M4 Mac Mini's Dont Buy One

[@kraigbailey]

Good advice. I didn’t buy a M4 mini-I bought 2.

[@johnhricko8212]

😆🤣

[@AaronHope_Sow]

I thought this was gonna be his content lol

[@2424rocket]

Should’ve waited for the M4 studio… That will be the killer machine!

[@Äpple-pie-5k]

LOL it's hard to not get hyped over the M4 Mini. I'm itching for one too. Even though my M1 is really doing just fine.

[@notathang8087]

😂 McStudin M1 > M4 Studio 😢

[@Drfresh1402]

I just got a 128gb, 8 terabyte, 16 core, 16 inch M4 max. It feels like flying compared to the one I just upgraded from-2013 MacBook Pro.

[@Äpple-pie-5k]

lol you upgraded from a 3 cylinder '64 VW Bug to a V12 supercharger intercooling Ferrari. You actually ARE flying compared to that.

[@utube9487]

@@Äpple-pie-5k He didn't. He forgot that he was dream typing.

[@TheMirrorify]

I upgraded to an M4 mini from a 5,1 mac pro which served me insanely well. So far I've only had one plugin cause me issues (sonnox inflator - they're currently testing a fix) and the machine has been a dream to use.

[@BarryJohns]

I did that with my M1Pro MBP and it destroyed the 12 core Mac.

[@sulogno]

what is your configuration?

[@fuowl666]

I had no problems with Sonnox plugins, inflator included, but I had to reinstall all Kontakt instruments, they were not loading anymore.

[@jhetta22]

it's a corrupted install.......try uninstalling & reinstall....I have Oxford inflator on my M4 and it works fine....

[@ChicolaMusic]

I recently set up my new Mac Mini M4 (decided not to wait for the Mac Studio M4,). I've installed Cubase 14 Pro, along with all my plugins, VSTs, and hardware-including synthesizers, compressors, and other analog equipment. After extensive testing over the past month, I can confirm that everything is running flawlessly. I've even opened older projects from my previous PC, some using legacy plugins, and the performance has been outstanding. The system handles everything seamlessly, and I couldn't be more impressed. Highly recommended! ( MacMini M4 , 16Giga Ram , 1TB ) + 2TB External SSD

[@Jbandes]

I bought a supped up one and I love it. I took it to Mexico with a wireless keyboard and mouse and a flat panel. I used it for professional photography and video editing and I loved it. So small and portable. Used it for mixing with serato and two turntables and it was fantastic. I connected it to my audio console and UAD and Antelope gear and it works just fine. No problems at all.

[@noelsharp]

Thanks for another good video. I’m an “IT guy” in the workplace and really enjoy seeing technology change and improve. That said I agree with you and tend to keep my home/studio computers for at least 5 years before upgrading. When I do upgrade I generally get one of the best versions of the previous release of any given technology instead of the very latest arrivals. For example, future me would likely pick up a well-spec’d Mac M6 shortly after the M7 is already in stores.

[@MeanUncleMusic]

50 Degrees? I would be in a pool sipping a ice cold beer lol

[@WilliamAshleyOnline]

fahrenheit dude that is like 0 degrees, do you really drink ice bear when you do ice water swimming?

[@nomore6167]

@@WilliamAshleyOnline "[50 Degrees] fahrenheit dude that is like 0 degrees" - No, it isn't. 50F is 10C. 32F is 0C.

[@edwardx.winston5744]

I’m from Wisconsin. 50°F means wearing a long-sleeve sweatshirt or hoodie when outside. Perfect weather for chucking around a football: warm enough to prevent finger numbness, cool enough to wick away any sweat. 50°F is what we experience as a typical late September day, when the leaves are beautifully turning, or an early April day when the trees are budding. Right now it’s 4°F (about -10°F with the wind chill), so about 60° COLDER than you are feeling in Florida at the moment. When you walk outside, does it feel like a swarm of snow demons are stabbing every square inch of your face with ice picks? No? Then your complaints of the cold are amusing.

[@GeorgeAmodei21]

Sipping?😂… I’ll drink those Beers 🍻 Hot & like a popsicle no matter what Temp. 😜👍

[@Stefan-]

@@WilliamAshleyOnline +10 degres C when i googled it, definately not pool weather though, not even here in Stockholm, there is some that like to bathe outside in the winter, even by cutting a hole in the ice in a lake, but most are not into that. +10 degres is like a cold summer day here and you may even get close to those temperatures here in the winter when its on the warm side.

[@huntoriginalmusic-wy2rc]

This was helpful. Knowing audio plugins may not operate is a serious consideration. What's interesting is I've known this every time I bought a new computer but for some reason conveniently forgot it. Appreciate the advice and your ability not to swear on camera.

