New MacMini suitable for editing?

Good morning,

I wanted to start a discussion on the viability of the new Mac mini for editing. I have not heard much about the Intel UHD Graphics 630. Is it anywhere close the Radeon 580? I had hoped they would include that graphics card in the Mac mini. I am looking at replacing my home desktop and already have a good screen. If I can get one specked out for less than an iMac by at least a few hundred dollars it would be worth it to me. Looking to edit 4k ProRes files. Thanks!

… from my hobbyist corner, I don't get tired to praise my 2012 (!) macMini as a 'suitable' FCPX edit machine.

Added 16GB of Ram, replaced the int. spinner by some 500GB SSD = me happy. No optimizing needed for my average projects (1080, AVCHD and mp4, up to 3-4 multicam), using external SSDs for media and projects … 4k single source easy, 4k multicam … hmm, well, a bit stuttery …

For 'stunt', tried a few seconds of proResRAW … ok, 2-3fps, but at last! LOL

What kills my tiny TupperBox: Motion Generators with 1k particles, background rendering, hasty trial'n error-editing, matryoshked compounds (= cc within cc within cc), complex/multilayered compos.....= anything with lotsa computation … no wonder.

fun fact - this stone-old, low-end hardware supports all latest updates of FCPX + Mojave… <cough> bad business for Apple <cough> :silly:

my 5¢ verdict:
for 'common' projects, I dare to say, the new macMini is more then suitable; use ext SSDs, use proxy, all fine.

sidenote: by paper specs, my trusty Mini is a pocket calculator … but it works. Benchmarks are for engineers …

Looked at the price for a high end Mac mini...over 3000$ here in Canada.
Nice machine and would be worth looking into but geez...expensive.

Albo wrote: … a high end Mac mini...over 3000$ here in Canada....expensive.

… the Canadian Dollar that high? I break the 5k€ mark here (incl. taxes)…

Question is:
Who needs such a maxed-out desktop device?

The features (and alone its color, …) indicate clearly, it is meant as a 'pro' machine… very little households demand a 10Gb Ethernet connection … as an example. Coders, designers, Excell-jugglers go happy with it… 

… and don't care for 2,3,4 thousands of bucks, keyword tax write off… find a nice 'leasing' for that box, and you come to 5$/day… a pro=business=money-making should accomplish that sum.-

… different story, wether 32GB of Ram adding 720€ on top of the bill isn't highway robbery… … but anyhow.

Your right Karsten.
I didn't add everything...Comes down to 5200$ canadian.

I'm thinking about this too, on whether it'd be a great FCPX machine when I need a new Mac.

I'm assuming the new Mac mini should support a eGPU? Upgrade or add pairs of AMD video cards as faster cards appear.

But adding an eGPU puts it in the price of MacBook Pro though.

I'm assuming the new Mac Mini is basically the concept for a modular Mac Pro system Apple plans to introduce next year.

I've come to the point in my life where I don't want to tote around a $3500 laptop. Honestly, I'm starting to think a 2018 Mac Mini desktop / iPad Pro for laptop as my setup of choice. The days of editing in a coffee shop on my MBP are starting to be behind me. I was using my 9.7" iPad Pro as a 2nd monitor for 1080P projects in FCP, but after Mavericks that stopped working so well.

I think a new i7 Mini with TB3 external drive and eGPU will work nicely. I'm more of a plug&play person these days. I used to build PCs for fun, but now I appreciate the "just works" factor of the MacOS and FCPX environment.

I priced out a 10-core iMac Pro with better Vega graphics, left everything else base and it's $6400 USD. It is a beast of a Mac, maybe overkill for what I do, but a nice machine none-the-less. Of course as an all-in-one there's a value of a 5K display. Just take it out of the box and edit.

For comparison, the 2018 Mini I spec'd out is $1800 USD (i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 10GB ethernet). Even if you add the extraordinary price for the forthcoming BM eGPU Pro, you're still at 1/2 the cost (provided you already are using some kind of display.)

I'm sure if you wait for the regular iMac refresh in 2019 it'll be all the rage with T2 chip, 6-cores, etc., etc.. For the kind of documentary-style work I do I see the new Mini as a great option for home-based creative work.

Hi guys. I didn't want to start a new thread since this one is relative.

Do you think that an i7 mac mini with 32 GB Ram would be a nice replacement to my 2015 27" iMac (i5, M390)?
I am editing TV shows in FHD and exporting in the MXF format (25i). With my present machine i don't need to use proxies.

Will the lack of a proper GPU introduce significantly slower render and export times?
I am not looking for a faster machine, just a replacement.

Also, do you have any suggestions for a 4K monitor?

I edit on a 2013 15" rMBP and an iMac Pro. Both handle the TV shows and commercial spots I produce with H.264 4K original files. If you're replacing an iMac, I don't think you'll be happy with the Mac Mini. Then again, I've not had the chance to edit anything first-hand on a Mac Mini in a very long time. GPU is the issue. Why not get a refurb iMac or MBP?

Larry Jordan's thoughts on that topic:
larryjordan.com/articles/configure-a-mac...8-for-video-editing/