The M4 Mac Mini is currently on sale on Amazon for just $529: geni.us/m4macmini My Custom Super Fast Thunderbolt External Drive: ↪ Thunderbolt Enclosure: geni.us/OWCExpress ↪ 2TB NVMe SSD Drive: geni.us/crucialP3plus2TB
i find not having an intro in this video kind of underrated. been looking around for informational videos like this and 30 seconds into this video you’re already answering my biggest question !!! thank you
The only person in the whole youtube talked about the electricity cost of the mac mini in the sleep mode. I had the question for a long time that my fathers tells me to turn off and a debate comes with that thankyou so much for explaining.
if you connect an external SSD to the M4 the power consumption in sleepmode goes up to 4.5 watt (my experience). Please give us tips to get that down in sleep mode.
@@balazs.hideghety Ah yes, because I should spend half an hour talking about the "real details" of all the hundreds of different monitors you can buy, which isn't even relevant to this video at all.
@@CreatedTech its a poor excuse to justify that you have taken it so lightly. especially if you're talking about a working setup where things like blue filter, flicker free, contrast (for some color accuracy) and panel type are important... this was possibly one of the best showcases of the MAC, but then...
@@balazs.hideghety Seriously? You want me to talk about monitor "blue light filters" and "flicker" In this video? That's not specific to the M4 Mac Mini, is it? It applies to all Apple silicon Macs. That's an entirely separate video and is simply not relevant here. You've picked a really strange hill to die on.
I need this to last 7 years (or more) as a Home PC. So I choose 512/24. Over kill for now of course for basic home office apps. I have seen speed tests which show the 512 is notably faster than the 256. I will add an external 1TB drive for files. Looking forward to retiring our 2014 Mac Mini which I upgrade with an SSD two years ago.
I’m planning to buy soon, but will it last 7 years if internal SSD is not replaceable? Do you have some previous experience with apple silicon macs? It would help me so thanks in advance.
Fantastic overview. You brought up some good points I hadn't considered nor heard others really spend time on. Definitely a huge help to watch right before buying one. Thank you!
I bought the base mini. At first set up (without iCloud as I was thinking about moving my home folder) I was underwhelmed. However the next day I moved a few gig if data off my 2019 27 inch imac and then migrated across and it all looked a lot better. I found that Chrome, spotlight indexing and another two programs was using 10 gig of memory. To my amazement its quiter than my Imac using Handbrake and so for it's been pretty flawless
Just a FYI : keyboard shortcuts exist to power off the computer (e.g. ctrl + media eject keys), and then if you have a touch id keyboard for example, you can power on from there. Of course if there's a freeze or hardware issue won't work, but for day-to-day, there are workarounds for lack of physical access to the power button.
Going for a M4 Mac Mini....PRO ! Even with a few upgrades, RAM !!!! Will be way cheaper than any 27" iMacs I have bought. It's worth the upgrade and cheaper than a M2/M4 Mac Studio is/will be ! Will be replacing a special ordered 2017 27" iMac 1 TB HD which I upgraded it later to 48 GB RAM. Use Luna display to keep using the 27" screen of iMac with USB C cord til it dies.
I'm going to be getting the pro, I intend on using this thing for a good 10 years or so like I have my 2013 iMac it'll be replacing. Which still runs like a champ for every day browsing etc, it's just falling further behing on software support. Also. Who turns off their Mac? This one especially uses next to no power when sleeping. My above mentioned 2013 iMac has been off for a grand total of maybe 2 months in the last 11 years. I turn it off fully when I'm not going to be in town for more than a few days. The only time the actual power button gets any use outside of this is if it crashes, which is supre rare.
Let's hope the minis last for a long time. I also have a very old iMac that is still hanging in there. Before that I had two minis that both broke down within around two years. Some time ago now I know and technology improves, but my fear is that cramming that many things into a tiny space will lead to a shorter lifespan than in a larger size computer.
You know something went wrong with my M4 256 which I bought early Nov. I bought it from Apple online yet my store here let me return it and got the 512. I really don't need all that but I wanted to say the 256gb speed which I tested many times was about 3200. The 512gb is about 4500. And yes I can tell the difference..
Best video I've seen on the topic, thank you! Do you have any suggestions towards a Mac Mini Hub/Dock accessory? The upcoming Satechi Stand&Hub has my interest for functional and aesthetic reasons.
amazing video, I am going for M4 Mini with 24 GB and 512TB storage with NVME Samsung 1tb. From a display stand point, i'd prefer the Samsung ViewFinity S65VC UWQHD Monitor which comes with built in speakers and a KVM switch as I usually plug in my work laptop to the same display as well. What do you think about this config as I will use the setup for editing, video processing and documentation ..
I just bought a base model M4 Mac Mini and is now currently paired with my LG C3 TV. I am able to take advantage of 120 Herts refresh rate and the experience is great. Problem occurs when I try VRR, I can see screen flicker on the darker areas of the screen. The TV does support VRR with G-Sync and AMD FreeSync but still doesn't solve that problem. For now I have switched to constant 120 Hertz. Any Ideas? I also boot prefer booting my Mac mini with extenal Satechi USB4 NVMe enclosure with Samsung 990 Pro 4TB which comes at an expense of apple intelligence feature. You should consider exploring thunderbolt booting on your next videos
I am replacing my 2014 Mini next week with the base M4 Mini. The only upgrade will be the RAM. Why? Halfway through the 2014 Mini life, I had to upgrade the RAM myself to the maximum I could install because with an OS upgrade the swap file went crazy and slowed the computer down.
Thanks for the video. Seen you using blender with Mac Mini. How's the performance. Do you recommend this for someone who does blender and aftereffects?
I think external drives have a place, but doesn't replace internal disk. Know what you need and just fork out for internal disk. Photos, downloads, iCloud documents, all work better with internal disk. I run fcpx libraries on external disk, as well as photos/video media.
