iMac or Mac Mini M4?

[Ralph]

Fantastic, Ralph!! I see you also got a keyboard with the numeric keypad, which, IMO, is a good choice.

I'd like a full report on photo editing ASAP!!

As for mine, I've reordered and immediately called an Apple customer service manager, and they supposedly are doing everything they can to expedite my order. They admitted that someone at Apple erred by cancelling my order when they did. Still, however, it shows I should get it by NLT March 4th. It still is a "custom build" with the 64 GB of RAM, which is likely overdoing it, but..., well, you know.

Good luck on the order Wayne. Make sure you check the status every couple days. Everytime I ordered , they cancelled it within 24 hours of placing the order.
I went back and forth on upgrading the RAM but I very rarely keep more than one or two apps running at one time and my most intensive app is DXO. So I should be fine. I‘v already transferred all my stuff from my old computer over and I’m going to start my Taxes today. Still cleaning a few things up on the new mini. Can’t wait to run DXO to see how much quicker it is on this M4. I’m going to turn on file sharing on the old Mini so I have access to my old files that I didn’t bring over to the M4. Migrations assistant ran smoothly. I took my backup SSD, plugged it into the M4, launch MigrationAssistant and everything came over without a hitch. I upgraded DXO to version 4 and CCC to version 7. Yes, I did get the keyboard. Besides the feel of the keys, it has touch ID and it will work more seamlessly with the MinI. Some of the other bluetooth keyboards can be a little finicky .

 

[Whiskeyman]

Good luck on the order Wayne. Make sure you check the status every couple days. Everytime I ordered , they cancelled it within 24 hours of placing the order.
I went back and forth on upgrading the RAM but I very rarely keep more than one or two apps running at one time and my most intensive app is DXO. So I should be fine. I‘v already transferred all my stuff from my old computer over and I’m going to start my Taxes today. Still cleaning a few things up on the new mini. Can’t wait to run DXO to see how much quicker it is on this M4. I’m going to turn on file sharing on the old Mini so I have access to my old files that I didn’t bring over to the M4. Migrations assistant ran smoothly. I took my backup SSD, plugged it into the M4, launch MigrationAssistant and everything came over without a hitch. I upgraded DXO to version 4 and CCC to version 7. Yes, I did get the keyboard. Besides the feel of the keys, it has touch ID and it will work more seamlessly with the MinI. Some of the other bluetooth keyboards can be a little finicky .

Thank you, Ralph. It sounds as though the changeover to the new system is going well.

I'm currently using LightRoom Classic Release 14.2 on my 2017 iMac (64 GB RAM) and with the last few LRC releases, it just seems to get slower and slower. Right now, I'm working LRC on that computer and frequently getting Apple's "circle of death" while processing photos. There may be other issues with it besides it being old, and the software being hardware demanding, but I am looking forward to seeing what the M4 Pro Mini can do with my LRC operations. I've also purchased a copy of ON1 2025 at the recommendation of someone here, and will be giving that a try as well when I get the new Mac Mini.

I don't remember if you've stated so here before, and I'm too lazy this morning to go and look, so 'll ask what monitor are you using for this?

 

[Anjin San]

Fantastic, Ralph!! I see you also got a keyboard with the numeric keypad, which, IMO, is a good choice.

I'd like a full report on photo editing ASAP!!

As for mine, I've reordered and immediately called an Apple customer service manager, and they supposedly are doing everything they can to expedite my order. They admitted that someone at Apple erred by cancelling my order when they did. Still, however, it shows I should get it by NLT March 4th. It still is a "custom build" with the 64 GB of RAM, which is likely overdoing it, but..., well, you know.

Me too…would be nice to know the exact specs of the M4 and what it replaced…and how significant the performance increase is. Most of the videos I’ve seen comparing them are doing unrealistic things like exporting 1000 images…something like the difference in import and 1:1 previews on 500 images or how long the AI noise reduction takes comparatively would be more useful.

 

[Ralph]

Thank you, Ralph. It sounds as though the changeover to the new system is going well.

