Which macs have 8gb of vram?

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Level 1

14 points

Which macs have 8gb of vram?

I just got a 2018 Mac mini for my portable design rig. it is an i7 with 32MB of ram. Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB of Ram. Yay! 32gb ram and 1TB ssd.... er.....

I want to run ON1 Photo Raw and Blender. Sadly, I didn't realize this, the 1536mb of vram is anemic to handle these programs. I am also noticing sticky behavior running 2 Dell 2715Q monitors. Fairly standard for hd monitors.

I guess I was putting all of my faith on the 32GB of ram to hold up the robust factor of my intentions.

Q: What Macs or Mac Minis have at least 8GB of Ram? Pre M1.

Are there any intel Macs (for cost reasons) with this Vram? My 27" 2017 iMac has 4gb of Vram. I can always default to that one for now, but portability is an issue.

Mac mini, macOS 13.7

Posted on Sep 23, 2024 11:53 AM

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Answer 1

Niel

Level 10

731,363 points

Sep 23, 2024 12:10 PM in response to dchapple99

Some 2019 and 2020 iMacs, the 16-inch 2019 MacBook Pro, the 2019 desktop Mac Pro, and the iMac Pro.

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Answer 2

Niel

Level 10

731,363 points

Sep 23, 2024 2:18 PM in response to dchapple99

None of the Intel models have a better graphics system than yours.

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Answer 3

Sep 24, 2024 5:35 AM in response to dchapple99

The anemic behavior you are seeing with ON1 has less to do with the VRAM but totally to do with the anemic Intel integrated graphics.

You could try to improve the performance with an external GPU which you can still do on a 2018 Mini but expect to pay a minimum of $600-800 dollars or more and some serious work to get it up and running properly.

Bottom line, the 2018 MacMini with its Intel integrated graphics is an anemic performer for any sort of graphics work regardless of how much RAM you stick in it. You best bet is to see if you can recover the money you spent on the Mini and get a later model iMac or MacBook Pro with 32GB RAM and a discrete GPU with 4 GB or so of VRAM or take the gamble on the external GPU.

Alternatively, buy a new M2 MacMini Pro with 32 GB RAM or an M2 MacStudio which outperform any Intel Mac.

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Answer 4

dchapple99 Author

Level 1

14 points

Sep 23, 2024 1:17 PM in response to Niel

Thanks Neil, portability is key. And the 2019 16" MBP gets hot I hear. Is there a Mac mini capable of running Blender or the ON1 Photo Raw app?

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Answer 5

dchapple99 Author

Level 1

14 points

Sep 24, 2024 7:22 AM in response to woodmeister50

Thanks. This feels like good advice. Do you feel an M1 14" MBP with 32GB RAM could handle those programs? Is an M2 a substantial step up? There is a significant difference in pricing.

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