Which Mac for LR Classic? Mini M1 16GB - Studio Base - 13.3 MacBook Pro 16GB?

[BLev65]

Hello Mac Users,
Before I begin, while I appreciate the input of non-Mac PC users around the world, I will not switch OS. I use what I use because I am comfortable with the OS. This is much like why I have persisted with Nikon as Sony/Canon have surpassed Nikon in the Continuous Ai AF world. The OS matters to me more than brute speed and economics... nuff said there.
I am currently using a Quad Core i5 MacMini with 16GB or RAM. This has never been a speed demon, but it has suited me well (?) for the past 4 years or so. With the adoption of 47MP files and the use of Topaz DeNoise Ai, I am finally at a point where I want to update my CPU/GPU processing speed.
Like many, I am budget conscious, and this is why I am looking at the Mini and Pro 13.3" instead of the better Pro 14" computer. I have 3 laptops (2013 Pro, MacBook, and 13" air). I use these for work and surfing (I'm on my pro now), and I do not like to do edits on laptops.
Here are the facts that may be useful to you...
1. I am a nature photographer who tends to shoot both wildlife and landscapes. Were I landscape only photographer, I would not be looking to switch computers. During a week of focused landscape photography, I might take 300 pictures. While this is a lot, it is a small enough take that my computer is efficient enough for me.
2. When shooting wildlife, I will often shoot 1000 or more pictures a day. I recently spend a week in South TX and I shot over 6000 pictures.
3. I have a backlog of pictures that need editing. Some of this work extends back to 2015. By edits, I mean culling... the hard work of dumping images. For me, this is pure torture, as I need to compare 10 pictures to find the sharpest of the 10. Here is where my current system fails. As for numbers... I might have 60,000 images that have not been edited critically. I am now ready to tackle this task.
4. I work with multiple LR catalogs based on the region of the world. If I have 10,000 (+) images from a location or category (say national parks), I will create a new catalog to make my editing more efficient. My larges catalog is from my home and neighboring state (MN/WI), and it has more than 100,000 pictures. This needs to be cut to 10,000-20,000.
5. My goal is to cull the crap from all of my catalogs and create a master catalog that I can use as a resource for my essay sales, galleries, and instruction.
6. My challenge is NOT upload speed or export speed... I have the patients for this. My Challenge is going from Thumbnail to 100%... I want this to be instantaneous, and Running Topaz DeNoise Ai Efficiently.

Would the M1 MacMini do this type of work efficiently... (I have the funds to buy this now)? Would I better off with a MacPro 13.3"? Should I wait 2-6 months and get the MacStudio (base) computer?
Thanks and regards,
Bruce

 

[randomwalk]

If you don't need portability, I would likely rule out the 13.3" Macbook Pro, the value for dollar on it is not ideal at this point. If you did need portability, I would definitely go with the new 14" MBP over the 13" version for a variety of reasons (lack of ports, bad keyboard design, etc).

For longevity, and especially considering the unified memory system of the new M1 designs, I would prioritize having 32GB of memory. That eliminates the Mac Mini and leaves the Mac Studio (and the 14" MBP if you want portability).

For the amount of value you are getting for the price, the Mac Studio is quite good. I would personally go that direction, especially if you are budget conscious, you will get getting a lot for your dollar. You could upgrade to the 32 core GPU for an extra $200 which may help with your editing a bit.

 

[BLev65]

If you don't need portability, I would likely rule out the 13.3" Macbook Pro, the value for dollar on it is not ideal at this point. If you did need portability, I would definitely go with the new 14" MBP over the 13" version for a variety of reasons (lack of ports, bad keyboard design, etc).

For longevity, and especially considering the unified memory system of the new M1 designs, I would prioritize having 32GB of memory. That eliminates the Mac Mini and leaves the Mac Studio (and the 14" MBP if you want portability).

For the amount of value you are getting for the price, the Mac Studio is quite good. I would personally go that direction, especially if you are budget conscious, you will get getting a lot for your dollar. You could upgrade to the 32 core GPU for an extra $200 which may help with your editing a bit.

Thanks... I kind of thought that I would need a studio if I wanted to future proof my computer.
I am selling a camera and lens, and will likely role those funds into a new computer.

 

[BLev65]

I'm looking at the studio. Arbitrage shared this video in the other thread and I found it be very educational. Not exactly what you asked but it might be helpful for his benchmark tests

Thanks... I didn't see the other thread... getting myopic in my old age.

