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What Apple Mac to buy?

André Hilkens
I planning to update my Mac Pro trashcan 16gb For future I want to make sure it has enough of everything which is probably overkill I’m looking at either a Mac mini M4 pro 64gb and 1tb ssd OR Mac Studio M2Max with updated cpu and gpu with 64 GN and 1tb ssd. What is your recommendation or experience? I use latest version of Capture one 16.5.1.
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15 comments

Date Votes
  • Bart Hovis

    I just got a M4 Mac mini Pro with 64gb RAM and 1gb internal ssd. I use external SSDs to store my photos and data files. It is more than necessary NOW, but I want this Mac to last a long time and allowed extra headroom for the future demands. Especially as AI becomes more prevalent. 

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  • Ian Wilson
    Moderator
    Top Commenter

    In Paul Reiffer's Live Editing session yesterday which you can watch here

    https://www.youtube.com/live/0papQRC4BnI?si=QAKy3NqrbNmw_Qfa 
     

    he spends some time (from about 11:45 to 19:15) discussing some of this, which you might find helpful.

    Ian

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  • André Hilkens

    Yes I saw this video yesterday.
    Thanks

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  • Abbott Schindler

    I've got a M2 Studio Ultra (64GB memory, 1TB SSD) and a M2 MBP Max (32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) and both work quite well with Capture One 16.5. The main gain for the Studio is in its processor cores, not the RAM. More RAM may reduce memory swaps and thus prolong SSD life.

    I don't like Apple's non-removable SSD approach, so I keep all of my user data, C1 catalog, photos, etc., on external drives connected via Thunderbolt 4 dock or directly connected to the machine. Thus I have little data on the internal drive and am not so worried about memory swap-induced activity.

    Suggestion: Rather than adding RAM to a Studio Max, consider getting a Studio Ultra and having twice the processing power. From my limited experience, that will get you more longevity than adding RAM alone.

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  • André Hilkens

    Thanks for feedback.
    I also made up my mind and will go for Mini M4P with 14 core cpu & 64Gb & 1Tb drive.
    This is overkill but hopefully will last me some 10 years or so.
    Once I have everything working perfect I will not update anything from a SW point of view . Mostly SW updates don’t add so much in usebility but for sure create issues.

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  • Phrank

    Ian Wilson thanks for the YT link.

    Well I got a déjà vu. When the M1 got realesed I’ve bought an MacBook Pro M1 and thought 16GB of RAM way is enough. I have believed Apple's swap memory marketing. Finally it I need to close all other apps and Capture One still uses a lot of swap memory – specially if I work with big catalogs.

    Usually my catalogs contain about 200-500.000 photos. This is a RAM eater for Capture One.

    Now I come to my question. I wanted to buy a Mac mini M4 Pro with 64GB and 1TB too, but does make it sense to buy the 20-Core GPU upgrade?

     

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  • Eric Fischer

    Check out artisright channel on youtube.  He has new speedtests for every M4 model, including tests specifically on capture one and photoshop.  The sweet spot for price/performance appears to be the M4 pros for any mac model, with as much memory as you can afford, but you can interpret the charts based on your needs.

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  • Phrank

    Eric Fischer thank you i will check it out

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  • RobiWan

    Phrank - I think for C1 is mini with M4 Pro 14/20 and 64GM RAM great. The question is - what are other apps you have permanently running, like Photoshop or so.?

     

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  • André Hilkens

    Given the fact that C1 (sessions only) and Final Cut Pro (4K max) runs absolutely fine on my 2017 Mac Pro thrashcan with 16Gb ram and 256 ssd I’m sure that my new config will work fine.
    I sometimes have affinity photo open.
    I don’t have any adobe sw. once I receive my unit I will update this thread with my experience.

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  • Phrank

    RobiWan – Thanks for your info. Well more isn't possible anyway (1TB SDD is okay). A maxed out Mac mini pro for about 2800€ (in germany).

    What I've learned for my case of use, Digital Asset Management of thousands of photos, I need lots of RAM to handle huge catalogs 300.000+. GPU is essential for fast import and export to render previews and exported photos. SSD minimum 1TB – my Capture One catalogs splitted by year and have usually 200GB (stored on an external SSD). It's always depends on your specific workflow. And finally don't trust Apple or other’s influencer / marketing bla blah;-)

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  • André Hilkens
    • Edited

    I promised to give a quick update.
    My new Mac mini is the m4-pro version with the extra cpu/ gpu. 1-Tb drive and 64 Gb ram.

    I mainly use Photo editing on this unit with capture one 16.5.1.  
    I only use sessions which are stored on an external OWC thunder bay 4 unit with Thunderbolt 2. To get it connected I purchased a adapter from apple from Thunderbolt 2 > 3 and this works fine.

    The raid consists of 2x 6 Tb HD 7400 rpm so in total 12 Tb. Configured in RAID0. I'm using this enclosure already for years now.

    Back to the performance:
    This little unit is a best and handles Capture one with easy, Brushstrokes (via Wacom tablet) is without any lag and letting the sw choose or find skin, faces etc etc works perfectly fine. (so does my old trashcan unit from 2016 - with 16Gb ram)
    Camera RAW files are between 40-60 Mb on average. 

    Memory usage goes up to 16-24 Gb from time to time. 
    Also video (in 4K) runs perfect with Final Cut Pro.

    My biggest fear was that the unit would become too warm or hot but it does not make any noise nor does it become warm. It is only very very lightly warm.

     

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  • Rémi DERYCKE

    Thanks for your informations, i'm looking for these Mac because i can't wait for Mac Studio M4.

    Yours is Mini M4 Pro 14/20/16 + 64Go RAM ?

    How many time to make 100 preview from RAW (canon) ?

    How many time to export 100 Raw to JPG ?

       Thanks a lot

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  • André Hilkens

    Rémi DERYCKE

    Yes, I have the Mac min pro with upgraded GPU and 64Gb, 1Tb drive.

    Note that I'm not a tester like those YouTubers where they test unreal scenarios. Anyway, generating previews goes really quick. Files are around 60-70Mb. I think the speed is mainly related to how fast your storage solutions is. I use the Thunderbolt 4 enclosure from OWC which only has a thunderbolt 2 connection. For me it is all fast enough and much faster then the old system. Just for fun I also copied a single Session to a Samsung T7 ssd and there everything is even faster.

    What is NOT good with this system is the usage of an Apple Studio display. I loaned this for a moment and found that sliders all of a sudden becomes laggy in Capture one. There is a lag of 1-2 seconds before the actual change becomes visible which is a NO-GO for me personally.  So after 2 hours of trying some things with preview sizes etc I gave up and connected my Eizo CG2730 again. After that all was fine again in Capture one.

    Interesting fact with the studio display all other apps work absolutely fine so I think capture one is not very well optimised for 4K or 5K screens. If you plan to do that I would wait until the studio version arrives and test is somewhere.

    Also while the Studio Display (5K but running 2550x1440) from apple was connected, my Mac mini got considerably warmer. It was still OK to touch but I felt it was rather warm which I don't like in electronics.

    Hope it helps.

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  • Rémi DERYCKE

    Thanks a lot !

    Totaly agree with you for the no-go...

    OK fot the screen, i'm looking for a tactil one, 27 or 32"

     

       Have a merry Christmas !

     

       Rémi

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