p.1 #2 · mac mini ~ M1 vs M4 (worth it for just LR photo editing?)
A quick Google search indicates single-core performance is 40-60% better on the M4 vs M1. That should translate to a noticeable improvement in LR performance.
p.1 #3 · mac mini ~ M1 vs M4 (worth it for just LR photo editing?)
I think it really depends on your workflow and the extent of your post processing. If you're doing a lot of batch processing and exports, lots of noise reduction, using AI features etc., then it probably is worth the upgrade. If you don't do much of those things, it may not be.
For perspective, I was perfectly happy for years doing my photo editing on an i5 Intel Mac Mini with 8 gigs of RAM and noticed only a slight improvement when I switched to an M2 MacBook Air with 24 gigs of RAM and 10-core GPU. I am planning to upgrade to one of these new Mac Minis, using the Pro M4 chip with highest GPU cores since I also do video and that's where the Air lets me down. It can do everything I ask it to in DaVinci Resolve, but it takes a long time, especially noise reduction. The old Intel Mini could barely even run Resolve; I had a Mac Pro desktop that I used for video (the 2013 trashcan model with dual GPUs).
But for my photography editing (I use Capture One now but used Lightroom for years), even my old Intel Mini did the job. But I don't do any batch processing and not a lot of denoising, which are two things that you'd probably see improvements in if you upgrade. And if you use any AI features, it's probably worth the upgrade as well.
Oct 31, 2024 at 08:39 AM
foto16 Offline • • [X]
p.1 #4 · mac mini ~ M1 vs M4 (worth it for just LR photo editing?)
bjhurley wrote:
I think it really depends on your workflow and the extent of your post processing. If you're doing a lot of batch processing and exports, lots of noise reduction, using AI features etc., then it probably is worth the upgrade. If you don't do much of those things, it may not be.
For perspective, I was perfectly happy for years doing my photo editing on an i5 Intel Mac Mini with 8 gigs of RAM and noticed only a slight improvement when I switched to an M2 MacBook Air with 24 gigs of RAM and 10-core GPU. I am planning to upgrade to one of these new Mac Minis, using the Pro M4 chip with highest GPU cores since I also do video and that's where the Air lets me down. It can do everything I ask it to in DaVinci Resolve, but it takes a long time, especially noise reduction. The old Intel Mini could barely even run Resolve; I had a Mac Pro desktop that I used for video (the 2013 trashcan model with dual GPUs).
But for my photography editing (I use Capture One now but used Lightroom for years), even my old Intel Mini did the job. But I don't do any batch processing and not a lot of denoising, which are two things that you'd probably see improvements in if you upgrade. And if you use any AI features, it's probably worth the upgrade as well....Show more →
For pure photo editing work (single image based, no video), would you think a M4 Pro mini would have noticeable speed advantage over plain M4? I see that the memory bandwidth of the M4 Pro is 273gb/s vs. 120gb/s on the M4. Also there are more GPU cores--don't know how these impact photo editing.
Whether plain or pro, would 24G memory be noticeably better than 16G?
If the Pro is noticeably better, does it make sense to pay additional $200 to get the higher version with more cores?
Would AI denoise benefit from Pro, or it relies more on the neural engine which seems to be the same on both M4 and M4 pro?
p.1 #5 · mac mini ~ M1 vs M4 (worth it for just LR photo editing?)
foto16 wrote:
For pure photo editing work (single image based, no video), would you think a M4 Pro mini would have noticeable speed advantage over plain M4?
As noted above, "noticeable" really depends on what you're doing with those photos. I barely noticed any different in performance going from an i5 Intel Mac Mini with 8 gigs of RAM to an M2 MacBook Air with 24 gigs of RAM and 10 GPU cores. But that's because I don't ask much of my computer with photo editing. My files are 24 megapixels, I don't do a lot of denoising, and I don't do any batch processing and use very little in the way of AI features. Larger files, batch processing, heavy denoising, etc. are where you'd probably notice differences.
Oct 31, 2024 at 09:28 AM
Richardwaka Offline • [X]
p.1 #6 · mac mini ~ M1 vs M4 (worth it for just LR photo editing?)
Apple added their AI functions to this new generation of chips, Could be helpful for noise reduction speeds.
Oct 31, 2024 at 09:44 AM
foto16 Offline • • [X]
p.1 #7 · mac mini ~ M1 vs M4 (worth it for just LR photo editing?)
gheller wrote:
So coming from a (bare bones) 16gb m1 mac mini, I am tempted to move to the m4
The $599 price is inviting, but when I started upgrading, it quickly got well over $2K
my question is, if I get the bare bones m4, will I see a noticeable performance difference as compared to my (bare bones) m1?
Tried to find online comparisons to no avail.