I'm currently using LightRoom Classic Release 14.2 on my 2017 iMac (64 GB RAM) and with the last few LRC releases, it just seems to get slower and slower. Right now, I'm working LRC on that computer and frequently getting Apple's "circle of death" while processing photos. There may be other issues with it besides it being old, and the software being hardware demanding, but I am looking forward to seeing what the M4 Pro Mini can do with my LRC operations. I've also purchased a copy of ON1 2025 at the recommendation of someone here, and will be giving that a try as well when I get the new Mac Mini.

I don't remember if you've stated so here before, and I'm too lazy this morning to go and look, so 'll ask what monitor are you using for this?

Nothing special. It’s a Dell monitor that I purchased several years ago.

 

[Ralph]

Me too…would be nice to know the exact specs of the M4 and what it replaced…and how significant the performance increase is. Most of the videos I’ve seen comparing them are doing unrealistic things like exporting 1000 images…something like the difference in import and 1:1 previews on 500 images or how long the AI noise reduction takes comparatively would be more useful.

I haven’t done any photo editing yet but I did run one photo through DXO. With my 2014 ManMini it took a little more than 2 minutes per photo using DXO pure RAW v.3.
With the M4 Mini , DXO v.4 took about 3 seconds.

 

[pvindis]

Congratulations on your new "toy". If you have LrC I'm excited to hear about your experiences.

 

[Anjin San]

I haven’t done any photo editing yet but I did run one photo through DXO. With my 2014 ManMini it took a little more than 2 minutes per photo using DXO pure RAW v.3.
With the M4 Mini , DXO v.4 took about 3 seconds.

Thanks…I have an M1 Pro MBP and a M1 Max Studio and am wondering whether an upgrade to the M4 Pro is worth it.

 

[Ralph]

Thanks…I have an M1 Pro MBP and a M1 Max Studio and am wondering whether an upgrade to the M4 Pro is worth it.

It’s only worth it if they are affecting your productivity. I would bet they are not, especially if you are only editing photos. And i would suspect that even if you were doing video as well, the M1 Studio and Mac Book pro are more than capable. It was worth it for me because I was using a 2014 Mac which Apple was no longer supporting and it took over 2 minutes to process one photo using DXO. Now I can process a photo in less than 3 seconds. Hold onto your money for now

 

[Ralph]

Thank you, Ralph. It sounds as though the changeover to the new system is going well.

I'm currently using LightRoom Classic Release 14.2 on my 2017 iMac (64 GB RAM) and with the last few LRC releases, it just seems to get slower and slower. Right now, I'm working LRC on that computer and frequently getting Apple's "circle of death" while processing photos. There may be other issues with it besides it being old, and the software being hardware demanding, but I am looking forward to seeing what the M4 Pro Mini can do with my LRC operations. I've also purchased a copy of ON1 2025 at the recommendation of someone here, and will be giving that a try as well when I get the new Mac Mini.

I don't remember if you've stated so here before, and I'm too lazy this morning to go and look, so 'll ask what monitor are you using for this?

Wayne, I thought you may be interested in the phone call I received last night. I had emailed Tim Cook about my troubles with Apple’s online store and I actually got a callback from his office. I spoke with one of the office executives for quite a while and it appears that a gift card was the issue with me as well. Because they thought it was a fraudulent gift card which it wasn’t, they flagged my account. And because my wife’s account is in the same household, they did the same to hers. She assured me that my account has been unlocked and that I now am free to use the funds in my Apple account. We will see, when I order a new iPhone this fall.

 

[Anjin San]

It’s only worth it if they are affecting your productivity. I would bet they are not, especially if you are only editing photos. And i would suspect that even if you were doing video as well, the M1 Studio and Mac Book pro are more than capable. It was worth it for me because I was using a 2014 Mac which Apple was no longer supporting and it took over 2 minutes to process one photo using DXO. Now I can process a photo in less than 3 seconds. Hold onto your money for now

True..
it isn’t really impacting nothing…but computer guys..of which I was one back before I became a retired bum…always want faster computers. It’s much like GAS.