Little 5“ x 2“ box that weighs a pound and a half. It’s very difficult to pick it up and push the button if you absolutely need to shut it off seriously if you need to shut it off it’s probably because you’re plugging it anyway and moving it or ortaking a portable for a bit otherwise you don’t need to shut it off
I still have Imac intel 4.2 GHz i7 with 48 GB and Mac Book Pro i7 16 GB, which only works when travelling. I mainly use Adobe Indesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and switch to Powerpoint, Outlook, Internet etc. I have a lot of windows open at the same time. I had tested mac mini m2 pro with 16GB RAM. Didn't convince me. Sent it back. And waited for m4. Now wanted to switch to m4. But desktop with Studio Display. Can't wait any longer for Mac Studio. My iMac is slowly coming to its knees ;-) Mac mini Base with 32 GB and 1 TB or Mac Mini m4 pro with 48 GB RAM. What is the recommendation? I will definitely go for 1 TB. Time Machine runs on external 4 GB and archive on 2 additional hard drives.
Thanks for your video as I'm currently considering getting a Mac mini. One question: could you please tell me what monitor/speaker stand you are using? I like it! Thank you.
Futureproofing consumer electronic devices is pointless, more of a choice of heart. In fact I bought 2 mac mini m4, cheapeast base version with 10gbe at a cost of M4 pro base version. YMMV
Hello, I have some questions regarding this device: 1. I am an architect, and the main applications I use are AutoCAD, Rhino, SketchUp, D5 Render, Twinmotion, Photoshop, and Illustrator. I’m not sure how well this device will perform with these applications, especially in rendering programs. I’m particularly curious about rendering times. 2. In the future, I plan to start streaming. I’d like to know how this device would perform for streaming, specifically regarding resolution and FPS rates. 3. I play small-scale games like League of Legends. Will I be able to play such games on this device?
Hi m8, Thanks 4 the video, it is fantastic. I’d like to get your opinion in a particular question. I’ll buy a Mac Mini 4 soon. Base version has the best bang for buck. It has a gigabit port but they ask for £100 to upgrade it to 10Gbps Ethernet port. I have 1.2 Gbps internet package. Do you think spending £100 is really worth it? To be honest 24Gb ram (£200) , 512Gb SSD (£200) with 10 GBPs Ethernet port (£100) is the best option for me but price jumps from £599 to £1099. I’ll use this pc for daily PC requirements but if I open a UA-cam channel this year, I’d like to learn video editing as well. What could be the best option and combination for me? I’d like to hear your valuable opinions.
The 10G ethernet port is only really worth it if you can saturate it consistently either via high-speed internet or some kind of NAS connected. Assuming your internet speed is consistently 1.2Gbps, you'll be paying $100 for an extra 0.2Gbps of speed. Up to you if that's worth it over the next few years.
@@CreatedTechthanks much. Gigabit internet is getting cheaper every day here in the UK. I pay £39 for 1.2Gbps download and 1Gbps upload. I assume 2.5Gbps will be in similar price range soon. So you are right, £100 for Ethernet port upgrade is worth it because I’ll use Mac mini at least 4 years.
are you connecting that mouse via some type of extension or adapter? Does that mess up the mouse operatiuoon like slowing down or problems with the signal? i always thought you should connect your mouse to the fastest usb possible and avoid using any extentions.
I've never had a Apple computer. Full on windows profession here though not by choice. I am a Sr Data Engineer and didn't have a need for a Mac just for entertainment/browsing/creative purposes. But I might get into my creative hobbies in the near future. But that's not a must right now.
If I can run windows 11 on Mac Mini using Parallels, smoothly and fast, I would get the Mac Mini even if it needs more than the base specs. What configuration would be good for running Windows on Parallels and still be fast? Should I get Mac Mini M4 or Mac Mini M4 Pro? What specs?
Thank you for the great video. I would love to see a video of you using the base model with 256 GB of storage with an external drive. I’m curious to what the performance head would be and is a process truly that complicated I want a base modeland I already have external storage please please please do a video
Glad you enjoyed it! I intend to use the base model M4 Mac Mini as my main computer for a few weeks and see how the experience is. I am currently using an M2 Max MacBook Pro.
Thanks. Much more useful and concise than the five or six other 'M4 Mini' videos I've seen. (In 2024, the underwhelming 16GB of RAM and the difficult-to-replace 256GB SSD in the base model is kind of "insulting". It's a transparent ploy to pay for at least the next-level upgrades.)
Excellent video. I love the pacing and music in the background. Also, the graph showing how bad 8 GB of RAM is needed for those that argue 8 GB of RAM is enough. I never believed 8 GB of RAM was worth it for 90% of working white collar adults since 2020.
using premiere pro, will i see a dramatic speed boost vs my m1 laptop? and Will I only see the speed boost if i work with footage on the mac mini? SOunds like your saying my t5 or t7 harddrives will slow it down. how do i maximize. will the m4 base model be a big jump forward for me editing speed rendering ect? i like to have lots of apps open or tabs at least. should i as a filmmaker go up a model for more ram or space
I'm not saying your T5 or T7 will slow it down. For reading and writing video footage you'll be perfectly fine. Yes the M4 will be significantly better than the M1 and you will notice a difference when video editing or multi-tasking.
Hey mate, is the base mini good enough to do basic 4k editing in final cut? Also, can i play subnautica fine on a 4k monitor? I wont be playing the latest games.
recently was still running my late 2012 Mac Mini with 16/512 (upgraded to an SSD). It comfortably runs 4 browser windows with 15 tabs each. Seems to manage RAM better than my new (to me) Mac Mini 4 base model.
Unfortunately your recommendation isn't available in US. - No featured offers available -, but Amazon offers another cheaper solution for $89. I do not know how it's good.
I am trying to decide between the M4 and M4 Pro. I am a professional photographer and edit every day using LRC and PS with the occasional video editing using Davinci Resolve. Regardless of what I do I will probably pay more for 1TB as I like space on my internal hard drive since I constantly import large files. Do you think the M4 will be fine for someone who does lots of editing or do you think I should go with the Pro? Also do you know if my mouse and keyboard I use on the 2017 iMac will work with the Mini? Thanks
I don't see the big deal about the power button...it's not like it will be use on daily basis like on Windows. The macOS is pretty stable. I think that only once or twice I need to use the power button in years.
