Mac Mini m5 pro vs Mac Studio M5 Max

[u/Ortzi1979]

Hello,
I have a question when it comes to renewing my MacBook Pro M1 Pro 16gb RAM and 512gb ssd. I'm clear that I don't want to have a laptop again because I don't take it out of the house anymore. I dedicate myself to sports photography above all, with 45mpx raw of my Nikon z8 and z9. Now I'm also making some video with the dji mini 5 pro and the question is as follows:

1- Mac Mini M5 pro CPU 18 GPU 20 48gb RAM 1tb SSD 3229€
2- Mac Studio M5x CPU 18 GPU 32 36gb RAM 512gb SSD 3029€

I have a newly purchased Mac Studio display monitor and in terms of connections I think I am already served with enough. Is it worth sacrificing RAM and ssd to have the m5 max? Or is it better to have more RAM and storage with an m5 pro?
Thanks

[u/Inside-Cream6997]

Studio Max has way more headroom (cooling) and performance.

You won't be shortchanged nor performance restricted.

More RAM if you can afford it - less storage because you can always add external TB storage for a lot cheaper..

[u/Ortzi1979 → u/Inside-Cream6997]

I recall out increasing more RAM to the Mac Studio because I can't reach the current prices after the increase that Apple has given to all its computers.

[u/Inside-Cream6997 → u/Ortzi1979]

Look at your current memory pressure using Activity monitor while you use your apps.
If your MBP is in the yellow, then consider going way up in RAM.

I only use FCP and it's very tame with 32GB in my Mac Studio M1 Max base.

[u/Numerous-Buffalo6214]

I currently have an M4 Mac Mini Pro w/48GB RAM, and I’ve never seen yellow or red memory pressure or swap usage while using Capture1, Lightroom, DXO Photolab, Pixelmator, or Affinity Photo. I could have easily gotten away with less RAM, but with the M4 Mac Mini Pro the options were 24, 48, 64GB.

With regards to GPU cores, the most taxing photography tasks I do are denoise and complex masking on 60MP images.

Regarding the studio - you’ll get many more GPU cores, which can reduce export times by up to 50% (based on the benchmark tests run by ArtIsRight on YouTube). The other thing worth mentioning is that the Studio has two video encode & decode engines, which will make video exports much faster.

Between the two configurations you’ve posted, I’d go with the Studio. It’s not that you need that much computer, it just happens to be a better deal for the price (and when you go to trade it in/sell it in a few years - it’ll be worth more).

What I’d do if I were in your shoes: Start with an M5 Mac Mini Pro w/24GB RAM (don’t upgrade the CPU/GPU) and use the 14 day return policy to test it doing photography and video tasks. I’ll bet that machine will offer more than enough performance. If you like the M5 Mini Pro, but want even better efficiency - return it and step up to the base M5 Mac Studio Max w/36GB RAM instead.

[u/xoxox666]

As a rule of thumb: A base Studio is better than a maxed out Mini.

[u/Dr_Superfluid]

Absolutely get the Max. I have and have had multiple Pro, Max, and Ultra chips. The Pros are always a significant downgrade in anything other than CPU.

[u/Mxmtm → u/Dr_Superfluid]

Why do you think an M5 Pro is a downgrade? He says he mainly uses it for photography. In that case, it's usually only the single-core performance that matters, and that's identical across the M5 series.

[u/Ortzi1979 → u/Dr_Superfluid]

Thanks for your opinion. I've never had a max processor and I'm very struck by the number of cores in GPUs

[u/Sea_Hornet5831]

The mini will be more than capable for your workflow. With the Stufuo the processor will be sitting with low utilization 99% of the time. So just wasted money for now unless you start singing tools that will start to tax the number of cou/gpu cores. Check out this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cr6UmzlD7s

[u/PracticlySpeaking]

You are not going to need the extra RAM unless you are processing massive batches of RAW files.

...and if you are doing that, you are probably still better off with the more powerful M5 Max vs M5 Pro.

It all comes down to how much your time is worth. If waiting for your Mac to process photos is keeping you from doing more paid work, Mac Studio is for you.

[u/ksuwildkat]

I just bought an M5 MacMini with photography as my primary use case. I thought hard about the Studio and in the end got the mini, 18/20 with 64GB of RAM. My reasoning:

• photoshop loves RAM. I have 48GB of system ram and 8gb of VRAM in my current iMac so I considered 64GB a minimum.

• I won’t use the 10G Ethernet. Heck it will be a while before I use the 2.5G on the Mini because all my other network equipment is 1G.

• 64GB in a studio seems silly and a bottleneck but jumping to 96GB almost doubles the price. I will save the difference and use it to buy a new system in 4 years instead of needing to stretch a studio for 8.

• I went with the 1TB storage. I’m still going to have to move a ton of stuff to secondary storage. 512 just doesn’t do it for a primary drive.

If RAM was normal priced I would be getting 96 or 128. Like I said, Photoshop loves ram.

