Switching from Windows 10 machine to Mac – anyone here who did that recently?

[Timmy]

a top Mac machine

Well ... To choose a machine that would clearly, undeniably and undoubtedly be a top Mac machine would push me towards the Mac Pro range – and to starting prices way above 8000 Euros.

 

[antcollinet]

Since my 13 years old Windows 10 PC needs to be replaced soon, I am thinking about switching to Mac. When bought, the old PC was quite a fast and reliable thing (Intel Core i7-2600K, 16 GB G-Skill RipJaws RAM, NVIDIA QUADRO 2000 GPU, 125 GB SSD), but with today’s apps and demands, it is simply too slow.

I wonder what sort of Mac would be the right one for me. It should be at least as competitive as my old machine when it was new. I am heavily using Adobe Creative Cloud apps, especially Illustrator, Photoshop and Dimension. The latter is painful slow when it comes to rendering.

Maybe an iMac of some sort could be sufficient. But I am not even sure if I can drive two displays with it – which I would need to do.

So a Mac mini instead? Or a Mac Studio? Although the Studios are quite above my price idea, it seems.

Thanks for any hints on this!

I did it about 10 or 11 years ago, and haven't looked back. One thing you buy with Macs is longevity - my 2013 air still works fine for the standard of apps that were around then. I've only upgraded because it couldn't cope with the more modern AI driven stuff. It is also finally (after about 9 years) no longer getting updates.

So 2 years ago, I got an M2 MacBook pro.


Today if I were looking at getting a Mac, and didn't need a laptop, I'd be buying the M4 mini, which is a bargain at the moment. Personally I'd get the M4 pro with at least 24Gb ram and I'd be confident I'd still be using it 10+ years from now. Though probably the standard M4 would be fine also if you need to save a couple of hundred.

 

[staticV3]

Seems that I’d have to pay around twice as much for a comparable Mac solution

Useful perspective from a hardcore PC enthusiast:

The $600 Mac Mini can do things even a $4000 custom PC can't, while consuming a fraction of the power.

 

[Timmy]

Useful perspective from a hardcore PC enthusiast

OK – That guy speaks way too fast for me, need to read through the transcript later.

 

[Timmy]

The least Mac mini variant I would accept is 1044 Euros. Plus two monitors, keyboard, mouse, some external SSD etc etc I may easily reach the 2000 Euros margin – which would be OK as such. Not OK would be installing my Adobe Dimension to the Mac mini then, just to find out that the renderings are hardly any faster than with my stone age PC ... That would just drive me nuts

 

[Blumlein 88]

Not to mention that the linked comparison was for an 8-core M4 vs a 12-core AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. A more valid comparison is below that indicates that the differences are not as great as one would be led to believe considering that the single core advantage goes to the M4 processor.

AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 vs Apple M4 Pro 12 [cpubenchmark.net] by PassMark Software

Synthetic benchmarks rarely—if ever—reveal real world differences in total system performance as you so poignantly made the case for.

And the price of an M4 pro is higher than the Asus using that AMD chip. Plus that Asus Pro Art is put together specifically for creative purposes like the OP has in mind. I agree regarding synthetic benchmarking. The point I'm making is this idea nothing competes well with the various M4 chips isn't correct.

 

[Blumlein 88]

The least Mac mini variant I would accept is 1044 Euros. Plus two monitors, keyboard, mouse, some external SSD etc etc I may easily reach the 2000 Euros margin – which would be OK as such. Not OK would be installing my Adobe Dimension to the Mac mini then, just to find out that the renderings are hardly any faster than with my stone age PC ... That would just drive me nuts

Well I very much doubt you'll find it barely faster. One thing that video points out is the lower priced Mini M4 is where the thing is unexpectedly good. You might want to bump ram up to 24 gig RAM. An external Thunderbolt 4 drive is a bit pricy but allows 40 gbps transfer.

 

[Esprit]

Though probably the standard M4 would be fine also if you need to save a couple of hundred.

I'm thinking of getting a basic M4, with 16GB of RAM, 512GB of HD and 10 Gigabit ethernet.
The only thing that stops me and bothers me is that Dolby Vision is not possible (I don't know Atmos) on HDMI and I want to use the mini connected to the video projector.

