My new Apple M4 Mac Mini

[danb79]

Having my M3 15" MB is great; more so for work as I can either sit at my desk; and when I want a change of scenery, can pop into the lounge to have a break in there and have some YouTube on in the background etc

But I missed having a static office set up; the 24" M4 iMac was great; but I wanted a simpler set up so I can dual screen my MBA when required; but also a static base for my Apple Music as I've a lot of music, TV programmes and films ripped to an external 4TB SSD, which I watch on the living room TV via Home Sharing / Apple TV etc

So my new set up does all that for me

Went with the OEM trackpad as I don't like the Apple Mouse; but went for the Omoton Mac keyboard as it's c£30 uk Sterling compared to c£150 for the Apple Touch ID keyboard and my AWU2 unlocks the Mac for me anyways







Loving the form factor of the M4 MM - it's size is brilliant and it sits perfectly under my monitor stand, with my SMSL DAC just above it and my 4k Dell monitor on top 😉

[Magnum 475]

I'm still running my M1 MBP16. Doesn't matter what I do with it, I can't get the fans going, and it copes with everything I ask it to do. M4 would be nice, because "Shiny New Thing", but i really can't justify it.

Apple Studio Display next??

[jan8p]

Nice!

I recently got an M2 Pro Mac mini to have on my work desk alongside my work MBP, I got sick of plugging my M4 Air into a dock every day. So far it's great

[AB]

I recently bought one for our boardroom and it’s absolutely fantastic. How can they keep going with increasing specs and actually sell them when nothing you do troubles them, within reason.

[danb79]

Cheers folks

No; no need for the Apple Display, more so at c£1500

My M1 Mc Mini was superb; based spec (8GB/256GB) and it never faltered; but sold it when I bought my M4 iMac (24GB/512GB) which was superb; but not needed really

The M4 Mac Mini should last me well now; 16GB RAM is more than enough for any simple tasks I use the Mac for; going to start to learn how to use Lightroom et al as well

[blackscooby]

I'm considering buying an M4 Mini to use as an Ollama Server. I've got a Macbook M3 and it runs Ollama well although it's only the 16Gb variant so struggles slightly with some models, but like others I really can't justify it for something just to play about with.

They are a lovely bit of kit though. I have put a Omoton full sized keyboard in my Amazon basket. These look a bargain in comparison to the Apple keyboard which is just bonkers £££.

[danb79]

blackscooby said:

I'm considering buying an M4 Mini to use as an Ollama Server. I've got a Macbook M3 and it runs Ollama well although it's only the 16Gb variant so struggles slightly with some models, but like others I really can't justify it for something just to play about with.

They are a lovely bit of kit though. I have put a Omoton full sized keyboard in my Amazon basket. These look a bargain in comparison to the Apple keyboard which is just bonkers £££.

They're just over £500 on Amazon brand new; £509 on Apple Refurb - for that, they're unbeatable IMO.

And yes; the Omoton keyboard is worth every bit of the £23 I paid for it on Amazon - I have the black Touch ID full numeric keyboard for my MBA; not cheap, but does the job and had it a good while now (it's the Lightning version); the current USB C versions are just silly money really

[Magnum 475]

danb79 said:

Cheers folks

No; no need for the Apple Display, more so at c£1500

Yes, but Shiny, and good audio, and centre stage camera, and 5k. I'm fighting the temptation to just buy one at the moment. Not sure if I can fight it for too much longer though.

[HotJambalaya]

I just got a mac mini M4 to replace my 10 year old imac 5k retina, honestly the difference is incredible. I shuttle between locations, so have a laptop, but now I've bought a carry case, and actually buying one of those Benq 27 inch monitors in each location. Its cant believe how tiny and portable this thing is!

[wyson]

Did you think about doing a desk upgrade, buying a monitor arm? I'm getting shoulder ache just looking at your desk! The ergonomics of that set up is way off.

Just having your legs tucked away like that and the monitor off to the side, that's a big twist on your spine / neck. You don't need that.

Being by a window as well, the monitor brightness is supposed to match ambient light, that is going to make it difficult, especially in bright sunlight.

No1 thing should be to look after your body.

With everything right, I can pull 14 hour days without any pain, twinges, dead legs, soreness. etc. Looks like your set up would give me combinations of those after a couple of hours.

Edited by wyson on Friday 30th May 13:17

[danb79]

Magnum 475 said:

danb79 said:

Cheers folks

No; no need for the Apple Display, more so at c£1500

Yes, but Shiny, and good audio, and centre stage camera, and 5k. I'm fighting the temptation to just buy one at the moment. Not sure if I can fight it for too much longer though.

I've no need for any of that thankfully... But get what you're saying

The 24" M4 iMac was a superb screen; but overkill for my needs and TBH; the 4k Dell monitor I've got is very good indeed

[wyson]

4k is probably the worst resolution for a Mac. They are happiest old skool approx 100ppi, or pixel doubled, Retina.

I've never seen a 4k monitor sold by Apple and that is for very good reason.

