Would the new Mac Mini (i3 3.6 GHz. 8GB) be sufficient for running a basic home studio setup? It’s meant to replace a aged old HP Laptop (Centrino) that’s still running Windows XP. I’m looking to keep initial costs down and just upgrade what I can upgrade in the future (ram, hard drive). This will be a dedicated computer (no video editing, games etc.) and pretty much relegated to running librarian/editors and some basic multitrack recording. I don’t need to run a lot of plugins or virtual instruments. I have an iPad Pro for those.
I realize the i3 is the bottom end of that processor line and would be the only component I won’t be able to upgrade (short of getting a whole new Mac Mini). Memory (ram & storage) however, can be expanded/upgraded. So the question really is, how capable is the i3 processor for running the configuration I described?
Thanks,
Norman
Mac Mini 2018 i3
Moderators: Derek, parametric, Saul
Re: Mac Mini 2018 i3
Hi Norm
The only thing I would do is add more ram. I have an iMac 27 i3 with 8Gb ram and it often runs out of memory. Doesn't stop things working but does slow everything down. I would also fit a SSD if it does not already come with one. Should be fine after that
The only thing I would do is add more ram. I have an iMac 27 i3 with 8Gb ram and it often runs out of memory. Doesn't stop things working but does slow everything down. I would also fit a SSD if it does not already come with one. Should be fine after that

Saul
Site Admin
Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel!
Review Yamahamusicians.com on Trustpilot
Sign up to the Newsletter
Follow us on Twitter @YamahaMusicians
Follow Us On Facebook
Dowina Acoustic Guitars: Dowina Cabernet DC
Dowina Chardonnay GAC DS - Dowina Rustica GAC - Dowina Marus - Dowina Puella
Yamaha FS-TA/Vintage VE2000GG Gordon Giltrap/Ibanez AE245/Arturia Keylab 61 MKII/Arturia Analog Lab 3/Arturia Piano V2/Pianoteq 6 Pro/Apple iMac 27"/Logic Pro X/Ableton Live 10/Behringer QX1202USB Mixer/Presonus Eris 4.5 Active Monitors
Site Admin
Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel!
Review Yamahamusicians.com on Trustpilot
Sign up to the Newsletter
Follow us on Twitter @YamahaMusicians
Follow Us On Facebook
Dowina Acoustic Guitars: Dowina Cabernet DC
Dowina Chardonnay GAC DS - Dowina Rustica GAC - Dowina Marus - Dowina Puella
Yamaha FS-TA/Vintage VE2000GG Gordon Giltrap/Ibanez AE245/Arturia Keylab 61 MKII/Arturia Analog Lab 3/Arturia Piano V2/Pianoteq 6 Pro/Apple iMac 27"/Logic Pro X/Ableton Live 10/Behringer QX1202USB Mixer/Presonus Eris 4.5 Active Monitors
Re: Mac Mini 2018 i3
Thanks Saul, that’s exactly the upgrade path I was planning on. The ram can go up as high as 64GB and the hard drive can either be a external one or internal if that’s possible. As far as I know, its a 128GB SSD. More than enough to store a current project on. For the time being, I’ll just need to swap projects in and out as needed.Saul wrote: ↑Tue Nov 27, 2018 2:16 pmHi Norm
The only thing I would do is add more ram. I have an iMac 27 i3 with 8Gb ram and it often runs out of memory. Doesn't stop things working but does slow everything down. I would also fit a SSD if it does not already come with one. Should be fine after that![]()
I was really attracted to the mini because of the size. There’s not a whole lot of space to play around with in my setup and I have positive experiences with a previous mini I owned a while ago.
Re: Mac Mini 2018 i3
I have a 240Gb SSD inside my iMac and a 2TB external drive so I never run out of space and given it's age (2010) it still runs faster than my Windows 10 PC. Having said that, I can't upgrade the OS past High Sierra as it is not supported on this mac. Also the graphics card is now becoming obsolete as it doesn't support 'Metal' and a lot of graphics apps will be migrating to that over the next year or so. I am having to run a legacy version of Pixelmator now because the newest version won't run on my machine.
Mac's are a LOT more efficient in how they store files so even a relatively small drive like 128Gb SSD should be ok as long as you don't want to install Office and a load of other apps. It definitely would not be enough to run video editing software like Final Cut Pro for example.
For your use though it should all be fine
Mac's are a LOT more efficient in how they store files so even a relatively small drive like 128Gb SSD should be ok as long as you don't want to install Office and a load of other apps. It definitely would not be enough to run video editing software like Final Cut Pro for example.
For your use though it should all be fine