 

[TPF]

Did the switch more than 10 years ago and cannot go back. Mac OS is just way better than Windows. Some will say that it's a close system, that is not true. It's unix based so you can run it almost as a linux OS if you wish.

Hardware tends to be more expensive but also lasts and the built quality is quite good. Same with peripherals, using the same keyboard, mouse, screen for many years now.
Just give a try a Mac mini base model. I went from a Mac Pro to a Mini with no regrets. Just added 2 disk bays one for 2 SSDs and another for 4 HDDs.

Any frustrations I get with computers are when I use Windows machines - I have to use one daily unfortunately.

 

[antcollinet]

I'm thinking of getting a basic M4, with 16GB of RAM, 512GB of HD and 10 Gigabit ethernet.
The only thing that stops me and bothers me is that Dolby Vision is not possible (I don't know Atmos) on HDMI and I want to use the mini connected to the video projector.

I'd get at least 24GB ram. Bear in mind the Ram is "unified" - which means it is shared between the CPU and GPU (Which are on the same chip)

 

[Timmy]

Asus Pro Art is put together specifically for creative purposes

Find it surprisingly difficult to get sufficient info about those Asus »ProArt« machines. Can it be that they are not (yet) sold in Europe, at a noteworthy scale?

 

[Blumlein 88]

Find it surprisingly difficult to get sufficient info about those Asus »ProArt« machines. Can it be that they are not (yet) sold in Europe, at a noteworthy scale?

I don't know about availability in Europe. It looks like the desktop version uses an Intel CPU, but still a machine likely capable of meeting your needs at a reasonable price.

ProArt Station PD5 PD500TE｜Tower PCs｜ASUS USA

The new ASUS ProArt Station PD500TE is designed for seamless professional content creation workflows. Powered by a 13th Generation Intel® Core⢠i9 CPU and up to a NVIDIA RTX⢠A4000 16GB, and providing support for the upcoming NVIDIA® GeForce RTX⢠40 series graphics, PD500TE delivers robust...

www.asus.com

This is the US website. Maybe look for this model in Europe.

ASUS ProArt Station PD5 PD500TE​

You might also look for the Asus gaming desktop machines which are the ROG Strix G15 series. These are overly flashy, but in some ways they are more powerful machines than the Pro Art series. You also have more choices in configuring the machine than with the ProArt series. For instance the ProArt is still using DDR4 RAM while the Strix uses DDR5 RAM.

 

[GXAlan]

Seems that I’d have to pay around twice as much for a comparable Mac solution, and then I would still have that sort of limited flexibility plus the uncertainty whether the performance will be so much better as to clearly justify the price difference, or not.

I think I am one of the few people who genuinely use both platforms. The easy answer is that PC is more versatile but the Mac is better when you have optimized software.

Adobe Dimension is discontinued, Intel/NVIDIA only. You should get a PC with a modern NVIDIA GPU if that’s your goal.

Adobe Photoshop/Lightroom, etc. run great on the Mac.

I would buy a Mac Mini 16/256 with 10GbE and a Windows desktop. You will find the best results with a hybrid Windows and MacOS setup.

Just like the iPhone, the Mac doesn’t make sense to buy flagship products unless you are being paid a lot for your work and your first gig already pays for the hardware. For ordinary people, the entry level is better and then trading it in when you want to upgrade.

 

[Galliardist]

The least Mac mini variant I would accept is 1044 Euros. Plus two monitors, keyboard, mouse, some external SSD etc etc I may easily reach the 2000 Euros margin – which would be OK as such. Not OK would be installing my Adobe Dimension to the Mac mini then, just to find out that the renderings are hardly any faster than with my stone age PC ... That would just drive me nuts

Again, Dimension is a legacy product and I would not count on its continued availability. With your new device - Mac or Windows - it's time to accept that, and use a different product. If you feel you need time to switch away from Dimension, then don't buy a Mac - simple as that.

