Mac Mini or Mac Studio? Help me choose.

[Chris_911]

Time to replace my 27" iMac.
I'm looking at a Mac Mini or Mac Studio.
Needs to handle large amounts of images, and an increasing amount of video rendering, using Davinci Resolve.

Absolute max of £3k plus a new display (probably circa £550), although I'd like to spend closer to £2k for the Mac alone.

The max I'm looking at is the Mac Studio, M2 Max, 12 core CPU, 38 core GPU, 64GB RAM, 1TB SSD £2899
Or
Mac Mini M2 Pro, 12 core CPU, 19 core GPU, 32 GB RAM, 1TB SSD £2299

Is the Studio worth the extra? M2 Max chip vs M2 Pro, 38 core GPU vs 19 core GPU.

Am I going to be blown away by the performance of the Studio, or will the Mini impress as much?
Can' decide - looking for guidance please!

 

[Abdichoudxyz]

I think for video rendering etc, then the more powerful machine should offer faster performance. Obviously the 38 core GPU will have more tiny little computery bits* doing more work, so, better. TheMini will probably be just fine for all sorts of tasks; I've down 4k video work on my M1 iMac which is a lot lower spec, but I don't work intensively with video so it's an occasional thing. You're still at the 'lower' end of hardware for video work though; the higher spec Studio and the MacPro are more machines professionals would go for, but they are far, far more expensive. I think the new M2 MacPro is over £7000 or something. For your £3k budget though, a Studio would push things way over that, so perhaps you should be only looking at the MacMini. It'll be fine really; it's all down to how quickly you need to get results. I know people still using Intel Macs from 5+ years ago, for professional video work. If you're being required to produce broadcast/movie standard results like yesterday, then you need to up your budget considerably. If you're not under such pressure, then no need to go mad. Bear in mind that video production software will become ever more demanding of resources as time goes on, so worth considering 'future proofing'.

And don't, whatever you do, look at the Apple displays. Because you will want one immediately and they are very expensive....

*It's a technical term. It has to do with gigathings and megawhatsits. And sewing, I think....

 

[Tdes]

I use a Mac book pro, the original M1, 13", 512/16gb ram. I always shoot in 4k, usually have multiple layers in premier pro on a 1080 timeline, synchronising clips (multi camera), scaling, colour grading etc. Graphics and lower thirds etc from after effects, and don't feel the need for anything more powerful. It does everything I need it to do quickly and without issues.

One thing I learnt was to have the app on the internal ssd, the footage on an external fast ssd and the cache on another external fast ssd. I only have two ports so use a OWC TB4 hub and use sands extreme pro ssd's (1tb for cache and 4tb for footage, then archive off when project is finished). I have a friend with a 16" MBP M1 pro with 1tb/32gb ram and he struggles with the same files, I think it is because he runs it all off the internal ssd.

I think it is more about setup rather than actual machine once you are in the 'M' range of apple.

If it were me, I would consider 512 ssd and put the rest towards fast external drives.

 

[Chris_911]

Decision made.
Thanks for your help guys.
I have ordered a Mac Studio - the basic spec with just an upgrade to the SSD.
Planning on using my existing Retina 5K screen as a monitor initially.

 

[ecoleman]

Decision made.
Thanks for your help guys.
I have ordered a Mac Studio - the basic spec with just an upgrade to the SSD.
Planning on using my existing Retina 5K screen as a monitor initially.

What version is your imac? Newer models no longer support Target Display mode and can not be used as screens on the Studio.

iMac as monitor for Mac Studio - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

 

[Chris_911]

What version is your imac? Newer models no longer support Target Display mode and can not be used as screens on the Studio.

iMac as monitor for Mac Studio - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

There are two solutions out there.
One is quite invasive - it involves basically gutting the machine and installing a screen driver board.
The other is a dongle solution - so completely non-invasive. I have ordered this and will test it with my MacBook. User reports are good so long as an ethernet connection is used.

 

[Nikon f1.8]

Decision made.
Thanks for your help guys.
I have ordered a Mac Studio - the basic spec with just an upgrade to the SSD.
Planning on using my existing Retina 5K screen as a monitor initially.

Good choice, more ports than the mini. I have the M1 Pro and it is a flying machine. You will not be disappointed in its performance although I do not do any video work just graphic design.