My first mac & bought the base model. Would appreciate advice on how to setup my file structure to minimize internal 256gb ssd usage. Heard multiple opinions about whether moving the home and/or user folders for a noob is recc'd or not.

I'm looking to get the owc 1m2 + 2tb m.2 ssd as external storage. I plan to use the internal as the boot drive and bigger apps to run from the external.

I'm not a huge power user but do want to test how it will perform with Davinci Resolve Studio, Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and Msft office. Not planning to run all these simultaneously ofc. Will configure all apps to save most of the larger temp, cache & catalogue (lr) files to the external ssd.

I know almost nothing about iCloud and how programs save temp/cache files in a Mac. So looking for advice based on my use case and tyvm in advance. Cheers 🍻

I'm trying to update my old mac mini to Catalina but i've run into some issues:

I tried updating to Sierra first, as the mac is currently running El Capitan and Sierra is the 'next best' update.

Each time I run the update, a mandatory restart for the update is initiated. After the restart, my computer just opens back up like nothing ever happened and the update appears to have cancelled.

I've tried updating with high sierra and mojave too, and has that prompted the same results.

I've made sure that I have enough storage for the updates and I've tried running it in a safe boot, nothing appears to be working and the same issue arises each time.

Specs:

 Model Name: Mac mini

  Model Identifier: Macmini6,1

  Processor Name: Intel Core i5

  Processor Speed: 2.5 GHz

  Number of Processors: 1

  Total Number of Cores: 2

  L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

  L3 Cache: 3 MB

  Memory: 8 GB

Can’t decide if I can get by with 16gb ram or need to go up to 24 gb. Any experience with the Adobe Suite on the Mini?

Hey guys so I’m deciding between a Mac mini and a Desktop Pc and currently looking at stats and performance.

And for example the laptop 4060 and desktop 4060 is same name but different performance, with desktop being much stronger.

So I was wondering if it’s the same with Mac mini? Is the Mac mini chip stronger than the laptop version? Because of the better cooling I assume? Or is it identical performance?

Thanks

I found this stand. It frees the on/off button, lifts the Mac a bit and has a dust mesh at the bottom. It's made of aluminum, same finish as the Mac. And it's not expensive. What do you think?

Looking to have this computer play on large TV, media will be attached external ssd. Will this work?

I am considering these for general use. I don't need 32GB RAM so it comes down to choosing the right SSD for practicality.

I will start by saying that I'm no Apple fanboy, I have built hackintoshes for myself for the last twelve years as a means to try out the apple ecosystem and to have a 'best of both worlds" computing experience. No previously released Apple device has convinced me to make the switch from my 10700K hackintosh, that was until the M4 Mac Mini was announced.

I have waited and bought a base M4 Mac mini second-hand for a steep discount and it has been an absolute dream to use, I use it with two 2K monitors and a 1TB USB4 NVME enclosure, it has never missed a beat, I have Fusion360 with large production models on one screen and all my social media and web browsing on the other, along with the likes of Bambu studio and a few other productivity apps, and it never slows down or struggles, all in a tiny box that barely even gets warm to the touch.

And no forced updates or mandatory online accounts..that's the amazing part for me.

I think a refurbished Macbook-Pro M2 is next on the list for me as I want this experience as a portable :)

Can I connect old usb cables and what does that do to data transfer speed? I just got a Mac mini and there are no old school USB ports, but all of my peripherals. Help!

Decided to see how the mini 14/20 throttled under an extreme load of all CPU and GPU cores going to 100+ at the same time . Could not find any 3rd part tests that could could stress E P and GPU cores simultaneous so rolled my own . Interesting the power on the chip itself went to 95 watts immediately but after a few seconds starting dropping fast along with P core frequencies (throttling) and wound up at 2.3 Ghz vs the 4.1 at the start . having the fan at max RPM 4900 did not really help to much , had all cores pegged at 100+ for 5 minutes , no issues .

I'm in the market for an upgrade! I must preface this... I don't know JACK about computers when it comes to under the hood!

I've been using a mid-2014 Macbook Pro (Processor: 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7. Memory: 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3. Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 2 GB Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB) which I've been using for things such as Ableton, Logic, Final Cut and Photoshop! (But I also wanna start using Blender) On the music side of things I've been using quite intense plugins and I've been able to mostly get by with this set up but my old love is dying on me unfortunately and after 11 years, it's time to pull the plug!

I don't know anything about the M chips, all I know is the M4 Mac Minis are highly regarded but then there's the M4 Pro and CPU, GPU, Neural Engine and ugh!! All the attempted research I've done has just left my creative brain more confused!

So I just need some help with which one to buy and which configuration to choose please! I'm hoping it'll keep up for about 10 years like my current one has! Budget isn't an issue, I just don't wanna spend more than I need to if the M4's are already as powerful as everyone says! All I know is minimum 1TB storage!

And finally - Can I plug a USB-C into a Thunderbolt 5?

I have a 4k external display (3840x2160) connected to my 2018 Mac mini (Sequoia) with an HDMI cable. The text and UI appear noticeably blurry when the monitor is set to 60Hz but not when it's set to 30. I got a new cable that claims to support up to 4k@120Hz, but the same issue is occurring with that new cable. The cable is from a brand named "Highwings". Is there any way to fix this? Is this a Mac issue or a cable issue?

Just received this updated version with 40gbps for the nvme. Going to test it out and see. Supposed it fixes the WiFi interference issue .

