Is Mac mini M4 powerful enough for Lightroom and Photoshop on dual screens?

Deandog1972 wrote:

Is anyone using mac mini m4 to edit photos using lightroom and photoshop and is it powerful enough to run both programmes side by side on 2 screens

Yes, it can run those programs fine. But for your your stated use, go with the M4 Pro model with at least 24GB RAM.

I use Photoshop, Lightroom, CaptureOne, iMovie, Davinci Resolve and other signifcant apps. I regularly edit multiple 150-250MB PSDs & TIFFs with layers. The apps all run great on my M4 Pro. (For that matter, they run just as well on my 2019 i9 iMac with 32GB RAM).

But I do suggest considering 48GB RAM and 1TB SSD if you intend to do significant media work and want to future-proof your purchase.

The M4 and the M4 Pro Minis will certainly be able to handle those apps. However, you will need to buy one with the maximum amount of RAM that you can afford or more. Those apps will chew up RAM in a hurry. Even if you get a machine with 24GB of RAM, if you process a couple dozen images, especially if you make use of layers you will end up using swap to SSD. while the SSDs are so fast you may not notice much in performance change, you will be chewing up your SSD leading to possible early end of life as SSDs only have a limited number of write cycles.

woodmeister50 wrote:

The M4 and the M4 Pro Minis will certainly be able to handle those apps. However, you will need to buy one with the maximum amount of RAM that you can afford or more.

Adobe recommends a minimum of 16 GB of RAM for each of its main photo processing programs – Photoshop, Lightroom, and Lightroom Classic.

You can get the M4 Mac mini with 16, 24, or 32 GB of RAM. You can get the M4 Pro Mac mini with 24, 48, or 64 GB of RAM. 64 GB is likely to be overkill unless you are doing very complex things (e.g., stitching together many pictures to make a huge panorama, and/or doing lots of stacking to create HDR effects).

But you should give consideration to going with the 32 GB RAM option on a M4 mini, or the 48 GB RAM option on a M4 Pro mini.

You may not notice performance issues when RAM fills up and goes to swap because the SSD in Macs are so fast. You will however chew up your SSD if you are routinely using swap.

As for Adobe "minimum" recommendations, they are a joke and always have been. With 16GB you will quickly start using swap.

woodmeister50 wrote:

As for Adobe "minimum" recommendations, they are a joke and always have been. With 16GB you will quickly start using swap.

When I said "Adobe recommends a minimum of 16 GB of RAM for each of its main photo processing programs – Photoshop, Lightroom, and Lightroom Classic.", that wasn't a reference to the "minimum".

E.g., the current Photoshop system requirements are

There's a rule of thumb among long-time computer users that when any software vendor lists both "minimum" and "recommended" requirements, the "minimum" ones are the bare minimum need for the application to, say, painfully stagger to its feet, or to do very simple jobs. The "recommended" ones are the real minimum.

Which is why I used the phrasing "Adobe recommends" and didn't even mention the 8 GB figure.

I would look at some of the reviews on YouTube. You will find that with the M4 you do not require as much RAM as before to do even complex programs. I have not seen any reports of any functional issues with 24GB of Ram on any app. with some stating no issues with 16.

Is this Mac for your business or just personal use?

If for business I'd get the Mini M4 Pro 14 Core CPU with 48 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD storage. I'd also get a fast external 1 or 2 TB SSD from OWC (MacSales.com). They are considered the premier 3rd party hardware supplier for Macs.

If for your personal use you can go with the 10 core Mini with 24 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD. The recommendation of an external fast SSD is the same.

I have a 10 Core Mac Mini M4 with 16 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD with a 32" LG 4k monitor. I can edit a 525 Mb Photoshop file with minimal lag, the most coming when applying the Blur tool. The same tool used on a 335 Mb file has no lag.

On normal sized files, i.e. 5 Mb to 15 Mb there is no lag observed.

Just some food for thought.

Swap may wear SSD but will take quite a while and by then time to buy a new Mac anyway (lol).

tbirdvet wrote:

Swap may wear SSD but will take quite a while and by then time to buy a new Mac anyway (lol).