 2005 computer. You can easily buy a MiniPC from multiple manufacturers with a comparable Ryzen 9 8945HS CPU, 1TB of storage and 32GB of memory for $650. Many MiniPC's support Occulink, have a display port, a 2.5GB LAN, plus a few USB 3.2 ports.
As I‘ve shown in this Video the Mac Mini is way faster in anything then the fastest Windows Mini PCs. I let the fastest Intel and AMD Mini PCs in the Charts (Zen5 and 14th Gen) and the M4 plays with them. It’s years ahead. And if you say the 256Gb is the problem you can easily add a SSD to the 3 USB4 Ports. There is nothing with better value than this one.
Can you define a filmmaker for me please? Is it a director, editor, cinemathographer, vfx artist or something else. This term is so broad that can be really misleading. Editing is technically the least hardware demanding job in all postproduction. So OK. What about colorists? You can hardly even begin to color grade a feature film on mac mini. A VFX artist doing heavy compositing with hundreds of cgi render passes? Don’t even think about it. Oh, silly me, by the term filmmaker you mean just youtubers editing their videos. OK.
A filmmaker is referring to someone that makes videi by himself from start to finish. idea, Shoot, Sound, Edit, Grade. Content Creators are also often referred to as Filmmakers but there are a lot of one man show Filmmakers I know that don’t call themselves Director, DP, Colorist or whatever since they do it all. And no, coloring is not a hardware demanding thing. It’s basically a joke for your hardware to apply grading. color Grading is not a problem for the Mini at all. VFC is something totally different. But if you are using VFX you know that you need Most power possible and I don’t talk about VFX here or do I?
@@davision-en Coloring is a joke for hardware? Seriously? I think you have never been involved in a professional process of color grading. Applying effect or two for YT video is not color grading. And filmmaker is a person involved in film making. And filmmaking is pretty well defined. Google it up.
You may are surprised to know that native English comes from Europe... How is it possible that People still talk about how a obviously non native speaker has troubles with some words?
The power button placement is simple. Every time you power cycle the device, you have to physically pick it up and touch it. This is psychological and a form of pathological priming.
I fuckin love this German guy! No nonsense and straight to the point.
Yup, that’s Germans for you. Also, usually very very accurate
Thank you very very much 😃
Yes, I follow both his channels. Some videos he posts only in his german channel, and I rely on subtitles. Worth it! No BS videos!
Yes, I agree. So much better than the pair of clowns at Max Tech
Apps can be installed on external storage since Sequoia 15.1
Thank you for showing actual footage of the M4 scrubbing through a fully edited video and showing it performing well while actually on the editing timeline! Most other reviews I've seen either just show how fast it can render the video which I don't mind waiting for anyways or use a benchmark for the editing software that's hard to translate into actual day to day performance. I was considering the M4 Pro but after watching this I don't think I need it and can save a lot of money just going with the base model. Thanks for the help. 👍
Can you recommend a monitor for photographers to go with the Mac Mini 4 ? Thanks !
Hello! Would you mind telling me what monitor you use please?
Great video, made me really think about upgrading to this thing!
How do you like the Zike enclosure? Does it get too hot? Is the cable high quality?
It gets hot when you constantly write on it. But I use it since 1,5 years and I haven't found anything better overall. I made a Comparison Review over on my German Channel.
what’s your recommendation for stitching panoramic images will 24gb ram be enough?
I guess but I don't know. On Windows Minis I never tried with lower then 32GB since thats the amount most Windows Mini PCs come with.
Great review! This was the first review I saw with fan noise, temps, and power consumption. That is some amazingly low power consumption. I wish you had a Pro model to test.
when do you guys turn off your Mac? very very rarely if anything its a restart
Yes of course but I mostly use my Power Button to lock my mac.
Now Since Sequoia 15.1 Apps can be installed on external media when downloaded from the Mac App Store. Other apps can often still be moved to external media and run from it.
Thank you for the Info I will give that a try in the future. :)
Great review, thanks. If I get this mac mini with 16 gb but in the future need more RAM, is it possible to add it?
No like any mac they don't have upgradeable RAM
Fellow photographer here from Berlin, and that bottle on the table it’s super familiar 😂
😍 check out my German Channel I post much more Videos over there!
apps can be downloads on external btw
I was surprised he said explicitly the opposite. You can even run Mac OS on an external drive (but you won’t get Apple intelligence support)
Yes I just learned that that is something new from MacOS 15 but It just runs when they are formatted with APFS. I will give that a try.
