I use the base 8GB M2 Mac Mini as a HTPC in my living room and love it. I have it hooked to a 8-bay HDD enclosure connected via USB-C. Plex/Infuse works great and I use the Logitech K400 Plus keyboard from my couch for everything.
I’d still say a 2021 MBP. I have an unbinned M1 Pro with 1Tb that I got a couple months ago from Amazon renewed, which I use for Ableton music production. They are heavily discounted (both screen sizes), and are beasts of machines. If you never plan on moving your computer around with you, and you already have all the peripherals, then yes, get a Mac Mini, but, if by any chance, you plan to travel with your computer, use it in your living room, or take your computer to a friends house, I’d say go for the M1 Pro/Max MBP to save some cash, knowing it’s more computing power than most people need, and will not need to be upgraded for many years. Final caveat, if you’re not a power user (music production, video editing, photo editing, code writing) get a new MacBook Air and never look back 😊
When it comes to the "best" price/performance ratio and Desktop ONLY, im with you, the M2 Pro Mac Mini is amazing. But otherwise... the M1 Pro MacBook Pro in 16" at best or 14" if portability is that much of a concern (and the 16" is also ok in most backpacks) is the better value, but i guess it depends if you really also want the computer to be portable and usable standalone. I really love my 16" M1 Pro. Its like 40% used via USB-C hub on the desktop, 40% mobile on battery and 20% on the TV via HDMI. Absolutely amazing notebook AND desktop, all it could not replace was the gaming system yet.
i spend over 6 months watching all MacMini M2 videos all around RU-vid, and i must say, you are the one who actually give legit information that will help me to purchase one that i want. I appreciate your videos.
I went with the M2 Pro mac mini with 32 GB of RAM and 1TB. I know it’s a bit unreasonable but I just wanted to have extra room to work with on the internal storage going forward. Also I like that the mac mini is small and the idea that I can take it in a backpack as opposed to the studio. I also paired with the Apple studio display. This setup was the culmination of years of hoping to get that kind of setup one day.
I bought a used maxed or pretty close to maxed out M1 Mac Mini. It’s been stellar. I switched from a 2010 Mac book pro that was on its last leg. Very happy with my purchase. Let’s see if it lasts 11 years!
Bought the base M2 Pro a few weeks ago plus a refurb Apple Studio display. Cracking set up. Well pleased. I also sold my Intel Air and got a refurbed M1 MB Air with base SSD and 16 GB of RAM. Two machines that are going to last me a long time I think.
I think you are right, the M2 pro Mac mini is a perfect Mac for the price. The extra ports, Blutooth, the speed is great. I did go for the 1TB ssd as the 500GB was a bit slower on access speeds (probably not noticeable for most people). Paired with an Apple Studio monitor, it's like the replacement for the 27inch iMac which I had for many years.
This is my conundrum now. I've been using a 2017 27inch iMac - 32GB RAM and now it's too old to update, so am considering purchasing the M2Pro / 1TB SSD / 32GB RAM and use my 27 inch iMac as my screen. I knew RAM was important but didn't realise the internal SSD was important too from swap. Just learned this while researching for this next purchase.
I am using a Mac mini M2 Pro/16GB and I see the famous beach ball in routine work. Even in Finder marking and copying 100 files takes a while to "initialize" the copy, before copying the files.
Recently ordered this (based on info from your others videos about it). I did upgrade mine to 32GB ram, but as you say, if you know, you know. I don't understand people who compare it to, the MacBook Pro 14. Agree so much regard it being a desktop and SSDs. I hate pluging in/out things of laptops, but with desktops that's noe issue, so I'll just be bringing over my old external SSDs from my 2019 iMac. Thanks for all the videos!
@@emilsecker7881 I've always gotten iMac because it was the only reasonable way to get a powerful desktop with a good screen from Apple. At the same time, I've always been frustrated by not being able to plug-in my work laptop (the pre-retina iMac did allow that, but not the retina ones). Now that the Mac Mini M2 Pro came out I finally got an option for a reasonable spec mac that connects to an external screen. (I *have* noticed my iMac getting slower, but that might be because I've installed so much crap on it haha). Main reason is the flexibiluty of connecting a laptop! Not that I'll be complaining about the performance of the M2 chip, espescially the single thread perf. That's going to be a big jump!
