New apple M1 chips - who's buying?

[ch37]

768 said:

I've spent a fortune on Apple kit, but even I think £200 for an extra 8GB of RAM is eye wateringly expensive.

90% profit I reckon! Although given the price of the base model I'm finding it hard to complain, as I wouldn't have been surprised if it started at £800 anyway.

£649 is superb for that much power (and efficiency). I've been using an 8GB M1 Air since day one and it powers through thousands of Sony RAW files in Lightroom every week without flinching. 8GB more than enough for 97% of potential buyers.

[Blown2CV]

so logically it is possible to purchase a 'MacBook Pro M2 Pro'? that just sounds clunky and like they agreed that whilst marketing were on their christmas break...

[thebraketester]

ch37 said:

768 said:

I've spent a fortune on Apple kit, but even I think £200 for an extra 8GB of RAM is eye wateringly expensive.

90% profit I reckon! Although given the price of the base model I'm finding it hard to complain, as I wouldn't have been surprised if it started at £800 anyway.

£649 is superb for that much power (and efficiency). I've been using an 8GB M1 Air since day one and it powers through thousands of Sony RAW files in Lightroom every week without flinching. 8GB more than enough for 97% of potential buyers.

RAM on these is always going to be expensive because a) it’s all on board and therefore production costs are higher, and b) Apple know you cannot upgrade it.

[Matt..]

I need a new machine to replace a 2011 iMac 27. These new Mac Minis are fine if you want the base model, but it gets ridiculously expensive when you want extras. This has been the case for years with Apple, but the 8gb/256gb base configuration has been the same for at least 6 years now. You basically have to upgrade.

For me I only want max RAM and 1TB SSD, but the mini that’s £600 above the £650 base model. That is insane. Basically double the cost for an extra 16gb RAM and 512GB SSD.

The Mini is also way overdue a redesign. The case is at least half empty now and could be dramatically reduced in size.

[untakenname]

The benchmarks for most common tasks/workflows don't show that much of a disparity between the 8 and 16GB versions of the M chips until you're really taxing the system so unless you have a use case or really want to future proof then imo it's not worth the extra expense.

https://www.howtogeek.com/865066/its-okay-to-buy-a...

Edit: Reading more into the subject upgrading the storage from 256 to 512GB seems to have more of a real world impact due to the storage being in parallel so accessed quicker.

The Apple education store seems to have a pretty decent saving on the M2 Mac Mini so worth considering for anyone's eligible or has someone in the family that is.

Edited by untakenname on Thursday 19th January 17:41

[ajprice]

Geekbench scores are getting out, putting M2 Pro ahead of M1 Max https://www.macrumors.com/2023/01/19/mac-mini-m2-p...

[mikef]

I sold my 8/256 M1 Mini on the Bay just before Christmas for not short of new price (win) , replaced by a MacBook Air M2 16/1TB

My observations are that he Mini is a superb little bit of kit. 8GB RAM was never a problem - it was faster at most things than my Mac Pro 12-core with 128GB of RAM. However 256GB storage wasn’t enough, I spent too much time deleting stuff to free up disk space (usually at inconvenient times). The form factor is fine because it enables fanless operation and there are good matching accessories like a Satechi stand with built in SSD. I would appreciate the extra TB4 ports on the M2 Pro, but have been using a CalTech Thunderbolt dock and can live with that

Very welcome product introduction

[stewies_minion]

I'm waiting for the M2 iMac.

Will be some time I think.

[mmm-five]

stewies_minion said:

I'm waiting for the M2 iMac.

Will be some time I think.

I'm still waiting for the M1 27" iMac...had to make do with a Mac Studio Max and Studio Display

[ajprice]

Base M1 iMac is £1399. You could get an upgraded M2 Mac Mini and a decent 4k thunderbolt screen for that.

[33q]

stewies_minion said:

I'm waiting for the M2 iMac.

Will be some time I think.

Me too.

I'm looking at the Curry's deal for £1499 and free credit for 12 months. Will the M2 be so much better?....Do I really need anything any better?

My use is general PC work...big Excel Spreadsheets, no gaming.