Apple Intelligence is available in the EU on the Mac (but not iPhone and iPad), but only if you set the language to US english as that is the only language currently supported.
Yes I know but only in english as you say.
98c! I wonder how long these components will last at such high temperatures? That is way too hot!
The Temperature of the Chip itself doesn't influence it's life time since they are designed for more then 100° for years and silicon doesn't degrade with heat.
Heat is the #1 reason for failures by far. Yes it is true, the chip is fine at 98c, but it's the board and other parts that will degrade or fail over time of high temps. This was a stress test, short period, so 98c is OK, plus Apple certainly designs to get that heat away from other parts, I still prefer lower temps higher fan noise any day.
Macs tend to run hot as Apple likes less fan noise, I would use fan control and ramp up the fans, it's still not noisy and yes it can save you from problems. I feel letting the heat go so high is the main reason some Macs end up with board failures. These tiny enclosures and lower fan speeds will lessen the life depending on usage, with M1 MacBooks I saw failures because they ran hot and people would use them on beds or a couch so heat built up instead of dissipating. I don't blame Apple, people want thin, tiny computers and no noise, and I saw failures from heat on all brands.
@@TheFeedRocket I think you got this totally wrong, the CPU Die is at 98° not the Board, the PC itself or anything else. It's the CPUs Die Temp nothing more. And no, CPUs don't degrade from high heat.
@@TheFeedRocket and this #1 reason for failure it complete nonsense, if you can please provide my with some Sources for Fact Checking. I never heard of a System failing because of high CPU Die temps and I'm a IT professional and was working in IT for 15 Years before getting self employed. I even was a professional overclocker back in the day. I never ever heard that a CPU was failing just because of high Die Temps. No, maybe with High Voltages as well, not the case here. You can even run CPUs without a cooler and they will just throttle as hell but not die.
great and fair review. Just need to source a display - did external sound run of the USB C?
I just used the Internal Speaker first but would go with a USB4 Dock or a DAC if I would do so.
Also most Monitors have Headphone out so you don't loose a Port.
I don't typically watch computer reviews but for some reason I watched the whole thing. I'm not even in the market for a Mac Mini! However I did look it up and in my country it's even cheaper than I expected. Very interesting - really does sound like a great deal. Good job for the video.
Suggest me i am editor and colorist in davicni resolve. I am also using after effects. Is this machine is good for my editing task? 16 gb ram or 24 gb ram with 256 ssd. Please tell me sir 🙏
This is not suitable for After Effects
Awesome video , Your skill are amazing , You should upload some tutorials 101 for new photographers and editors
Is Microsoft's Cloud Gaming (GamePass) well implemented on these Mac minis?
that oohtra is fire!!!
I do photo work and at times upscale video etc. From what others have said, the M4 Pro can have fans kick in fairly quick and can be audible. How was your experience? I know that the M4 Pro is more than enough power but consider the footprint of the new Mini may be the culprit for heat dispersion challenges. Your thoughts please?
As I said in the Video the Fan doesn't even Spin when the CPU is under 100% Load. Just when GPU and CPU are tacked at 100% is starts to be audible but far from annoying. You can hear it in the Video as well.
Refreshing to hear someone who actually knows what’s he talking about ✌️
Is the Mac Mini M4 base worth getting if the RAM and Storage is upgraded to 24GB and 512GB, or is it purely the chip that will hold back its performance?
Here in South Africa upgrading those 2 components is still a lot cheaper than the pro modal.
At some point the GPU would be holding you back yes. But it highly depends on what you plan on doing with it.
@@davision-en Photography & Videography - but not at a professional level.
I'm a hobbyist but also want something that would last.
@@Kristof_InsertRandomText for Photography it doesn't hold you back at all since it even outperforms the M3 Max MBP with 64GB RAM. I create 8-10 Videos a month on a professional level and could do this at the Mini as well just with longer export times.
@@davision-en awesome, appreciate the responses and guidance 🙏 thanks so much 💪
the best video about this topic 🎉
This is a great review! Could you tell us more about the SSD drive that you mention....is it an 'over-the-counter' device or did you have to construct it?