I bought it last month and I'm very happy with it, My old M1 was just not cutting it for the way I needed to use it, browser tabs locking up on me and not enough memory for the way I needed to use it, so I went right out and bought the M2 Pro with 3 years of Applecare, (recommended) and then I put the old M1 in my bedroom as my bedtime story machine, networked it to the M2 out in the living room with the 72tb disk array and I have so much more capability now. The M2 has no problem driving my 32" and 70" monitors. Also if you are in Second Life the M2 will blow you away. Much less lag and you can go dancing in any of the popular clubs, even Fogbound and Muddy's.
Great little machine! i just wish it was in Space Gray to distinguish it from the regular Mac Mini, like the Intel version was. Other than that, it's no contest in comparing it to the Studio thanks to HDMI 2.1 which the Studio currently doesn't have.
You convinced me. I was ready to pull the trigger on a M1 Max Studio base spec, but I think I'll save a couple hundred and go with this base spec. New/aspiring RU-vidr who's still in the early stages of figuring all this out, so I really appreciate your channel. I've come to rely on your content quite a bit. Thanks a lot for all that you do!
Great review! I am a graphic designer who is still working with a 27” mac and I am ready to upgrade. I don't do video editing, only Adobe Creative Suite apps for now. I hope the M2 Pro Mac mini will do the trick for me.
I had been using my 16" M1 MBP (1TB, 16GB) as my my desktop and laptop workhorse. But I noticed I was almost always nearly out of Ram. I waited and waited for the updated Mac Mini but Apple was too slow to the mark. I picked up a Mac Studio, base model and couldn't be happier. It is noticeably faster then the MBP. The additional ports are a very welcome plus. It would be interesting to see a real world comparison between the M2 Mini Pro and the base model Mac Studio. If Apple doesn't upgrade/update the Studio, I am not really bothered. This machine will last me for quite a few more years.
Not sure if you use it on wifi, but I bought a MacMini M2 16/256gb and the wifi is terrible. There is forums on the Apple site of everyone complaining about poor wifi. I agree it loads apps and works very quick. My wifi was so bad I took it to Apple and they are replacing the logic board after 4 weeks of use. Not sure if it’s going to fix the problem, 7 days before I get it back.
Mac Studio still has a place. Look at the price gap between the base Mini and base Mac Pro, it's as wide as Pacific Ocean. And the fully spec'ed up Mini Pro is still stuck at the M-Pro level processor, Not Max or Ultra.
Thank you, Mark. Exactly the information I needed exactly when I needed it. I need the extra ports but didn't want to spend the extra money to get a Macbook Pro M2 Max. I'm glad I waited for this.
The Mac mini pro will be my next computer. I'm using an M1 Mac mini currently, and as Davinchi Resolve adds more features (like the beta relighting effect), I find myself needing more power.
I bought a 12 core with 32GB & 1TB. Using an Acasis with a WD 850 2TB SSD, and Acasis 16 port USB 3 switched extender & a CalDigit TS4, for more I/O & 3 screens.
Good review. The specs of this mac mini is great. I bought my partner this same model. He was debating the Studio but we went with this. THe specs are great, 512 SSD, 16 GB RAM, 10 core CPU and GPU etc. We paired it with the magic mouse and keyboard, and got the Studio display and that display is NICE and there are no slowdowns, hiccups with the OS Ventura and he loves it, it is smooth as butter browsing online, watching videos at 4K and yeah this little machine is great!
For me the 2012 mini is closest to perfect for my needs. I don't need mac OS, and I put in 16G of memory strips left over from dead 2013 imac. Though the M2 is generations ahead, the i5 3210M has an efficient-enough TDP. Debian likes it just fine.
Some US big box stores now sell certain M2 Pro configurations with a $150 or more discount. This offsets the cost of addl. upgrades (RAM, SSD) by 75% ...
First.. great video! I currently using a 2020 intel i7 6-core with 32gigs ram + 1tb ssd. I'm using it mainly for music production logic pro x. My projects are demanding with 150+ tracks virtual instruments like Kontakt / Spire / u-he Zebra / sylenth etc.. I have this setup for 3 years now and unfortunately freezing tracks is a common event. I hope that upgrading to a mac mini m2 pro 32gig 1tb will solve this ptoblem. I'm heading for the 10 cpu instead of the 390euro more expensive 12cpu version.