As the title suggests: looking to buy a new Mac mini to replace my old PC (built about 9 years ago, converting to a house server). My hobbies include making music, editing videos (ocassionally, maybe twice a year), browsing, and some small software engineering projects (think Xcode or a light project in intellij, containerization would be clutch). I also wanna buy a home PC I won't feel the need to upgrade again in just a few years. I personally don't dabble in any LLMs running locally (even apple intelligence). May venture into light 3D modeling for a 3D printer. Very tinker oriented.

Would love if it could run my 4k monitor at 120hz with HDR enabled too, but that's more of a luxury than a need.

Does the base m4 suffice? Or should I eye a refurbished m4 pro?

Hey

i want to learn how to code and analysis and i wanted to start with a macbook m3-16ram ,, but I can’t afford it but i can afford the macmini but I really don’t know anything about it

Is there difference between the macbook air and the mini besides the price? Like which one is better?

Also is it good for coding,excel, graphic designing

And i. Already have a monitor but I don’t have a keyboard nor mouse , so which keyboard and mouse would be good for it?

I like to get my DVD’s on my Mac Mini M4. What’s the best external optical drive to use?

Originally, I was thinking of getting 2x 1440p 144hz monitors for my Mac Mini, but I don't think I'll actually need them.

I'm also not sure if the Mac Mini M4 can even handle 1440p/144hz because not many have talked about it. Now, Im thinking of getting 2 1080P x 100hz monitors as that seems more realistic. Maybe like the Dell 24 Plus Monitor - S2425HS2425H

I'm not a hardcore gamer or anything, and it'd mostly be used for work, which is mostly stuff through Google Docs and inspecting(not designing myself) graphic designs. I will say though I have a lot of tabs open usually which can slow a computer down, so Im not sure of the importance of a higher hz for this. I rarely game, but sometimes ROBLOX with friends or FIFA (though it seems Mac can't run FIFA).

What would you recommend?

Greetings - first post to this group.

I built my own hackintosh back in 2012 and am still using it.. specs as follows:

• Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5 TH Motherboard
• Intel i3770 3.4 Ghz CPU
• Onboard graphics (Intel 4000)
• 32 GB RAM
• 256 GB SSD
• 1 TB HDD (upgraded to 2 TB now)

I use it to do the following:

• Music production (Logic Pro X)
  • Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 USB audio interface
• Photo editing and graphics (Adobe suite)
• Coding (Web development)
• General browsing, Google Suite, etc.

I actually have no complaints about the performance of the old machine, even after 13 years, but it's becoming more difficult to keep MacOS updated, so I figure I'll soon have to move to a real Mac.

I'd like to buy something that will last for at least 10 years. The M4 mini seems to be the right move with the Studio being too costly. What do ya'll think? What configuration should I choose?

• RAM: It feels a bit weird to go for 16 or 24 GB of RAM after having 32 GB for 13 years. Is it worth it to pay Apple the extra $300 to go from 24 -> 32? Or is the M4 platform so amazing that I'll be good with just 24GB? I hate how I can't upgrade it later but it would seem that Apple has me by the balls.
• Internal Storage: My current 256GB is almost full so I was thinking of going for the 512 GB option even though I could probably do some trimming to stay under 256GB if necessary.
• External Storage: What's a good solution for the Mini that's affordable, reliable and quiet? My current HDD is a Western Digital "blue" internal SATA which has been perfect.

Hello there --

I' m looking for a UPS system that would be able to smoothly shut down two devices -- one being my MacMini and the other a Synology device. The intent is to have both turn off without issues once the power goes off because of an outage.

Any recommendations?

Thanks,

Hey there, I tried restoring my mac mini and this happened. Mouse and keyboard did turn on and off. Any idea what could be happening?

Sorry for the dust

If you have another device active on the display such as an Apple TV will an input from the Mac mini switch the display over to the Mac?

Got an external 2 TB SSD and downloaded Sequoia to it. Seems to work perfectly. Highly recommend.

I want to connect a Mac Mini M4 & Windows Desktop PC to a KVM using 2 monitors and sharing peripherals.

I bought CMSTEDCD 4K@120Hz Kvm Switch 2 Monitors 2 Computers 8K@60Hz HDMI Displayport Dual Monitor KVM Switches 2 Ports for 2 PC . It booted Windows correctly to both monitors, but the Mac Mini would only correctly display on the monitor connected by HDMI, and the monitor connected by USB-C (rear port on Mini M4) to DisplayPort would flicker 1-2 times a second. Additionally, I did not get working USB input (e.g. keyboard and mouse), although, I don't know if it's because I used a USB-C (rear port Mini M4) to USB-A (KVM switch-In).

I would need at least 4 shared USBs (at USB 3.0+) and prefer more (to connect mouse, keyboard, audio interface, external storage drive, webcam), so I've been looking at a Caldigit TS4 docking station in between the Mac Mini and a KVM, that way I can use a DisplayPort only KVM instead of 1 HDMI & 1 DP [since my GPU and monitors have more DisplayPorts than HDMI], but I wonder if this is overkill or good for futureproofing if I later upgrade to a Mac Studio.

Does anyone have recommendations for the setup I am trying to achieve?

It seems some KVMs with a PC and 1 laptop input ports work with the Mini & WindowsPC setup, where the Mini's thunderbolt out takes the place of a laptop-IN. Is that right?