For 15 years, I used Linux. Nothing against that OS, but i was time for an upgrade. So the M4 Mac Mini is no problem because I am used to having a 256 GB drive and have an external drive to store data. Besides, I am new to Mac. Another thing I want to add is that I had free apps when I had Linux. With Mac, I look at these apps I had prior and would ask myself, "Do I need this app?" One thing I noticed is that Apple is picky when it comes to downloading open source software from an outside website.UPDATE - I use Garageband and iMovie and love them! That's basically all I need - along with Affinity, Libre Office Suite, Internet, Krita, and a few others. I can always save my data to an external drive.
This is why is so hard for me to switch to a apple PC in general... they're to propietary and overpriced for the features it offers... specially with the ram memory.
On / Off button is no problem Turn the dam thing upside down lay it on it's topwith Power Button exposed Might even give Better Cooling especially if the Desk were Metal and may become a Heat Sink.
whilst i agree Apple upgrades are expensive, their products last for years and run flawlessly. I tried a Samsung external SSD on my M1 Macmini and it would constantly cause instant crashes. i always regret not upgrading the base 256GB drive when i bought the machine.
Apple doesn't call memory "RAM" anymore. They call it "unified memory" instead. And they make a point of emphasizing that. I don't really know why yet...
I completely agree with you. I purchased the base M4 mini because I knew it would be perfect for my use case, and I was right (I've had it for 3 weeks). I already had all the necessary peripherals, including a 2TB external NVME drive.
@@obedboakyedanquah9114 I'm not a developer so I can't give an informed answer. I do MS office work (mostly spreadsheets), movie creation with iMovie using videos from my iPhone, photo editing, etc., no real heavy duty stuff.
I bought the base model. I run android studio and xcode. Working fine without any issues. But remember, android emulator will take more RAM, so better to test using mobile phone. For development purpose base model is enough for me.
16GB ram is NOT enough, when running Photoshop, Lightroom and Chrome with few tabs open at the same time, you will already be at 20GB ram usage. I went with M4 PRO with 24GB, and 30GB would be ideal, 48GB is a bit too expensive.
macOS is designed to use all available RAM at all times. So to the uninformed it seems like there’s “not enough RAM”. You should instead only use the “memory pressure” graph to the left to see if you’re truly maxing out your available RAM.
@@janplexy If you've only ever seen the memory pressure in yellow and that's the worst it's been, that means you have the perfect amount of RAM. Any more would be a waste. Even 16GB would probably perform fine with your usage, although my personal recommendation would be 24GB.
@@janplexy Like I said, your Mac is supposed to maximize your available RAM and it will almost always use some swap memory too - you can't avoid it. It doesn't mean you need more RAM.
the workflow you've used to test the ram differences are not accurate to real world workflows. ArtIsRight has made the best in-depth comparisons based on real world workflows. Memory upgrades matter a ton for professionals. much more than m4 vs m4 pro in various cases. can personally attest to that, as i'm using m4 pro with 48gb memory and for my workflow, the extra memory has been highly beneficial.
"Memory upgrades matter a ton for professionals." Yes, and professionals are not buying a $599 base model M4 Mac Mini to do professional work on - which is the product specifically being discussed in this video.
The power button is on the bottom rear so that you will want to purchase 3rd party docking station which are showing up now. They lift the unit and provide opening for easy access. Corporations are in bed together.
I’ve used both and haven’t seen a difference over Bluetooth. I do think it’s more sluggish without the unifying receiver so I’d go with regular. Unfortunately I’ve never used a third party mouse that felt like it was made for Apple, but I think that may be more of Apple’s doing than Logitech etc.
I'm having the same problem with the new Asus ProArt 5K that came out last month. I've only seen it being sold in the US so far for $799. We all know they'll just do a find and replace on the $ for £. BenQ have something on the way too, but I can't seem to find pricing or release dates at all. Both use the same panel apprently so it'll end up personal preference or whoever manages to get the better pricing. Asus also have a reputation for pretty mediocre build qualitry on their monitors these days. I'm hoping BenQ can better them there lol.
I bought the M4 Pro & specked it out with the 14/20/16 chip, 64 GB of RAM, a 1 TB storage drive & a 10 GB Ethernet jack...that is absolutely worth it for what I am using it for, editing N-RAW 8K video in Davinci Resolve, doing color grading, & shooting 48 megapixel stills. You forget that what seems like too much today, won't seem that way tomorrow. For $2500 I have a machine that will do everything I need it to do for high end clients workflow. Tha'ts the cost of a single premium lens for my Nikon. It's worth it to be able to edit seamlessly in real time.
This I love. I'm upgrading from old Intel iMacs (yes I'm old) and a 2019 MacBook Pro, and they have served me well (not so much the MacBook Pro) but as the camera technology and resolutions (drones, GoPro's, phones) and the operating systems get more advanced, the more speed, space and 'RAM' you need! 14/20/16 + 64GB + 1TB is the basic minimum I see if you're trying to even keep your head above water to in 2-3 years time... Everything gets bigger, better, faster.... especially software and operating systems. I've specked up to try and get some life out of this new buy of Mac Mini - hope it lasts half of what my old iMacs did!
lol. apple charges $200 USD for only 8 gb ram upgrade. PC companies upgrade in 16gb increments and it's a quarter of the price. apple's 16gb upgrade is $400 USD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's about $600 CAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just for a 16gb upgrade.
I have 16 GB of ram for my macbook and it's almost always 80%+ utilized even when doing light coding activities. Furthermore, a lot of the new AI based tools we use even day to day use so much more RAM (arc, cursor, granola, notion etc.). This is only going to get worse with every single app adding an AI feature (I am looking at you photoshop). If you're a dev or other professional and going to do anything with AI or else you should absolutely ignore the guy and buy the 24 GB or 32 GB version. If you just use it browse the internet, sure go ahead with the base model but in that case my question would be why you are buying a desktop pc in the first place. RAM is the single most important thing in a computer in my opinion. I almost never experience issues with CPU or SSD utilization in my career but almost always with RAM. Even things like thunderbolt ports etc. don't really matter. You can easily buy a caldigit or something similar to fix port issues, you almost certainly not going to utilize your GPU fully and with a desktop you can always hook up an external SSD. You can't do any of these things with RAM so do yourself a favour and upgrade it. Thank me later.
