New M4 Mac Mini - Do I need more than 16Gb?

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Level 1

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New M4 Mac Mini - Do I need more than 16Gb?

I currently have a 16Gb 2018 Mac Mini i5, which I plan to replace with new M4 Mac Mini.

The biggest memory using app is Parallells Desktop running a Windows 11 VM. With other common apps open (Word, Excel and Mail) This generally leaves me with 3Gb of free memory.

Very occasionally I use Pixelmator Pro but I do not do anything more demanding than that. Processor speed is hardly ever affected.

I tend to keep my Macs until the last year when still supported by the latest MacOS.

Considering the additional memory needed for Apple Intelligence but also the increased memory efficiency of Apple silicon, can I still get away with 16 Gb?

Your input is most appreciated..

Mac mini, macOS 15.1

Posted on Nov 7, 2024 6:59 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

den.thed

Level 10

82,564 points

Nov 7, 2024 7:27 AM in response to jannymark

Go to > Mac - Which Mac is best for me? - Apple and enter your basic usage and requirement info.

Then from there you can decide if you want to add more Storage Space or Unified Memory.

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Answer 2

j0hnerz

Level 1

143 points

Nov 7, 2024 7:35 AM in response to jannymark

I followed the same advice as given by: den.thed. The outcome was to buy the 24gb option on memory and an external NMVe

Your mileage may vary of course, as will the depth of you pockets.

John

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Answer 3

Nov 8, 2024 5:30 AM in response to jannymark

jannymark wrote:

....

The biggest memory using app is Parallells Desktop running a Windows 11 VM. ....

Be aware that Parallels only supports the ARM64 version on Windows 11. while Windows 11 currently has a built in emulator to run x86 applications, you will be running any x86 app in an emulator inside a virtualizer and you will be seeing a performance hit. There are currently few Windows apps that are ARM64 native. One other thing is that any drivers that you may use will have to be built for the ARM64 platform, again, there are very few drivers that are ARM64 compatible.

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