The M4 Mac Mini basic spec looks good for a beginner producer/recording machine

It seems quite useful  I know 16gb is not much nowadays & a 256gb SSD but most people run Logic libraries off an external SSD & I think there are even reasonably priced external alternatives now that can be as quick as a regular internal  I’m not sure if it’s to do with the thunderbolt type usb C or whatever & this new memory type.

Would similarly be interested in folks thoughts as to what a suitable spec would be as I contemplate replacing the old PC and moving to Mac...

hollywoodrox said:

It seems quite useful  I know 16gb is not much nowadays & a 256gb SSD but most people run Logic libraries off an external SSD & I think there are even reasonably priced external alternatives now that can be as quick as a regular internal  I’m not sure if it’s to do with the thunderbolt type usb C or whatever & this new memory type.

The SSD is on a separate board now, so I expect we'll see third-party upgrades for internal storage.

That's useful to know, as the costs certainly ramp up very quickly if speccing higher memory levels

For giggles I had a play at speccing a maxed put m2 ultra studio... and decided to step away from the keyboard having reached about £20k price level lol

It's the insane upsell price and lack of modularity that puts me off sadly.  200 quid for an additional 256GB storage?  Nuts. 

Wife has one. Good little machine. 

Bod said:

hollywoodrox said:

It seems quite useful  I know 16gb is not much nowadays & a 256gb SSD but most people run Logic libraries off an external SSD & I think there are even reasonably priced external alternatives now that can be as quick as a regular internal  I’m not sure if it’s to do with the thunderbolt type usb C or whatever & this new memory type.

The SSD is on a separate board now, so I expect we'll see third-party upgrades for internal storage.

They've been on separate boards for various Mac models for a while - no third-party options as yet. That's because it's not a standard SSD, it's controllerless, completely different to the rest of the industry. 

As such, even if third-party models come out, they'll still be subject to the Apple Tax. It's highly unlikely, though, since Apple don't even sell upgrade units - the business model is "If you need an upgrade, just buy another computer".

Yes,  that's one of my potential concerns compared to the PC builds I've put together over the years where updated kit is straightforward...

But I do like the appeal of something small,  fast and less cluttered than my chunky old desktop and PC tower...

digitalscream said:

Bod said:

hollywoodrox said:

It seems quite useful  I know 16gb is not much nowadays & a 256gb SSD but most people run Logic libraries off an external SSD & I think there are even reasonably priced external alternatives now that can be as quick as a regular internal  I’m not sure if it’s to do with the thunderbolt type usb C or whatever & this new memory type.

The SSD is on a separate board now, so I expect we'll see third-party upgrades for internal storage.

They've been on separate boards for various Mac models for a while - no third-party options as yet. That's because it's not a standard SSD, it's controllerless, completely different to the rest of the industry. 

As such, even if third-party models come out, they'll still be subject to the Apple Tax. It's highly unlikely, though, since Apple don't even sell upgrade units - the business model is "If you need an upgrade, just buy another computer".

Oh, I didn't know that - thanks for the correction.  Definitely not buying one then :).  I watched teardown vids for the new mini and thought they'd changed direction to something upgradeable. 

Benm39 said:

Yes,  that's one of my potential concerns compared to the PC builds I've put together over the years where updated kit is straightforward...

But I do like the appeal of something small,  fast and less cluttered than my chunky old desktop and PC tower...

Well, you could do worse than one of these:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007325318580.html

I had one of their Intel variants - it was ace. Space for three SSDs (two NVMe, one SATA), nice and quiet...the only problem is that they become the centre of a mass of cables. At least, when you've got as many monitors and other peripherals as I do.

Yup,  mass of cables is what I want rid of hehe...

Benm39 said:

Yup,  mass of cables is what I want rid of hehe...

The good news, I guess, is that you can mount those mini PCs to the back of your monitor - I think they come with a VESA mounting plate.

The M4 base mini is a mind blower for your first Mac, you next option for recording is really the M2 Studio or Ultra,,,,which is a good price hike,

Will probably hold on to funds and see what comes in Spring around potential M4 Studio release possibility...

I wouldn't get the base spec.

16GB is OK (just) but I would definitely get, at a minimum, a 512GB drive, or ideally a 1TB.
Yes, you can get external storage.
It will eventually annoy.
I would get the 1TB drive every single time.

IMHO the sweet spot for most people will be 24GB/512GB (£999) or 32GB/1TB (£1399).

Have a look at this:

https://www.production-expert.com/production-expert-1/the-mac-mini-2024-vs-mac-studio-m1-ultra-how-apples-entry-level-desktop-holds-up-in-pro-audio

TLDR: For most people the processor speed isn't a huge deal if you are doing audio with plugins and VI's.
Nothing really taxes a computer that much, like it used to.
If you are doing video then sure, get a stacked Studio or Mac Pro, but for most people the Mini is more than fine.
All of the current machines are broadly fine for pro audio work.

I just bought a mint condition m1 Mac Mini with 
1TB SDD and 16GB RAM with 1 year return to base warranty for £575 (Hoxton Macs).

the rationale was they are still blazingly fast with Logic and had a large internal drive for a good price. Considered an M4 but it was pushing £1k after I’d got a large enough drive and RAM and I’d have to spend dosh on USB hubs etc.

marxski said:

I just bought a mint condition m1 Mac Mini with 
1TB SDD and 16GB RAM with 1 year return to base warranty for £575 (Hoxton Macs).

the rationale was they are still blazingly fast with Logic and had a large internal drive for a good price. Considered an M4 but it was pushing £1k after I’d got a large enough drive and RAM and I’d have to spend dosh on USB hubs etc.