[@jhetta22]

Plugins run fine I use a multitude of plugins....Mac Silicon technology is not new

[@WildHorseStudioCSV]

Great info and well said. 2 months ago I went from my late 2015 iMac to the M4. Love the Continuity Camera feature that I could not do before. Ten year old Allen and Heath ZED10 FX connects well too. I don't use DAW's other than Audacity and GarageBand much as in years past every time I'd get one the company would stop supporting it. So I went with a stand alone digital recorder. I too get 8 to 10 years out of my computers whether Mac or PC. Thanks for the info and great presentation.

[@Rasenschneider]

My 10 year old iMac was on its limit and was time for an upgrade. The best on the MacMini M4 Pro is: it is absolutely silent and I am able to run it on low power mode for mixing . I had to buy one with best unified memory because of large sample libraries and for development and AI ( the next few years). I hope for using it the next 5 to 8 years.

[@lilofadidas7982]

You look honest & no bs person .plz do test how it Handel session with plugins on the macm4 base model

[@JohnPaulMusicUK]

Got the Base model Mac Mini - 256gb. It’s a powerhouse and just needed a Crucial X10 Pro 4tb (which is about £249GBP).. saving the £800 upgrade. No audio person needs the Pro! Your advice/RANT isn’t right.. it used to be.. but now it’s down to the seesaw of whether the older one is valuable for trade in. Logic Pro FLYS on this thing. Haven’t signed into iCloud, not texting on this thing, it literally has Logic Pro, my Arturia and Waves plugins and then my Video (Logic Pro and DaVinci resolve) apps. All projects are in external and at £600… it’s a no brainer. 😊

[@AdamsOlympia]

3:10 “Hardly anything in the audio world is ready for this” That was certainly true for early adopters of Apple M1, but I’m not so sure it’s a factor anymore, unless there’s some edge cases I’m unaware of? I didn’t make the jump until M1 Pro MBP, which was still a bit too early for the DAW and plugin industry to be fully up to speed yet. 5 years later, almost everything is Apple Silicon native; and it all scales beautifully with each new generation of the M series.

[@Äpple-pie-5k]

Yeah once it's M-silicon software it won't matter if you jump up to a new M

[@bassyey]

Just fear-mongering at this point lol.

[@acai929]

@@bassyeyWasn’t there some issue of ARA not being available on Apple Silicon? Haven’t kept up with it and idk if it’s really that big of a deal having to “record the track” to Melodyne etc like in the olden days but it might be relevant to some workflows. 🤔

[@alex84034]

I switched to the Mac m4 from a windows laptop and have had no issues with any of my plugins or daw software, I definitely made sure all of my tools were on both platforms from waves, plugin alliance, kush plugins, to reaper which has all ran pretty smooth for me. Biggest annoyance was just getting used to the Mac since I've never had one before but after a day or two i was back to my flow👍

[@sulogno]

which specs did you purchase?

[@2kBofFun]

I just like to buy MacPro's from musicians that took your advice in 2013-3017. It still beats anything on the market today. Maybe not in performance, but in beauty, iFixit scores, multiboot proper MacOSes and Windows/Linux, and delivering the best value for money in 2025. Music students can get a pro machine for like 300 bucks.

[@royzderich]

Hey Barry great video, the reason we upgrade very often is because we can take advantage of any time savings while processing any workload, time is money and the total amount of time over a whole year you save because you have more performance most of the time represents several times the cost of the upgrade, a 10 % improve in performance on production or post production of music or video is a lot. It is true it can't be so relevant in a single user production studio but if you have a big work pipeline the impact can be relevant. But i agree upgrading can be a waste of resources unless you really can take advantage of the extra power. Cheers!

[@protoolsfanatic7276]

My 18i20 focusrite scarlette crashing windows randomly every other day is slowly pushing me to a mac.

[@bear-headstudios1212]

Me too !! Audio will automatically stop working randomly. I have had the 18i20 3rd gen for a few years now and starting to hate it 😢

[@iamsyntact]

when it comes to music, all the money you save with a PC you end up paying back in time troubleshooting random issues and glitches.

[@baskinbol8936]

I saw the title and initially thought you were going to say don't buy one, but buy 2 or more. Now I will be buying 5 or more

[@chrish3847]

I just bought the basic version of the M4 Mac mini. Upgraded from a 2012 i5 Mac mini. Best move to upgrade. I like it.

[@chrisgarver7904]

I do appreciate that you always say exactly how you feel about products. This video really was more relevant to updating to sequoia than buying a new Mac. Of course new Mac’s come with the current OS & you should always wait until your software is compatible with the OS before updating

[@BarryJohns]

You can’t buy a new Mac and use previous OS. I should have mentioned that.