For my use case, I opted for the 14 core CPU / 20 core GPU M4 Pro. I left all of the other boxes unchecked. I have a 4TB TB4 external SSD that I swap between my Mac Mini and M4 iPad Pro.
New sub here. Great channel. Would you be so kind as to answer a few questions. I mostly use Final Cut Pro & Photoshop to create videos on my Billy Luna Crime Stories YT channel. I am working in 1080p, but plan to start working in 4k. Currently I am Using a Sandisk Extreme Pro SSD (2TB & 4TB) to edit off whilst using FCP. I like to use Final Cut Pro, Photoshop and 40 web browser tabs open simultaneously. 1) For my needs, which exact configuration of the new M4 Mac Mini should I get? (Pro or no, RAM, SSD) This is the configuration that I have been mulling: $1,799.00 512GB SSD storage Apple M4 Pro chip with 12‑core CPU, 16‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine 48GB unified memory 512GB SSD storage 2) What would the practical difference be when using Final Cut Pro, Photoshop and 40 web browser tabs open simultaneously if I just got the base M4 mac mini rather than the M4 Pro mac mini? 3) If I go M4 Pro what would the practical difference (for my use scenarios) be in upgrading from 24 GB memory to 48 GB? 4) Is there any speed or performance advantage in going with a 1 TB SSD vs 512? 5) Do I need to worry about fan noise when I’m recording on camera video or voice over with the M4 Pro mac mini? Thank you!
1. 48GB RAM is probably overkill, but if you have the budget for it, get it, because more RAM is always better and you can't change your mind later. 2. Depends heavily what exactly you're doing within FCP and Photoshop (e.g. how complex are the projects). If you're mostly video editing all day get M4 Pro. 3. Probably a waste of money, I doubt your FCP projects will be super intensive (e.g. lots of 3D effects, noise removal etc). See point 1. 4. 1TB is slightly faster but no real advantage other than being able to store more data on the internal SSD 5. No
Just before 3.54. E.g. Delete Garage Band? How much did I pay for its undemanded inclusion on my Mac or my Mini? Eh? Eh? How much did I pay for stuff I’ll never use? Eh? eh?
Be given that in the past, it wasn’t functionally upgradable at all other than Saturn and now it’s a plug-in car that can be one screw just like a normal SSD one screw unplug it put a different one in you gotta know that Apple intends to license that for proprietary hardware to third-party for upgrades or maybe they’re gonna do it themselves Obviously, the unified memory can’t be upgraded without replacing the chance, but that SD card and 100% be upgraded at a minimum you could literally find someone with a failed motherboard and buy it and take the SSD out. Pretty sure that the base M4 can handle up to a 2 TB SSD right Above that you gotta go with the pro but pretty sure it’s not that big of a deal there will be upgrade taps for this particular part of the hardware sometime in the future and even if there isn’t seriously, we buy a new console to play games on every 8 to 10 years sometimes twice and each console generation does one fail what the hell is the big deal about a $600pizza hardware
It would be foolish to buy the mini with only 256 GB of storage. Sure it costs a little more to bump it up but I feel way more comfortable with 1 TB to fall back on and THEN use external storage. 256 GB is just not enough these days.
The M4 Mac Mini is currently on sale on Amazon for just $529: geni.us/m4macmini
My Custom Super Fast Thunderbolt External Drive:
↪ Thunderbolt Enclosure: geni.us/OWCExpress
↪ 2TB NVMe SSD Drive: geni.us/crucialP3plus2TB
i find not having an intro in this video kind of underrated. been looking around for informational videos like this and 30 seconds into this video you’re already answering my biggest question !!! thank you
Glad you enjoyed the straight-to-the-point intro! I don't like wasting time with the usual "hey guys" or "in this video" nonsense lol.
The only person in the whole youtube talked about the electricity cost of the mac mini in the sleep mode. I had the question for a long time that my fathers tells me to turn off and a debate comes with that thankyou so much for explaining.
if you connect an external SSD to the M4 the power consumption in sleepmode goes up to 4.5 watt (my experience). Please give us tips to get that down in sleep mode.
and the only person to take monitor selection so lightly, without going into the real details...
@@balazs.hideghety Ah yes, because I should spend half an hour talking about the "real details" of all the hundreds of different monitors you can buy, which isn't even relevant to this video at all.
@@CreatedTech its a poor excuse to justify that you have taken it so lightly. especially if you're talking about a working setup where things like blue filter, flicker free, contrast (for some color accuracy) and panel type are important... this was possibly one of the best showcases of the MAC, but then...
@@balazs.hideghety Seriously? You want me to talk about monitor "blue light filters" and "flicker" In this video?
That's not specific to the M4 Mac Mini, is it? It applies to all Apple silicon Macs. That's an entirely separate video and is simply not relevant here. You've picked a really strange hill to die on.
I need this to last 7 years (or more) as a Home PC. So I choose 512/24. Over kill for now of course for basic home office apps. I have seen speed tests which show the 512 is notably faster than the 256. I will add an external 1TB drive for files. Looking forward to retiring our 2014 Mac Mini which I upgrade with an SSD two years ago.
I’m planning to buy soon, but will it last 7 years if internal SSD is not replaceable? Do you have some previous experience with apple silicon macs? It would help me so thanks in advance.
Fantastic overview. You brought up some good points I hadn't considered nor heard others really spend time on. Definitely a huge help to watch right before buying one. Thank you!
Glad it helped you out!
I just bought mine today! I connect it to my 100 inch Samsung smart TV mounted to my bedroom wall! It's awesome! I love it so much! 🥰
I bought the base mini. At first set up (without iCloud as I was thinking about moving my home folder) I was underwhelmed. However the next day I moved a few gig if data off my 2019 27 inch imac and then migrated across and it all looked a lot better. I found that Chrome, spotlight indexing and another two programs was using 10 gig of memory. To my amazement its quiter than my Imac using Handbrake and so for it's been pretty flawless
Ditch Chrome.....Always been a hog and tattles on ya !
