Carbon - Intel Mac mini vs M1/M1x Mac mini

[makeller]

Just picked up a Carbon from Sweetwater today! I do not own a Mac but I am 95% sure I am going to get a Mac Mini. My dilemma is whether to get a 2018 tried and true (and hot) Intel Mac Mini (i7, 16gb ram, 1 TB HD for $1700), buy a discounted M1 (16 MB ram, 1 TB HD for $1300), or wait (till Oct?, Nov?, Dec?) and get an M1x Mac Mini ($1800-$2000?). I do not do large projects with tons of tracks and plugins. I am a Windows guy but the Mac Silicon tech is amazing. However I have real concerns about whether Carbon will play nice with M1/M1x in the short and intermediate term. And it seems it may be quite some time before Avid invests the resources to code a true native Silicon Pro Tools. Also Carbon for Windows seems like a stretch because of AVB.

I am not sure at all which way to go! What considerations would you have? Mainly though, would you all buy? I would greatly appreciate hearing your thoughts and opinions.

[Ben Jenssen]

I've owned four minis over the last 18 months. i3, i5, i7 and M1. All of them have issues w/bluetooth. If that's not important to you, it's fine. The i7 gets very hot and very noisy. I solve it by disabling Turbo Boost, and loose 10-20% cpu perfomance, but it's silent. The M1 is cool, and performs fantasticly, but 8gb ram felt a bit cramped. Also without a intel processor, you lose the ability to run x86 processes and things like Paralells to run windows stuff.

Personally, I've settled for the i7 mini, and I'm waiting for new Apple scilicon models to come. I got the i7 in my signature for appx $1200 second hand.

I don't know about Carbon.

[makeller]

Thanks Ben! I could totally see how a silent (turn off Turbo Charge), no drama, 2018 Mac Min configuration like yours could do the job for sure until all the M1/M1x kinks are worked out. My needs are pretty modest.

But the Apple Silicon route is very compelling. My dilemmas is whether it makes sense to early adopt M1/M1x now or punt for a year or 2. Which route will work more reliably for small studio use, 3 year old Intel based or Apple Silicon. If Apple Silicon is close to Intel based Rosetta, maybe a leap to Apple Silicon makes sense. All indications are that the new Mac Min M1x units with 4 TB ports are coming out soon.

[K Roche]

Originally Posted by makeller

Thanks Ben! I could totally see how a silent (turn off Turbo Charge), no drama, 2018 Mac Min configuration like yours could do the job for sure until all the M1/M1x kinks are worked out. My needs are pretty modest.

But the Apple Silicon route is very compelling. My dilemmas is whether it makes sense to early adopt M1/M1x now or punt for a year or 2. Which route will work more reliably for small studio use, 3 year old Intel based or Apple Silicon. If Apple Silicon is close to Intel based Rosetta, maybe a leap to Apple Silicon makes sense. All indications are that the new Mac Min M1x units with 4 TB ports are coming out soon.

Not an easy thing to figure out
Then include the fact that Avid is usually fairly slow at bringing PT up to current tech. and or the latest OS
Because I got my Carbon on the first round of units in Nov. I opted for the i7 tenth Gen iMac listed in my system info. But it can be loud, better with turbo boost off and I do record with it off


But at this juncture IF you can wait and If it were me I would be tempted to wait and see what the new Mac Mini with M1X chip will offer

[makeller]

Thanks Kevin. I think that's what Ill most likely do... Wait for the M1x mac mini. Avid already stuck their neck out and pledged HDX M1 compatibility in October. They sure seem to be spending resources to get M1 compatible. That's hopeful. But I agree waiting for the M1x is the way to go. I should probably box up my Carbon and stow it away though. Its shininess will erode my patience!

[Ben Jenssen]

Originally Posted by makeller

Thanks Kevin. I think that's what Ill most likely do... Wait for the M1x mac mini. Avid already stuck their neck out and pledged HDX M1 compatibility in October. They sure seem to be spending resources to get M1 compatible. That's hopeful. But I agree waiting for the M1x is the way to go. I should probably box up my Carbon and stow it away though. Its shininess will erode my patience!

Just be shure, they're talking about M1 support, running thru Rosetta, not PT code rewritten for running native on M1(x). I'm guessing that will take years, if it ever happens at all.

[makeller]

Arghh! It looks like the M1x Mac Mini is NOT going to be released with the new M1x 16 inch and 14 inch inch MacBook Pros. This differs from my plan! Very annoying.

Question... Notwithstanding that the new MacBook Pros won't have as many ports as the new Mac Mini (easily solved with a good hub), is there any reason to think that a the 14 inch MacBook Pro running in clamshell mode won't perform exactly as well as the M1x Mac Mini when it comes out?

[Sardi]

Don’t base a purchase decision based on rumours. They are NOT always accurate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[makeller]

So... no new Mac Mini M1 Pro or M1 Max. Now the question is do I drop:

$2400 on a 14" MacBook Pro, M1 Pro 10 core CPU, 14 core GPU, 16MB RAM
$2500 on a 16" MacBook Pro, M1 Pro 10 core CPU, 16 core GPU, 16MB RAM
or
$1250 on a Mac Mini, M1 8 core, 8 GPU, 16MB RAM

Connectivity on M1 Pro MacBooks is 3 USB4 Thunderbolt ports, no Ethernet port
Connectivity on M1 Mac Mini 2 USB-A, 2 Thunderbolt 4, Ethernet Port

For the Carbon, on a new MacBook Pro, I'd have to burn 1 Thunderbolt port for my AVB connection, 1 Thunderbolt port for a DisplayPort adapter, and 1 Thunderbolt port for a hub for wired keyboard, wired mouse, ILok, external drives.

Question... Might it make sense to get the M1 MacMini? If I'm not doing heavy duty PT sessions with tons of plugins, will I see a significant enough difference in PT to justify paying double for a Mac to use with my Carbon (which is still inside the box!). I can always trade it in later and buy the 2nd Gen Mac Mini when it comes out.

BTW, the way Apple has their pricing laid out, it looks like a no brainer to pick up the 16" MacBook Pro, which does look like a thing of beauty.

[K Roche]

Originally Posted by makeller

Arghh! It looks like the M1x Mac Mini is NOT going to be released with the new M1x 16 inch and 14 inch inch MacBook Pros. This differs from my plan! Very annoying.

Question... Notwithstanding that the new MacBook Pros won't have as many ports as the new Mac Mini (easily solved with a good hub), is there any reason to think that a the 14 inch MacBook Pro running in clamshell mode won't perform exactly as well as the M1x Mac Mini when it comes out?

I do not know what "running in clamshell mode" means but as far as "any reason" likely depends much more on what you are doing specifically and what your likely needs will actually be as far as number peripherals your plugging in.. And in how much of hurry to get Carbon running

As noted hard to know for sure what any new Mini options will actually end up being configuration wise, or when ? Could be Nov. or Dec. or maybe not until 1st quarter 2022

If Apple keeps with this these new M chips designations then I'm guessing a new Mini with M1 Pro and M1 Max chip options and likely new larger screen iMac will probably launch together with the new chips and Apple is making sure they have the new large screen iMac all set so they can launch them together ?????