Thanks!
FWIW, I don't do anything but mostly LR and occasional PS editing for my wedding photo business.
X-posted in the Post-Processing forum and the Wedding forum. LMK if this is not allowed.
This guy did a lot of real world photo processing comparison tests with M1, M2, and M3. You can look at these tests to gauge the gains, as M4 should be at least somewhat better than M2 and M3. I expect that he will post tests on M4s after they are available in stores.
p.1 #8 · mac mini ~ M1 vs M4 (worth it for just LR photo editing?)
Probably a bit early as they were just announced this week. No doubt there will be performance reviews in the next number of weeks that should shed some light on actual performance improvements. Personally, I'm waiting for those reviews of how well LR performs in the MBP M4 Max vs my M1 Max.
p.1 #9 · mac mini ~ M1 vs M4 (worth it for just LR photo editing?)
Keep an eye on ArtisRight YT channel as he posted he will be running all his tests over again on latest MacOS once he has some M4 machines in hand. He usually has a good number of machines to compare and runs all the latest AI photo apps and LR, PS etc.
p.1 #10 · mac mini ~ M1 vs M4 (worth it for just LR photo editing?)
Yes it is worth it, LR is the one app which benefits most from single core performance gain.
When I upgraded from base mini M1+8GB to M1 Pro MBP with 16GB RAM I could easily tell the difference. I guess 8GB RAM was a bottleneck in base Mini even though single core performance remained same. Since then I upgraded to M3 Max with 36GB RAM and performance jump was big. This time it was even more RAM and improved single core performance.
Coming from base M1+8GB to M4+16GB should be a drastic performance jump.
Buy from education store, you get further discount and I would highly recommend 512 storage.
p.1 #11 · mac mini ~ M1 vs M4 (worth it for just LR photo editing?)
You are likely disk I/O constrained now on slower tasks currently. Since you are likely processing images on external storage there may not be as much performance improvement as you expect.
Batch processing in LR/PS is not single processor constrained.
p.1 #12 · mac mini ~ M1 vs M4 (worth it for just LR photo editing?)
I purchased an M3 based MacBook 16”, but greatly upgraded memory and if doing it again, I would upgrade the internal SSD. Communication with external SSD is a good bit slower than internal. GPU is now used for some tasks and I would think that as AI kicks in having upgraded GPU would be useful. What you might want to look at is how an older, maxed out CPU/GPU/SSD/Internal memory Mac Mini fares against the lower configured M4.
If you haven’t already done so, you might want to post on a board with wedding photographers. If you are doing few weddings, then your question isn’t so relevant, but if you are heavily booked, then investing in a much more capable system would be warranted.
p.1 #15 · mac mini ~ M1 vs M4 (worth it for just LR photo editing?)
I'm on a M1 iMac and am really considering the M4 mini. The AI and TB5 will be useful down the road but I think even now you'd notice a significant difference in speed. The Art is Right channel Arbitrage recommended shows processing in Capture and LR. They're not the most exciting videos but he is pretty thorough in his testing.
p.1 #17 · mac mini ~ M1 vs M4 (worth it for just LR photo editing?)
My M1 (16GB/1TB) was beginning to struggle (and my patience) under the strain of LR masks, ever-growing file sizes, plug-ins etc, a BenQ display and second display. The M4 is timed perfectly for those like me who are normally not early-adopters but ready for a jump in workflow speed. My M4 MacMini (24GB/1TB) demonstrates a noticeable speed increase for all everyday tasks from importing images to stacking masks to running plug-ins. The interweb seem to agree, so don’t overthink it. Invest in your sanity and say yes to the upgrade if the above rings true.
And yes, don’t forget that Apple will give a decent trade-in for Apple products (if you don’t want to find a used buyer for an old box). I got $365 for my M1 making my $1500-ish M4 MacMini a better deal. Go for it. Merry Christmas!
p.1 #20 · mac mini ~ M1 vs M4 (worth it for just LR photo editing?)
index2421 wrote:
My M1 (16GB/1TB) was beginning to struggle (and my patience) under the strain of LR masks, ever-growing file sizes, plug-ins etc, a BenQ display and second display. The M4 is timed perfectly for those like me who are normally not early-adopters but ready for a jump in workflow speed. My M4 MacMini (24GB/1TB) demonstrates a noticeable speed increase for all everyday tasks from importing images to stacking masks to running plug-ins. The interweb seem to agree, so don’t overthink it. Invest in your sanity and say yes to the upgrade if the above rings true.
And yes, don’t forget that Apple will give a decent trade-in for Apple products (if you don’t want to find a used buyer for an old box). I got $365 for my M1 making my $1500-ish M4 MacMini a better deal. Go for it. Merry Christmas! ...Show more →