Yes, please show more how to set up and use the external storage with Mac mini. Thanks!
Working on it now, stay tuned!
Bought base spec. Been very happy. Even with 256gb it’s plenty when you can easily expand it.
Plz do a "Is 24GB of RAM enough?" Next.
up
Just a FYI : keyboard shortcuts exist to power off the computer (e.g. ctrl + media eject keys), and then if you have a touch id keyboard for example, you can power on from there. Of course if there's a freeze or hardware issue won't work, but for day-to-day, there are workarounds for lack of physical access to the power button.
TouchID keyboards don’t let you power on if the Mac is fully shut down like I explained and showed in the video.
Going for a M4 Mac Mini....PRO ! Even with a few upgrades, RAM !!!! Will be way cheaper than any 27" iMacs I have bought. It's worth the upgrade and cheaper than a M2/M4 Mac Studio is/will be ! Will be replacing a special ordered 2017 27" iMac 1 TB HD which I upgraded it later to 48 GB RAM. Use Luna display to keep using the 27" screen of iMac with USB C cord til it dies.
I'm going to be getting the pro, I intend on using this thing for a good 10 years or so like I have my 2013 iMac it'll be replacing. Which still runs like a champ for every day browsing etc, it's just falling further behing on software support.
Also. Who turns off their Mac? This one especially uses next to no power when sleeping. My above mentioned 2013 iMac has been off for a grand total of maybe 2 months in the last 11 years. I turn it off fully when I'm not going to be in town for more than a few days. The only time the actual power button gets any use outside of this is if it crashes, which is supre rare.
Completely agree. All the fuss over the location of the power button is dumb
Let's hope the minis last for a long time. I also have a very old iMac that is still hanging in there. Before that I had two minis that both broke down within around two years. Some time ago now I know and technology improves, but my fear is that cramming that many things into a tiny space will lead to a shorter lifespan than in a larger size computer.
You know something went wrong with my M4 256 which I bought early Nov. I bought it from Apple online yet my store here let me return it and got the 512. I really don't need all that but I wanted to say the 256gb speed which I tested many times was about 3200. The 512gb is about 4500. And yes I can tell the difference..
For better access to the power switch, couldn't the Mini just rest upside down on the desk?
Gosh what a legend this guy got straight to it.
there is now a 3rd option for ssd upgrading and its 3rd party .
Best video I've seen on the topic, thank you! Do you have any suggestions towards a Mac Mini Hub/Dock accessory?
The upcoming Satechi Stand&Hub has my interest for functional and aesthetic reasons.
your lighting and broll reminds me so much of optimum! sick lighting dude.
amazing video, I am going for M4 Mini with 24 GB and 512TB storage with NVME Samsung 1tb. From a display stand point, i'd prefer the Samsung ViewFinity S65VC UWQHD Monitor which comes with built in speakers and a KVM switch as I usually plug in my work laptop to the same display as well. What do you think about this config as I will use the setup for editing, video processing and documentation ..
Check out my most recent monitor review video. It's a 5K monitor with KVM (the built-in speakers suck though).
I just bought a base model M4 Mac Mini and is now currently paired with my LG C3 TV. I am able to take advantage of 120 Herts refresh rate and the experience is great. Problem occurs when I try VRR, I can see screen flicker on the darker areas of the screen. The TV does support VRR with G-Sync and AMD FreeSync but still doesn't solve that problem. For now I have switched to constant 120 Hertz. Any Ideas?
I also boot prefer booting my Mac mini with extenal Satechi USB4 NVMe enclosure with Samsung 990 Pro 4TB which comes at an expense of apple intelligence feature. You should consider exploring thunderbolt booting on your next videos
Id really like a dedicated video about Mac Minis and external storage! Would help a lot. Cheers!
Great info
PHENOM vid, maan! I'm upgrading my 2019 iMAC pretty soon & am going with an M4 Mini. You answered a LOT of the questions I had. :>
So. I guess the best bet would still be getting at least bigger ram and external drive?
I am replacing my 2014 Mini next week with the base M4 Mini. The only upgrade will be the RAM.
Why? Halfway through the 2014 Mini life, I had to upgrade the RAM myself to the maximum I could install because with an OS upgrade the swap file went crazy and slowed the computer down.
I start with 24GB RAM, 256GB SSD. In the future, if I need more space, I will use thunderbolt 4 SSD enclosure.
Thanks for the video. Seen you using blender with Mac Mini. How's the performance. Do you recommend this for someone who does blender and aftereffects?
I think external drives have a place, but doesn't replace internal disk. Know what you need and just fork out for internal disk. Photos, downloads, iCloud documents, all work better with internal disk. I run fcpx libraries on external disk, as well as photos/video media.
Could you please do a review on the 14" MacBook pro M4 base model?
Full video on the external ssd please
Subbed!
It's in the pipeline!
@@CreatedTech woohoo 🥳
Little 5“ x 2“ box that weighs a pound and a half. It’s very difficult to pick it up and push the button if you absolutely need to shut it off seriously if you need to shut it off it’s probably because you’re plugging it anyway and moving it or ortaking a portable for a bit otherwise you don’t need to shut it off
I still have Imac intel 4.2 GHz i7 with 48 GB and Mac Book Pro i7 16 GB, which only works when travelling.
I mainly use Adobe Indesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and switch to Powerpoint, Outlook, Internet etc. I have a lot of windows open at the same time.
I had tested mac mini m2 pro with 16GB RAM. Didn't convince me. Sent it back. And waited for m4.
Now wanted to switch to m4. But desktop with Studio Display. Can't wait any longer for Mac Studio. My iMac is slowly coming to its knees ;-)
Mac mini Base with 32 GB and 1 TB or Mac Mini m4 pro with 48 GB RAM. What is the recommendation? I will definitely go for 1 TB. Time Machine runs on external 4 GB and archive on 2 additional hard drives.
The power botton is on the bottom side? Well, just rotate the mac mini upside-down, what could go wrong?
That power button reminds me of mouse usb connector position. Must be the same engineer designing those.
please make video on how to make external ssd!!
