- Mac mini review pro#
- Mac mini review software#
- Mac mini review professional#
- Mac mini review series#
In my experience with the 8GB M1 Mac mini, I wasn’t able to slow the machine down as I used it in during my typical workday.
Mac mini review professional#
The amount of memory is a concern for many users, especially for anyone who uses professional production software.
The M1 is offered with either 8GB or 16GB of RAM, and if you want 32GB or 64GB, you have to invest in the Intel-based model-or wait and see if Apple will release a SoC with more memory. One thing that I should address specifically about the SoC is its memory. If you want to learn more about the M1 and why an SoC makes Macs so fast, read this overview about the M1 SoC. They’ve been making SoCs for the iPhone and iPad for years. And Apple isn’t really new to all of this. Those components are now brought together on a single chip (the RAM is technically separate chips on the same package). Before the M1, Macs had separate chips for the processors, graphics, RAM, controllers, and more. Sure, Apple benefits business-wise by controlling as much as it can, but if Apple really didn’t care about the evolution of the Mac (as some longtime users believe, because iPhone), it wouldn’t make this change.Īpple calls the M1 a system on a chip (SoC).
Mac mini review software#
Apple wants to make hardware and software with features that can’t be achieved without fundamental changes. There are a lot of reason why Apple wants to switch, and for you, the user, the reason are good. But why should you care?Īpple doesn’t just switch chips for no good reason. Now, in 2020, Apple has started the two-year process to switch from Intel chips to its own. In 2005, Apple announced the transition from PowerPC to Intel processors. In the mid 1990s, Apple switched from Motorola 68000 processors to the PowerPC.
I'm excited at the future of Apple Silicon, yes, because everything we've seen so far suggests just what made iPhone such a juggernaut being brought to bear on Mac, but I'm also excited at just how much this first Mac mini M1 delivers on day one.Processor changes are not new to the Mac. Existing Intel Mac owners will likely be wowed at the performance comparisons newbies to the Mac ecosystem will get ample performance despite the slim sticker price. By putting this much potency into its most attainable Mac, Apple Silicon wastes no time in making its big pitch for the future. They seem like laughably small drawbacks to me, though. You should budget at least $899 to get the 16GB memory upgrade, too, since that's not something you can swap out for later, and you'll have to provide your own display and peripherals.
Mac mini review pro#
Sure, it'd be nice to be able to plug in more peripherals on the back, and I still wish Apple had a version of its wireless keyboard with a Touch ID sensor – and a cheaper version of the Pro Display XDR, for that matter. It's not hard to imagine another Mac mini with an even speedier SoC that addresses those absences on the current model.
Mac mini review series#
Apple says its expects the Apple Silicon transition to take about two years, and of course the M1 is only the first of a series of homegrown chipset designs. There's no doubt that it's on borrowed time, though. In its favor, though, are its four Thunderbolt 3 ports and support for up to three displays, its user-accessible memory slots, and the 10Gb ethernet option for those who need the very fastest network connection. It's $100 more expensive and, I suspect, its Core i5 processor will actually be slower at some of the media-focused tasks where the M1 shines. Finding something which doesn't play nicely with Rosetta 2, Apple's emulation system, is rare, at least for consumer-focused apps right now.įor the moment, the Intel version of the Mac mini is sticking around. As I found with the MacBook Air M1, it's worth checking the unofficial compatibility lists if there's particular software you can't do without. The list of apps with native Apple Silicon support keeps getting longer, too, albeit sometimes only in beta form.