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Why I Bought an M4 Pro Mac Mini [u]

Posted on November 2, 2024 by Larry

[ Updated Nov. 24, 2024, with a note on CPUs & GPUs. ]

Over the weekend, I bought the newly-announced M4 Pro Mac Mini. I want to tell you what I bought and why.

Clearly, there are less expensive systems, but I had four specific goals in mind:

  1. Upgrade a 2018 Intel i7 Mac mini, with 8 GB of RAM, used as a web server.
  2. Get a system supporting Thunderbolt 5. None of my other computers provide that option.
  3. Get a high-performance unit for testing and comparison to other M-series Macs.
  4. Get a unit that would serve as a high-performance web server for an Axle AI media asset management system. (I’ll cover how I used this in a future article.)

RELEVANT ARTICLES

Click to see larger image.

This is the system I bought. Here’s why.

NOTE:  Here’s an earlier review of the 2022 M2 Pro Mac mini so you can see what that older unit can already do. The new system will do more – faster.

RAM

RAM cannot be upgraded later. So, deciding how much RAM to buy is always a crap-shoot. If all you are doing is media editing, 24 GB is fine. If you are editing significant numbers of large frame size multicam clips, more RAM is better, but not required.

As an example, a 24 GB M2 Pro Mac mini was able to stream 25+ angles of ProRes 422 4K media. So, really, 24 GB on the M4 would be sufficient even for major multicam projects. Actually, the speed of your storage is a greater factor in determining multicam editing performance than the amount of RAM.

I bought 48 GB of RAM because, um, I didn’t need it, but I wanted it. Your budget may say differently.

CPUs vs. GPUs

Based on my recent testing of different NLEs running on the M4 Pro, I’ve discovered that increasing the number of GPUs has a greater impact on performance than increasing the number of CPUs.

I’ve also discovered that no NLE uses all the CPUs, while all three NLEs maximize use of available GPUs.

Based on these tests, if I were to buy this system again and I wanted to maximize performance without totally breaking the bank, I’d get the M4 Pro chip with 14 CPU cores and 20 GPUs for $200 more.

NOTE: You can see all my tests in the Performance Tests linked at the top of this article.

STORAGE

Any internal storage above 2 TB is an indulgence. All my media and projects are stored externally, on an 8 TB NVMe SSD RAID. As I write this, my internal drive – with over 135 applications and the latest macOS, is using less than 500 GB of internal storage.

So, while 512 GB is too small for media work, either 1 or 2 TB of internal storage is just ducky. If you are pressed for cash, 1 TB is fine. Truly.

THUNDEBOLT 5

Thunderbolt 5 requires a computer with an M4 Pro or M4 Max chip.

This is the main reason I got this unit. I can’t review or test Thunderbolt 5 devices if I don’t have a computer capable of supporting Thunderbolt 5. Not that I have any Thunderbolt 5 gear… yet. Let not reality interfere with your storage plans.

ETHERNET

My office network is optimized for 10G – mainly because I wanted to learn how to create a network with bandwidth that fast. I regularly get 600 – 700 MB/second data transfers between my local system and the server. (A 1G Ethernet network transfers data about 100 MB/second.)

However, while those speeds are great for file transfers and backups, I’ve not been able to successfully edit media directly from my Synology server. I’ve been told the Synology operating system is not optimized for media playback and editing. Every time I attempt to edit directly from the server, I get playback stutters and dropped frames.

If I need to edit, I transfer files from the server to my local SSD RAID. I use the server for long-term storage. So, my initial thoughts of using the server for editing didn’t work out. BUT, I have a really fast backup system.

SUMMARY

Now you know what I bought and why. The unit arrives the end of November. I’ll provide in-depth performance details when I can test it in person.

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27 Responses to Why I Bought an M4 Pro Mac Mini [u]

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  1. James Leone says:
    November 20, 2024 at 9:36 am

    I will be upgrading next year from an Intel MacBook Pro.

    It seems a beefed up M4 Pro Mac Mini pro will be close in price to a M4 Max Mac Studio.(Guesstimate) Waiting is no fun.

    As always thanks for all the great info!

    Reply
  2. KS says:
    November 21, 2024 at 1:14 am

    What display would you recommend for the M4 Pro Mac Mini or Mac Studio? Additionally, how effective is the fan system in these devices? I live in a very hot and humid area in India, so cooling is a concern.

    I’m planning to upgrade to a better system for video editing and graphic work, primarily using Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects. Right now, I use a MacBook Pro 16″ (2019 intel model) with 32GB RAM.

    Would you recommend the iMac with 32GB RAM as an upgrade?

    Thank you in advance, Larry!

    Reply
  3. Jeff Orig says:
    November 25, 2024 at 8:20 am

    Hey Larry, thank you for this. Two things: 1. Can you write up an article on your 8 TB NVMe SSD RAID? 2. We edit on a daily basis from our Synology NAS. We do get the occasional, some might say, frequent dropped frame. But it does work. Not flawlessly like your direct storage but working as a team it is too difficult to be passing RAIDs from computer to computer. Which we used to do. After working with Synology support, one thing we did to get better performance out of the Synology NAS systems was to remove any packages and processes that were not mission critical. We have 10G on the main Synology NAS 1821+ connected to a 2.5G/10G switch. We have mostly Mac Minis with 2.5G adapters to a USBC and a Mac Studio with 10G. We even have an older Synology DS423 that only has 1G and we are able to edit from that as well. We maxed out the memory on the 1821+, have 2 Nvme SSD for a cache, and IronWolf NAS drives. I am not sure what your setup is like but it took us a while to dial this in and it is working ok. Not perfect with the occasional dropped frame/crash from network instability. Though we do have 6 machines editing at once with 4K multicam timelines. Mixed FCPX and Davinci projects. Hopefully this helps in some way or starts a conversation.

    Reply
  4. David Morgan says:
    November 25, 2024 at 9:27 pm

    I’m PISSED.
    I bought an M4 only to find the my UA thunderbolt interface will not work with sequoia. total disaster. I had to buy a Focusrite USB interface.
    In addition, lost my soundflower interface capability to route audio within app’s. And ……..o yes, the stuipid decision by the elites at Apple to put the power button on the bottom Brilliant!!

    Reply
    • Larry Jordan says:
      November 26, 2024 at 4:49 am

      David:

      I’m sorry for your problems but I’m confused. Why are you running Sequoia on your M4 when it was designed for Sonoma?

      And UA is an acronym that I don’t recognize. Please give us some more details to help others avoid the problems you had.

      Thanks,

      Larry

      Reply
  5. Larry says:
    December 9, 2024 at 10:47 am

    UA is Universal Audio. Audio interfaces and plugins, software to manipulate audio files.

    http://www.uaudio.com

    Reply
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