“What is Final Cut Pro X like running on a new Mac mini?” Peter Wiggins writes for fcp.co. “Instead of offering (to quote Save Jobs) a ‘stripped down Mac’ they’ve actually put the logic board on steroids! The fourth generation Mac mini now has a choice of quad and 6-core processors, up to 64GB of Ram, up to 2TB of SSD storage and the option of a 10GigE port over the standard GigE. There are also four USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports fed from two controllers, an HDMI port that supports 4K and two USB 3 ports.”
“I thought I’d dive straight in with a 4K Project,” Wiggins writes. “Not what I expected. I guess I was in the state of mind thinking that the Mac mini wasn’t a serious machine for anything other than web browsing, Plex serving or basic Photoshop.”
“It’s a lot more than than. It is a component in building a modular system, which is a new thought considering that Apple has been criticised over the past few years for lack of upgradability in the Mac Pro and iMac Pro,” Wiggins writes. “Spec up a 6-core Mac mini with 32GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD storage and the soon to ship Blackmagic RX Vega 56 eGPU and you have a machine that’s not too far from the base model iMac Pro, wait for it… with over £1,200 left spare. Granted, you’ll have to supply your own monitor, keyboard and mouse, but if upgradability is important to you, this could be a very clever way of getting the power with the flexibility.”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s new Mac mini is surprisingly powerful and really is “pro-focused.”
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s new Mac mini teaches an old design new tricks – November 6, 2018
Macworld reviews Apple’s new $799 Mac mini: ‘A huge improvement that’s well worth the cost’ – November 6, 2018
Hands on with Apple’s all-new Mac mini powerhouse – October 30, 2018
Apple unveils all-new Mac mini with a massive increase in performance – October 30, 2018
“Pro-focused” is correctly put in quotes. Some people who think of themselves as pros would be convinced that such as Mac is a pro Apple computer.
I wanted to stop this post before it fully posted.
“Pro-focused” is correctly put in quotes. Some people who think of themselves as pros would be convinced that such an Apple Mac is a pro Apple computer.
Thanks for demonstrating the gamma loser mentality, no one cares what you think, repeating the same thing in multiple posts reinforces the fact and is utterly repulsive.
Actually, this is the Mini I’ve been waiting for. I’ve got an i7 on the way. CPU-based tasks are on par with anything out there and I’ll be happy to add an eGPU and have a iMac Pro-like setup for 50% of the cost. Since I already have a TB2 raid and monitor, this should be up and running in no time. Plenty of pro work will get done.
“Apple’s new Mac mini is surprisingly powerful and really is “pro-focused.”
And yet…
Render time
Mac mini 7’03”
iMac Pro 1’43”
4K ProRes 422 Export
Mac mini 6’45
iMac Pro 1’40”
Quote: “Not really worth testing for Motion as apart from a few things like particles, Motion almost lives on the GPU.”
So why not make the Mac mini package just big enough to have the option of a discrete GPU?
So why not make the Mac mini package just big enough to have the option of 2 Fusion HDs or a combination of Fusion and SSDs? (the old minis used to have this option)
It would still be a very small desktop, yet true pros could customize it for their workflow and semi-pros and amateurs could customize it for their budgets.
To state the question a bit differently, why not offer a true headless iMac, with most of the GPU/HD/SSD options available from the iMac 21″ & 27 & Pro” lineup?
If I buy an iMac, I can go from a 1TB/3TB Fusion drive to a 2TB SSD.
From an Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 to a Radeon Pro 580 with 8GB.
From a 4 core to an 8 core CPU.
Why can’t Apple make a simple desktop box which replicates these options and covers the entire gamut of needs:
1. someone who just wants a basic multi-media computer for his home entertainment/surround sound system—big Fusion HD for storing all their pic, movies, & music.
2. the freelance media pro with top-o-the -line SSDs /GPUs
3. the mega corporation which is setting up a server/render farm—some need discrete GPUs, some don’t, often don’t need large SSDs and don’t want Fusion HDs.
Since the FCPX crowd is important to Apple, AND because Apple has indicated that the Mac Pro will be “modular”, I believe that if you take what you describe, and put some thunderbolt three connections in between the modules, you’ll have a good description of what the modular Mac Pro will be. A mini with more graphical capabilities.
I believe Ram may be upgradable, but still assuming that all other “upgrades“ would be via sealed modules.
Here’s the thing: the new Mac Mini comes with no discrete graphics and you’re comparing with iMac Pro with at least a Radeon Vega 56 in it for GPU intensive tasks. That’s not exactly fair. What would be more fair is to compare Mac Mini with e-GPU against iMac Pro. Base iMac Pro with 8 cores and Vega 56 is $5K, which includes a 5K display, keyboard and mouse and 32GB RAM standard. So let’s take a $1500 Mac Mini with 10gbe, 512gb, 8gb ram, i7 cpu, and let’s say 32gb of ram after market costs $200, Vega 56 $350, keyboard/mouse $250, 5K LG display $1300. $1500+200+350+250+1300 = $3600. For $1400 less, you get 2 fewer cores, a separate 5K display you can reuse later, an EGPU you can upgrade later if you want, and RAM you can still expand to 64gb later. Now let’s re-run the tests and see how close the performance gets.