You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
Any thoughts on a Mac Mini i7 vs. a Mac Mini M1 for a hobby recording studio? I use Logic Pro X to record myself on guitars, synths, VI’s etc. The i7 (2019 T-bolt 3, 12 threaded cores, 32 GB RAM) is obviously way cheaper and way more in my budget, but I don’t want to get something and outgrow it in a few years.
Mac mini (2018)
I have the opposite opinion:
Several new features in Logic Pro already require Apple Silicon.
And _if_ Apple stops releasing support for Intel in the next version of macOS 2025, which is not unrealistic based on the timing for the PowerPC->Intel and 32->64 bit Intel transition, that could mean that in 2026 Logic Pro would no longer support Intel CPUs. That is 2 years from now! You could still _use_ your Intel machine, but it will fall behind quickly.
Rosetta works fine and is fast. If necessary, you can use it without any issue, e.g. right now that would be ARA.
I have decent knowledge of tours and musicals using Macs. All of them are using Apple Silicon based machines for years.
You should not buy an Intel-based Mac, except if you _have_ to. But you are not a commercial studio, which might keep some old hardware around – some studios even have some Atari ST for that reason. But even as a commercial studio: you do not want your business being depended on hardware, which you can only buy used. Compatibility with a specific 32-bit Intel Plugin is a complete waste of time for you. Do not invest any money or time into anything that has not full support of Apple Silicon. Why? If a vendor has no 100% support of Apple Silicon after 4 years, they clearly do not care. Why give them money? Why bother with compatibility issues, which will come up?
You should not spend money on something that has no future. Look into a used M1/M2 MacMini with at least 16GB of memory. If necessary: wait a little bit longer before upgrading.
I have the opposite opinion:
Several new features in Logic Pro already require Apple Silicon.
And _if_ Apple stops releasing support for Intel in the next version of macOS 2025, which is not unrealistic based on the timing for the PowerPC->Intel and 32->64 bit Intel transition, that could mean that in 2026 Logic Pro would no longer support Intel CPUs. That is 2 years from now! You could still _use_ your Intel machine, but it will fall behind quickly.
Rosetta works fine and is fast. If necessary, you can use it without any issue, e.g. right now that would be ARA.
I have decent knowledge of tours and musicals using Macs. All of them are using Apple Silicon based machines for years.
You should not buy an Intel-based Mac, except if you _have_ to. But you are not a commercial studio, which might keep some old hardware around – some studios even have some Atari ST for that reason. But even as a commercial studio: you do not want your business being depended on hardware, which you can only buy used. Compatibility with a specific 32-bit Intel Plugin is a complete waste of time for you. Do not invest any money or time into anything that has not full support of Apple Silicon. Why? If a vendor has no 100% support of Apple Silicon after 4 years, they clearly do not care. Why give them money? Why bother with compatibility issues, which will come up?
You should not spend money on something that has no future. Look into a used M1/M2 MacMini with at least 16GB of memory. If necessary: wait a little bit longer before upgrading.
The price difference between the two shouldn't really be significant. In fact, many studios are stacking up on the older Intel machines for a number of reasons:
The only real drawbacks are heat and thus fan noise and soon not being to update OS and Logic further. However, not very much sensible has actually happened in the last few years when it comes to music production. And new plugins will be compatible for a while to come. A ten year old production system can still be very good. Apart from that, an Intel Mac is a system that has proven its worth over decades. Mac Silicon, not so much. M2/3/4 are just brute forcing nm and GHz to keep up with Intel and Snapdragon.
I have a Mac M1 and switched to it after decades of Mac Intel. Yes, it's working, and I am producing. But I personally would get the Intel one now.
Mac Mini i7 vs. Mac Mini M1 for music production.