Thanks for your video as I'm currently considering getting a Mac mini. One question: could you please tell me what monitor/speaker stand you are using? I like it! Thank you.
Futureproofing consumer electronic devices is pointless, more of a choice of heart. In fact I bought 2 mac mini m4, cheapeast base version with 10gbe at a cost of M4 pro base version. YMMV
Hello, I have some questions regarding this device:
1. I am an architect, and the main applications I use are AutoCAD, Rhino, SketchUp, D5 Render, Twinmotion, Photoshop, and Illustrator. I’m not sure how well this device will perform with these applications, especially in rendering programs. I’m particularly curious about rendering times.
2. In the future, I plan to start streaming. I’d like to know how this device would perform for streaming, specifically regarding resolution and FPS rates.
3. I play small-scale games like League of Legends. Will I be able to play such games on this device?
Definitely make a video on the SSD + closure combo, always been curious but looked scary, apparently not!
Hi m8,
Thanks 4 the video, it is fantastic. I’d like to get your opinion in a particular question. I’ll buy a Mac Mini 4 soon.
Base version has the best bang for buck.
It has a gigabit port but they ask for £100 to upgrade it to 10Gbps Ethernet port. I have 1.2 Gbps internet package. Do you think spending £100 is really worth it?
To be honest 24Gb ram (£200) , 512Gb SSD (£200) with 10 GBPs Ethernet port (£100) is the best option for me but price jumps from £599 to £1099.
I’ll use this pc for daily PC requirements but if I open a UA-cam channel this year, I’d like to learn video editing as well. What could be the best option and combination for me?
I’d like to hear your valuable opinions.
The 10G ethernet port is only really worth it if you can saturate it consistently either via high-speed internet or some kind of NAS connected. Assuming your internet speed is consistently 1.2Gbps, you'll be paying $100 for an extra 0.2Gbps of speed. Up to you if that's worth it over the next few years.
@@CreatedTechthanks much. Gigabit internet is getting cheaper every day here in the UK. I pay £39 for 1.2Gbps download and 1Gbps upload. I assume 2.5Gbps will be in similar price range soon. So you are right, £100 for Ethernet port upgrade is worth it because I’ll use Mac mini at least 4 years.
are you connecting that mouse via some type of extension or adapter? Does that mess up the mouse operatiuoon like slowing down or problems with the signal? i always thought you should connect your mouse to the fastest usb possible and avoid using any extentions.
I've never had a Apple computer. Full on windows profession here though not by choice. I am a Sr Data Engineer and didn't have a need for a Mac just for entertainment/browsing/creative purposes. But I might get into my creative hobbies in the near future. But that's not a must right now.
If I can run windows 11 on Mac Mini using Parallels, smoothly and fast, I would get the Mac Mini even if it needs more than the base specs. What configuration would be good for running Windows on Parallels and still be fast? Should I get Mac Mini M4 or Mac Mini M4 Pro? What specs?
Thank you for the great video. I would love to see a video of you using the base model with 256 GB of storage with an external drive. I’m curious to what the performance head would be and is a process truly that complicated I want a base modeland I already have external storage please please please do a video
Glad you enjoyed it! I intend to use the base model M4 Mac Mini as my main computer for a few weeks and see how the experience is. I am currently using an M2 Max MacBook Pro.
I was driving and listening to your video and I was like this guy’s voice sounds really good 😂
Great Insightful Vid! External HDD is a big hustle tho and totally do not recommend it especially for apps!
An external SSD is definitely not a “hustle” compared to the exorbitant price Apple charges for their SSD upgrades 😂
@@CreatedTech Yeah crazy pricing for upgrades yet awesome base model price! the psychology behind this is totally genius!
I want to buy this but in my city this is not available india delhi 😓😓😓 bro where you get this i want this for my graphics designing
Nice tips but you recommend accessories with USB A receiver and Mac Mini doesnt have this type of connectivity. Just USB-C.
Don’t use the receiver then, both have Bluetooth. Otherwise there are adapters.
It's sooooooooo cuuuuuute, I NEED it.
8:02 for power button you can still do network wakeup using smart phone xD
Thanks. Much more useful and concise than the five or six other 'M4 Mini' videos I've seen. (In 2024, the underwhelming 16GB of RAM and the difficult-to-replace 256GB SSD in the base model is kind of "insulting". It's a transparent ploy to pay for at least the next-level upgrades.)
Nice video, about LG to be honest, it's far from perfect, especially the 34-inch model which you use.
What speakers are those and do they connect to the monitor or to the Mac? And do they come in black
What do you think should be the one to go for when making music on logic pro ? Thanks a lot for everything boss
How does he connect the usb stuff? (great vid btw)
usb to type c adapter
@@mukul6198 Thanks!
Excellent video. I love the pacing and music in the background.
Also, the graph showing how bad 8 GB of RAM is needed for those that argue 8 GB of RAM is enough. I never believed 8 GB of RAM was worth it for 90% of working white collar adults since 2020.
You forget that more ram you have, more is getting cached and used by the OS.
using premiere pro, will i see a dramatic speed boost vs my m1 laptop? and Will I only see the speed boost if i work with footage on the mac mini? SOunds like your saying my t5 or t7 harddrives will slow it down. how do i maximize. will the m4 base model be a big jump forward for me editing speed rendering ect? i like to have lots of apps open or tabs at least. should i as a filmmaker go up a model for more ram or space
I'm not saying your T5 or T7 will slow it down. For reading and writing video footage you'll be perfectly fine. Yes the M4 will be significantly better than the M1 and you will notice a difference when video editing or multi-tasking.
Hey mate, is the base mini good enough to do basic 4k editing in final cut? Also, can i play subnautica fine on a 4k monitor? I wont be playing the latest games.
Is 24GB enough for gaming?
recently was still running my late 2012 Mac Mini with 16/512 (upgraded to an SSD). It comfortably runs 4 browser windows with 15 tabs each. Seems to manage RAM better than my new (to me) Mac Mini 4 base model.
Unfortunately your recommendation isn't available in US. - No featured offers available -, but Amazon offers another cheaper solution for $89. I do not know how it's good.
