2009 mac pro vs mini

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2009 mac pro vs mini

I don't even know where to start looking for benchmark data, but I am thinking of updating to a mac mini. My 2009 still has horsepower. I had a OWC Eccelsior Blade drive in it until it failed. I just have a regular SATA now. I am no longer a power user, although I do edit some occasional video (Premier Pro) and play with music composition in Reason and Pro Tools.

How does this mac pro compare to the new mini with the M1 chip fully maxed out. (1200.00 version)
Since I am in no hurry, should I wait for the M1X version. I am not sure what the price tag is going to look like with more cores and more memory, but would it handle occasional 4K, photoshop and music apps as long as I don't push it too hard?

Posted on Aug 21, 2021 8:15 AM

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Answer 1

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Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,590 points

Aug 21, 2021 9:19 PM in response to nelsonmay

The versions of apps like Photoshop and Premier Pro, Reason and Pro Tools will not work

in an M1 mac with macOS Big Sur or macOS Monterey when it is released.

You will need to budget for purchasing or subscribing to new versions of these apps

if you want to use them on the new mac.

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Answer 2

Mal-S

Level 5

4,972 points

Aug 21, 2021 10:34 AM in response to nelsonmay

I’ve just upgraded to a base M1 iMac from an early 2009 Mac Pro dual quad core base Radeon Graphics which over the years I upped the memory to 16Gb and it now boots from a 2Tb hybrid SSHD. The M1 iMac has similar specs to an M1 Mini so I think my subjective views are probably good for both. Firstly boot time on the Pro into El Capitan is slow, on the M1 it is 17seconds to logon screen. The apps load faster on the M1 but I no longer have high requirements so opted only for 8Gb ram. Streaming movies from both AppleTV+ app and Amazon Prime in a browser had no buffering problems on either machine. I do use an older version of Lightroom on both and at some time I’ll do a comparison. I hope this helps, even though I’m not using a Mini (I still have a first generation Mac Mini on the shelf🙂).

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2009 mac pro vs mini

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