[@vancenichols9490]

Thanks so much for this enlightening content! I'm greatly looking forward to the next video you make concerning moving apps to an external drive for Macs 🙂

[@BarryJohns]

Already out

[@JohnSHigham]

I upgraded from a very power hungry 2012 Mac Pro to a 15” 2017 MacBook Pro and an Elgato Thunderbolt 3 dock. It has vastly faster single core, barely slower multi core and it’s currently saving me about £1.50 a day in electricity! I also use a 2012 Mac Mini as a media centre/server. I run Pro Tools, Reason 12/10 a whole bunch of software synths and Waves and Izotope plugins without issue at fairly low buffer sizes. Both systems only have 256GB SSDs and 16GB RAM. I use an external NVMe for recording that also has a couple of USB 2.0 ports for dongles etc… I don’t technically need an Apple silicon system yet but I think the M4 Pro would be what I’d go for when I do.

[@freddyjason3142]

I’m in central Florida as well and I would love to book some studio time because you truly seem to know your stuff

[@monkiival]

I sold my gaming pc and bought the base m4 model for web and app development. I am curious to see how much the power consumption will decrease :)

[@charlottearena]

I had to get one! My 2009 imac hit the wall the day before yesterday.!My only problem is retrieving all the important data from my old Mac 🙄

[@frequincyrecording4286]

Great video Barry! I’m jealous of the Florida weather! I want an M4 Mac Studio when it is released. I’m aware there will be initial software issues and always keep my existing computers for daily work during transitions. The M1 Pro Max has been fantastic and still is great, but I want a true desktop with the extra ports and smaller footprint to compliment my XDR Apple Display.

[@BarryJohns]

I’m guessing by the time it gets released, the majority of them will already be worked out.

[@weholmes5315]

Got the base model M4 Mac Mini with 256GB SSD and a 4TB NVME and thunderbolt 4 enclosure to replace my old 2014 Mac Mini. The M4 is everything I need in a computer! The old 2014 Mac Mini is now a node in a Proxmox cluster sipping 8 watts.

[@notsure1135]

512GB performs better and you want to run apps off the internal drive. Store everything else externally.

[@Kris_jellybeard]

Good advice. I usually don't upgrade that fast (got a M2Pro MB 1Tb, 16Gb) but I'm going for the M4Pro (with extra cores) 1Tb, 48Gb. Simple reason the M2Pro is a bit limited in how many tracks run smoothly without needing to change the buffer size. M2Pro seems to be one of those that got a bit of issues in a few specific DAWs with some bigger projects. My M2Pro still can go for 1500$ easily second hand, so not big deal.

[@DreamContinents-dg8wc]

Actually, I recently sold my MM M2 Pro and they go for approx. $550 refurbished on eBay, and boy could that machine handle video editing with complex editing transitions and slow motion effects, glitch effects and magic masks, and so many other plugins like external grading plugins, noise reducers on several clips, etc... I'm surprised it got bogged down with the buffer, perhaps with Ableton Live, but I know Live is insanely antiquated in its buffer system, which it finally upgraded to be more up to par with other DAW's. But it could be that the MM M2 Pro would shine with video editing NLE's using those GPU 16 cores as opposed to the CPU's 10 cores which a DAW would use more. I'm afraid that MM M4 pro with extra cores hasn't made much of a difference in the video editing world using Davinci Resolve 19, I was actually underwhelmed except in the final exporting section. And even that the differences with the MM M2 Pro base model was in the order of a few minutes for a 1 hour timeline export. But for you, those extra CPU cores will make a difference, hopefully. If not I'd go for the Max chip Macbook Pro's. Good luck with your new machine. The size and weight are amazing, forgot to mention that. I loooove holding that machine in the palm of my hand. But for video work, not much of a difference with the MM M2 Pro. PS. Sorry Mr MM M4 Pro, but I had to say it about your older brother, I still love you though. 😆😆

[@Kris_jellybeard]

@@DreamContinents-dg8wc Myself I do no video editing, occasionally some photoshop but I use Ableton and LUNA. Some extra cores and memory will make me process double tracks or more. Second hand MB M4 pro with my specs I get 1100$ back from Apple but locally (where I live) I can easily sell for 1500$ or more. ;-)

[@DreamContinents-dg8wc]

@@Kris_jellybeard That's perfect then. I'm a hardcore Ableton Live user as well, it's been my DAW of choice since 2006. I would suggest to not expect a big difference with the MacMini M4 Pro as compared to the MM M2 Pro, but I could be wrong. Again, please let me know how it works for you. I'd be very interested. I continue to use my rMBPro from late 2013 running Mojave still, because my favorite plugins haven't had any os upgrades. A lot of them are still running in 32bit config. But I still love my 2013 rMBP, and so far both computers communicate very well despite the huge differences in OS systems, and power and makeup. Airdrop still works seamlessly going from Mojave to Sequoia. iCal as well. Messages as well. And so many other apps seem to still get these 2 machines to talk easily.