I am trying to decide between the M4 and M4 Pro. I am a professional photographer and edit every day using LRC and PS with the occasional video editing using Davinci Resolve. Regardless of what I do I will probably pay more for 1TB as I like space on my internal hard drive since I constantly import large files. Do you think the M4 will be fine for someone who does lots of editing or do you think I should go with the Pro? Also do you know if my mouse and keyboard I use on the 2017 iMac will work with the Mini? Thanks
Get the M4 Pro, and yes the mouse and keyboard should work.
I don't see the big deal about the power button...it's not like it will be use on daily basis like on Windows. The macOS is pretty stable.
I think that only once or twice I need to use the power button in years.
Best video on this topic. 👍
For 15 years, I used Linux. Nothing against that OS, but i was time for an upgrade. So the M4 Mac Mini is no problem because I am used to having a 256 GB drive and have an external drive to store data. Besides, I am new to Mac. Another thing I want to add is that I had free apps when I had Linux. With Mac, I look at these apps I had prior and would ask myself, "Do I need this app?" One thing I noticed is that Apple is picky when it comes to downloading open source software from an outside website.UPDATE - I use Garageband and iMovie and love them! That's basically all I need - along with Affinity, Libre Office Suite, Internet, Krita, and a few others. I can always save my data to an external drive.
This is why is so hard for me to switch to a apple PC in general... they're to propietary and overpriced for the features it offers... specially with the ram memory.
yes full video!
Is it LPDDR5 ram or LPDDR5X memory ?
On / Off button is no problem Turn the dam thing upside down lay it on it's topwith Power Button exposed Might even give Better Cooling especially if the Desk were Metal and may become a Heat Sink.
Can't you just put it upside down? That would also put the WiFi antenna at the top, which might even improve reception.
Are you related to Optimum Tech? Your videos and picture is kinda similar to him. 😅
Can you play games with it?
1400 and not having a 1Tb as default is insulting when PCIE 4.0 and even 5.0 storage is becoming cheap
whilst i agree Apple upgrades are expensive, their products last for years and run flawlessly. I tried a Samsung external SSD on my M1 Macmini and it would constantly cause instant crashes. i always regret not upgrading the base 256GB drive when i bought the machine.
The mouse has usba ports but m4 does not have port?
Apple doesn't call memory "RAM" anymore. They call it "unified memory" instead. And they make a point of emphasizing that. I don't really know why yet...
What was the mistakes btw?
I don't get it... Click bait
Subbed! I'm interested to know more about the external hard drive mentioned at 7:25
Can I use lg 49 inch monitor for trading on M4 Mac mini ?
I completely agree with you. I purchased the base M4 mini because I knew it would be perfect for my use case, and I was right (I've had it for 3 weeks). I already had all the necessary peripherals, including a 2TB external NVME drive.
What do you normally use it for? Would it be a great option for a developer?
@@obedboakyedanquah9114 I'm not a developer so I can't give an informed answer. I do MS office work (mostly spreadsheets), movie creation with iMovie using videos from my iPhone, photo editing, etc., no real heavy duty stuff.
I bought the base model. I run android studio and xcode. Working fine without any issues. But remember, android emulator will take more RAM, so better to test using mobile phone. For development purpose base model is enough for me.
16GB ram is NOT enough, when running Photoshop, Lightroom and Chrome with few tabs open at the same time, you will already be at 20GB ram usage. I went with M4 PRO with 24GB, and 30GB would be ideal, 48GB is a bit too expensive.
macOS is designed to use all available RAM at all times. So to the uninformed it seems like there’s “not enough RAM”. You should instead only use the “memory pressure” graph to the left to see if you’re truly maxing out your available RAM.
@@CreatedTech often in yellow
@@janplexy If you've only ever seen the memory pressure in yellow and that's the worst it's been, that means you have the perfect amount of RAM. Any more would be a waste.
Even 16GB would probably perform fine with your usage, although my personal recommendation would be 24GB.
@ i didn’t want my mac to go for swap memory, but it does.
@@janplexy Like I said, your Mac is supposed to maximize your available RAM and it will almost always use some swap memory too - you can't avoid it. It doesn't mean you need more RAM.
the workflow you've used to test the ram differences are not accurate to real world workflows. ArtIsRight has made the best in-depth comparisons based on real world workflows. Memory upgrades matter a ton for professionals. much more than m4 vs m4 pro in various cases. can personally attest to that, as i'm using m4 pro with 48gb memory and for my workflow, the extra memory has been highly beneficial.
"Memory upgrades matter a ton for professionals." Yes, and professionals are not buying a $599 base model M4 Mac Mini to do professional work on - which is the product specifically being discussed in this video.
too late, got it love it, no take backs
I definitely want a video on the Thunderbolt SSD options. Also this is compatible to all Silicon Macs, right!
Yep, all Apple Silicon
The power button is on the bottom rear so that you will want to purchase 3rd party docking station which are showing up now. They lift the unit and provide opening for easy access. Corporations are in bed together.
Any thoughts on Mx master 3s for Mac vs regular for use with Mac mini?
I’ve used both and haven’t seen a difference over Bluetooth. I do think it’s more sluggish without the unifying receiver so I’d go with regular. Unfortunately I’ve never used a third party mouse that felt like it was made for Apple, but I think that may be more of Apple’s doing than Logitech etc.
@@DevinDillenger Logictech software also sucks major ass in my experience, and it's worse on the Mac. So there is that aspect to consider.
Someone prove me wrong but I am sure that monitor in 5K is not available in the UK. I have not been able to find it anywhere.?
I'm having the same problem with the new Asus ProArt 5K that came out last month. I've only seen it being sold in the US so far for $799. We all know they'll just do a find and replace on the $ for £. BenQ have something on the way too, but I can't seem to find pricing or release dates at all. Both use the same panel apprently so it'll end up personal preference or whoever manages to get the better pricing. Asus also have a reputation for pretty mediocre build qualitry on their monitors these days. I'm hoping BenQ can better them there lol.
@@TalesOfWar The BenQ 5K has been out of stock for weeks. LG and Dell do a 40 inch widescreen 5K but prices similar to Apple 5K.
