While iOS and iPadOS apps on Big Sur can still be a mixed bag, not all software takes advantage of Apple Silicon yet, and you sacrifice ports and flexibility versus the Intel version, I can’t help but be wowed by what the Mac mini M1 offers. It’s not hard to imagine another Mac mini with an even speedier SoC that addresses those absences on the current model. Apple says its expects the Apple Silicon transition to take about two years, and of course the M1 is only the first of a series of homegrown chipset designs. There’s no doubt that it’s on borrowed time, though. In its favor, though, are its four Thunderbolt 3 ports and support for up to three displays, its user-accessible memory slots, and the 10Gb ethernet option for those who need the very fastest network connection. It’s $100 more expensive and, I suspect, its Core i5 processor will actually be slower at some of the media-focused tasks where the M1 shines. Finding something which doesn’t play nicely with Rosetta 2, Apple’s emulation system, is rare, at least for consumer-focused apps right now.įor the moment, the Intel version of the Mac mini is sticking around. As I found with the MacBook Air M1, it’s worth checking the unofficial compatibility lists if there’s particular software you can’t do without. The list of apps with native Apple Silicon support keeps getting longer, too, albeit sometimes only in beta form.
Even when I was crunching through 4K video processing, the Mac mini was both silent and cool to the touch. It’s rare to actually hear the fan, though. The combination of the SoC’s efficiencies and the display’s incredible color accuracy and detail, along with the desktop’s active cooling mean you get the most performance out of the M1 here, of the three models currently using the chipset. There’s a legitimate argument to be made that would-be video editors should combine Apple’s most expensive screen with its cheapest Mac.
BEST USE FOR MAC MINI PRO
That’s because apps like Final Cut Pro really do fly on Apple Silicon. Nonetheless, they make for a beguiling setup. Yes, for the price of one 32-inch Retina 6K monitor – at $4,999, plus $999 for the Pro Stand – you could get eight Mac mini, so I’ll concede it’s overkill.
Although Apple promises the ability to drive up to a 6K 60Hz display via Thunderbolt (plus up to a 4K 60Hz display via HDMI), I was still impressed to see just how handily the Mac mini can cope with the GPU demands of the Pro Display XDR.
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