[@Kris_jellybeard]

@@DreamContinents-dg8wc I am not going for the MM but the MBP that comes standard with extra cores + 1Tb and 24Gb (just adding an extra 24). I work too often on the road and remote. tried some of my projects on a friends new same machine and the difference is amazing, double speed rendering + double amount of tracks. Time saver for me. And passing by in Florida next months makes me going to buy one there at the right price.

[@jcchaconjr]

I have a 2007 MacBook Pro that no longer works. Do you think it’s time to upgrade? 😂 Anyway, I currently use a PC - FWIW, yes, you can customize the target location for “Program Files, which includes external drives so long as you give it a fixed drive letter, of course.

[@jeffvargo1068]

Was running 2018 Intel Mac mini with 64gb of ram..upon upgrading to OS sequoia my mini starting having major problems with various apps….apple support was of no help…I dove in and bought a Mac mini m4 pro 64gb of ram … was it expensive..yes but I have experienced no problems with any app…I am not looking back

[@californiasurfpunkmetal6207]

I am in the exact same spot. How’s your mixing horsepower now?

[@jeffvargo1068]

@ no problem mixing ..only problem I had to reload all my non apple plugins and restart logic plug in manager but all are working fine now

[@Auldhelm]

I gave my windows laptop (my DJ machine) to my son and my M1 mac mini (my music recording machine) to my daughter in college - so I HAD to consolidate and buy a M4 Mac Pro laptop! it is a great machine! - Sorry for your weather - we do not have weather where I live in San Diego

[@Auldhelm]

If I still had the M1 Mac Mini. - I would not have upgraded - that M1 was barely breaking a sweat on even my most process heavy projects

[@emiel333]

MacBook Pro with M4 Max or M4 Pro chip? Nonetheless, great and powerful laptops. Enjoy it. 😊

Glad to read the weather truth!!!! I only live here part of the year and I never even know what month it is!!!!! ha.....

[@GodsRockstarMusic]

Speccing correctly is SOOOO important. I regret not getting the 64gb when I got my M1 Max back in 2022. I got the 32gb and I have no probs however I should have gone for more so I wouldn't worry about the need for more in the future. Hoping the next Mac Studio SSD upgradability will be the same like the new Mini.

[@BarryJohns]

Ram is certainly important.

[@syleishere]

I use a Mac mini m4 with a kvm switch for my windows 11 PC to switch back and forth. I put windows PC back together during pandemic, 128gb of ecc memory, 2 1tb SSD, 5950x ryzen CPU, cheap graphics card. Kvm switches my 3 4k monitors, keyboard and mouse between each. Nice to have options :) I was considering higher end graphics card like 4090 Nvidia lately, says 10 days convert 4k video on Mac mini m4, should be like 10 min with that card to convert to av1

[@trebleboost7]

Great words of wisdom Barry. I am about to jump to Mac (PC went 'blah' again and is fixable but tired of it, and using a well spec'd but old Dell laptop as a stopgap at the moment which is actually not performing too badly for what I do), and have a great path forward as I am dialing in to Studio One Pro these days so already have a DAW I am getting comfortable with. Some great deals on Studios at the moment, but will probably hold off until the next studio, or go the M4 Pro Mini. I am kind of sold on the fast single-core performance, and the socketed SSD of the new generation..

[@highland1997]

Hey Barry, great video, talking a lot of sense regarding changing you’re computer and the specifications.

[@edwardx.winston5744]

Thunderbolt 5 in the M4 Pro models is the game changer. I/O speeds for external drives will now be insanely fast, and SSD drive replacements/upgrades will be ultra-simple without voiding any warranties. The Apple soldered-in storage extortion racket will be easily circumvented. Good times.

[@gumbilicious1]

I don’t work with huge projects, like 30 to 40 tracks on my bigger projects. I have been using usb 3 drives and haven’t noticed any performance difference from when I use the native storage. Imo you don’t need to spend big money on ultra fast thunderbolt drives for transparent read/write, a good solid state usb 3.1 or 3.2 will do fine and be much cheaper. Mind you, I just do mid size music projects, this would be quite different if you want to work with bigger media like big 4k video files.

[@jdecay172]

I finally upgraded from a 2012 MBP to a 2020 MBP (Intel) yesterday. I will make the jump to the M series when all of my software is fully compatible and runs without issues.