 

[Whiskeyman]

Wayne, I thought you may be interested in the phone call I received last night. I had emailed Tim Cook about my troubles with Apple’s online store and I actually got a callback from his office. I spoke with one of the office executives for quite a while and it appears that a gift card was the issue with me as well. Because they thought it was a fraudulent gift card which it wasn’t, they flagged my account. And because my wife’s account is in the same household, they did the same to hers. She assured me that my account has been unlocked and that I now am free to use the funds in my Apple account. We will see, when I order a new iPhone this fall.

Thank you, Ralph. And yes, I am interested in the outcome you received to your e-mail. Although my issue wasn't the same as yours, I appreciate that they responded to you as they did, and hopefully all is worked out for you in the most positive way. As you say, we will see.

As for my situation, in less time than occurred between my previous order and its cancellation, my new order status is now changed to "Preparing to Ship" which I believe is a good sign. However, my payment methods have not been exercised as of this moment. So,.... we will see.

If my order is not resolved this time, based upon your example, I'll send an e-mail to Tim Cook and see where it goes. If my issue is resolved and I receive my order, I'm likely to send him an e-mail lauding the two Apple Customer Service employees I interacted with for their help and courteousness. Yes, that may be their job and they get paid for that, but sometimes the intangibles make your work a little bit better, and IMO, those two folks deserve "a pat on the back."

I'll keep you, and the rest of anyone reading this thread, updated as to my order status as my order's progress is published online.

As an aside, have you exercised your's more, and how are you liking it?

 

[Whiskeyman]

Me too…would be nice to know the exact specs of the M4 and what it replaced…and how significant the performance increase is. Most of the videos I’ve seen comparing them are doing unrealistic things like exporting 1000 images…something like the difference in import and 1:1 previews on 500 images or how long the AI noise reduction takes comparatively would be more useful.

My big hangup with my current setup started last summer when I attempted to import over 3K photos from a two-day water ski tournament. I tried this with preview turned on and the process took over six hours to complete, whereas importing over this many photos previously took less time by far. In addition, the photo enhancing programs I'd used earlier would hang up operations afterwards. The differences were new editing software and new Mac OS. I'm hoping upon hope that the new computer resolves these issues.

 

[Ralph]

Thank you, Ralph. And yes, I am interested in the outcome you received to your e-mail. Although my issue wasn't the same as yours, I appreciate that they responded to you as they did, and hopefully all is worked out for you in the most positive way. As you say, we will see.

As for my situation, in less time than occurred between my previous order and its cancellation, my new order status is now changed to "Preparing to Ship" which I believe is a good sign. However, my payment methods have not been exercised as of this moment. So,.... we will see.

If my order is not resolved this time, based upon your example, I'll send an e-mail to Tim Cook and see where it goes. If my issue is resolved and I receive my order, I'm likely to send him an e-mail lauding the two Apple Customer Service employees I interacted with for their help and courteousness. Yes, that may be their job and they get paid for that, but sometimes the intangibles make your work a little bit better, and IMO, those two folks deserve "a pat on the back."

I'll keep you, and the rest of anyone reading this thread, updated as to my order status as my order's progress is published online.

As an aside, have you exercised your's more, and how are you liking it?R

“Ready to Ship“is a really good sign. And no, I haven’t really put it through its paces yet. I been working on my tax returns and just finished today. I hope to get out soon and take some photos and then running a batch through DXO. I’ve been trying to determine how I want it set up on my desk. I’m going to use the old mini as a file server and I’m going to have my monitor switch between both computers. I’m also trying to decide how I’m going to back it up. I have quite a few options I’m consider.

 

[wotan1]

Last year I hose to go with a Mac Studio for my base station. I chose this over the mini because I planned to have a lot of peripherals. Mostly external hard drives, printers and scanner plus two external monitors. I added a MACBOOK PRO 16 for general convenient everyday and field use. Hard to use a Studio computer while lounging in bed or in front of the TV.

I have played with photo processing on the Pro and I will do it if on the road but frankly having two different catalogs can be confusing. So I now ru to the Studio for processing whenever I am at home.

