I am a windows guy. I run 3 pcs with 24gb each. I never had any problems. I decided to buy a mac cause there are a few jobs that ask me to work with logic. I didn't want to spend a lot, since the mac mini m1 16gb is double the price in my country. So I watched some reviews and got the 8gb. Some youtubers even said that 8gb on a mac is like 16gb on pc. Which I didn't believe it of course.

I don't plan to have my mac as a main pc. Not even as a second. I just want to do small projects in there. Maybe up to 20-25 tracks. The problem is that this thing, starts with 45% of memory filled already. I mean wtf? How am I supposed to work with just 4gb ram left? Am I missing something here? Worst case on a windows pc with 8gigs is like 25-30%.

 

MacOS handles memory quite well. Just don't worry about what you're seeing there and try it out. Also, the used RAM number you're seeing may include the disk cache, which is basically "unused" memory as it gets dumped when the RAM is required for application tasks. There's a saying "free memory is wasted memory". The OS (Windows included) will use as much of your free RAM as possible as a disk cache, until the RAM is requested by an application and then it's immediately dumped.

Disk cache was a lot more important before SSD's, however, RAM is still faster than the fastest SSD.

Have fun, and enjoy your new Mac.

 

connect a pc mouse so you have right click menus.

 

mac mini m1 minimun 16 gb and 512 HD less will cost you troibles. send it back.

 

This is kind of a fail comment, as Mac mice have had right click for a very long time.

 

Actually, they don't ship with one. If you use a Logitech MX Master,etc; you can install Flow software and control both his new mini, and another pc with same one... horizontal thumbscroll/macros in Logic is very fast. The Magic Mouse is rather inferior.

 

Last edited: Feb 18, 2023

you bought a low end specs one thats the problem! Macs arent cheap why didnt you build a Hackintosh? Alot cheaper and definetly faster

 

Could you give me recommendations for building equivalent hackintosh of M2 Mini, DDR5, two Thunderbolt 4 ports?

I have this so far and it already cost as Mini, without Thunderbolt
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/RFyYDq

additional ThunderboltEX 4 card, so 130 bucks more to that sum.

Is this build gonna 100% be compatible with macOS? Planning to use internal GPU from that CPU

Guess in this case we are paying extra to get luxury of adding more internal storage, PCIex cards, upgrading CPU, dual booting Windows and all that, which is fine.

Am I missing something, not cheaper, not more powerful, I had hack before so guess I could follow a guide to get this working, but I can find any concerning these parts I listed, Tonymac recommends going with 10th gen Intel and that's just no go.

 

Its fast. The problem is I dont know if the ram is suitable for small to medium projects.

 

Not meaning to hijack the thread or anything but do you still think Hackintosh is the way to go with M1 or M2 now being the new mac architecture?
By the way I'm writing this on my Mojave Hac with an i7 and 32G RAM - but I'm really feeling the software and some hardware compatabilities causing issues with the age of the OS!

 

default Windows 11 Pro running on PC with integrated graphics can easily kick in 45-50% idle RAM usage too, nothing special,

why wouldn't 4GB left be enough for 25 audio tracks?
people have been tracking and mixing orchestra in ProTools 10 which couldn't even utilize more than 3GB RAM by its design,
and nowadays people working with virtual instruments and libraries stream data/samples directly from SSDs because they are fast enough to completely skip RAM preloading

you are missing the fact 8GB memory is simply less than 16GB memory, obviously if you run PCs with 24GB ram you should have gone for 24GB memory Mac Mini to have comparable user experience

 

actually the answer is really simple:
if you need more performance than what base model desktop Mac provides (doesn't matter if Mac Mini, Mac Mini Pro, or Mac Studio), then Hackintosh is the way to go because higher specs you go, more ridiculous Apple upgrade prices become

 

So, you bought a mac mini m1 base model to be able to use Logic for some projects. And you already have 3 pcs with 24 GB ram each.
Your solution is (if you don't want to return the mac mini or change it), you can use the mac mini with Logic and your 3 pcs connecting to the mac. Load the memory hungry stuffs on the pcs.
There are several options:
Audiogridder
Vienna Ensemble Pro
what else...?

As others already pointed out, you made a wrong choice buying an 8GB model for a specific task.
Yes, macs are more expensive than noname shop-mounted cheap Win pcs. This is an old and boring story, let's move on!

 

Until you use big RAM plugins, 24 tracks will do.

The apple fanboy "RAM usage is different on Mac, so half is enough" is pure sh*t of course.
Unified Memory anyone ?

The usual dumb argument :
32GB is more than enough, buy 16
16 is more than enough, buy 8
...

You know how it ends : you buy 8GB and ppl (who pushed you into this pit) say : you should have bought 16 GB

 

Go into Activity Monitor - Memory - Memory Pressure, and you'll see how squeezed your Mac is for RAM.
Anything in the green zone is acceptable.
If you're not dealing with heavy VSTi, 8GB is more than enough.

 

i went full mac about 15 years ago, music production and vj-wise i never looked back. never had memory issues or anything and i use the base models, well ok i did regret buying the 2016 macbook pro but that wasnt due to performance issues, it's a beast for vj'ing and i'll be happily using it tonight at a party. 6 layers of video at 1920x1080 is no problem whatsoever.

also: basing your first impression on the activity monitor without actually using it seems a bit weird, use it for what you intend to do with it and then see if it still is really bad.

 

For live, i would use Macbook without any question

For home usage ... i tried hackintoshes 2 times (i made them with selected parts) : they worked perfectly ... but i came back to windows only at the end.
Especially due to last OSX versions and their "security" ... a pain.

 

Make one or download one from the Cambridge site and test it.

Don't have Logic yet, App Store, steal it and get working or do your test with Reaper with nag screen.

You can let us know if you want or not. Without testing it though, your wasting your time and ours wondering about hypothetical.

At some point you have to either shit or get off the pot. You've done all the foreplay, it time to drop your drawers and get to the fucking. Kiss and tell? Well that's up to you.

 

If you are that concerned about it, return it & get one with 16gb of memory & a 512gb SSD. Hopefully you are still in the easy return period.

Have you done any system tuning for audio/video production?
Mac/PC Optimization Guides

If there is enough time left in your return period, do your own real-time bencmark/test.

• Load/create a session that contains items & plugins you would normally encounter.
• if everything is looking good, start duplicating tracks until you hit a limit.

This will confirm whether or not you have enough resources to work as normal.

 

You need at the very least 32GB, 64GB even better for professional use (but 32GB will be super fine). And the M2 Pro of course since January.

I've had MBP 16GB M1 2020 and it was fine 98% of the time, but I wanted the extra power to never exceed 30% CPU use at any given time.

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini

"Mac mini can be configured with up to 24GB with M2 or 32GB with M2 Pro for easier multitasking and handling of large files."