[@Sol7Studios]

I would recommend smallest Storage with quickest Transfer Speed

[@sergiosanchez2012]

Ive been reading horror stories of usb-c random disconnection issues with the M4 minis . So maybe is wise to wait for a while until the issues get resolved.

[@juliocesarrivero]

Very goog advice in the intro, you are totally right !!!

[@georgez8350]

Thanks for the advice. Cancelled my order 😊

[@waddupnvck]

I’m still on the intel apple and it just starting to mess up. Now I need to upgrade

[@BarryJohns]

If it’s not getting it done go ahead, just be cool if you have some issues for a short bit.

[@waddupnvck]

@@BarryJohns I can’t go an hour without it the whole system slowing down. Music creation and video editing has been quiet frustrating

[@ljbellr]

I'm in the same boat with my I7 so I'm wondering if waiting for the m4 studio would be better than just getting the M2 studio now. I usually get 10 years out of my machines.

[@waddupnvck]

@ I’m looking into the Mac mini m2 pro. It’s close to the specs of the base model m4

[@BarryJohns]

No, get the M4

[@Hamradiofromabalcony-fw6xe]

If you buy external storage and you want thunderbolt speed, make sure you have a thunderbolt enclosure and use the right cable. Otherwise you will be stuck with usb3.1 speed. Which is much slower. I am thinking of getting a mac mini m4, and for me 16Gb is enough. But remember you can upgrade storage external, you can not upgrade memory external.

[@BarryJohns]

Always buy as much memory as you can afford.

[@mistermukkeman1729]

Thank you for the great video Barry ! I was close to buying a Mac mini M4 Pro with 2TB SSD and 64 Gig RAM, but now I start doubting.. My main argue for this spec was, that I wanted to have highest speeds by having all inside of the Mac. What is the measurable read/write delta comparing internal to external HD ?

[@JohnPriceJNPMusic]

I would love to see that video on using the external hard drive. I've got about 3 Terabytes full of stuff and need space/cleaning.

[@BarryJohns]

Will be out later today or tomorrow.

[@Jens-ChristianBrandt-yf6yk]

My 2020 iMac will turn 5 years in October, but it does everything I want so far , I do synthesizer covers as a hobby mostly ( although I live for my hobbies so dead serious on that stuff ) But good plugins & software costs , so this video is financial wisdom indeed...I'll go drooling over the newer macs from time to time, but , hell you are absolutely right , if it works, just keep it...a 2tb external Kingston SSD functioning as main drive solved all my storage issues , hopefully it will last me another 5 years

[@wilviars]

Yes Barry please do the video showing us how to utilize the storage

[@teashea1]

I don't know about other DAW's but Reaper will run on a potato. (Reaper is 15 mb's - not gb's).

[@emiel333]

Reaper is a great DAW. Didn’t know the installation is 15 MB only.

[@HalcyonGuitars]

lols…I run Reaper on a computer with Windows Vista as the OS. I’m thinking of upgrading.

[@kniferideaudio]

You can run reaper off a thumb drive.

[@robertbaron3242]

Maybe not a big issue for most but the standard 256 SSD in the M4 Mini has read/write speeds in the mid-high 2000's range where it's twice that fast with the 512 SSD and above. For some reason the base SSD is just slower with speeds similar to the 4 TB SSD in my 2019 MacBook Pro.

[@BarryJohns]

For most people they will never ever ever benefit from the read right speeds.

[@robertbaron3242]

@@BarryJohns That's what I said but it's still a difference that may be important to some that you didn't point out.

[@astrocat2008]

I'm stil using my maxed out M1 MacMini everyday. It still perfectly handles 24 tracks with only virtual instruments and voices, and between 1 and 3 effects on every track… I think i will only upgrade to an M4 Mac Studio (a year after it has released), to also do orchestral stuff, 3D stuff, and video editing (which i don't do at all, for the time being)… Clearly, i still don't need to upgrade 😅 But, it's soooooo tempting 😄😵‍💫

[@chumza7498]

As a Cubase user do you think the M2 8 gb will do the job for Dance music heavely depends on plug on vst sounds omnisphere Diva etc Arturia

[@Stefan-]

Yes, it can last a very long time, im sitting here writing this on my 13 year old Intel I7 that i built myself and still use for music production as well as everything else. I will probably get a new PC during this year though since windows 11 doesnt support this one.

[@johndoe-cb5ck]

Thanks for the advice Barry. I was thinking about upgrading because I could and there's nothing really wrong with my computer now...cornbread English,hehe

[@billymack4258]

Great advice! I have a MacBook Pro m1 and I'm still using Mac OS Monterey version 12.7.6. Should I update my os If so what version would you recommend? I'm using Apollo x6 / Apollo twin duo cubase 13 pro DAW also Im still in rosetta mode. Thanks so much Barry for all you do.