I stuck with the minimum 500gb hard drive on both of these machines and it has been fine for me. I have external drives I can use on the MacBook Pro but I now only use them if I am away from home.

 

[Whiskeyman]

Last year I hose to go with a Mac Studio for my base station. I chose this over the mini because I planned to have a lot of peripherals. Mostly external hard drives, printers and scanner plus two external monitors. I added a MACBOOK PRO 16 for general convenient everyday and field use. Hard to use a Studio computer while lounging in bed or in front of the TV.

I have played with photo processing on the Pro and I will do it if on the road but frankly having two different catalogs can be confusing. So I now ru to the Studio for processing whenever I am at home.

I stuck with the minimum 500gb hard drive on both of these machines and it has been fine for me. I have external drives I can use on the MacBook Pro but I now only use them if I am away from home.

I upgraded the hard drive to the 1GB SSD on my order because I'm typically running about 650-750 GB in used space on my current iMacs. Granted, my wife uses them and won't save anything to the external drives unless someone is beside her to remind her to do that, and then how to do it.

I'm hoping that future application size bloat doesn't make me wish I'd gone for the 2GB option down the road. Then again, there's always the option of going with a TB 5 SSD in the future! That could be a lot less pricey option when the time to get it arrives.

 

[Whiskeyman]

True..
it isn’t really impacting nothing…but computer guys..of which I was one back before I became a retired bum…always want faster computers. It’s much like GAS.

It's not a want; it's a need. Our IT office at work has a Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs poster on the wall; and bigger, faster and better computers and TVs are right there on the poster as a fundamental, existential need!

 

[pnbarne]

I am amazed at the ongoing problems people are having with Apple. I ordered a Mac Mini m4 all built out from their website. The order was confirmed and I was given a one week window about three weeks out for delivery. Since it was a custom build I figured it was going to be built somewhere overseas. Sure enough, three weeks after the order I got an email it was inbound from China. It arrived as promised via FedEx. Maybe I got lucky but it all worked as expected.

 

[wotan1]

I got an external cover for the MacBook Pro to protect it, something simple. I attached a couple sleeves that fit a hard drive on the lid, that way I can mount my external hard drives on top of the lid and run the cables to the side of the computer.

It is kind of klutzy but it does work. I use the external drives only for photo storage so I can work on anything else without the external drives if needed.

I do think that for a field laptop a 2 TB drive should be enough; I don't think I will ever create enough images on a single trip that can't be accommodated on a 2 TB hard drive. On the other hand the new Z7iii is going to have a 100mp sensor and I am going to stack those images so they can be used to print posters the size of one of those skyscrapers in Singapore. Dream big.

Perhaps my next MacBook Pro will have a 2 tb drive. It will make things simpler yet will not completely break the bank.

the other option of course is to move my catalog and images onto a NAS instead of DAS. That way I can get into the catalog with either computer whenever I want. But I am still going to do my processing on the Studio because I LOVE THOSE 5K MONITORS. So why.

Things are working really well for processing with the Studio. I think I will keep things right where they are for the time being. There is talk of a new Studio coming out soon but really why. What I have now is working just fine.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[Ralph]

I am amazed at the ongoing problems people are having with Apple. I ordered a Mac Mini m4 all built out from their website. The order was confirmed and I was given a one week window about three weeks out for delivery. Since it was a custom build I figured it was going to be built somewhere overseas. Sure enough, three weeks after the order I got an email it was inbound from China. It arrived as promised via FedEx. Maybe I got lucky but it all worked as expected.

After speaking to the Apple executive and several Apple support people, it appears that Apple is so concerned with fraud & scams
(Which has been a real issue with Apple gift cards) , they error on the side of caution and will cancel an order if there is an any doubt about whether the card was received or activated through fraud or a scam. Unfortunately, at the expense of a legitement customer.

 

[Whiskeyman]

I got an external cover for the MacBook Pro to protect it, something simple. I attached a couple sleeves that fit a hard drive on the lid, that way I can mount my external hard drives on top of the lid and run the cables to the side of the computer.