Excellent review - and just the info I needed to help the decision making process! Also, can you please tell me which silver dock you are using under the Mini in the review? Many thanks!
M2 pro mini base configuration paired with Apple studio display it’s just perfect I will stick to it until the m3 max Mac Studio comes out because I want to opt to 64gb of ram
Great informative video. What docking station are you using in the video? It doesn’t appear to be the same one in your links. I like the small foot print with the ports in the front as seen in your video. Thanks a bunch.
I do about 25% video and 75% photo manipulation. Coming from a PC, I'm always thinking about more RAM. I have 64GB currently. So when I see this Mac Mini Pro and 16gb of RAM, I hesitate. What's your take? I mainly use LRC and PS..
if you use apple silicon tech paired with final cut or other optimized software your 16ram feels like 64 on a windows pc. Honestly for the use you describe go for 32 ram and you wont ever feel a hickup, I do photo editing while doing video editing, watching videos, etc and never experience any problems or slow down.
I'm also on the fence between this and an M1 Max MBP 14". I rarely travel but when I do it would be nice to take it, but couldn't I supplement with an M2 Air or an iPad? (Considerations). Would be awesome if they'd update the Studio (the spiritual successor to the Cube). I'll wait another month or two and see what transpires before pulling the trigger. Thank you for this video.
Subscribed! Great videos... I have the new Mac Mini M2 Pro 1TB/32GB Ram dedicated to music production w/ Logic Pro X & Ableton Live. Q? When you start your Mac mini, do you have a lag upon logging in where the keyboard, trackpad or mouse is un responsive to input and takes a while to become responsive ? Also, does your monitor flicker adjusting it self before login? I'm coming from an older iMac 5K 27" where there was zero lag with external bluetooth devices with immediate responsiveness and no screen flicker. Just trying to found out if this is normal behavior for Mac Mini w/ Apple Studio Display. Any info would be greatly appreicated.
THey really need to update the MacStudio. It's bad with it's always running fans (especially when total unable to cleanout dust) and performance wise for me as a software developer it's just as fast as the M2 Pro Mac Mini
Great review, it was like a warm fire and mug of cocoa - comforting, as it is the direction I am thinking of going in. Are you sure though that the 512gb drive is sufficient for all the apps you would want to use, plus what are peoples thoughts on it running Lightroom Classic and Photoshop?
I want to buy the Mac Pro mini your talking about, but here is my problem, I am in a wheelchair and can’t sit at a monitor, however, what if I use portable, handheld monitors everywhere, one at a time or must I always be cabled in? I chose this Mac because your video convinced me.
I spec’d tons of Mac minis over the years for clients in AV but will always max the RAM at purchase with these unified ones, certain sample and virtual instruments use over 16gb with a few instances! I cannot have clients complaining they are maxed out with a brand new machine.
Yeah I treated myself to a Mac mini pro with 32gb of ram, got carried away on the monitor as I went for the Mac Studio as I could not resist it, hay ho. Anyway I have absolutely no complaints it's a blinder of a little Mac, using external storage as it's cheeper.
The only thing I'm against is onboard soldered storage ssd. Ssd's do fail, and yes you can add external storage, but it's not as fast. So if the ssd fails outside of warranty, your left with an expensive paperweight, or put up with slower system using an external drive. I hate this greed of not letting the consumer who has shelled out a lot of money, to be handcuffed by apple into not being able to replace or upgrade parts.
I am about to get the Mac Studio Max base model, from all the 100's of reviews I have watched ,it apparently is still better for video editing and just seems to be the Best Buy... Have you even tried the Studio? So many say it still is better for FCPX, has many ports and SD slot plus 10 gigabit Ethernet already?
Great video - but your setup seems to make use of Mac Mini separate connect box too - is that a must have addition (and cost) to complete this 'perfect choice' mac?
Hello … excellent review but you didn’t say anything about the read / write speed to SSD … my understanding is that the M2 pro Mac Mini with 512 Gb SSD uses only 1 NAND chip making it twice as slow as the same with 1T which uses two 512 NAND chips … same situation for M2 Mac Mini … 256 Gb base model twice as slow as 512 GB upgrade due to 1 vs two chips … with this in mind isn’t it worth going for 1T on Mac Mini M2 Pro? You get both double the space and double the SSD speed. Thanks 🙏
Unfortunately I avoid social media like genital warts. So Instagram is out of the question for me...never mind eh ? But good review as usual. My M1 Mini with no BT dropouts and with 16Gb and 1 TB is plenty for me although I am tempted by the Mini M2 pro......