Saul
Site Admin
Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel!
Review Yamahamusicians.com on Trustpilot
Sign up to the Newsletter
Follow us on Twitter @YamahaMusicians
Follow Us On Facebook
Dowina Acoustic Guitars: Dowina Cabernet DC
Dowina Chardonnay GAC DS - Dowina Rustica GAC - Dowina Marus - Dowina Puella
Yamaha FS-TA/Vintage VE2000GG Gordon Giltrap/Ibanez AE245/Arturia Keylab 61 MKII/Arturia Analog Lab 3/Arturia Piano V2/Pianoteq 6 Pro/Apple iMac 27"/Logic Pro X/Ableton Live 10/Behringer QX1202USB Mixer/Presonus Eris 4.5 Active Monitors
Site Admin
Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel!
Review Yamahamusicians.com on Trustpilot
Sign up to the Newsletter
Follow us on Twitter @YamahaMusicians
Follow Us On Facebook
Dowina Acoustic Guitars: Dowina Cabernet DC
Dowina Chardonnay GAC DS - Dowina Rustica GAC - Dowina Marus - Dowina Puella
Yamaha FS-TA/Vintage VE2000GG Gordon Giltrap/Ibanez AE245/Arturia Keylab 61 MKII/Arturia Analog Lab 3/Arturia Piano V2/Pianoteq 6 Pro/Apple iMac 27"/Logic Pro X/Ableton Live 10/Behringer QX1202USB Mixer/Presonus Eris 4.5 Active Monitors
- parametric
- Global Moderator
- Posts: 3430
- Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2010 1:00 am
- Contact:
Re: Mac Mini 2018 i3
Check your PMs, Norm . . .
parametric

parametric
Alesis Fusion 8SSD AND 6SSD - BOTH are 384Mb/120Gb SSD/Akai ADVANCE61/Yamaha MOXF6/1024Mb Flash Ram/Yamaha SY85/8.5mb vol/1024k non-vol/DX21/Roland MT32/Bachmann double overstrung Baby Grand Piano/Win10 Pro/Ubuntu MATE 15.0.4/iBook G4/Mac OS 10.4.6/ProTools 7.4/MBox2/M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96
NI Komplete11 Ultimate
Sector101 2x SYEMB06 / 4 x EXM-E3 128MB DRAM Module
BRAND NEW DSDD (720k) FLOPPY DISKS FOR SALE - http://www.yamahaforums.co.uk/forum/vie ... =22&t=9217
Watch out now! take care, BEWARE of the greedy leaders! They'll take you where you should not go - (George Harrison)
IT'S TRUE - "MONEY TALKS" - TO ME, IT MOSTLY SAYS "GOODBYE"
http://www.chrisnmiller.co.uk/Chris
NI Komplete11 Ultimate
Sector101 2x SYEMB06 / 4 x EXM-E3 128MB DRAM Module
BRAND NEW DSDD (720k) FLOPPY DISKS FOR SALE - http://www.yamahaforums.co.uk/forum/vie ... =22&t=9217
Watch out now! take care, BEWARE of the greedy leaders! They'll take you where you should not go - (George Harrison)
IT'S TRUE - "MONEY TALKS" - TO ME, IT MOSTLY SAYS "GOODBYE"

http://www.chrisnmiller.co.uk/Chris