It is kind of klutzy but it does work. I use the external drives only for photo storage so I can work on anything else without the external drives if needed.

I do think that for a field laptop a 2 TB drive should be enough; I don't think I will ever create enough images on a single trip that can't be accommodated on a 2 TB hard drive. On the other hand the new Z7iii is going to have a 100mp sensor and I am going to stack those images so they can be used to print posters the size of one of those skyscrapers in Singapore. Dream big.

Perhaps my next MacBook Pro will have a 2 tb drive. It will make things simpler yet will not completely break the bank.

the other option of course is to move my catalog and images onto a NAS instead of DAS. That way I can get into the catalog with either computer whenever I want. But I am still going to do my processing on the Studio because I LOVE THOSE 5K MONITORS. So why.

Things are working really well for processing with the Studio. I think I will keep things right where they are for the time being. There is talk of a new Studio coming out soon but really why. What I have now is working just fine.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

I've owned two MacBook Pros and one MacBook Air over the last 15 or so years, and have had each one of them in a Speck case. At the end of their service lives, the cases were marred and disfigured, but the computers were nearly pristine externally. The Speck cases were a bit pricey, but worth it to me.

I am amazed at the ongoing problems people are having with Apple. I ordered a Mac Mini m4 all built out from their website. The order was confirmed and I was given a one week window about three weeks out for delivery. Since it was a custom build I figured it was going to be built somewhere overseas. Sure enough, three weeks after the order I got an email it was inbound from China. It arrived as promised via FedEx. Maybe I got lucky but it all worked as expected.

I just got notified that my custom M4 Pro Mac Mini is on the way, currently in Hong Kong, with delivery projected for Wednesday February 26. I'll arrange with UPS to have it delivered to the local UPS store and pick it up there so that I don't chance missing the delivery when it arrives. (I'm assuming, hoping actually, that it has to be signed for.)

Edit: Apple is blocking the delivery change to my local UPS store. So I'll just have to watch the tracking a bit more closely and arrange to be at home during the projected delivery times.

 

[Whiskeyman]

Wuuf!!! I missed the UPS delivery today! Darn the luck!

Now I have to wait until tomorrow...

 

[Ralph]

Wuuf!!! I missed the UPS delivery today! Darn the luck!

Now I have to wait until tomorrow...

That’s too bad. Good luck tomorrow Wayne.

 

[Ralph]

I've owned two MacBook Pros and one MacBook Air over the last 15 or so years, and have had each one of them in a Speck case. At the end of their service lives, the cases were marred and disfigured, but the computers were nearly pristine externally. The Speck cases were a bit pricey, but worth it to me.

I just got notified that my custom M4 Pro Mac Mini is on the way, currently in Hong Kong, with delivery projected for Wednesday February 26. I'll arrange with UPS to have it delivered to the local UPS store and pick it up there so that I don't chance missing the delivery when it arrives. (I'm assuming, hoping actually, that it has to be signed for.)

Edit: Apple is blocking the delivery change to my local UPS store. So I'll just have to watch the tracking a bit more closely and arrange to be at home during the projected delivery times.

Thats seems to be another security issue that Apple tries to control.

 

[Ductape]

My Mac mini M4 Pro (48 GB Ram) just showed up (thanks Apple). Trying to configure Mini to Lightroom classic perfectly from where it currently sits in my Thunderbay 4 storage. Time to fiddle, but always nervy in the opportunity of misplacing/loosing files in the process. I am sure I am missing the obvious. Not that computer savvy.

 

[Ralph]

My Mac mini M4 Pro (48 GB Ram) just showed up (thanks Apple). Trying to configure Mini to Lightroom classic perfectly from where it currently sits in my Thunderbay 4 storage. Time to fiddle, but always nervy in the opportunity of misplacing/loosing files in the process. I am sure I am missing the obvious. Not that computer savvy.

Good luck. I’m still fiddling as well. Part of the fun of getting something new. Just hooked up a KMV switch so that I can switch between old and new MacMini. Works pretty well. Also set up a dock underneath the new MacMini. It accepts an NVMe SSD.