M1 mini vs Intel Mini
 

Is the m1 Mac mini with 16gb ram as powerful or more powerful than the 6 core 64gb intel Mac mini?

I have a maxed out 2018 Mac mini, 64gb ram etc.
I think there's only one app I run that wouldn’t work under Rosetta sooo it has me thinking.

I’ve opened mine up and given it external cooling as well because of heating issues.
It’s a great little box but when you plug into every jack and run it like a Mac Pro it’s a sweaty little dude.

If it matters, I'm running Protools Ultimate.

Kind Regards,

Justin

Re: M1 mini vs Intel Mini
 

The M1 will bench and perform better in compute and graphics tasks than the Intel Mini. The SoC architecture is more efficient with memory and faster accessing it. However if you have large content files that need to reside in memory it might mean the M1 is paging out to memory more often and depending on the task it may not be preferable to using an Intel Mac with a lot of memory. For a smaller musician or recordist/mixer you may be fine. For lots of VI, plugs that aren't offloaded and high track counts all bets could be off. You'd have to try it and see.

At this point I wouldn't deploy Apple Silicon as a primary production machine. I'd test with one given the chance but to use as a primary money maker with no known fallback could be dicey right now until Avid at least certifies Big Sur. If you kept your Mini alongside the M1 that could be good insurance.

I think it's going to be a bit more before those that need higher memory footprints can use Apple Silicon. Rumor mill has 32 GB memory 12 cores (8 hi perf/4 general duty) iMacs and 14"/16" Macbook Pros coming within the next few months. Regardless of power the big variable is how Pro Tools will perform on Rosetta.

Re: M1 mini vs Intel Mini
 

I love an M1X Mac Mini, except I’m not sure how often they do Mac Mini refreshes so I got the M1. You bought M1, you deal with buying a beta product, or wait for a version of dashlane for ARM with https://maybeloan.com/payday-loans. I was planning to buy one next year, but was unsure if they’d release another Mac Mini next year.

Re: M1 mini vs Intel Mini
 

Thanks for the info. That makes sense. I guess I could keep an eye on my ram usage and make an educated guess. And of course just grab one and run it for a while to see if it can handle what I throw at it but it sounds like it will be great but for every once in a while when I have a post session that looks like Lord of the Rings. Thanks again.

Re: M1 mini vs Intel Mini
 

Do you mind sharing what you’ve done in this regard?

I too have had thoughts on trying to add extra cooling to my Mini.

A couple of things I’m contemplating is removing the rubber base cover and mounting a slow spinning large Noctua fan. Raise the whole unit off the shelf on risers and have a custom stand the same dimensions as the Mini with a cutout for the fan to mount to.

Also looking into a Peltier cooler. Still trying to wrap my head around how these are supposed to be mounted in order to pull the heat away, but seems like an interesting solution.

But yeah, if you could let us know what you’ve come up with that would be great. Maybe some pics too if you wouldn’t mind.

Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Re: M1 mini vs Intel Mini
 

I won't port over unit PT is coded for these and can be used without Rosetta. I would hope that bringing the Carbon interface to market will make them get that going sooner rather than later.

C

Re: M1 mini vs Intel Mini
 

Sure thing man. Peltier would be a pain in the ass. It's very hard to get in there anyways and no real obvious way to access the cpu in this capacity.

Adding a big Noctua fan is exactly what I did. I got whatever matched the diameter of the bottom circular cover. A usb Noctua fan, got a cheap little wire stand for 10 bucks on amazon and a fan cover that is rated for a high air flow rate. I blow the fan and cover off with an air duster once a month. It all just sits on the stand and is zip tied to it. I screwed the fan on the back side shooting into the mini. Temps dropped a decent amount. Under load almost no CPUs go above 90c. And I regularly work on huge post projects in PT Ultimate.

Hope this helps.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nsnj22d15...dzos7dfOa?dl=0