My Experiences with the M1 Mac Mini
In June, I decided after a lot of contemplation that I would purchase an M1 Mac Mini. Considering I was already invested in the Apple ecosystem with an iPhone, iPad Pro, and Apple Watch, buying a Mac seemed like the next logical step. Of course, buying a Mac is not a cheap affair, so I did my research, watched hours of YouTube videos, and consumed pages of hardware reviews before choosing the M1 Mac Mini 16Gb.
I have never owned a mac before, although I used them throughout my school years. I have, up to now, been a devoted Windows guy, from when I purchased my first PC back in the early 90s. So why break from the norm. One word ‘Curiosity’ more than anything. I had heard such great things about the M1 SOC (System On a Chip), from lightning-fast video rendering, cool operation (a real factor here in Cancun), and it is specially tailored for professionals. Being a web developer, having a Mac would only benefit me. Another reason I wanted to try Mac was the software. I use numerous apps on my iPhone and iPad that are not available on Windows, for example, the Spark email client (see my email client review). Spark is an awesome app, which I use every single day, but as of writing, this is unavailable on Windows. I also use Apple Notes, Apple Reminders, and others that don’t have a native app in Windows.
So after ordering it through Apple’s website, it took two weeks to arrive from China. Upon arrival, I did do a small “no-sound” unboxing video, as a practice for my upcoming YouTube channel, stay tuned for that. The device itself is a simple box, which oozes quality and has minimum I/O. Although premium, the design has not changed much from the previous generation. I could only afford the 256Gb storage, but I did stretch to the 16Gb of RAM. Both SSD and RAM are soldered into the SOC and are not upgradable, but it is possible to buy an external SSD, so I bought the model with 16Gb of RAM (which is the maximum), and the minimum 256Gb SSD. Since then I have purchased Satechi Type-C Stand & Hub with SSD Enclosure and added a Samsung MZ-N6E500BW — Internal SSD of 500Gb. This gives me the extra storage I need and some extra I/O which is helpful.
Another piece of the solution for me is the ability to work on my PC too, as I primarily work with Microsoft web technologies, such as Classic ASP. I could code theoretically on the Mac, but it is not possible to host this type of website on a Mac as it requires IIS (Internet Information Services) which is built into Windows. I had two options. One, I purchase a Windows 10 Pro license on my Acer Predator Helios 300 and connect to it via Remote Desktop from the Mac, or Two, I have two screens, one Mac, and one Windows. To cut a long story short, I experimented a lot, and the best solution for my workflow was Remote Desktop. If you have two monitors, two distinct machines, copying files between them becomes a pain. I did at one point purchase Synergy, which allows you to use one mouse and keyboard with multiple machines, which was cool, but it was not reliable when dragging files from one machine to the other, which quickly became frustrating. I could have tried a KVM switch, but that solution is clunky. Admittedly I could have created a network shared folder but I wanted a more seamless solution. To this day I still connect to my PC via remote desktop, and it works great for me.
Another option I have looked at was within a video provided by MaxTech, How to Install Windows 11 on Apple M1 Pro/Max MacBooks. Up to now, I have not considered actually installing Windows 11 for ARM on the Mac. It is an expensive approach. One, you need software to create a virtual machine, so you will need a subscription to Parallels, which is roughly $70 US a year, and two, you will need a Windows 11 license which is around $100 US. However, I did try it briefly, and it ran great. This may possibly be a solution for me in the future, although it is not necessarily an approach I would recommend, as Windows on ARM has its limitations.
For fun, the M1 Mac Mini is a fully capable machine. I have run “Shadow of the Tomb Raider” at 4K, and it handles it amazingly well considering the number of pixels it was pushing. Yeah, there was some imaging tearing at 4K and the frame rate wasn’t great. However, when I dropped the resolution down to 1440p, it was awesome, totally playable, and enjoyable. The M1 can also run native iPad apps out of the box. So playing Asphalt 9: Legends is a must, and it runs beautifully. Furthermore, the M1 Mac Mini does not roar with fan noises, it is barely audible even under load.
Unfortunately, there are few AAA titles available in Steam that run natively on the Mac, but there is a new solution out there that allows you to run Windows applications on the Mac. It is called “CrossOver”, but this is something I have not tried myself but many YouTubers have reviewed it. However, if you are a gamer, then check out their website.
Overall, I am completely happy with my M1 Mac Mini, it is fast, cool, silent, and completely capable. It handles everything I throw at it with complete ease and does not even blink. I can open 15 apps at once, without a hiccup, it is brilliant. For those of you considering an M1 Mac Mini, I recommend you spend the extra money and get the 16Gb of RAM version, so it does not use the SSD for swap memory, as this will prolong the lifetime of the SSD, and allow the machine to operate faster.
Totally and completely recommended.
Original article:https://www.scoping-tech.com/my-experiences-with-the-m1-mac-mini/
