M4 Mac mini

[rvyne7]

Something seems wrong with this. Is the memory usage too high because he's running some sort of program, or is that how the M4 runs normally?

 

[fatfatcon]

MacOS proactively manages RAM by reassigning it as needed, rather than letting it idle when there's low demand from running applications.

 

[twosix]

With Sequoia, mac will allocate all memory to apps. This is different in the past macOS. I have 32gb ram in my mactel mini. In the past will have 20gb+ free but now all allocated to apps. Why, I did not Google to check.

 

[fatfatcon]

yea

With Sequoia, mac will allocate all memory to apps. This is different in the past macOS. I have 32gb ram in my mactel mini. In the past will have 20gb+ free but now all allocated to apps. Why, I did not Google to check.

I think this approach is better, as it allows the RAM to be used more effectively.
When other applications are open, the RAM will be dynamically allocated, which is a more efficient use of resources.
Overall, I find this setup to be preferable to having the RAM idle and unused.

 

[twosix]

yea

I think this approach is better, as it allows the RAM to be used more effectively.
When other applications are open, the RAM will be dynamically allocated, which is a more efficient use of resources.
Overall, I find this setup to be preferable to having the RAM idle and unused.

Well, i dun see any out of memory errors. I also believe that idle ram is wasted ram.

 

[Singrish]

Just ignore the troll. He said want to buy with 10gbe port somemore. Haha.

Clearly a troll as you pointed out. Telltale sign is that he’s never used a mac before yet making bold statements as if its from his real life experience

 

[rvyne7]

that's lesson learned.. always used of low memory usage on windows when idle specially not running chrome lol

 

[stanlawj]

Clearly a troll as you pointed out. Telltale sign is that he’s never used a mac before yet making bold statements as if its from his real life experience

I guess owning Apple products for so long, somehow makes you *feel* superior.
There's at least two such persons here. Maybe you should all chill out and recall this HWZ forum for geeks and we are just geeking out about products. Nothing philosophical or any attachment about Apple for me.

More reports:
Judging from the single heatpipe to the CPU (from Geekerwan's teardown), M4 Pro Mac Mini's are not designed to cool the CPU at max power dissipation ability. CPU temp will be pegged at >100 deg C if allowed to push to extreme.



Screenshot of CPU temp (with fan maxed out with TG Pro app) is available from Max Tech youtuber.


I'm beginning to see a pattern about how M4 Mac Minis are actually limited in design and performance to hit the target selling price while preserving Apple's profit margins. So, casual users are well-covered, pro users may hit the limits (hence the upsell for M4 Mac Studio).

read the comments..

1. Apple uses extra memory as cache, so it will always appear to use as much as possible (min 70%?).
This is the current understanding.

2. Only one person commented about Apple Intelligence needs:
"Last Friday I went to an apple intelligence event, and they explained that apple have raised up the base memory because of this (not for all of us complaining about this for years ). You need at least 8gb for it to work only. And in the future version it will need more ram to use the model locally. So it is always better to have more ram if you mind about AI."

Well, i dun see any out of memory errors. I also believe that idle ram is wasted ram.

Because you haven't started using Apple Intelligence. Also Final Cut Pro 11 just released with AI-powered features on Nov 13. More AI-powered features are coming to many apps in the future.

 

[stanlawj]

Just ignore the troll. He said want to buy with 10gbe port somemore. Haha.

Hello, who do you accuse as troll? It's rude.

Don't you know: Apple's 10Gbe port is multigigabit. It can also work at 2.5Gbps, 5Gbps (please prove me wrong if you think I'm wrong). Apple is kind enough to give you 10Gbps at $150 extra only instead of 2.5Gbps only like Intel mini pcs with highest CPU spec (not the N100, N200 kind).

Some calculation 1Gbps = 125MB/s
In contrast: HDD read speed = 200MB/s average.
That's dork slow.

10Gbps = 1.25GB/s
In contrast: PCIE Gen3 TLC SSD read speed = 3GB/s
Much faster than HDD, but still slower than SSD.

If you only have 256GB storage space in Mac Mini and need more space, you need to access a NAS over the 10G port or an external Thunderbolt/USB4 SSD directly attached to the TB ports.

If you are just a casual user, then you don't need the 10G port. Everything fits on the SSD, and you are fine with 125MB/s network data transfer.

Next, for resale, the M4 Mac Mini with 10G port will sell faster than with the 1G port and maybe recoup almost all the $150 value.

 

[Singrish]

Its nothing about feeling superior. Its just a joke that someone who has never used a mac before makes sweeping statements based on youtube videos.

 

[stanlawj]

Its nothing about feeling superior. Its just a joke that someone who has never used a mac before makes sweeping statements based on youtube videos.

What is the point of starting a thread on M4 Mac Mini?

• Only for Mac users who already own Macs?
• Or to also help Windows users to decide whether they should buy Mac Minis?

 

[stanlawj]

Servethehome reviews M4 Mac Mini and compares it to Windows mini PCs qualitatively.

 

[reddevil0728]

Servethehome reviews M4 Mac Mini and compares it to Windows mini PCs qualitatively.

if you are into the apple eco system. no amount of comparison will make a diff.

 

[Tukatuz]

Performance Comparison: Apple Final Cut Pro 11, Adobe Premiere Pro 25, & DaVinci Resolve 19.1
https://larryjordan.com/articles/pe...1-adobe-premiere-pro-25-davinci-resolve-19-1/

Final Cut is uses the least RAM while streaming 40 UHD ProRes 422 clips – at full resolution . Adobe the worse.