[@AaronHope_Sow]

Upgraded from my maxed out 2011 mini because the browser was finally unsupported and I didn’t have time to figure out how to load a newer OS on it.

[@lb3515]

I’m using a $100 i5-6500T with 32gb of ram running Linux and Reaper. Works great. I’m not tracking at 192khz.

[@nexonsensei]

Oh yeah its cold out here in florida 😂 love the content as always 🥶🔥

[@JoshanTransport]

Love your Softube enclosures. Any word on them releasing a UF1-like transport control unit to complete their system?

[@Nex126]

Great advice Barry as always.

[@qwertyzxaszc6323]

I love my M1 Mac Studio. Best computer I have ever owned, but as I wait for a new M4 studio i bought a base m4 mini and I found it is much better at rendering cycles in Blender than the Studio. It depends on what you need. I'll be upgradng to a new M4 Mac Studio once it's released.

[@g-love6507]

@Barry Johns Studio Talk I'm running an old version of Logic Pro X on a 2014 iMac and ready to buy a new machine.. What's your suggestion to get a high performance Mac that'll effortlessly run lots of Logic Pro tracks and plugins some and 3rd party plugins etc.. ? I've got a Universal Audio satellite and an Apogee ensemble Thunderbolt !

[@iRevolVeR21]

I got the Mac mini m4 base model as my foray into Apple computers.

[@towerrunner4675]

Same here. I was on Windows and Linux for decades. I like the silence of it.

[@brooklynsoundgarage]

I wonder if working exclusively with Logic Pro X will be a problem buying right now.

[@TheGurner1]

My 2010 Mac Pro really won't be secure for online use as warnings from Chrome keep telling me - I'm looking at a new Macbook Pro ITB 48GB for general work and mobile use - while planning to use the Mc Pro as a 'Quarantine' computer for recording and mixing in my tiny studio -

[@eliaswidukind]

Thanks for warning us... but i must say, i own one sinds the day of release, and everything runs smooth and stable, ni regrets at all!!

[@32bitflow]

“Get the bare minimum of hard drive space” This is terrible advice! Apple computers are known for significant performance difference between 256GB and 512GB storage configurations (reading and writing speeds, for example). You should always get a minimum of 512GB storage if you want to maximize the other specs you are paying for.

[@KenBaker-t4s]

I added a NVME external drive and I don't see any loss of speed. It's a huge difference in price to get the memory and storage upgrades when you initially buy. The new one smokes my old M2. I've been running quite a few plug-ins on my tracks and it has half the CPU usage of the M2. For the average user I would guess it's fast enough. Update- the 512 SSD is $799 and the memory upgrade to 24 GB is $999. I bought a 1TB NVME drive and enclosure for like $80 and you can take it along to your next machine.

[@emiel333]

True.

[@BarryJohns]

Yep

[@TheDanEdwards]

​@@KenBaker-t4s " the 512 SSD is $799"

[@kylarmiller106]

256gb on m4 is fine because it uses dual nand chips. Older 256gb Mac’s used single nands which made them slower. Look it up.

[@ontonio]

I’m still working with an Intel Mac Mini. I think it’s time for me to upgrade.

[@thisbridgehascables]

I have a linux machine, M4 mini and my old Mac Pro trash can which is still reliable and does all my audio creation.. without a problem. Linux Machine is primarily for coding/ developing.. M4 Mac Mini - for pushing pixels and 3D , coding for particular business projects. I would agree, upgrade when it’s necessary not because the next processor landed.. Most computers from the last 10 to 15 years should still be able to do majority of the tasks.

[@jahfurnacefiyah9113]

Hey Barry bless this jah furnace I watch you all the time... I have a question for you...can the p1 nano be hooked up with 1 or more p1x ?

[@BarryJohns]

Not sure about that

[@npinero1]

Got the M4 Max, upgrading from M1 Pro. Thankfully I had a lot of gift cards and was able to repurpose the M1 with family. The M4 is blazing fast.

[@michaelocomain9118]

Also, according to a recent article on Macworld, the M4 Mac mini’s rear USB-C ports are causing headaches for some users…connected devices suddenly stop working or can't connect at all.

[@BarryJohns]

I haven’t had any issues with mine at work, however, I am testing the one here in the studio, I’m very curious about this as well. As I’ve heard the same thing.

[@musiccreation1198]

Just sharing ... I bought a Mac mini M4 Pro 14 core, 48g RAM. macOS 15.2. Running Cubase 14 Pro. With a pretty broad selection of plugins, everything is running flawlessly. YMMV. Expect to replace it in 5 years.

[@emiel333]

Replace it in 5 year already? May I ask why?