It's a SSD Enclosure where you can put a M.2 SSD Inside. It doesn't need any tools and there aren't any out of the box that are this fast and that cheap. It's the ZIKEDRIVE USB4 Enclosure.
Excellent! I was looking for a photo-oriented review and got from you all the info I needed. I think that for Capture One + Topaz and no video making, M4 non-pro and 24 Gb of RAM will put me on the safe side for years. MfG
Thank you for the Feedback! I also think so! 👌🏼
Nice video!!!! Which monitor do you think will be the best match for this Mac Mini?
All the best
Another club mate enjoyer. I see it on your desk! :)
Loving it! What country are you from? I thought they are just avaiable in Germany?
@@davision-en I study in germany so I've come here and become a fan of the mate drinks, haha
Needed to hear that! THANKS :D
great review! just Subscribed
1st time viewer, and after having watched many reviews on the mac mini m4 I have to agree with others on your no nonsense approach, and I love the amount of detail you give, a full picture!... thanks +1 subscriber!... P.S. Do people often tell you that you look quite a lot like Post Malone? lol
Thank you for the feedback and your sub!
Never heard that, just some people told me I look like messi.
Would you recommend me getting the base m4 Mac mini if my only purpose to use it is to edit 4K videos in FCP and doing color grading? And running off external ssds? I don’t think that m4 pro will be necessary and i am trying to avoid paying more for ssd upgrade
I have no experience with Final Cut, but I dropped 4K 60 from my R5 II HEVC 4:2:2 into FCP 11 this days and I went just fine as long as you are just cutting and grading. Everything that is GPU Effects will make is much slower. But for Basic Editing and Grading this is just fine.
thanks dear to give these valuable feedbacks, I am a video editor and I generally use after effects and premiere for my workflow. Does after effects run smoothly?
After Effects would be way to much for this Machine. You should at least go with a M4 pro.
Con you please give us live demo or how adobe premiere pro and after effect work
I don't use either of this tools since they suck. I use Pugetbench to get a Premier Pro Comparison and thats it. I use and highly recommend Resolve and Fusion for such work and as a benefit you will get way less headache from it then from Adobe.
What external drive are you using (the aluminum one)?
Thats the ZIKEDRIVE USB4 Enclosure.
Which set of encloser and ssd do you recommend?
I personally use the ZIKEDRIVE USB4 Enclosure.
Awesome & Thanks Sir :)
What about how hot it gets?
See in the Video.
@ ah? I didn’t notice you talking about it. Will check again! Thank you and thank you for the video. Is that club matte beside you? Lovely drink! 😀
Agreed, sad card instead of headphone jack would be the dream, but its still an amazing product
No, the headphone jack is perfect, but sd card reader would be great as well.
I didn’t say I want the one or the other I want both.
Is 16gb base ram enough? Or 24 or even 32 minimum for any real work?
Like I said I can do everything that I do daily with just this 16GB of RAM but who knows whats there to come? I think it depends on how long you plan to keep this PC.
@davision-en do you recommend the 10gb internet upgrade or you think that is over kill?
I would highly recommend 24 or 32, if you multitask IE run say Photoshop, Final Cut, multiple browser windows / tabs...etc. I run into a wall with 16GB, I crash at least every other day now on my M1 16gb iMac. I might have multiple browser windows with multiple tabs open while editing or using photoshop, Apple Music, multiple finder windows, maybe a few web apps as well. Also I hear Apple Intelligence eats up gigs too. So yeah if you're organized and only use a few apps at once you will good. If you like opening lots of apps, tabs in finder, photos, listen to music etc. Go for 24 or 32. I'm going for 32 at minimum on my new system or more thinking about generative AI, but I multi task or just lazy and leave stuff open.😄
@ 32gb almost double the price 🙂. But I think it is most likely worth it.
Thx, as always 🔥
Is this the base model?
How about even watching 2 Minutes of my Video?
@@davision-en I didn't watch the first 2/3 min. But watched the rest till the end.
@@davision-en you got 16gb/512gb. Is 24gb/256 better in highsight?
@@UA-camuseritis I would pick 24GB / 256GB if I would buy again for some future proofing. With maybe upgradeable Storage in sight.
