Apple M1 Macs and Photo / Video editing

[littlefish]

For our forthcoming family move to Apple Mac Minis, 16GB is a no brainer. If my understanding of the new architecture is correct, the CPU and RAM are linked inextricably plus physical chips are soldered in place. In short, there’s no upgrade route. The reviews I’ve read and watched to date all seem to say that 8GB seems to be enough for current needs. But 4 years down the line.....?

I’m using the old PC builders’ maxim; “calculate your storage needs then double them”.

 

[Hypilein]

Yup. Definitely would not go the 8GB route. I'm currently stuck on a macbook pro with 8GB that is not really user-serviceable anymore (at least not easily). There are quite a few things apple has been doing for the last years that are annoying to infuriating. Making computers impossible to upgrade (annoying) and taking away basically all connection methods (we're lucky we still have audio out on the new macbooks...). My current macbook has 2 USB, 2 Thunderbolt, 1 Full Size HDMI, Power and Cardslots. I don't think it's really very thick. I get it with mac book airs, but I don't see how something that needs a thousand dongles attached to it is Pro...
They still make the best computers and most certainly the best OS. So we all learn to buy the absolute best model we can afford (they will last long!) and order a bunch of dongles so that we can use our peripherals... Could be worse!

 

[Bob in Pittsburgh]

Just bumping to point out that I am seeing Cyber Monday pricing. For example - the basic, most stripped down Mac Mini with the M1 chip is marked from from $699.00 to $639.00 at B&H. You might find similar markdowns at other sites.

 

[Dion Houston Sr.]

Well, it's been interesting... Getting 16GB boxes here is harder than I thought! Apple seems to not want to ship to APO (Army Post Office) addresses - that's my cheap but very slow US address. Amazon (both US and IT) sell only the 8GB model as well as Best Buy, and both Exchange websites. Apple Italy may have been an option but those European taxes are SO expensive...

B&H Photo to the rescue! No date on when it'll ship, and it'll take about a month when they do, but no tax, nominal shipping, and I could put it on PayPal Credit.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Supplies for everything seem to be hard to come by, and I think the demand for these M1 Macs is through the roof. They seem to have created a lot of excitement in the community around these models. I'm interested in one too, if only for the much better battery life. I'm still hoping to hold off for the 2021 refresh, where maybe we'll get a bigger display in the same chassis.

 

[Dion Houston Sr.]

Yeah, I hear you... Buying a first-gen anything is not generally my thing (one thing we were famous for at Microsoft was "eating our own dogfood" -- essentially running betas on production machines). It was good for street cred, not so much for stability.

BUT - everything is slow on this 2011 Mac, and big software packages no longer support this operating system (High Sierra), so it's time. I'm glad to hear the new platform seems to be stable, and this is my first Mac Mini (so my cheapest Mac ever), so seems worth the risk

Tell you what though - with this kind of start, I may purchase out of cycle if the M2/M3 chips blow away my current i9...

 

[littlefish]

Supplies for everything seem to be hard to come by, and I think the demand for these M1 Macs is through the roof. They seem to have created a lot of excitement in the community around these models.

Yep, when I first looked at the M1 Mac Mini (16GB version) delivery time were about three weeks. The next day when I came to order one, delivery times had increased to 4 - 5 weeks. I might not get mine this side of Christmas.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Yep, when I first looked at the M1 Mac Mini (16GB version) delivery time were about three weeks. The next day when I came to order one, delivery times had increased to 4 - 5 weeks. I might not get mine this side of Christmas.

One site said shipping after 12/25, but I don’t recall which. It didn’t help that B&H ran $100 discounts on them a few days recently. I’m sure they sold a ton of them, and they were already on back order. I would not count on a quick fulfillment, unfortunately. Knowing the lead time is probably pretty long has helped me avoid the “buy” button. I just buy other stuff I don’t really need instead!