I’ve looked at Hoxton macs at iMacs etc . My only worry with the mini is finding a cheap monitor that actually works with it like you get on an iMac 

The scaling issue on Macs is not really that big an issue. I know Apple want you to buy a 5k Studio monitor. 1440p will scale just fine. But 4K does not look that bad (soft fonts).
The 16GB M4 mac mini with 512GB (and external SSD) should do you fine for most home projects. You can always freeze tracks you are not working on to save on memory/CPU.

Axe_meister said:

The scaling issue on Macs is not really that big an issue. I know Apple want you to buy a 5k Studio monitor. 1440p will scale just fine. But 4K does not look that bad (soft fonts).
The 16GB M4 mac mini with 512GB (and external SSD) should do you fine for most home projects. You can always freeze tracks you are not working on to save on memory/CPU.

I’m currently on a 2015 air & iMac running Monterey so it would be a huge leap lol 

This link rates some monitors  I like those LG curved ultra wide  around 29 to 34 inches 
  That you see on Amazon 

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/best/mac-mini

octatonic said:

I wouldn't get the base spec.

…I would definitely get, at a minimum, a 512GB drive, or ideally a 1TB.

I would get the 1TB drive every single time…

100%.

Personally I would not get less than 1TB.  My rationale is that I don’t buy a new Mac every year, I expect it to last quite a while.  SSD drives wear out, and the larger the drive the longer it will last.  If you plan on selling it in 2 or 3 years then this probably isn't an issue for you.

(Caveat, I am not a hardware expert.  This is just what I do personally).

Does a similar reasoning apply for Mac as for PC  where you just put only the essential operating system on core drive and then place all library folder etc on a separate linked SSD?

Presumably that would allow for a smaller SSD size build and instead maximise RAM ?

Benm39 said:

Does a similar reasoning apply for Mac as for PC  where you just put only the essential operating system on core drive and then place all library folder etc on a separate linked SSD?

Presumably that would allow for a smaller SSD size build and instead maximise RAM ?

You'll have to sacrifice external ports for that, though. Also, requiring an external drive to be able to run your machine is...a bit risky.

There's also a performance implication - the 256GB SSD has roughly half the performance of the 512GB, for example.

I'm definitely getting 24/512 as soon as possible. And few TBs of external SSD storage.

digitalscream said:

Benm39 said:

Does a similar reasoning apply for Mac as for PC  where you just put only the essential operating system on core drive and then place all library folder etc on a separate linked SSD?

Presumably that would allow for a smaller SSD size build and instead maximise RAM ?

You'll have to sacrifice external ports for that, though. Also, requiring an external drive to be able to run your machine is...a bit risky.

There's also a performance implication - the 256GB SSD has roughly half the performance of the 512GB, for example.

Thanks,  that's good to know. Will aim to get a bigger internal drive then. 

hollywoodrox said:p

marxski said:

I just bought a mint condition m1 Mac Mini with 
1TB SDD and 16GB RAM with 1 year return to base warranty for £575 (Hoxton Macs).

the rationale was they are still blazingly fast with Logic and had a large internal drive for a good price. Considered an M4 but it was pushing £1k after I’d got a large enough drive and RAM and I’d have to spend dosh on USB hubs etc.

I’ve looked at Hoxton macs at iMacs etc . My only worry with the mini is finding a cheap monitor that actually works with it like you get on an iMac 

Hang on… an M1 or later Mac Mini won’t work properly with, say, a sub-£100 24” monitor from Amazon or Currys?

thermionic said:

hollywoodrox said:p

marxski said:

I just bought a mint condition m1 Mac Mini with 
1TB SDD and 16GB RAM with 1 year return to base warranty for £575 (Hoxton Macs).

the rationale was they are still blazingly fast with Logic and had a large internal drive for a good price. Considered an M4 but it was pushing £1k after I’d got a large enough drive and RAM and I’d have to spend dosh on USB hubs etc.

I’ve looked at Hoxton macs at iMacs etc . My only worry with the mini is finding a cheap monitor that actually works with it like you get on an iMac 

Hang on… an M1 or later Mac Mini won’t work properly with, say, a sub-£100 24” monitor from Amazon or Currys?

Not at high resolution (1440p or higher, I think) - it's Apple displays only for hi-dpi displays. There's a hack to get around it, but it's something you really shouldn't need to do.

My information's a year or two old, though...they may have fixed it (although that'd be a customer-friendly thing to do, which isn't really Apple's MO).

Yes,  the apple display costs are significant... I wonder if there will be new displays any time soon. 

FWIW I bought a Mac Mini M4 with 512gb internal drive and 16gb RAM and it's blazingly fast. I use a Dell UltraSharp U2723QE monitor.

Cheers! Am leaning towards this monitor

Dell U3224KB UltraSharp 6K Monitor

But will likely hold on to see what may be new come 2025, plus any potential discounting...

Here’s a link to a program to sort displays out  but it looks very complicated 
  https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay?tab=readme-ov-file