@@davision-en Sadly this Combination is not available in INDIA, 16+256 / 512 or 24+512 variant
Edit - I just Check... it's possible & I Order one for myself :) Thanks for the review
Thanks for the video! The only things that makes me want to go with the M4 and not the M4 Pro is the fan noise
Yes the M4 Pro has a higher Power Budget so it runs hotter and needs more cooling.
@@davision-enI am thorned between the M4 and M4 Pro model as well. If budget would be no issue would you recommend the Mac Mini M4 Pro over the base M4 model for Thunderbolt 5, higher memory bandwidth and more CPU/GPU power?
@@FilipCools If the Budget is there I would go with a M4 Pro, as I said I can do everything I do on the M4 Base but I also use a MBP 16" with M3 Max for now and M4 Max soon. You don't need to but you never know when you need it.
The problem is that I’m not photographer nor video maker and even I don’t know persons who is. So apple is lacking software to be used with and the only use is for videos and graphics?
My but my Channel is facing Photographers and Filmmakers. So maybe this Video is not for you.
@ not my fault that YT served me this
@@JohnDoe-el5ir Even the Title says so...
Apple marketing genius, "lets introduce the problem, move the start button to a place that gives people something to complain about", waits 3 years then reverses it... apple fan boys go mad and upgrade.
I have multiple Apple devices - Apple watch (3), phone, iPad (2), TV, and a Macbook Pro, however, IMO the $600 base Mac Mini 4 does not deserve the hype. It only has 256GB of storage which is what you would find in a 2005 computer. You can easily buy a MiniPC from multiple manufacturers with a comparable Ryzen 9 8945HS CPU, 1TB of storage and 32GB of memory for $650. Many MiniPC's support Occulink, have a display port, a 2.5GB LAN, plus a few USB 3.2 ports.
Does it run MacOS?
As I‘ve shown in this Video the Mac Mini is way faster in anything then the fastest Windows Mini PCs. I let the fastest Intel and AMD Mini PCs in the Charts (Zen5 and 14th Gen) and the M4 plays with them. It’s years ahead. And if you say the 256Gb is the problem you can easily add a SSD to the 3 USB4 Ports. There is nothing with better value than this one.
Seriously, Ryzen 8945Hs? That SOC is for kids compared to M4 what a joke
This is absolutely one of the best Mac Mini M4 reviews here on UA-cam. Thank you so much!
Wtf? Do you even know what you’re saying? Lol. That pc you mention sucks ass compare to the M4.
Can you define a filmmaker for me please? Is it a director, editor, cinemathographer, vfx artist or something else. This term is so broad that can be really misleading. Editing is technically the least hardware demanding job in all postproduction. So OK.
What about colorists? You can hardly even begin to color grade a feature film on mac mini. A VFX artist doing heavy compositing with hundreds of cgi render passes? Don’t even think about it.
Oh, silly me, by the term filmmaker you mean just youtubers editing their videos. OK.
A filmmaker is referring to someone that makes videi by himself from start to finish. idea, Shoot, Sound, Edit, Grade. Content Creators are also often referred to as Filmmakers but there are a lot of one man show Filmmakers I know that don’t call themselves Director, DP, Colorist or whatever since they do it all.
And no, coloring is not a hardware demanding thing. It’s basically a joke for your hardware to apply grading. color Grading is not a problem for the Mini at all. VFC is something totally different. But if you are using VFX you know that you need Most power possible and I don’t talk about VFX here or do I?
@@davision-en Coloring is a joke for hardware? Seriously? I think you have never been involved in a professional process of color grading. Applying effect or two for YT video is not color grading. And filmmaker is a person involved in film making. And filmmaking is pretty well defined. Google it up.
You sound like a South Park character
Which one?
Deutsch wäre besser für dich.
Ich habe einen deutschen Kanal aber was ist dein Problem? 🙄
@@davision-enWieso sprichst du dann nicht deutsch?
@@OraGoog Klar spreche ich deutsch aber das hier ist offensichtlich ein Kanal mit englischen Videos...
da german comes trough wenn speaking. he tries not to spell like a native english guy as you would learn it in europe.
You may are surprised to know that native English comes from Europe...
How is it possible that People still talk about how a obviously non native speaker has troubles with some words?
The power button placement is simple. Every time you power cycle the device, you have to physically pick it up and touch it. This is psychological and a form of pathological priming.
Maybe next time the power button got switched for a gentle stroke over the Apple logo so the Mini feels your love.