Mac Mini with Thunderbolt Released Today

[sanyasi]

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Apple rolled out the new Mac Mini today. It has Thunderbolt, the much faster connection to hard drives and other peripherals. It has maximum RAM of 8 and it comes with 2.9 GHz quad core processor. You can get 2.0 dual core.

 

I am never good at translating numbers into how improved the photo editing experience will be. Right now I have a 2.5 year old IMac that runs 3.06 dual core and has 4 gb of RAM. I will be replacing it because I want two external monitors rather than the Apple screen and one external monitor.

 

Two questions. Is the new Mac Mini sufficient for most photo editing or is it worth holding out for the coming upgrade to the Mac Pro? Second, how much of an improvement will I see? Noticeable? Right now when working on a single photo in Lightroom I have no problem, but when I opt to "edit in" Photoshop things can slow down a bit, particularly if other apps are open.

 

Thanks

 

Jack Siegel

July 20, 2011

[sanyasi]

There have now been a number of benchmarking reports out on the new macMinis. I don't normally get into those sorts of studies, but because of my interest in replacing my existing iMac with a machine that will allow me to use two external monitors, I have been taking a close look. Two different benchmarking groups report that the the entire line of macMinis are very fast and that the Mac mini server exceeds both of those. Throw in a solid state hard drive and Thunderbolt, this might just be a good photo editing machine. However, with the upgrade of the Mac Pros rumored to becoming in August, I will wait to make the decision.

 

It would be nice to get some tests with Photoshop, LR, and other image editing software.

 

New Mac Mini Benchmarks Show Significant Performance Gains - Mac Rumors

 

Lab Report: Huge speed gains for new Mac mini Review | Desktops | From the Lab | Macworld

[timd.]

maybe it's possible to add a second screen to your iMac?

[sanyasi]

Not possible, at least according to Apple. I have the iMac screen and then an external Eizo monitor. Even with Shades, I find the Apple screen too bright and unnatural, and that becomes very apparent when you view the two screens next to each other.

 

Thanks

 

Jack Siegel

July 23, 2011

[Rick]

I just upgraded my MacAir 11inch to the 256SSD/1.8GHz i7/4GB 1333MHz RAM and it just screams through PS and LR3. This is going to make a great travel computer with this kind of memory and the fast processor. Not to mention it has Thunderbolt for monitor and external drives.

 

The new MacBook Pro's that come out in August are rumored to have Quad Core processors in them and that will be even more significant for a notebook. I'd say worth waiting for if you are a power PS user.

 

I assume the mini will also get a bump up to the Quad Core sometime around then (August) as well. But, the 2.7GHz i7 processor it has now, in the new release, should scream pretty well through PS. My little 1.8GHZ i7 in the Air is amazing for what it is.

[Per P.]

The MacAir 11 inch was yet another investment that certain members of this forum inspired me to make before going to Asia for four weeks.

 

I found it pretty zippy already and as a travel computer to store photos, do pre-selects in lightroom, keeping up to date with friends and the world, etc., it was just a complete joy.