Windows manages scaling a lot better, would be very happy with a 4k 27 inch monitor on those.

[danb79]

wyson said:

4k is probably the worst resolution for a Mac. They are happiest old skool approx 100ppi, or pixel doubled, Retina.

I've never seen a 4k monitor sold by Apple and that is for very good reason.

Windows manages scaling a lot better, would be very happy with a 4k 27 inch monitor on those.

FFS is thread stt1ng all you do?!

[joropug]

I've just gone the other way!

I used an iMac M1 with my 34" monitor dual screen. Worked great, but find macOS a little clunky and frustrating to use as a desktop. The main thing that irks me is the mouse movement on Macs - I just cant understand why but the apple mouse is beyond dreadful, even using my MX2s was infuriating trying to do precise movements to resize things - Windows feels so much faster to pan and click precisely.

I bought this little bugger for £100 delivered!! 16GB Ram, Intel N1500 processor, 512GB SSD, WIFI, BT etc. Windows 11.

I'm so impressed. I am selling my iMac and will use my MacBook Air on a swivel laptop stand for zoom calls instead of the iMac to free up some space.

Bonus delivery of Sopranos merchandise today!

[mikef]

wyson said:

4k is probably the worst resolution for a Mac. They are happiest old skool approx 100ppi, or pixel doubled, Retina.

I've never seen a 4k monitor sold by Apple and that is for very good reason.

Windows manages scaling a lot better, would be very happy with a 4k 27 inch monitor on those.

Utterly wrong. Why do people come on to these threads and post such nonsense ?

I’ve been using multiple 4K monitors on Mac Pros and now Mac Minis since the days when most Windows programs didn’t scale to 4K, especially in dialogue boxes (some are still like that)

[wyson]

No, I tried a bunch of them in Currys PC World.

I took in my MacBook Pro and Windows laptop and connected them up to various displays.

The advantages of 4k over 1440p weren't really noticeable at 27inchs. I would say the quality of the panel mattered more. At 32inchs I preferred 1440p over 4k. The text had a noticeable fuzziness that 1440p did not.

With my Windows laptop, I preferred 4k at both sizes. This is for text and spreadsheet based work.

There is a reason why Apple never sells 4k monitors nor incorporates them in their AIO's. Simply because how they implemented scaling in MacOS doesn't work properly at that resolution.

They decided to use previous gen display technology for their studio display, just so it could be 5k and reach a reasonable price point. Stuff like Dells Ultrasharp 4k display beats it on most technical metrics apart from resolution. Apple obviously could have gone to LG for those panels as well. Goes to show the extent they think 4k doesn't work for Mac.

It's not just me saying this BTW.

Edited by wyson on Friday 30th May 15:20

[Magnum 475]

joropug said:

I've just gone the other way!

I used an iMac M1 with my 34" monitor dual screen. Worked great, but find macOS a little clunky and frustrating to use as a desktop. The main thing that irks me is the mouse movement on Macs - I just cant understand why but the apple mouse is beyond dreadful, even using my MX2s was infuriating trying to do precise movements to resize things - Windows feels so much faster to pan and click precisely.

Macs need a trackpad. They're just not designed to work effectively with a mouse. I'm a hardcore Mac user (I loathe just about everything Microsoft produce). But running a Mac with a mouse is bl**dy awful. Trackpad is what it's designed for now, despite being one of the first computer manufacturers to adopt use of the mouse in the early days.

[wyson]

danb79 said:

FFS is thread stt1ng all you do?!

Seriously mate, do some reading about ergonomics and eye care. You got to take care of yourself. A lot of neck and back problems and injuries creep up slowly over years. You need to get the basics right and your workstation isn't going to do you any favours in this dept.

Will leave it here.

[danb79]

joropug said:

I've just gone the other way!

I used an iMac M1 with my 34" monitor dual screen. Worked great, but find macOS a little clunky and frustrating to use as a desktop. The main thing that irks me is the mouse movement on Macs - I just cant understand why but the apple mouse is beyond dreadful, even using my MX2s was infuriating trying to do precise movements to resize things - Windows feels so much faster to pan and click precisely.

I bought this little bugger for £100 delivered!! 16GB Ram, Intel N1500 processor, 512GB SSD, WIFI, BT etc. Windows 11.

I'm so impressed. I am selling my iMac and will use my MacBook Air on a swivel laptop stand for zoom calls instead of the iMac to free up some space.

Bonus delivery of Sopranos merchandise today!

Bluddy'ell... Size of that screen

As already said; the trackpad is the one to go for, the mouse Apple makes is crap, the trackpads usability and functionality is much better

[joropug]

Magnum 475 said:

Macs need a trackpad. They're just not designed to work effectively with a mouse. I'm a hardcore Mac user (I loathe just about everything Microsoft produce). But running a Mac with a mouse is bl**dy awful. Trackpad is what it's designed for now, despite being one of the first computer manufacturers to adopt use of the mouse in the early days.

I’ve had no bites on the iMac so if it stays I might get one cheers. I like macOS on the laptop with trackpad so maybe that’s the way