You have an Apple keyboard (7:19) without Touch ID. Does your M2 (and your old M1) work with a keyboard that has Touch ID? Didn't know that in GB you say “touch wood” instead of “knock on wood” (7:14). In Germany, we have the same saying, but we use "knock".
The question for me isn't about how they operate today, it's more about a year or two down the road. As we know you can't upgrade Mac mini, what you buy is what you have. If you buy a basic Mac mini tomorrow with upgraded unified memory 16GB and upgrade the SSD to 512GB. How long can you expect that machine to stay relevant. I get I'm asking one of those questions similar to how long is a piece of string.
put it this way: I have friends who have the 2020 Mac Mini M1 with 8GB of RAM. those machines are still running Logic Pro X with plugins and virtual instruments with zero issues and lag. that’s how good these m1 / m2 chips are. i’m running Logic Pro, iZotope / Fab Filter plug-ins, Octane virtual instruments, DaVinci Resolve, a Web Cam with filters on the Mac Mini Pro…. the machine never uses more than 11Gb of RAM. i’d say it’s good for another 5-10 years
Hi Mark! I am a Music producer and right now my main machine is a M1 Mac Mini with 16gb ram and 512gb ssd (using a separat ssd with it) I have a few questions :-) 1. Is the the new M2 pro Mac Mini a big jump in performens compared to the M1 Mac Mini and is the M2 pro at better choice for someone making music then the Mac studio max ?
Hi how does editing performance compete to the max chip or the M1 Pro? Also all test shows music production to be same as older model but they don’t push it with plug ins what are your findings? Thanks
Thanks for addressing many of my lingering concerns about the M2 Pro! I'd heard (other youtube videos) that there were issues with 512GB drive write speeds... and that getting the 1GB solved this 'problem.' True? No? As a photo retoucher I tend to work off external drives anyway... so maybe I can get the 512 and be fine!? Thoughts?
i’ve had zero issues with the 512GB drive write speeds, it is lightning fast. stop watching benchmark videos and go and buy the Mac Mini Pro. it’s a beast
Is it my imagination or did the prices for the Mac Minis drop over the last year or 2? I think last time I looked at the prices a while back the Mac Minis seemed more expensive.
really interesting video again ! just one question ...for music production is not be better to upgrade to 32 GB version of M2 pro ? i watched , all your previous videos about it...but, i would to be sure about the 32 GB option ...
@@MarkEllisReviews ok, you know i'm using plug in from Native instrument, so a lot a heavy samples, or Omnisphere ...nothing really crazy but, quite heavy...So, for you for theese kind of stuffs , 16 GB are enough on M2 pro ? actually my set up is an old PC, I 5 dual core , 16GB on Windows 10 : and you can imagine it's a real nightmare, with a lot of crash and issues. And it's a real budget to consider to change ,and i don't want to make any mistake. A big THX for your time and your precious advices, Mark.
Mark, your guidance on M2 Pro Mac Mini has been invaluable! Let your fans know that Costco is now selling them for just $1,100. The Apple Studio Display is only $1,350 there so I just bought both at Best Buy since they do Price Matching. Thanks again for all your help. You were born to do this and you're great at it.
Another great production Mark, could I ask with regards to the M1 Mac Mini giveaway, I'm not on Instagram and likely there are others in this position, is there a way that we can get into the mix for the M1 Mac Mini. Thanks
Thanks John. And I'm afraid I'll be keeping it to Instagram (ease of running the giveaway to be brutally honest - and the desire to build my audience on there!).
Hi Mark. I notice in another video you mention the MB pro 14 as the only Mac youll ever need. And you briefly mention it here as a contender. Recently Apple has refurbished MB pro 14 for £1450. Apart from one being fixed and the other portable, are there any other reasons the mini pro wins? Thanks.