 

[littlefish]

I ordered directly from Apple as, at the time in the UK, it was the only place I found selling the 16GB version. Still can't quite believe I'm making the jump to Apple.

 

[Repp]

@Dion Houston Sr. when i was in Korea earlier this year I used APOBOX, it costs a bit as a forwarding service, but they’ll ship anything.

 

[Gillymaru]

I’m very happy with my m1 Mac mini. Does everything I need as a dedicated photo and video editing computer, I have a lg 5 k monitor attached to it and a series of thunderbolt drives. Handles files and video with ease, plenty powerful enough for my current needs.

 

[Dion Houston Sr.]

I ordered directly from Apple as, at the time in the UK, it was the only place I found selling the 16GB version. Still can't quite believe I'm making the jump to Apple.

I felt the same way when I made the switch - in 2009. I kept hearing about how great Macs were, and when I bought my first Mac, I was fully expecting to say "See! Mac's are just expensive PCs!" but... they weren't. Welcome to the family . It'll take you about 2 weeks to get used to the little differences, but then you'll enjoy the reliability.

 

[Dion Houston Sr.]

I’m very happy with my m1 Mac mini. Does everything I need as a dedicated photo and video editing computer, I have a lg 5 k monitor attached to it and a series of thunderbolt drives. Handles files and video with ease, plenty powerful enough for my current needs.

Thanks for putting my mind at ease . Can't wait to get mine...

 

[Dion Houston Sr.]

@Dion Houston Sr. when i was in Korea earlier this year I used APOBOX, it costs a bit as a forwarding service, but they’ll ship anything.

Yeah, I use Ship It APO when I have to. U.S. mail, I'm sure because of COVID, but it was never fast - has been taking about a month to get here lately. If I would've realized how rare the 16GB ones were, I'd probably have ordered right when it came out. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Lcrunyon]

Yeah, I use Ship It APO when I have to. U.S. mail, I'm sure because of COVID, but it was never fast - has been taking about a month to get here lately. If I would've realized how rare the 16GB ones were, I'd probably have ordered right when it came out. Thanks for the tip!

I am in Germany and have to use APO as well. I don’t trust the way they handle the mail, however. I’d be too afraid to get a smashed computer.

 

[Dion Houston Sr.]

I am in Germany and have to use APO as well. I don’t trust the way they handle the mail, however. I’d be too afraid to get a smashed computer.

Very reasonable concern! I had some marionberry jam come in that was a big mess. The Mac Mini should be a good aluminum brick, though. I'll let you know.

I go out to Germany fairly regularly for work. Not bad! Way more expensive than Sicily, though

 

[littlefish]

I’m very happy with my m1 Mac mini. Does everything I need as a dedicated photo and video editing computer, I have a lg 5 k monitor attached to it and a series of thunderbolt drives. Handles files and video with ease, plenty powerful enough for my current needs.

That’ll pretty much be my setup (when the Mini arrives). Any advice on thunderbolt drives / enclosures for an Apple newbie, please?

 

[MichailK]

I’m very happy with my m1 Mac mini.

8GB?

 

[Acraftman]

I am placing the order for mine today , I have 0 computer knowledge but some of the reviews were indicating that if all I am doing is photo processing the 8GB is more than enough.I did go with 512 memory but should I kerplunk on the 16GB?

 

[Dion Houston Sr.]

No worries - you're talking a couple things here -- one is the memory of the computer, the other is storage.

For memory, 8 or 16 is up to you. There are many reports that 8GB of memory is fine for most uses. I personally am a relatively heavy computer user for a variety of tasks, so I'm going with 16.

For storage, one golden rule -- you will always fill up your hard drive regardless of how big it is. This will be my 5th(?) Mac, and all of them had 256GB drives. I use cloud services (iCloud, Lightroom CC) if you don't you might want to consider something bigger.

One thing I had to learn switching over to Mac. You can easily buy PCs that are underwhelming out of the box. Not so with Apple. whatever Mac you get will work fine.