[@imthedumbassnotyou]

@@emiel333 Apple is terrible if you have to replace it every 5 years

[@frankboyer1490]

5 years? Huh?

[@Auspexgetchell]

5 years is pretty standard for renewing/refreshing systems where ya need to keep things modern. Always depends on usage of course

[@impulseproman]

Yes that my future

[@techonthemove]

All good points. Also "if the machine has already paid for itself and your in the money"

[@snovoman]

I agree , click bait title Barry... Appreciate the advice regardless. I own a late 2013 Mac Book Pro it works fine and I use it. I bought the Mac Mini Pro 4 model with a little over spec 64/2TB. Happy I did!

[@robertbaron3242]

I just ordered the Mini 4 Pro with the same specs to replace my late 2019 MacBook Pro. Looking forward to putting Intel behind me as this thing runs hot, the fan's on a lot, I'm often pushing the 32 GB RAM and it's slow to open programs. Don't need a notebook anymore so looking forward to the Mini with a new Studio Monitor.

[@bourianboubbov9937]

Wow, I kmow a thing or three about Macs but didn't know you can offload apps!!!?? Also apparantly on this one you can exchange the SSD!!!!!

[@BarryJohns]

No, you can actually move your applications over to an external hard drive. I’m currently working on that video and it’ll be out tomorrow.

[@LabofmusicRecords]

I own a Mac Pro Notebook from January 2011, Logic and Cubase, easy, tero problems. Yea it's not fast as hell and does not run all new plugins, but it's ok and it's very stable :)

[@notsure1135]

Get an m1 studio. Base model. Will be cheaper in 18 months…

[@unomas9043]

Barry I’d actually love the video or some pointers on how to have apps on the external drive on a Mac, I’m gonna look it up cause I really thought that wasn’t possible! thanks

[@BarryJohns]

I’m working on it today

[@unomas9043]

@ Awesome!

[@hereonmars]

I may be the exception. All my software works perfectly. Ableton, UAD, Melda, Slate, waves would if I still used them.

[@BarryJohns]

Good to hear

[@RomeoG39]

Great advice, sir! That is what I always say, too.

[@KenBaker-t4s]

I just got one last week and I think it's amazing for the price! I don't do a ton of tracks and it runs quite a bit faster than the M2 which I just traded in. They are $599 and it's significantly faster than the base M1 as well which was $699 when it first came out. So far my aging Apogee Element seems to be running just fine on the latest OS. I think you could do worse for sure.

[@BarryJohns]

Have you had any issues with any of your plug-ins or virtual instruments? I would say about half of mine seemed to be no problem, but the other half of proven to be problematic for me, but that’s going to vary by user.

[@KenBaker-t4s]

@@BarryJohns I run a very basic drum program made by UJAM, and primarily real instruments. So far no issues, and I am strictly using UAD plug-ins at this time other than the drum program I just mentioned. I had maybe one glitch with Reaper but I am not certain it's due to the computer. I will certainly keep you posted and I will definitely use your link next time I order at Sweetwater. I appreciate your channel and your straightforward reviews as well. They are giving reasonably decent money on trades with Apple themselves and also with Bestbuy. The way the Apple does their pricing I find it cheaper to just trade in when the new computers come out rather than get hit with their insane pricing on upgrades. YMMV

[@KenBaker-t4s]

@@BarryJohns So far no, maybe one glitch with Reaper but I can't say whether it's due to the computer. I mainly run real instruments and a basic drum program from UJAM in addition to exclusively UAD native plug-ins. I love your channel, and will definitely use your link next time I order from Sweetwater. I also loved your review on the SSL Six and Big Six as I nearly went down that route. I traded in with Apple and with the huge increase in performance over the M2 (base model) it seemed an easy choice. They get a lot of $$$ for the memory and storage upgrades at initial purchase and as you know it's not something that can be done later on. YMMV

[@BarryJohns]

Awesome

[@ricksuzuk1]

Mac Mini M4 512Gb - I love it!

[@KlemenKotar]

I have a M2 studio. My next computer's probably going to be a m10 mac mini :) M2 works really well.

[@shaunnicks8889]

loyal subscriber love the show keep it up

[@johnhricko8212]

Yes, if you use lots of virtual instruments, BBC spitfire comes to mine, look for something with more ram. ram Expandability even better. I prefer external NVMEs (Apple). And I specifically bought a I-9 MacBook Pro to be able to run Intel/windows. I really wanna do the Boot Camp multi boot with a linux distro. Ardour is a great entry level DAW. Money making Studios need not concern themselves...