A while ago I commented that I can’t see apple releasing an M3 Mac in 2023. But I realised after mark replied that he was highly confident they would. That Mark has contacts within the industry and likely within apple, although even if he knew what M3 products were due this year I’m sure a NDA would prevent him publicly saying anything. So that leaves me with one dilemma do I just buy the entry spec M2pro Mac mini now or am I going to really regret it within a few months because a similarly priced M3 Mac of some sort is going to be released and be quicker!. I’m thinking or the M3 will be some super Mac Pro that’s X times more expensive than the Mac mini meaning it wouldn’t even be a consideration!. Yea I just don’t want to buy the mini pro and then august time a new m3 iMac releases for the same ish price but is more powerful!.
@@TheGconrad hey yea this is where apple shoots themselves in the foot well feet, and I suspect is one of the reasons apple has suffered their biggest ever drop in Mac sales this year of over 40% down!. Because people don’t want to spend £1,400 only to find within six months a newer better same price or cheaper equivalent has been released!. It’d. Be the equivalent of Sony releasing say the FX3 and then six months later releasing a £800 camera with better specs. Actually they did do that just the Other week, with the what is it the zv e1. That makes the A7s3 redundant and has better features than their flagship £8000 song A1 camera. Which as you expect severely pissed off a lot of Sony customers leading them to state they’ll never buy Sony again!. Apple needs to be careful, keep pissing off customers and eventually they’ll go elsewhere. I refuse to buy the m2 pro Mac mini only to find yea in august it’s superseded with something better and cheaper or same price.
I’m curious why you think they won’t update the Studio with M2 or even M3. Do you think there will be a Mac Pro with ARM finally introduced and they’ll just drop the Studio? Anything in particular making you think this? (Gut feelings are fine; I use them all the time. :) )
Yes, I don't know or see why it would not be updated. From what I am seeing around me, Mac Studios have replaced Mac Pros, and all of the owners I know are very happy about it. I honestly do think that they will be updated. I am less confident about the Mac Pro though: what can it really bring to the table if you cannot upgrade the SSD or the RAM, if you cannot add any dedicated video card because of the M architecture? Is it the reason why the Mac Pro is now so late? Will it simply be cancelled?
Apple Mac mini's are in the consumer / desktop part of the grid. I would say that small content creators are prosumer's. The Mac mini M2 Pro is perfect for this group. Would say go as large as you can. Always talk about the cost. My $ 2,500.00 US 1984 Apple Mackintosh would now cost me $ $7,339.79 in January 2023 US dollars. A maxed out Apple M2 Pro with 12‑core CPU, 19-core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine, 32GB unified memory, 8TB SSD storage, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Four Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI port, two USB‑A ports, headphone jack at $ 4,499.00 US would still cost far less than my original 1984 Apple Mackintosh adjusted for inflation. So stop all this talk about how much it costs you.
512GB of storage on a machine that has a M2 PRO is not ok. Apple should start with 1TB on any mac they sell , especially because of the fact that since 2016 they've been soldering the SSDs onto the motherboards and Also overpricing the storage by 4x compared to any SSD on the market.... ABOMINATION! :|:|:|
Mark please help me with this, i bought the mac mini m2 pro 12 cores 19 gpu, and i have a lot of problems with logic pro x, is lagging, having crashes, not working well and I did reinstall the software but i'm still having the same issues, now i see that you are not having any problem at all, maybe you have some ideas on what to do.
Could be so many things, mate - particularly when it comes to Logic Pro. I'd start by removing all your third-party plug-ins (assuming you're using some) and reinstall one by one until you find the culprit. If that doesn't fix it, have a chat with Apple.
M2 Pro Mac Mini is certainly a big improvement over earlier Minis. But there are still problems: -no upgrades -weak GPU -cannot run Windows properly -bad for games -bad for 3D modeling - *WAY* overpriced M2 Pro Mac Mini is basically a disposable computer, for over $2000 USD.
@@MarkEllisReviews You forget that for many *YEARS* Mac owners had Boot Camp, and they could run nearly 100% of Windows software perfectly. M1 and M2 puts an end to all of that. The Windows software ecosystem is pretty much light-years ahead of Mac. Windows has 90% market share. The whole world prefers Windows.
@@MarkEllisReviews That is funny! You are clearly not American with your writing style. I live in California, not far from Apple Computer world headquarters. Most people here view Apple with contempt, and prefer to run super-fast and super-affordable Windows PCs. Lately there have been some monster video cards released from AMD and NVidia. Too bad that Mac owners will never have access to that kind of power.