Unless you buy a new Mac every year, you shouldn't think about what you need NOW, you should think about what you might need 5 years from now. Which is why I went with M4 Pro Mac Mini, 14 core CPU, 48GB RAM, 1 TB SSD and 10Gbps Ethernet. Also, Macs will generally feel faster with more RAM, due to the fact MacOS wants to cache programs you use often in RAM. Faster starting a program from RAM even though the internal SSD is fast as well..
Five years from now, I will need $200 as a ⅓ down payment for the Mac mini M9 with a 20-cores CPU and 100GB RAM or something. Predicting your needs half a decade in advance requires knowledge about all the technological developments in this time frame. Five years ago the M1 wasn't even announced. Ask the buyers of the 6-core i5 Mac mini (2018) whether upgrading the RAM was worth it in retrospect.
I originally had the 16gb a few weeks ago, and noticed I was already using swap memory without using Final Cut Pro or any type of programs outside of safari and Microsoft teams. I knew then 16gb wasn't enough for me so I returned it to the Apple Store and paid like an extra 230 for the one with 24gb and I'm happier with it. I don't get the spinning wheel no stuttering or nothing.
I have always plumped for as much ram as I can possibly afford, OK I am doing design, video editing and photography but I also think it give me more longevity with the Mac itself.
Its funny because I argued with a guy at the local computer shop when the first M1 cam out with 8GB and he said it was plenty. I opened chrome and 4 youtube tabs and it was already using 6 of the 8GB. No computer should come with less than 16GB these days and 32 should make you comfortable for at least a couple years. When I finally upgrade I'll likely go 32 or 64 depending on the system I get.
I bought 24GB Mac mini in December and I’m seeing beachball when doing a search in Finder. I had a late 2012 Mac which I was able to upgrade a few years ago with a 1TB ssd and 16GB ram. Disappointed with the performance of the new Mac mini.
I have a Mac mini M1. Currently 13.24 GB of physical memory is used. So it has almost 3 GB of physical memory unused. But it is also using 2.78 GB Cache and 178 MB Swap. It probably shouldn't need that but it does.
48 GB is a lot of RAM. I have 32 GB on my Macs and 128 GB on my WIndows system and sometimes the Windows system runs programs better than my Macs. I'd love to get an M4 mini to play around with but I would prefer to replace my M1 Studio with an M4 Studio with 48 GB of RAM or 64 if they don't do 48. I've heard that some have issues with the cooling on the M4 mini and prefer something really quiet. And the ports. It will be interesting to see if they get rid of the USB-A ports on the M4 Studio and replace them with Thunderbolt 5.
Man!!! Some of these websites I use DO eat up a ton of RAM when I load 'em up! Being a old, retired guy, I've always thought I could get away with the base model of computer or the least amount of RAM. That is not true, apparently. I have an old $99 laptop with 4GB of RAM and even Linux runs slowly on that thing.😆🤣 Good thing I'm watching your channel on my M1 Mac. It's got only 8GB, but it's still quick compared to a 4GB x86 machine.
as a new user i think 16gb is good and if im having memory issue i can just close some apps and im will be good ... i dont need to have 6 apps open at once, 2 or 3 are enough
Thank you for the videos and valuable information. Question. I want to edit videos using Divinvi resolve. Although I have a 6k camera I would mostly film in 4K, up to 5K on some occasions to down sample to 4K. I am leaning towards the base model with 32 GB of ram & 512 SSD (using portable SSDs) or getting the standard pro model. FYI. Speed is not an issue. No extreme graphics, beyond sound design and color grading. Between the two, what are your thoughts or suggestions. Thank you.
Imagine using the same $200 to pay up for a way better monitor instead of just +8GB more memory. You'll notice the color and contrast every second, even when the Mac mini runs idle.
can someone give me advice. i want to do at least 10 years with the mac mini. i do music production and occasionally a bit of video. i also work with logic pro and plugins. i doubt between m4 standard chip10/10 core with 32gb ram and 1 tb ssd. or the mac mini m4 pro 12/16 core with 48gb ram and 1tb ssd.
24gb definitely is the way to go! Just my opinion. If you're doing basic tasks and such, 16gb...but please, no 8gb for anyone reading this. 8GB really bottle necks the system unless you are literally doing the most basic things like watching RUclips with 2 tabs and like running excel or something to that level. The 16gb is an absolute jump up and good news is that the newer macs have them automatically. So yeah, for me, 24gb or anything higher. I personally will go for a 32-36gb ram probably on the Max. I may even get a M1 Max since those are running around $1500, very good condition. Sure it's older but it's still a beast!
