Mac Mini Configuration to Run Adobe Products?

[bdkphoto]

The M1 mini is a good choice, I opted for the 1TB hard drive. I've been using it for over a year now for professional workflow with no issues at all- M1 is a game changer in terms of processing power -The Adobe suite is optimized for the system and it works amazingly well. I'm using larger files on a daily basis with no issues in LR classic and PS. C1 is now optimized for apple silicon but I have no hands on experience with it. Ari suggested a dock/hub which will be necessary for peripherals - the mini is limited in ports ( I chose the OWC hub @ $300 ) to keep the max transfer speeds from Thunderbolt 4 and a built in card reader etc. The Studio has this connectivity built in so the price difference is a bit less if you need a capable hub/dock. Mini w hub @ $1600 vs the Studio @ $2000 - with more memory, and better processor. I would choose the Studio if I was buying today. The Intel macs are a step backwards IMO. My recollection was that Rosetta only needed to be installed once and worked in the background with the Intel programs - I ran LR for 2 months with Rosetta as it wasn't optimized for M1 when I first got the machine. It was still much faster than my old mac.

[Tin Can]

Vuescan has an upgrade file for Mac Chips

[neil poulsen]

Having thought about this purchase from multiple directions, I'm leaning towards the Mac Mini M1 with 512 Gigabyte SSD Memory, and 16 Megabytes of Unified Memory.

The latest PS does very well with this configuration. Capture One '22 has also been optimized for the latest OSX, which of course will be resident on the new machine. I'll need to acquire a Capture One license, but there's no charge for owners of Phase One backs. The only software that's in doubt is i1 Profiler. But, there may even be an upgrade path through Calibrite, the company that currently owns the software.

It's been quite a journey. I thought hard about a Microsoft system. But given my past affinity for Apple, and in spite of Apple's embedded obsolescence, I couldn't bring myself to tread that path. Again, thanks for all the advice and insights that have been offered along the way. Otherwise, I think that I'd still be lost.

[Ari]

Neil, I have the same M1 Mini, 512Gb HD and 16Gb RAM. Just bought in January.
The i1 Studio and i1 Display profilers work just fine, as does the SpyderX Pro.
I also have zero issues with LR and PS, but I can't speak to C1. Third-party plug-ins also work seamlessly.

[r.e.]

Neil,

X-Rite updated i1Profiler for M1 Macs last spring. I've only had an M1 Mac for 10 days, but so far I'm seeing no issues with i1Profiler and my Eizo monitor.

I use Capture One but I haven't run into the bug that PetaPixel talks about in a March 17th article titled Apple Mac Studio with M1 Ultra: Insane Power for the Price. I don't import large numbers of photos at a time, and in any event I use Photo Mechanic for imports. Anyway, here's what PetaPixel says:

As we noted in our review of the MacBook Pro last year, there is a known bug in Capture One on M1 computers. Import times of Phase One files are notably worse than on comparable machines, and that doesn’t change with the M1 Ultra and this latest version of Capture One. While it is about ten seconds faster, it’s still more than a minute behind the Threadripper PC and significantly slower than the top-performing PC laptops.

Capture One is aware of the issue but hasn’t been able to provide a timeline for when a fix should be expected. The company does note that the design of the application does not necessitate waiting for all previews to be generated, however, since they will generate in the background. Still, it doesn’t look great in benchmarking.

[neil poulsen]

Neil, I have the same M1 Mini, 512Gb HD and 16Gb RAM. Just bought in January.
The i1 Studio and i1 Display profilers work just fine, as does the SpyderX Pro.
I also have zero issues with LR and PS, but I can't speak to C1. Third-party plug-ins also work seamlessly.

All excellent!

Yeah, I feel confident that I'm going in the right direction.

I just ordered yesterday, and I'll pick up my Mac Mini a week from Friday.

[neil poulsen]

Neil,

X-Rite updated i1Profiler for M1 Macs last spring. I've only had an M1 Mac for 10 days, but so far I'm seeing no issues with i1Profiler and my Eizo monitor.

I use Capture One but I haven't run into the bug that PetaPixel talks about in a March 17th article titled Apple Mac Studio with M1 Ultra: Insane Power for the Price. I don't import large numbers of photos at a time, and in any event I use Photo Mechanic for imports. Anyway, here's what PetaPixel says:

As we noted in our review of the MacBook Pro last year, there is a known bug in Capture One on M1 computers. Import times of Phase One files are notably worse than on comparable machines, and that doesn’t change with the M1 Ultra and this latest version of Capture One. While it is about ten seconds faster, it’s still more than a minute behind the Threadripper PC and significantly slower than the top-performing PC laptops.

Capture One is aware of the issue but hasn’t been able to provide a timeline for when a fix should be expected. The company does note that the design of the application does not necessitate waiting for all previews to be generated, however, since they will generate in the background. Still, it doesn’t look great in benchmarking.

Thanks for all the information that you've provided in this thread. It's been very helpful.

[profvandegraf]

I have been using the Mac Mini M1, 16 GB RAM and 1T SSD, since last year. Works well with Photoshop, Light Room, Affinity Photo, DxO Photolab and Vuescan. It also works with my Nikon 8000, (with two adapters) and my Epson V850. Not much to complain about. I still have my trusty MacPro 5,1s which keep on ticking but are getting close to the end, maybe. The old MacPros in my un-scientific testing seem to run PhotoShop only slightly slower to about half as fast for a given task.