 

[stanlawj]

Performance Comparison: Apple Final Cut Pro 11, Adobe Premiere Pro 25, & DaVinci Resolve 19.1
https://larryjordan.com/articles/pe...1-adobe-premiere-pro-25-davinci-resolve-19-1/

Final Cut is uses the least RAM while streaming 40 UHD ProRes 422 clips – at full resolution . Adobe the worse.

What's good about this writer Larry Jordan is that he gives his recommendations in the included link (red font is highlighting the M4 base cpu case):
https://larryjordan.com/articles/configuring-an-m4-mac-for-video-editing/

M4 vs. M4 Pro vs. M4 Max

If you are a hobbyist, with a limited budget, or don’t edit that much, or principally need it for office work – web, word processing, spreadsheets, databases and the like – the M4 is TOTALLY perfect.

RAM

In the past, 16 GB of RAM was the minimum for video editing. The 8 GB that Apple shipped was OK for office applications, but far too limiting for editing. Today, with the new unified memory of M-series chips, I recommend 16 GB for straightforward editing regardless of frame size. I recommend more RAM for multicam editing or large frame sizes. The exception is Premiere which is much more RAM hungry than FCP or Resolve.

Again, based on my testing, you won’t see a significant improvement in media editing or rendering performance with more than 24 GB of RAM. Remember, all NLE software was designed to run in 8 GB of RAM. What more RAM gets you is larger cache files.

UPDATE: Based on my testing of Final Cut, Premiere and Resolve, systems with more RAM, but fewer GPU cores are not as fast as systems with relatively less RAM and more GPU cores. At a minimum, get 24 GB of RAM. Then, if you have to choose, buy more GPU cores before you buy more RAM.

Storage

Media files are gigantic. Regardless of how much internal storage you buy, you’ll need more. Rather than spend excessive dollars boosting internal storage, buy enough internal storage to give your system room to work, then supplement it with external storage.

UPDATE: The minimum internal storage I recommend for media is 1 TB. Yes, you can get away with 512 GB but your space will be crunched sooner than you expect. At the high-end, I recommend 2 TB. For media, buying more internal storage than 2 TB is wasting money.

In my office, I have a Mac Studio with 2 TB internal, an external 8 TB SSD RAID, an external 48 TB HDD RAID, and a 160 TB HDD network server. And that’s just for me – you can never have enough storage.

Ethernet

Unless you have a network optimized for 10G, which requires a 10G switch, 10G server connections, and 10G cables, a 1G Ethernet port on the computer will be fine.

Because I like playing with blinking lights, my office network is optimized for 10G.

To Save Money – but still be productive editing video.

Mac mini
CPU: M4 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU
RAM: 16 GB
Storage: 1 TB
Price: $999.00 (US)

 

[stanlawj]

if you are into the apple eco system. no amount of comparison will make a diff.

Intel consumer CPU dept will be in deep shiat for another decade. Their consumer CPU development plan has been downgraded to just more of the same design.
That's why I'm checking out Macs.

 

[reddevil0728]

Intel consumer CPU dept will be in deep shiat for another decade. Their consumer CPU development plan has been downgraded to just more of the same design.
That's why I'm checking out Macs.

If you really want to change to Mac because of those reasons you need to embrace it and just try it for yourself.

No point feed yourself with those 101 reviews by 3rd party. Try it and seeing is believing

 

[Singrish]

What is the point of starting a thread on M4 Mac Mini?

• Only for Mac users who already own Macs?
• Or to also help Windows users to decide whether they should buy Mac Minis?

Both. And CONSTRUCTIVE debate is welcome but when someone who has never used a mac before goes around spreading fake news based on YouTube videos that’s a totally different ball game.

Yes fake news because your original post which triggered all of this said and i quote:

Basically, only one of the following:
1. web browsing + office productivity
2. Swift coding + emulation
3. Video editing
Cannot multitask with more than 1 of the above. Must minimise/eliminate the other two whenever pursuing any one.

24GB RAM is better. 256GB storage option need to have external SSD.

Basically M4 Mac Mini base model is your grandma's computer to use.

Which is fake news as many ppl who have actually used macs have pointed out, they have 16 or even 8 GB machines with no issues. I myself have had video encoding in the background on a 16 GB Intel MBP while my browser is running YouTube and im working on a spreadsheet.

And a 16GB machines is way too overkill for anyone’s grandma’s computer unless some random granny decides to run Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro or Xcode while doing other stuff.

And there are newbies around and the last thing we want is for them to read fake news & go oh wow so 16 GB is only enough for ah ma so i need at least 24 GB so maybe Mac isn’t that suitable since M4 Pro mac mini w default 24 GB costs significantly more than base M4.

 

[Singrish]

if you are into the apple eco system. no amount of comparison will make a diff.

And he wonders why he was called a troll.

 

[Singrish]

Apple fanboys love to be milked like cows. AAPL may be a better buy than M4 Mac.
I'm not an Apple sheep and will never be locked in by any ecosystem. So if you can't handle being pushed back a little, don't start a thread.

Thank you for confirming once again you’re a legit troll and not here to as you claim “consider switching to mac”. Why are ppl like you so free?

Stick to Windoze if you like. No one’s forcing you to switch. But why so free & toxic that you must take the trouble to pretend to be interested in switching to hide your real agenda?

Honestly since sh*t stirring is clearly your hobby, you would have more fun at EDMW.