Never go below 24gb img. On PC, 32gb is my lowest and 64gb is my highest (mostly for gaming and wanting some overhead). Obviously MacOS runs differently, but 24gb even for normal users would be my recommendation.
I have an M4 MacBook Pro with 16GB and it constantly crashes. I have a workload of hundreds of thousands of small datasets (I work in data). 16GB simply can’t handle it anymore. I’m returning it
The simple explanation is that the system and GPU share memory. Given that 16gb is standard for system memory now, if you're doing anything that uses GPU roughly equivalent to a 60s or 70s series nvidia GPU then you are going to be losing 6-8gb of RAM to the GPU. If systems TODAY are standard with 16gb, why would you buy that number today if you want it to last you 4-5+ years.
Because even in five years the M4 chip won't be any faster than it is TODAY, its memory bandwidth and SSD speed will be exactly the same. All the outdated technologies and bottlenecks will still be there. It will be a five-year old computer no matter what. More memory is not an anti-aging creme.
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
Unless you buy a new Mac every year, you shouldn't think about what you need NOW, you should think about what you might need 5 years from now.
Which is why I went with M4 Pro Mac Mini, 14 core CPU, 48GB RAM, 1 TB SSD and 10Gbps Ethernet.
Also, Macs will generally feel faster with more RAM, due to the fact MacOS wants to cache programs you use often in RAM.
Faster starting a program from RAM even though the internal SSD is fast as well..
Yes I agree. Some people upgrade more often but if you plan to keep it 5 or more the extra money could be worth it
Five years from now, I will need $200 as a ⅓ down payment for the Mac mini M9 with a 20-cores CPU and 100GB RAM or something. Predicting your needs half a decade in advance requires knowledge about all the technological developments in this time frame. Five years ago the M1 wasn't even announced. Ask the buyers of the 6-core i5 Mac mini (2018) whether upgrading the RAM was worth it in retrospect.
I ordered the M4 Pro Mac Mini, with 64GB/1TB, 14-core CPU,
20-core. It’s arriving next week. It’s more than I need, but why not! 😎
Yes that will be a beast. Must of cost a pretty penny.
As a 2D graphic designer I choose basic M4 Mac mini but with 32GB RAM. It's more important for me to have more ram than faster CPU.
@@Agnus78 yes ram can be more important than the CPU in many cases
I originally had the 16gb a few weeks ago, and noticed I was already using swap memory without using Final Cut Pro or any type of programs outside of safari and Microsoft teams. I knew then 16gb wasn't enough for me so I returned it to the Apple Store and paid like an extra 230 for the one with 24gb and I'm happier with it. I don't get the spinning wheel no stuttering or nothing.
Yes if you know you were reaching the swap then you made the right call.
great video yes 24gb should be baseline for people loving many programs open
Thank you
I have always plumped for as much ram as I can possibly afford, OK I am doing design, video editing and photography but I also think it give me more longevity with the Mac itself.
For sure. While people can get away with 16 in most cases the people who use their computers for work related stuff the money is worth it. Thanks.
Its funny because I argued with a guy at the local computer shop when the first M1 cam out with 8GB and he said it was plenty. I opened chrome and 4 youtube tabs and it was already using 6 of the 8GB. No computer should come with less than 16GB these days and 32 should make you comfortable for at least a couple years. When I finally upgrade I'll likely go 32 or 64 depending on the system I get.
@@dragonballjiujitsu 24 is good for me now but I upgrade more often than most for my channel.
I bought 24GB Mac mini in December and I’m seeing beachball when doing a search in Finder. I had a late 2012 Mac which I was able to upgrade a few years ago with a 1TB ssd and 16GB ram. Disappointed with the performance of the new Mac mini.
I have a Mac mini M1. Currently 13.24 GB of physical memory is used. So it has almost 3 GB of physical memory unused. But it is also using 2.78 GB Cache and 178 MB Swap. It probably shouldn't need that but it does.
Thanks for the info.
48 GB is a lot of RAM. I have 32 GB on my Macs and 128 GB on my WIndows system and sometimes the Windows system runs programs better than my Macs. I'd love to get an M4 mini to play around with but I would prefer to replace my M1 Studio with an M4 Studio with 48 GB of RAM or 64 if they don't do 48. I've heard that some have issues with the cooling on the M4 mini and prefer something really quiet. And the ports. It will be interesting to see if they get rid of the USB-A ports on the M4 Studio and replace them with Thunderbolt 5.