I bought the M4 Pro & specked it out with the 14/20/16 chip, 64 GB of RAM, a 1 TB storage drive & a 10 GB Ethernet jack...that is absolutely worth it for what I am using it for, editing N-RAW 8K video in Davinci Resolve, doing color grading, & shooting 48 megapixel stills. You forget that what seems like too much today, won't seem that way tomorrow. For $2500 I have a machine that will do everything I need it to do for high end clients workflow. Tha'ts the cost of a single premium lens for my Nikon. It's worth it to be able to edit seamlessly in real time.
This I love. I'm upgrading from old Intel iMacs (yes I'm old) and a 2019 MacBook Pro, and they have served me well (not so much the MacBook Pro) but as the camera technology and resolutions (drones, GoPro's, phones) and the operating systems get more advanced, the more speed, space and 'RAM' you need! 14/20/16 + 64GB + 1TB is the basic minimum I see if you're trying to even keep your head above water to in 2-3 years time... Everything gets bigger, better, faster.... especially software and operating systems. I've specked up to try and get some life out of this new buy of Mac Mini - hope it lasts half of what my old iMacs did!
Why would you ever turn your Mac off? Unless you need to hard reset or something which you normally should never need.
Some people prefer to shut down their Mac at night rather than let it sleep.
@@CreatedTech no people do. maybe ex PC users.
lol. apple charges $200 USD for only 8 gb ram upgrade. PC companies upgrade in 16gb increments and it's a quarter of the price.
apple's 16gb upgrade is $400 USD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's about $600 CAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just for a 16gb upgrade.
I just realised... All three people who own a Thunderbolt 5 peripheral could plug them into the same Mac Mini M4 Pro...
I have 16 GB of ram for my macbook and it's almost always 80%+ utilized even when doing light coding activities. Furthermore, a lot of the new AI based tools we use even day to day use so much more RAM (arc, cursor, granola, notion etc.). This is only going to get worse with every single app adding an AI feature (I am looking at you photoshop). If you're a dev or other professional and going to do anything with AI or else you should absolutely ignore the guy and buy the 24 GB or 32 GB version. If you just use it browse the internet, sure go ahead with the base model but in that case my question would be why you are buying a desktop pc in the first place.
RAM is the single most important thing in a computer in my opinion. I almost never experience issues with CPU or SSD utilization in my career but almost always with RAM. Even things like thunderbolt ports etc. don't really matter. You can easily buy a caldigit or something similar to fix port issues, you almost certainly not going to utilize your GPU fully and with a desktop you can always hook up an external SSD. You can't do any of these things with RAM so do yourself a favour and upgrade it.
Thank me later.
Houdini with M1 chip is much faster than. My AMD 3950x, so I grabbed a pro with 64GB mode
Amazing thoughts on it!
For my use case, I opted for the 14 core CPU / 20 core GPU M4 Pro. I left all of the other boxes unchecked. I have a 4TB TB4 external SSD that I swap between my Mac Mini and M4 iPad Pro.
New sub here. Great channel. Would you be so kind as to answer a few questions. I mostly use Final Cut Pro & Photoshop to create videos on my Billy Luna Crime Stories YT channel. I am working in 1080p, but plan to start working in 4k. Currently I am Using a Sandisk Extreme Pro SSD (2TB & 4TB) to edit off whilst using FCP. I like to use Final Cut Pro, Photoshop and 40 web browser tabs open simultaneously.
1) For my needs, which exact configuration of the new M4 Mac Mini should I get? (Pro or no, RAM, SSD) This is the configuration that I have been mulling: $1,799.00 512GB SSD storage Apple M4 Pro chip with 12‑core CPU, 16‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine 48GB unified memory
512GB SSD storage
2) What would the practical difference be when using Final Cut Pro, Photoshop and 40 web browser tabs open simultaneously if I just got the base M4 mac mini rather than the M4 Pro mac mini?
3) If I go M4 Pro what would the practical difference (for my use scenarios) be in upgrading from 24 GB memory to 48 GB?
4) Is there any speed or performance advantage in going with a 1 TB SSD vs 512?
5) Do I need to worry about fan noise when I’m recording on camera video or voice over with the M4 Pro mac mini?
Thank you!
1. 48GB RAM is probably overkill, but if you have the budget for it, get it, because more RAM is always better and you can't change your mind later.
2. Depends heavily what exactly you're doing within FCP and Photoshop (e.g. how complex are the projects). If you're mostly video editing all day get M4 Pro.
3. Probably a waste of money, I doubt your FCP projects will be super intensive (e.g. lots of 3D effects, noise removal etc). See point 1.
4. 1TB is slightly faster but no real advantage other than being able to store more data on the internal SSD
5. No
Decide your budget and buy accordingly. It really doesn't have to be more complicated than that. Those sandisk drives are fine
04:10 A fellow sailor of the sea 🏴☠
Just before 3.54. E.g. Delete Garage Band? How much did I pay for its undemanded inclusion on my Mac or my Mini? Eh? Eh? How much did I pay for stuff I’ll never use? Eh? eh?
Be given that in the past, it wasn’t functionally upgradable at all other than Saturn and now it’s a plug-in car that can be one screw just like a normal SSD one screw unplug it put a different one in you gotta know that Apple intends to license that for proprietary hardware to third-party for upgrades or maybe they’re gonna do it themselves Obviously, the unified memory can’t be upgraded without replacing the chance, but that SD card and 100% be upgraded at a minimum you could literally find someone with a failed motherboard and buy it and take the SSD out. Pretty sure that the base M4 can handle up to a 2 TB SSD right Above that you gotta go with the pro but pretty sure it’s not that big of a deal there will be upgrade taps for this particular part of the hardware sometime in the future and even if there isn’t seriously, we buy a new console to play games on every 8 to 10 years sometimes twice and each console generation does one fail what the hell is the big deal about a $600pizza hardware
It would be foolish to buy the mini with only 256 GB of storage. Sure it costs a little more to bump it up but I feel way more comfortable with 1 TB to fall back on and THEN use external storage. 256 GB is just not enough these days.