My existing Laptop is 6 years old.

[MikeHo]

They're a lot of money!

Currently got a 14" M1 Pro that was around 2 grand. M2 with the extras I need would be about 3! So it's a no from me for now. Unless it can be proved to save me a few hours a week building docker images.

[Jenny Tailor]

33q said:

stewies_minion said:

I'm waiting for the M2 iMac.

Will be some time I think.

Me too.

I'm looking at the Curry's deal for £1499 and free credit for 12 months. Will the M2 be so much better?....Do I really need anything any better?

My use is general PC work...big Excel Spreadsheets, no gaming.

My existing Laptop is 6 years old.

My little M1 Macbook Air with 16gb is still killing it. The processing power is still way way overkill for 99% of the population.
Unless you are a creative type I simply cannot see the benefit. ( And Gamers wouldn't be chosing a Mac )

Just look at the geekbench figures from the lowliest Macbook M1 Air through to the latest M2
Most apps IIRC use single core. How much faster?
Some creative apps use multi core. How much faster?

There are benefits around better camera etc etc.

But as earlier - the M1 air is simply just the muts nuts!

[Leithen]

Jenny Tailor said:

My little M1 Macbook Air with 16gb is still killing it. The processing power is still way way overkill for 99% of the population.
Unless you are a creative type I simply cannot see the benefit. ( And Gamers wouldn't be chosing a Mac )

Just look at the geekbench figures from the lowliest Macbook M1 Air through to the latest M2
Most apps IIRC use single core. How much faster?
Some creative apps use multi core. How much faster?

There are benefits around better camera etc etc.

But as earlier - the M1 air is simply just the muts nuts!

Same here. Keeping this thing until it breaks.

[33q]

Jenny Tailor said:

33q said:

stewies_minion said:

I'm waiting for the M2 iMac.

Will be some time I think.

Me too.

I'm looking at the Curry's deal for £1499 and free credit for 12 months. Will the M2 be so much better?....Do I really need anything any better?

My use is general PC work...big Excel Spreadsheets, no gaming.

My existing Laptop is 6 years old.

My little M1 Macbook Air with 16gb is still killing it. The processing power is still way way overkill for 99% of the population.
Unless you are a creative type I simply cannot see the benefit. ( And Gamers wouldn't be chosing a Mac )

Just look at the geekbench figures from the lowliest Macbook M1 Air through to the latest M2
Most apps IIRC use single core. How much faster?
Some creative apps use multi core. How much faster?

There are benefits around better camera etc etc.

But as earlier - the M1 air is simply just the muts nuts!

I've just priced up a new M2 Mac Mini 512, Iiyama monitor, Apple keyboard and mouse for about £1250. Seems OK to me. Any views?

[Jenny Tailor]

33q said:

Jenny Tailor said:

33q said:

stewies_minion said:

I'm waiting for the M2 iMac.

Will be some time I think.

Me too.

I'm looking at the Curry's deal for £1499 and free credit for 12 months. Will the M2 be so much better?....Do I really need anything any better?

My use is general PC work...big Excel Spreadsheets, no gaming.

My existing Laptop is 6 years old.

My little M1 Macbook Air with 16gb is still killing it. The processing power is still way way overkill for 99% of the population.
Unless you are a creative type I simply cannot see the benefit. ( And Gamers wouldn't be chosing a Mac )

Just look at the geekbench figures from the lowliest Macbook M1 Air through to the latest M2
Most apps IIRC use single core. How much faster?
Some creative apps use multi core. How much faster?

There are benefits around better camera etc etc.

But as earlier - the M1 air is simply just the muts nuts!

I've just priced up a new M2 Mac Mini 512, Iiyama monitor, Apple keyboard and mouse for about £1250. Seems OK to me. Any views?

How much memory? What are you using it for?
Can't comment about the monitor. I'm using a second hand LG 5K ultrafine ( designed for Mac ) - and it is awesome.
Would just say - if you are saving data files that do not need to be loaded in under a nanosecond or less - get an external drive.
Also tools that can cleanup installation crap - eg. like languages you will never use - can free up 10-20gigs quite easily.