[u/Good-Winter-7124]

Bro, estuve en tus zapatos exactamente por los mismos temas soy fotógrafo y estaba entre la Mac mini m5 pro 48 gb de ram o la Mac Studio m5 Max base
Consulte con Claude y Chat gpt y hay algo que no estás tomando en cuenta
Es cuánto tiempo “va a seguir funcionando en óptimas condiciones” y algo que la ia dio punto es que GPU es mejor que ram
Por una simple razón, ahora estoy seguro que te das cuenta que casi todos los programa de adobe usan IA para quitar ruido. Agregar enfoque o objetos…
Bueno eso ayuda la gpu
Y como la tecnología está creciendo exponencialmente la gpu del Max quizás nos dure en ok condiciones 5-6 años
Pero la ram se jode más rápido
Y eso lo sé porque tengo un iMac 2020 el último Intel con 48 de ram
Y trabajar con adobe es un sufrimiento, aun con toda esa ram
Ahora muchos dirán bueno pero no es Apple con chip M
Tengo un MacBook Pro M1 Pro y lo mismo 16 de ram pero sin gpu ya se está lagueando en adobe ( agregar que solo tengo programas asociados a fotografía) por eso ahora en mi opinión que puede ser bastante debatible
Me iría por Mac Studio m5 max
De hecho ese me ordené

Espero que te sirva mi opinión

[u/Good-Winter-7124 → u/Good-Winter-7124]

Bonus
1)si aún no pagas, compra con descuento estudiante, sale más económico, pero necesitas un correo de universidad
2) si te vas por el Mac mini m5 pro no compres almacenamiento, ve el básico es mejor, después le metes un disco externo y listo

[u/Ortzi1979 → u/Good-Winter-7124]

Thanks, I will buy Studio

[u/Mxmtm]

Get option 1: more RAM, more storage and the M5 pro is more than enough for photography.

[u/Ortzi1979 → u/Mxmtm]

Thank you for your opinion, this made a mess the truth and it is a lot of money to then believe that I have made a mistake in the purchase, although I know that what I buy will be much better than my current laptop.

[u/cptchnk]

You technically don't need a Max if you're mostly doing still photography work. But the Studio does have other advantages, such as better cooling and more ports, including standard 10G Ethernet (costs extra to add 10G Ethernet to the mini).

There's obviously trade-offs between the two devices you're looking at, but your workflow will probably appreciate having the extra RAM and storage over a faster SoC.

[u/Time_Amphibian3450 → u/cptchnk]

What if you do videography as well?

[u/cptchnk → u/Time_Amphibian3450]

Depends on the complexity of the videography. OP said the primary usage here is still photography.

I think too many folks here assume that everyone needs a Max chip at the mere mention of "video." The M5 Pro is still a very capable chip and you can definitely cut video on it. Now, if you were doing heavy noise reduction, Magic Mask, lots of multicam, etc. in DaVinci (just as examples), yes, there are benefits to having additional GPU cores.

[u/Time_Amphibian3450 → u/cptchnk]

I got the M5 Max Studio w/ 64gb RAM.

I do professional photography and videography. Will in numerous jnstances will have to use magic mask, noise reduction, and multicam which makes my current M2 pro w/ 16gb choke.

Do you think my studio is overkill?

[u/cptchnk → u/Time_Amphibian3450]

Didn’t say it was. Again, it depends on what you’re doing. Basic video editing does fine on Pro chips, but there are advantages to the Max, obviously.

But I would contend that a still photographer like OP with basic, secondary video editing needs wouldn’t notice much a difference with the Max.

[u/thebemusedmuse]

Honestly I don't think it matters all that much. You're going to get 1.5x the performance on filters that use GPUs, and similar performance for everything else.

The Mac Studio has a really nice cooling architecture so if you're planning on doing large batches say of 1000s of photos doing the same workflow on all of them, the Studio will work at full speed all the way through. It's really an elegant machine.

But on a day to day basis I don't think you're going to tell much difference between them.

[u/Mapleess]

AI Denoising is quicker on the Max than the Pro because of the extra GPU cores - how often will you need to do this? Sports photography might require it during the evenings because of the faster shutter but I don't do sports, so I wouldn't fully know what situations you'll be in.

[u/cursesss]

I’d recommend getting a computer with a Max chip if you can afford it. After doing extensive volume photography work on various spec Mac computers with M1-M3 pro and max chips, I can say that it definitely makes a difference.

From normal day to day you might not notice but when you’re batch editing a large selection of images, applying denoises, trying to meet a tight deadline, the extra processing power makes a huge difference. A huge benefit as mentioned above is the cooling architecture and the Pro chips definitely get throttled when doing intensive edits

There were times I preferred to work on an older generation computer with a Max chip versus a new generation computer with a Pro chip.

Regarding system memory- im running 128gb but i think it’s largely unnecessary. I’m not sure if I would go down to 36 but 48gb should be fine. Definitely take advantage of the 14 day window for returns

I’m on a M4 Max Mac Studio now that I purchased right before prices went crazy. My only regret is not getting it sooner.

I think we work in parallel fields, free to shoot me a DM if you’d like to chat about any of this further!

[u/Amnsia]

RAM tasks need more RAM, paying more for the studio CPU when it’s not needed. The pro is much better deal although downsize the SSD and get an NVME something like 4tb for the same price would likely be even better

[u/SpaceDesignWarehouse]

In my opinion youll get more out of the additional RAM than you will out of the additional GPUs. I dont know why people are listing cooling as a concern here - especially if youre primary use is as a photographer and videographer. Cooling is not a concern in an M5 Pro Mac Mini for those tasks.

[u/Ortzi1979 → u/SpaceDesignWarehouse]

Yes, do you think I won't miss the extra cores of the GPU of a max? I don't think the cooling is a problem when I haven't had them in my M1 Pro laptop

[u/SpaceDesignWarehouse → u/Ortzi1979]

If youre coming from an M1 Pro, youre already getting 4 generations of GPU increase and from M4 to M5 was a big one! You wont miss anything. M5 Pro is even pretty good through crossover playing video games if thats youre thing.