 

[Patrick M]

consider the M1 Mini. The basic is under $1000 plus you can access it from you existing Mac via your LAN. You’ll get the benefit of the wayyyyy faster processing while keeping the familiarity of your current Mac. I do this for both my old pc which is blisteringly fast, and my old iMac.
ease of access? Wel, I click an icon, like any app, and another screen op s….yay! Y pc or yay, my Mac!

 

[arbitrage]

Thanks... I didn't see the other thread... getting myopic in my old age.

For reference here is the other thread mostly talking about the new Studio....

Whoa! New post-processing benchmark?

It's been a long time since I've been impressed enough with new tech to really geek out about it, but the new Mac Studio hits that bar. It's not just the power (60% faster than the top of the line Intel box) but that they've managed to do that at an entry price of $2,000 and only $8,000 fully...

bcgforums.com

 

[BLev65]

For reference here is the other thread mostly talking about the new Studio....

Whoa! New post-processing benchmark?

It's been a long time since I've been impressed enough with new tech to really geek out about it, but the new Mac Studio hits that bar. It's not just the power (60% faster than the top of the line Intel box) but that they've managed to do that at an entry price of $2,000 and only $8,000 fully...

bcgforums.com

Thanks for the link Geoff...
As is always my case, I am debating between the bargain and the best. I am currently using a 6core i5 MacMini w/32GB on a last generation (Pre 4K/5K) Apple studio Display. I don't plan on changing the display, so I think that the M1 chip w/ built in 8 core GPU will have little difficulty generating 100% images from thumbnails. The Studio would future proof things, but it would be $1200 more than a 16GB M1 w/ 250GB hard rive. I don't need a big internal drive, as I have fast external SSD drives.
After watching the video posted in this thread, I am not sure that my workflow will require the power of the Studio... however, I am concerned about the 16GB Ram Max in the Mini.

bruce

 

[Anjin San]

14 inch Mac Pro with the M1 Pro is fine for LR and is my travel computer. My wife’s M1 Air with the straight M1 nothing is slow compared to the MBP but about the same speed as my 2019 iMac while the MBP is significantly faster. The M1 mini won’t be any better than the M1 Air…same trip. I’m going to get the base Studio with 2 TB SSD…although my mail LR catalog and current year originals live on an OWC Envoy Pro TB SSD with old years on an ThunderBay mini and Smart Peviews of everything on the Envoy so I’ve got something for old years on travel.

Anything with the M1 nothing will be faster than any Intel Mac…but only in an evolutionary sense…the Pro or Max versions of the trip make it revolutionary in improvement. I only use the laptop for PP on the road and the iMac 2019 soon to be replaced with the Studio M1 Max chipat home. The M1 Ultra is overkill for still images and is really only needed for video, for stills the improvement is small over the Max chip in the Studio. In fact…a Pro chip in the Studio wouldn’t be too much slower than the Max…but that’s not an option. M1 nothing won’t really satisfy your need for speed as Maverick said (or was it Goose…can’t remember?). m1 nothing doesn’t really future proof you very much…in my test of creating standard previews for 450 or so images totaling 13 GB the iMac took 16 minutes, the M1 nothing Air about 4 and the M1 Pro 14 inch just over a minute. I everything performance wise is just depending on which M1 you have..very little difference between models of computer based on anything but which M1 you get…and like you I want to future proof as much as possible. I would have been happy with an M1 Pro or Max mini rather than the Stufio…but that wasn’t one of my options…and I certainly don’t want a slower desktop at home than the laptop on the road.

The videos I’ve seen show that having 32 GB of RaM over 16 is the single biggest improvement and definitely worth it…so another strike against the mini for me…although the M1 Pro mini we didn’t get would have had a 32 GB option because that’s available with the Pro over the nothing.

No need to pay for the extra graphic cores as there is little improvement from those for stills…I’ve seen several videos confirming that.

 

[abc123brian]

With the M1 chips and Unified RAM, the amount is less of an issue. MaxTech has many videos out comparing the M1 with 8GB vs 16GB for photo exporting, video rendering and exporting, and they are very similar in performance. I am currently using a MacBook Air M1 16GB RAM for my travel computer and have a MacMini M1 16GB RAM for my desktop. Going through Lossless Compressed RAW images in CaptureOne from my Z7, Z7ii, and Z9 are all rendered instantly scrolling through. When zooming in to 100%, very close to instant rendering. All photos are stored on External SSDs. Really, the M1 Mac Mini is a very capable, excellent value. The base Mac Studio seems like a great overall deal too. My choice would be between those two computers. You can buy a refurbished MacMini from Apple for a discount to save even more. Given what you said, I would not be looking at the MacBooks.