Let us know the day your little mac mini has its tongue hanging out being overwhelmed by your workload.
I'm guessing we will never hear from you again.

[Matt..]

Personally I think the Mini is years overdue a redesign. If you look at videos of them being taken apart you can see that the case is 50% empty. I'd be far more interested in the Mini if it was the size of the Apple TV and I could far more easily hide it. My ideal is a 27+ inch iMac, but I don't believe that will happen for any sensible amount of money.

Right now if I want an Apple desktop with an Apple screen (27+), 1TB and 24GB I am looking a £3,000. That is ridiculous.

Apple is fine if you want to just do simple tasks at home, but for anything more intensive where you need more than the base spec it gets extremely expensive very quickly.

[anonymous-user]

ch37 said:

90% profit I reckon! Although given the price of the base model I'm finding it hard to complain, as I wouldn't have been surprised if it started at £800 anyway.

£649 is superb for that much power (and efficiency). I've been using an 8GB M1 Air since day one and it powers through thousands of Sony RAW files in Lightroom every week without flinching. 8GB more than enough for 97% of potential buyers.

Same here. I bought an M1 Air 8Gb 12 months ago for the silly-cheap price of £850 (on Amazon if I remember correctly) and it is absolutely brilliant.

As expected it doesn't even flinch in the slightest at anything work related (MS Office stuff, large spreadsheets with calcs and macros etc). When I use it for Lightroom/Photoshop for my hobby photography, it absolutely rips though it.

Combine that with the small size/weight, premium build and feel, the price, and the frankly bonkers battery life, I am astounded that any 'regular' laptop users would buy anything other than a base model Air if they need a new laptop, even if they are dedicated PC laptop users. I can use my Air for a full day in the office without plugging it in and it only gets down to about 50% battery.

I agree with the statement above, that the vast majority of people will never need anything more than a base model Air, base model Mini, base model iMac etc. Power users, video editors, then yes, they may need to upgrade the ram, or choose the Pro/Max model, or whatever, but I think the time for ordinary users to be worrying about 'how much RAM?' or 'Will the base model be slow?' and so on, have gone.

When I say 'ordinary users' I still include those who use their laptop for music production and photo/video editing on a hobby/amateur basis.

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 23 January 09:56

[kingston12]

Matt.. said:

Personally I think the Mini is years overdue a redesign. If you look at videos of them being taken apart you can see that the case is 50% empty. I'd be far more interested in the Mini if it was the size of the Apple TV and I could far more easily hide it. My ideal is a 27+ inch iMac, but I don't believe that will happen for any sensible amount of money.

Right now if I want an Apple desktop with an Apple screen (27+), 1TB and 24GB I am looking a £3,000. That is ridiculous.

Apple is fine if you want to just do simple tasks at home, but for anything more intensive where you need more than the base spec it gets extremely expensive very quickly.

Apple do seem to be paying more attention to specs than design these days. The new base Mac Mini is fantastic value for money at £650, but looks exactly the same as my 2011 Mini that I retired a few years ago and never got around to selling.

It's the same with the iMac. I loved the design of the 27" 2012 model that I had. When that failed in 2018, it felt a bit strange buying a replacement that looked and felt exactly the same. Now in 2023, the only way to buy a big screen iMac is from the refurbished store and it's still that same design.

[thebraketester]

Matt.. said:

Personally I think the Mini is years overdue a redesign. If you look at videos of them being taken apart you can see that the case is 50% empty. I'd be far more interested in the Mini if it was the size of the Apple TV and I could far more easily hide it. My ideal is a 27+ inch iMac, but I don't believe that will happen for any sensible amount of money.

Right now if I want an Apple desktop with an Apple screen (27+), 1TB and 24GB I am looking a £3,000. That is ridiculous.

Apple is fine if you want to just do simple tasks at home, but for anything more intensive where you need more than the base spec it gets extremely expensive very quickly.

Yes they could make it as small as an Apple TV. However then you hugely limit port-count and cooling.

IMO it's plenty small enough.