With the impending release of the new Mac Pro 7,1, taking a step back it’s pretty incredible that Apple even decided to produce the new style cheese-grater as it doesn’t seem worth it to Apple. After all, Apple hasn’t hidden the fact that that the vast majority of their customers buy iOS devices, not Macs, and that the vast majority of their single-digit percentage Mac customers buy laptops, not desktops.
The vast majority of their desktop customers buy iMacs, but let’s say that a single-digit percentage of those single-digit percentage Mac customers want something for our desk that doesn’t start at 5 or 6K, like the Mac Pro 7,1. What choices are there? There’s the iMac, but that is an all-in-one that doesn’t suit us. That leaves us the Mac mini that Apple resurrected last year.
It may not be a tower but you can stack it. It doesn’t have any internal PCIe slots, but it does have four Thunderbolt 3 ports. So, just how far you could take it or, rather, if you couldn’t or wouldn’t afford the Mac Pro, could you take it far enough to make it into a Mac mini Pro?
In this video, Rene Ritchie on the Vector YouTube channel sat down with Anthony Casella from imore.com and they break down each element of the Mac Pro 7,1 and look at what can be done with a Mac mini and ask whether the Mac mini 2018 is a much more fit-for-purpose cost-effective solution for most Apple Mac users looking for an expandable Apple Desktop computer. They even touch the thorny issue of the option of going for a self build Hackintosh.
More Detail And Costed Options
If this concept appeals to you then check out our article Which Apple Mac Should You Choose As A Pro Tools Computer? Specs And Prices in which we look at each Apple Mac computer, its strengths and weaknesses as a potential Pro Tools computer together two costed options, a basic option and a superior option and we start with the Mac Mini.
More On The Mac Mini As A Pro Tools And Pro Audio Computer
Korey Pereira whose Dolby Atmos upgrade we featured had to replace his Pro Tools computer in a hurry when his cheese-grater failed unexpectedly. This is the story of what he chose to replace it with so that he could continue working in audio post-production and Dolby Atmos.
Is a dual Mac Mini system powerful enough to pull off large-scale recording and the intense workload associated with it? LA studio owner and post mixer, Jamey Scott of Dramatic Post, decided to put it to the test, originally an owner of 8 core Mac Pro 6.1 Trash Cans, Jamey decided to test the new Mac mini as a replacement. The results have been mixed.
Following on from our article The New Apple Mac Mini 2018 Is Described As Awesome But Is It A Good Pro Tools Machine? in which we looked at the suitability of the new Mac mini as a Pro Tools computer, we asked community member Simon Nakra to share his experiences.
When the Mac mini 2018 was announced some Pro Tools users were quick to ask if it would be a good Pro Tools machine for those who want to stick with the macOS. There are Windows PC alternatives but this article is not about that, it’s comparing Apples with Apples so to speak. What do we think?
Is Julian alone in thinking that buying a new mac is inevitably a disappointing experience, and one he’s happy to a postpone for as long as possible? New Macs are pretty, alluring and briefly rewarding, but expensive and while no-one can avoid upgrading their computer indefinitely, when He does, He does so with mixed feelings.
We have the first post-production test of a 2nd-gen Apple Silicon powered mac computer. We compare it with a 2018 Intel-powered Mac mini running a post session with a ProRes video playing.
In this week’s podcast, Russ is joined by Julian and Mike to discuss Macs. What are we using? Why? Did we make the right choice and what, if anything, would we change?
During 2019, it became steadily more apparent that Mike’s ageing Mac Pro 5,1 bought back in 2012 was becoming less reliable and would need replacing. The question was, what should he replace it with and secondly what other upgrade work would come with that change. This article is the story of his choices, decisions and challenges of that journey.
Ever since I upgraded my MacBook Pro laptop to a later model with a Retina screen I have wondered if it was possible to get the same ‘Retina’ experience on a macOS desktop computer system. Recently one of my 24-inch screens failed on my Pro Tools system and this article is the journey to see if it was possible.
There is no doubt that Apple’s compact, no-frills, desktop computer is proving very popular but compared to some of the other Apple computers like the MacBook Pro the 2018 Mac mini is already being left behind. In this article, we explore what Apple would need to do to the Mac mini to make it even better than the Mac mini 2018 model.
We have been picking up reports that some External Graphics Processor Units (eGPU) have issues with macOS Catalina 10.15. We have the details…
With the impending release of the new Mac Pro 7,1 new-style cheese-grater with a starting price of around $6k, we ask is there an alternative to the new new Apple Mac tower that most users will be more than adequate and provide what a lot of us, looking at a new Apple Mac computer, need at a more affordable price?
We've been asked by many people to take a look at the Mac mini 2018 to see if the claims of it being 'awesome' on the one hand or that the 'USB2 audio is broken' are true. There's some merit in other reviews and also in anecdotal evidence from forums and social media, but to be frank, the only way to get to the facts is to test it ourselves. Not only have we tested this Mac mini 2018 on its own but benchmarked it against a Mac Pro Late 2013 to give you a sense of the power under the hood of the Mac mini 2018.
It is fairly well known that Apple would always rather you buy a computer from them as a completed system. However, this is not always the most cost effective approach for us the computer buying public. Thanks, in part of Apple making the RAM of the new Mac Mini a user serviceable upgrade you can now take advantage of after market RAM and give your machine top spec without the top spec price tag. The team at OWC show you how to upgrade the RAM in your 2018 Mac Mini.
What Are You Going To Do?
Do share in the comments what your plans are or what recent choice you made, when deciding on your next pro audio Apple Mac computer. What factors determined the choice you made. It may well help others in the community make a more informed choice.