Something that went into my thought process when buying the M1 MacBook Air was that for the price, I could buy 2 of them for the Price of the MacBook Pro at the time and its still the same now that the updated MacBook Pros are here. So if the M1 seems too slow in a year or two, I can buy the next version and get another couple years out of it. The M1 is really Apple’s first laptop/desktop chips and I feel a lot could change In the next 1 or 2 generations so didn’t want to over invest. As much as I’d like to buy the Mac Studio, and I know it would be faster, I don’t really see any issues with using my M1 MacMini or MacBook Air with 45MP files. They are plenty fast for me and I think they would be for you too.

 

[BLev65]

With the M1 chips and Unified RAM, the amount is less of an issue. MaxTech has many videos out comparing the M1 with 8GB vs 16GB for photo exporting, video rendering and exporting, and they are very similar in performance. I am currently using a MacBook Air M1 16GB RAM for my travel computer and have a MacMini M1 16GB RAM for my desktop. Going through Lossless Compressed RAW images in CaptureOne from my Z7, Z7ii, and Z9 are all rendered instantly scrolling through. When zooming in to 100%, very close to instant rendering. All photos are stored on External SSDs. Really, the M1 Mac Mini is a very capable, excellent value. The base Mac Studio seems like a great overall deal too. My choice would be between those two computers. You can buy a refurbished MacMini from Apple for a discount to save even more. Given what you said, I would not be looking at the MacBooks.

Something that went into my thought process when buying the M1 MacBook Air was that for the price, I could buy 2 of them for the Price of the MacBook Pro at the time and its still the same now that the updated MacBook Pros are here. So if the M1 seems too slow in a year or two, I can buy the next version and get another couple years out of it. The M1 is really Apple’s first laptop/desktop chips and I feel a lot could change In the next 1 or 2 generations so didn’t want to over invest. As much as I’d like to buy the Mac Studio, and I know it would be faster, I don’t really see any issues with using my M1 MacMini or MacBook Air with 45MP files. They are plenty fast for me and I think they would be for you too.

Thank you for the detailed response.
I am leaning towards a MacMini with 16GB of RAM, as I've read/watched others state that 8GB are not enough for multitasking or doing panorama stitches. My big thing is image culling. My current computer is just too slow when it comes to rendering a photo from grid-view to 100%. Furthermore, after cutting the obviously poor images from the library mode, I would like to do my 2nd cull in edit mode where I can easily change to 100% view, and do a few tweaks. If rendering to 100% takes more than a second, I lose my endurance for the process.
I would love a studio, but I'm not sure that I need all fo that power.
The current price of an M1 w/ 16GB RAM and 256K is about $880US. Apple charges a premium for SSD upgrades, but external thunderbolt drives are my preferred option here.

regards,
Bruce

 

[abc123brian]

Thank you for the detailed response.
I am leaning towards a MacMini with 16GB of RAM, as I've read/watched others state that 8GB are not enough for multitasking or doing panorama stitches. My big thing is image culling. My current computer is just too slow when it comes to rendering a photo from grid-view to 100%. Furthermore, after cutting the obviously poor images from the library mode, I would like to do my 2nd cull in edit mode where I can easily change to 100% view, and do a few tweaks. If rendering to 100% takes more than a second, I lose my endurance for the process.
I would love a studio, but I'm not sure that I need all fo that power.
The current price of an M1 w/ 16GB RAM and 256K is about $880US. Apple charges a premium for SSD upgrades, but external thunderbolt drives are my preferred option here.

regards,
Bruce

I grabbed my MacBook Air, M1, 16GB, 256GB, 7-Core GPU, and opened CaptureOne 22. I clicked on a bunch of different images, zoomed into 100%, clicked on next images while zoomed in at 100% which loads them at 100%, some had edits already, others I made edits to including cropping. I would say about 1 second was the longest I waited for any rendering to complete. Generally just loading an image was instant. It seemed that re-rendering immediately after cropping took the longest, but still right around the 1 second mark. Nothing that made me feel like I was waiting like I had with the 2017 15" MacBook Pro, i7 Quad Core, 16GB, 256GB intel that I replaced over a year ago. I don't have Lightroom to compare, which might provide better or worse results, but there have been a few here that purchased M1 iMacs that might be able to provide some thoughts. The Mini is faster than the Air because of the 8-Core GPU and it has fans to help keep it cool where the MacBook Air doesn't have any active cooling.

There is no question the Mac Studio will be faster, as long as your drives are fast enough to keep up, but I am finding the M1 MacBook Air to be fast enough for my needs. The Studio should also last you more years because of the extra speed, but the question is whether that is worth it given you could upgrade your Mini 2-3 times for the same price and continually have newer technology. If you need the extra speed now, it is an easier decision.