I'd personally advise buying one better computer rather than two different platforms, with respect to @GXAlan - and I also have to support both platforms. The only reason to have two computers is if one is so tied up in an activity that stops you using it for other things, or if you require a portable and a desktop device. If you want both platforms, consider the M4 Macbook Air as a portable when it comes out early next year - remember, you can set up Remote Desktop or similar, and control some of the Windows operations from the Macbook if you want and it fits your workflow. That way you don't need a super high powered laptop as well as the desktop.

Also, you can incorporate Linux onto a Windows machine in a few different ways these days including as a decent virtual machine. I have seen reports of Blender (free software) rendering faster on a Linux VM in Windows than itself, Dimension or Substance as native Windows apps.

 

[theREALdotnet]

The only thing that stops me and bothers me is that Dolby Vision is not possible (I don't know Atmos) on HDMI and I want to use the mini connected to the video projector.

That surprises me. Apple's spec sheet for the M4 mini seems to indicate that it does support Dolby Vision and Atmos playback:

 

[Esprit]

I'd get at least 24GB ram.

As a pseudo HTPC those 8GB seem excessive and expensive to me.

 

[Esprit]

That surprises me.

Only if you connect it to an Apple monitor, otherwise it converts everything to HDR.
I've looked around and read various forums and people describe this as being the case.
I actually also read this information on the Apple website but it is incorrect and borders on a scam.
I could buy it and then ask for my money back even if the return deadline had expired as it is a "non-confirming product" according to European legislation.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Only if you connect it to an Apple monitor, otherwise it converts everything to HDR.
I've looked around and read various forums and people describe this as being the case.
I actually also read this information on the Apple website but it is incorrect and borders on a scam.
I could buy it and then ask for my money back even if the return deadline had expired as it is a "non-confirming product" according to European legislation.

Yes this is so.

Supported HDR formats​

The built-in display and Apple Pro Display XDR support Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG. Dolby Vision and HLG are converted to HDR10 when viewed on other HDR10-compatible external displays.

Play HDR video on Mac - Apple Support

Support for high dynamic range (HDR) video, such as HDR movies and TV shows from Apple or other providers, requires the latest version of macOS, a compatible Mac model, and an HDR10-compatible display, TV, or projector.

support.apple.com

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I am interested in the new Macs. If I bought one, it would probably be the Mac4 mini with a 512 GB hard drive. I would almost exclusively be using it as the control hub for my Home Theater, but before that happens, if that happens, I would like to be sure it can do certain things:

1. It must be inaudibly quiet with zero fan noise while performing its principal HTPC roles, which include playing streaming movie and music from Netflix, Amazon Prime, Shudder, Tidal and Qobuz and processing those streams through J River running Dirac DLBC.

2. It must, must, must be able to support 5.1 channel Dolby Digital soundtracks on Desktop apps like Netflix and Tidal. If it renders 2 channel stereo only, I absolutely do not want it.

3. Ditto 4K HDR 10. It must render video to my external monitor with no issues with a frame rate of at least 24 fps.

4. It must be problem free with maintenance. I currently have issues with getting my Windows machines to update, and I literally can't get anything from the Windows store until the machine is fully updated. I don't want any similar vicious circle type issues in a $700 Mac 4 Mini.

5. Hopefully, it should have desktop app like Windows. I know I can create virtual apps in the dock, but I am concerned whether they would have the same full capabilities as the Windows desktop apps. Also, I've purchased U Bacch for Windows which runs as a plugin on J River. I would want to continue to use it with the Mac if that's somehow possible. It's now up to $900 and Bacch4Mac is also $900, so if I can't use the Windows version, that's a lot of added expense for my use case.

6. No hidden glitches. I can remember reading how the Mac 1 Mini had an issue with stuttering LPCM digital audio streams to certain USB Dacs a few years back. Obviously that's a core functionality in a HTPC. I don't want to get this home and find out it's a wizard at running Final Cut Pro but really can't send a Qobuz stream to my Octo Dac 8 Pro, because I really don't give a rip about its Final Cut Pro prowess.

So, does anyone have experience using a Mac mini as a HTPC? And can it access streaming platforms and support multi channel audio from them? I'd really like to hear from someone who's already done similar things successfully.

 

[devopsprodude]

I made the change in 2018 for current job and love it. Spaces and three fingered left/right gesture make it so I don't need multiple monitors for spreadsheet work.