[@joesalyers]

When you think you might want an new computer, start saving money, $50 a month and by the time you have enough for the computer you probably need to upgrade. Thats been my way of doing since Apple I bought a G5 Power Mac and thought I need a Intel Mac Pro. By the time I had enough saved Apple dropped Support for PowerPC and I needed to actually upgrade.

[@paulbrembly1417]

Keep doing what you do best!🤗

[@doingittodeath]

I keep wondering if I should switch to a Mac because I really like Windows, but everything else I own is from Apple, like my phone and, of course, my iPad. I just think it would be a huge improvement in workflow, considering I own a label and have things to do that aren’t part of recording, mixing, and mastering. Also, Soundflow for Pro Tools is really appealing since I don’t plan to leave Pro Tools and switch to another DAW (sorry, Barry). Can anyone tell me if the latest Mac Minis are actually capable of handling large sessions with lots of CPU-intensive plugins (especially with oversampling) without me constantly having to freeze and unfreeze tracks, as I currently do with my €400 PC? I’d greatly appreciate any advice!

[@johnwade7430]

I Upgraded cos I had a Mac Book Pro 2013….. so had to upgrade

[@PurpleMusicProductions]

While I agree that you should not upgrade unless it is time, I do think the title of the video is considerably misleading and maybe need to be rephrased. It comes across as a product review, however that is not the premise of the video, so I can foresee some hot takes in comment section potentially coming. Overall I am not opposed to Mac as I have often considered them however from what I have observed is the added very expensive costs of adding hubs and peripherals to expand the setup which drives up costs considerably. Another sticking point is software developer are often behind with Apple's OS or whenever they make changes to the silicon then programs stop working. That does not happen as often with PC. Not saying which is better or worse but there are tradeoffs for both platforms.

[@laurynasgaidys7839]

Barry this time you are absolutely right. Don’t buy newest computer technology for audio if you still can work. Better invest in your ears, your room or speakers. In my facility everything computer related is one generation older at least. Win or Mac it doesn't matter.

[@teashea1]

You have out great sympathy regarding the weather ----- from Nebraska

[@BobMaulucci]

My Mac Mini M4 runs Reaper really well. It does not like Waves plugins at all, and pushed me to upgrade or get more Izotope, UAD and Softube stuff, which works spectaculary, but makes me think I wasted a lot of moeny on plugins I can no longer use.

[@notsure1135]

Waves will come around…

[@BobMaulucci]

@@notsure1135 I sure hope so. Not that I use the plugins a ton, but it would be nice to have them for fun.

[@nomore6167]

Can you say what the issues are (for those of us who are considering switching from PC to Mac)?

[@BobMaulucci]

@@nomore6167 Waves plugins just won't load at all. I think it is Sequoia in general. They worked just fine on my Macbook I used prior to the Mini. I have one of the bigger Waves bundles, but I believe they are all verison 13 or 14. Maybe I can pay to upgrade them, but I am not sure it would be worth it. Any help would be appreciated. I did like the Abbey Road Chambers, The CLA stuff, and the Convolution Reverbs quite a bit.

[@CharlieHinesStudios]

Barry it was -3 this morning here in Cincinnati

[@BarryJohns]

Hope you are recovering brother! 🙏

[@Finndog1973]

Still using my Mac trashcan...works great!

[@GreyGhost-r4z]

I'm not sending my Dad this video because he is on Windows 7 and can't figure out how to add a printer. I told him to buy an iMac or a mac mini and just get a printer and plug it in.. 😆

[@alexmirandy496]

Well...being new to all this, my producer is working w/ logic pro ( my older mac is ableton) what do i buy as an upgrade? I'm not worried about budget just need correct.

[@BarryJohns]

It’s a fantastic computer, wait for your software to update if it isn’t already.

[@jayjlyon]

The high in Chicago today is like 7, Barry. When I started my car this morning it was 1 degree F.

[@WilliamAshleyOnline]

same temp here

[@KJameson8]

I'll be looking forward to the video regarding off-loading apps to an external.

[@jeremybenson5090]

I have a mac air M1 8gb of ram. The last few projets I work on, I can see the apple thinking wheel appear more and nore, and my last project, it kept telling not enough ram when I tried to save it. I am thinking about buying a mac mini m4 24 gb or unified memory and 512 ssd storage.

[@BarryJohns]

Just know not everything you use may not be compatible yet

[@BL-zw5oi]

I just love the way Barry says “WWW” 😊

[@kneel1]

in IT and networking we've always called it "dub dub dub" for decades. havent heard barry say it yet i just started watching

[@ILoveTelecasters]

With storage I’d say get 1TB. With the M2 and M3 people found out they put considerably slower SSD’s in in the ones with 200 and 500 GB ones

[@BarryJohns]

Watch my next video out later today or tomorrow.

[@ILoveTelecasters]

@ always do 🤓