Apple Mac Mini Desktop w/ M4 Chip, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD

spec2

Mar 22, 2025 9:39 PM

1.2K Comments

Joined Feb 2009

spec2Mar 22, 2025 9:39 PM

1.2K Comments

Quote from spec2

:

For $500 you'd be hard pressed to find a better performing PC in a compact case. The least expensive Dell desktop is $550 right now. It does have 250GB more RAM but only an i5 proc., no Thunderbolt 4 and I don't know how many X times bigger footprint. ]

Quote from Zetroc

:

Damn that's a lot of RAM.

Yup. Sadly it was a typo.

trrbo

Mar 22, 2025 9:43 PM

372 Comments

Joined Aug 2016

trrboMar 22, 2025 9:43 PM

372 Comments

Quote from joday

:

Curious how the base model would do with photo editing. I'm not sure how the base CPU/RAM specs would do with some of the larger RAW files coming out of the Canon R5. I have a Mac desktop from maybe 5-7 years ago that really chunks with them.

It's fine. My m4 iPad edits my 65-70 mb Sony a7rv raw files fine in LR. So can an m1, or an m4 Mac

Last edited by trrbo March 22, 2025 at 02:49 PM.

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spec2

Mar 22, 2025 9:44 PM

1.2K Comments

Joined Feb 2009

spec2Mar 22, 2025 9:44 PM

1.2K Comments

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank spec2

Quote from PFVelocity

:

Never had a Mac mini before so I'm curious, right out of the box, there is no mouse/keyboard, do I have to have a wired keyboard/mouse in order to set up the wireless keyboard/mouse??

In a perfect world, no, but we are dealing with computers here. Apple's wireless mice, trackpads, and keyboards are usually detected at first boot and asked if you want to pair. 3rd party's is more of a dice roll, especially if they have their own software. I use Apple's trackpad and keyboard but keep an old wired set around for this purpose.

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trrbo

Mar 22, 2025 9:46 PM

372 Comments

Joined Aug 2016

trrboMar 22, 2025 9:46 PM

372 Comments

Quote from PowerfulSuit190

:

Any recommendations for a screen, possibly which I can carry around easily, within home and travel.

IPad Pro 13"

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ys12

Mar 22, 2025 10:06 PM

19 Comments

Joined Jan 2018

ys12Mar 22, 2025 10:06 PM

19 Comments

Quote from joday

:

Curious how the base model would do with photo editing. I'm not sure how the base CPU/RAM specs would do with some of the larger RAW files coming out of the Canon R5. I have a Mac desktop from maybe 5-7 years ago that really chunks with them.

I recently moved to one of these from a 2017 iMac (i7, 40gb ram) and it's noticeably better at handling my 42mp RAW files in Photoshop. Just make sure to use a fast external SSD as the internal storage will fill up quickly with programs/cache.

The_Flash

Mar 22, 2025 10:11 PM

313 Comments

Joined Mar 2004

The_FlashMar 22, 2025 10:11 PM

313 Comments

I've been a PC user since the early 90s and picked an M4 Pro up for editing purposes. This is a superb little device that is more than enough for all the creative work I do. The $500 for a base model is an exceptional value.

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CTRL-ALT-DEALS

Mar 22, 2025 10:21 PM

7.6K Comments

Joined Sep 2014

CTRL-ALT-DEALSMar 22, 2025 10:21 PM

7.6K Comments

Quote from masterz13

:

Use the 256 as your OS/main apps drive and an external USB-C drive for data. You can get an external 1TB drive for $90-100 (though they're only like 1000MB/s speed).

This is the way.

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CTRL-ALT-DEALS

Mar 22, 2025 10:27 PM

7.6K Comments

Joined Sep 2014

CTRL-ALT-DEALSMar 22, 2025 10:27 PM

7.6K Comments

Quote from needgeech

:

Good deal PM at BB. Thanks OP. Hope it pairs well with that $499 48" B4 I was needing a use for

It will, that's an amazing TV that also makes an amazing monitor for the price point.

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qqsubs

Mar 22, 2025 10:28 PM

1.5K Comments

Joined Apr 2013

qqsubsMar 22, 2025 10:28 PM

1.5K Comments

Quote from flynreelow

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but then you are stuck with a Windows PC that will be a dinosaur after just a few years.

Wut? My desktop has an i3 from 2014. Only ever turns off when there's a power outage. Primarily used as a storage device and photo/video processing. Whisper quiet.

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blahbooboo2

Mar 22, 2025 11:02 PM

2.5K Comments

Joined Jan 2019

blahbooboo2Mar 22, 2025 11:02 PM

2.5K Comments

Quote from robj144

:

I understand foks like Apple, but this miniPC has a faster CPU:

https://www.amazon.com/Beelink-PC...r=8-9&th=1

It also has upgradable RAM and NVME, but it comes with 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB NVME.

Interesting, this says otherwise.

https://nanoreview.net/en/cpu-com...n-7-8845hs

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SmartHaddock3847

Mar 22, 2025 11:09 PM

1.2K Comments

Joined Dec 2020

SmartHaddock3847Mar 22, 2025 11:09 PM

1.2K Comments

this is more computer than most of you will ever need

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Medic311

Mar 22, 2025 11:57 PM

30.2K Comments

Joined Oct 2010

Medic311Mar 22, 2025 11:57 PM

30.2K Comments

Quote from masterz13

:

Use the 256 as your OS/main apps drive and an external USB-C drive for data. You can get an external 1TB drive for $90-100 (though they're only like 1000MB/s speed).

what cloud backup service do you use for the data stored on the external drive?

dehchoppa

Mar 23, 2025 12:40 AM

352 Comments

Joined Nov 2012

dehchoppaMar 23, 2025 12:40 AM

352 Comments

There's some shenanigans how the Macs only support a single transcode at a time. I've been keeping this in the back of my mind for a cheaper "compute" node instead of building a rack-mounted machine, but I'd like to fully understand all the limitations that Mac + ARM arch bring across the variety of server softwares

Hyrax

Mar 23, 2025 1:13 AM

4.4K Comments

Joined Aug 2012

HyraxMar 23, 2025 1:13 AM

4.4K Comments

Copilot + laptops sound amazing. I'd get that over this.

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masterz13

Mar 23, 2025 1:41 AM

5.2K Comments

Joined Dec 2009

masterz13Mar 23, 2025 1:41 AM

5.2K Comments

Quote from Medic311

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what cloud backup service do you use for the data stored on the external drive?

None. If you're worried about that, just get a second drive and set up some kind of backup application.

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Apple Mac Mini Desktop w/ M4 Chip, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD

$499

$599

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