Hello,
Apple unveiled the new Mac Mini M4 yesterday.
I‘m currently in the decision-process to update my hardware (having paused for some years and thus still on a MacBookPro with an Intel processor, yet photographing still with a Nikon D750…) and switching to a desktop.
Which configuration of the Mac Mini M4 (RAM, processor) plus which monitor (27-32 inch) would you suggest to be fine for the next hopefully up to 10 years?
Thanks by advance!
Enzo
If it’s to last you a decade then I’d suggest the M4 Pro Mac Mini which comes with 24Gb memory as standard and if you’re just planning to use it for regular image editing then that should be plenty. I’d pay extra for the 1Tb SSD storage to allow space for application and OS bloat over the years, and then use external SSDs to store images.
Monitors from BenQ and Eizo are well considered. BenQ are the more wallet friendly of the two brands, but very good quality. Eizo are exceptional quality. Get a screen with an absolute minimum of sRGB colour space. A screen that covers the AdobeRGB colour space is preferable but costs more.
For reference I edit 24mpx images from a Z6ii using a Mac Mini M1 8gb memory and 512Gb SSD (and multiple external SSDs) - this machine was a huge leap in performance compared to my older Intel Mac Mini (2012 i5, 8Gb memory, 512Gb SSD). Photolab on these new M4 Macs is going to fly, especially exports using DeepPrime because that utilises the Apple Neural Engine which has just had a speed boost of around 2-3x compared to the M1.
Edit: it might be wise to wait a few weeks for reviews to come out and for the public to put the machine through its paces. The new Minis have a new cooling system, it may have teething issues?!
I will second what @CHPhoto has said. I’m currently on a 2021 14" MBP (stock - but that comes with 16gb ram and 512gb ssd).
I sit it on my desk and its attached to my BenQ monitor.
I ordered the M4 Pro Mac Mini. I left the ram stock at 24gb and the ssd stock at 512gb (I use external drives for images, etc). I did upgrade to the 14-core cpu and 20-core gpu. Very much hoping it will last me for a lot years as well.
I’ve noticed some smallish lag using my MBP to run PL8 (some slight delay when moving sliders when the screen looks blurry before updating) so I’m very much looking forward to it.
Tom
I’m actually looking for the M4 mini as well to replace my M1 mini.
I already replaced my two older Eizo CX270 with one CS2740.
And I jumped between Benq and Eizo, but finally went with Eizo.
One factor was the extended warranty Eizo have.
5 years for unit and LCD module up to 30,000 operating hours, which ever comes first.
I will not even get close to 30k hours in five years - but it shows their level of belief in the their quality.
And even if I could add some money on top of the Benq to call it warranty funds or put the money aside for a next gen monitor in a few years, I felt that I rather have something solid without going through everything again.
I want a calm and stable environment nowadays.
It might have been different if I was a bit younger, but that I’m not. 
I use a 2020 M1 MacBook Air and it works just fine in its 8/8/16/1TB configuration. It makes no noise and is easily as fast as my 2019 9 core i9 iMac. I have images on a separate volume and a volume each for different versions of macOS.
If I were to upgrade, I’d probably up the RAM and drive space…and get a new external drive for backups done by Time Machine and
Thanks to all of you for your valuable hints. Actually I’ve already thought of pimping RAM + cores, too. Additionally I might use the Mac Mini also to replace my outdated Synology NAS (from 2013) using 2 external drives.
I occasionally use external Samsung T5 and T7 SSDs and as far as customising is concerned, reactivity of the UI seems to be indistinguishable from using the internal SSD.
I noticed als a small delay on PL8 and my MBP M1 14" And Since macos 15.1 some more hickups in the ui.