Man!!! Some of these websites I use DO eat up a ton of RAM when I load 'em up!
Being a old, retired guy, I've always thought I could get away with the base model of computer or the least amount of RAM. That is not true, apparently. I have an old $99 laptop with 4GB of RAM and even Linux runs slowly on that thing.😆🤣
Good thing I'm watching your channel on my M1 Mac. It's got only 8GB, but it's still quick compared to a 4GB x86 machine.
Also, if you’re getting the M4 Pro instead of the base M4, 24 GB of Unified Memory is the minimum.
I've been thinking about this, and I will probably end up with the base M4 24 512 and save a few hundred dollars
Standard m4 chip is a great chip.
Boston Terrier for the win. Subscribed. lol
Yep I had one for 14 years
@ mine just turned 15 a few months ago. Best dog ever.
as a new user i think 16gb is good and if im having memory issue i can just close some apps and im will be good ... i dont need to have 6 apps open at once, 2 or 3 are enough
@@AdelAlberk then 16 is the correct choice. Money is money and only spend what you need to.
Thank you for the videos and valuable information. Question. I want to edit videos using Divinvi resolve. Although I have a 6k camera I would mostly film in 4K, up to 5K on some occasions to down sample to 4K. I am leaning towards the base model with 32 GB of ram & 512 SSD (using portable SSDs) or getting the standard pro model. FYI. Speed is not an issue. No extreme graphics, beyond sound design and color grading. Between the two, what are your thoughts or suggestions. Thank you.
Imagine using the same $200 to pay up for a way better monitor instead of just +8GB more memory. You'll notice the color and contrast every second, even when the Mac mini runs idle.
Yeah but some need more than 16 gb. Not everybody or even most but it can really help workflows in some cases
can someone give me advice. i want to do at least 10 years with the mac mini. i do music production and occasionally a bit of video. i also work with logic pro and plugins. i doubt between m4 standard chip10/10 core with 32gb ram and 1 tb ssd. or the mac mini m4 pro 12/16 core with 48gb ram and 1tb ssd.
24gb definitely is the way to go! Just my opinion. If you're doing basic tasks and such, 16gb...but please, no 8gb for anyone reading this. 8GB really bottle necks the system unless you are literally doing the most basic things like watching RUclips with 2 tabs and like running excel or something to that level. The 16gb is an absolute jump up and good news is that the newer macs have them automatically.
So yeah, for me, 24gb or anything higher. I personally will go for a 32-36gb ram probably on the Max. I may even get a M1 Max since those are running around $1500, very good condition. Sure it's older but it's still a beast!
Yes I agree that 8 isn't enough for sure in 2025. 16 is good for many but 24 is where I needed to be.
Apple should consider allowing third party memory addons and to treat it like swap memory, instead of using the SSD.
Yes but will never happen in my opinion.
64gb here
@@SuperGiantGeckosLLC nice
so if i had 24gb on both the base m4 and m4 pro ... the one on the pro is faster/better ?
its not the same type/speed memory ?
The memory bandwidth is faster so it is faster ram too.
Never go below 24gb img. On PC, 32gb is my lowest and 64gb is my highest (mostly for gaming and wanting some overhead). Obviously MacOS runs differently, but 24gb even for normal users would be my recommendation.
Yes but most normal users would be fine with 16 gb. Most don't do editing or things that require more than 16.
I've got a 1000 tabs open and 64gb ram isn't enough what should I do?
See a psychiatrist... 1000 tabs ... Yeah see one tomorrow
I have an M4 MacBook Pro with 16GB and it constantly crashes. I have a workload of hundreds of thousands of small datasets (I work in data). 16GB simply can’t handle it anymore. I’m returning it
Everyone is different and if that's happening then you are a perfect example of who should upgrade.
Why not 32?
For me I don't need it. You might.
changing mine for 24 gb as well
Only if you need it but if you do it's worth the money.
The simple explanation is that the system and GPU share memory. Given that 16gb is standard for system memory now, if you're doing anything that uses GPU roughly equivalent to a 60s or 70s series nvidia GPU then you are going to be losing 6-8gb of RAM to the GPU.
If systems TODAY are standard with 16gb, why would you buy that number today if you want it to last you 4-5+ years.
Because even in five years the M4 chip won't be any faster than it is TODAY, its memory bandwidth and SSD speed will be exactly the same. All the outdated technologies and bottlenecks will still be there. It will be a five-year old computer no matter what. More memory is not an anti-aging creme.