Mac mini M1 16 gb?

gnoop · May 2021

I see lots of positive opinions about it. Octane render make a free version that people says runs on it . Blender works too. Wonder if it's same useless toy as before or something you can work on while traveling?

thomasp · May 2021

The Mini has never been a useless toy IMO. At least not since they ditched the IBM processors. I don't see how it would be much use for work on the go. You need monitor, keyboard, power to put it to use.

I have three Macs still running here but given the shift to custom SSDs, no more RAM upgrade options, lack of useful connectors and rapidly increasing prices I would nowadays no longer choose an Apple for anything. It was a cool decade on Intel though and I still very much prefer their OS. As for the speed advantages - at least in the past those have proven temporary.

So thanks but no thanks - user choice and repair-ability wins in the end.

gnoop · May 2021

I have 2015 i5 mini and it has allays been a totally useless toy. Slow as hell with always not enough RAM and non existing gpu.

As of working on the go I can't imagine I would suddenly need a computer in the middle of nowhere , living under a tent in a desert . I understand somebody would need but just not me. I rather need a solution that would suite a kind of nomad style of living from one airnbnb apartment to another , while traveling abroad etc. There is usually always a tv or something to connect. Besides people say mini could be connected to ipad through some third party solution. ( I never tried it although) Wile notebook I tried , not super expensive although, always have overheating issues and drops to be super slow quickly . Mini has more or less working air circulation at least.

With it's new M1 processor and in build gpu + shared ram I wonder would it be a difference?

Does Substance Designer work on apple m1 ?

My whole curiosity is because of this https://apps.apple.com/us/app/octane-x/id1548355081

They say it works on M1

poopipe · May 2021

I'd wait for app vendors to confirm support for things I need personally.

The M1 on paper is a much, much better idea for small form factor/mobile computing than the current Intel/amd mobile chips but you do run the risk of architecture related bugs in all sorts of software going from x64 to arm.

My gut says that intel and AMD will have big/little designs out to market by the time the M1 has verified support for everything we care about which will mean we're looking at similar performance/power draw ratios from them.

For your suggested use case I'd just buy one of the current higher-end gaming laptops - we know they work and they'll shit all over a mini in terms of performance

gnoop · May 2021

poopipe said:

For your suggested use case I'd just buy one of the current higher-end gaming laptops - we know they work and they'll shit all over a mini in terms of performance

Yeah, probably but everything I have seen was a huge , heavy and expensive of few grands 17 " laptops you need a special bag for and once it's 15" model reviews say it overheats and drops performance. I never understood why I need to take batteries and monitor with me while I rather prefer small tablet +pen and colorimeter that could make any random monitor you could find in rented place acceptable.

thomasp · May 2021

gnoop said:

I have 2015 i5 mini and it has allays been a totally useless toy. Slow as hell with always not enough RAM and non existing gpu.

As of working on the go I can't imagine I would suddenly need a computer in the middle of nowhere , living under a tent in a desert . I understand somebody would need but just not me. I rather need a solution that would suite a kind of nomad style of living from one airnbnb apartment to another , while traveling abroad etc.

Let me get out my pedantic hat and just say that there is no 2015 Mini. 2012, 2014 and 2018 are the generations to pick from.

If 16 GB of RAM capacity were not enough for you in the past I don't think you should expect wonders from the new one. It looks good in benchmarks for now at any rate, apparently really fast at swapping to make up for the RAM. If you still want to do it you could just as well get the Macbook Air or the 13 inch MBP with that same chip and also great results in benchmarks and builtin monitor, etc.

As said I would stay away from nu-Apple and not plonk down all that money into these welded shut now fully custom machines. Any decent PC laptop or small form factor PC should suffice and you won't be chasing experimental builds of software for these and if something breaks its at least a manageable fix.

gnoop · May 2021

thanks thomasp perhaps mine is 2014 then. I found a few extra M1 reviews and looks like I7 laptops still beat m1 by a huge margin specially with mobile video-cards so that m1 is no miracle probably in any way except low power consumption . Perhaps that's why they are out of stocks , same as desktop video-cards and m1 mini is easily available right away.

thomasp · May 2021

2014 was non-upgradeable and i5 only I believe. All the other generations offer i5 or i7 CPUs and allow you to stick more RAM in there (up to 64 GB in the 2018) and the 2012 and previous allowed up to two internal drives. Now if you buy an M1 you have to outfit it at purchase time with the RAM and storage you envision you'll need over the lifetime of the machine. At Apple prices that's no fun. Not repairable either from the looks of it - all the thirdparty repair shops I know of do not work on the newer style models including some newer Intels.

Anyway, if you are keen on the form factor there's alternatives like this: https://www.storagereview.com/review/hp-z2-mini-g5-workstation-review . Probably others as well.

gnoop · May 2021

thanks thomasp that HP thing looks nice

Mac mini M1 16 gb?

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