The Mac Mini M2 Pro is the best fucking computer I have ever owned. I wish I had forked out a bit more and got a Mac Studio. It would 100% have been worth it. I've been using this thing for a couple of months now and I still can't get over just how fucking good it is.
It doesn't break a sweat when I'm running a typical workload. I can have multiple documents open, multiple browsers with multiple tabs, a couple of VM's running in Parallels, Notes, Outlook, PRTG, Remote Desktop Software, Terminals, Calendar, Discord, Teams, and any other shit I might need to open all running simultaneously and this thing doesn't break a sweat with everything displaying damn-near instantly the second I click on it or need it.
And VM's run like a dream on this thing.
I wouldn't even know I was running Linux or Windows 11 in a VM. It feels like it's running on native hardware.
It's just such a fucking good computer I can't fucking believe it.
There are just a few downsides to it for me:
Cost. It's fucking expensive. Customising you mac with additionial RAM and Storage feels like a rort. (But it would have been worth it even so)
RAM: I wish I had more RAM so I could run more VM's with more RAM simultaneously.
Cores: I wish I had more CPU cores for the same reason I wish I had more RAM. More simultaneous VM's running.
Storage: I wish Apple weren't such pricks about storage and would just give me 8TB for a reasonable price.
I purchased the base model Mac Mini M2 Pro because it was my first foray into Apple shit and macOS. Fuck me, I wish I had known how fucking good it was earlier and I would have forked out double for a Mac Studio with an M2 Max and 64GB RAM. Ideally, I would want around 24+ Cores and 128GB RAM and the Ultra can pull that off... But somewhere deep down I feel uncomfortable about spending that much on a computer. $4000 would really be a sweet spot for me and a dream for something the equivalent of an M2 Ultra Mac Studio with 128GB RAM. I would just use a NAS for my storage needs. I'm excited to see what the future brings and if they release an M3 Max Studio that has 128GB+ of unified memory and a core count approaching 20+ I'll be buying it day one.
Using a computer that actually helps me get work done and achieve the things I want to achieve on my hardware, while being able to do it quick and responsively has been a game-changer for me. I've never had this experience before, where the computer I'm using is actually behaving in a way that makes it a tool that's not just "able to get the job done", but is able to get the job done well without wasting my time and energy while I wait for things to open, or load, or process, or parse... It's night and day.
How do you find the performance of calls and video on Teams? I’m thinking about making the same kind of load-out, but I spend a lot of time on calls and video, and I’ve had lots of lag and performance issues with Teams running in a VM on Surface hardware.
I agree the Apple silicon is pretty great. I’m running an M2 MBA, and it’s taking everything I throw at it. As for VMs, TBH, I bought an HP Z440, and have been building that up as a VM workhorse. Supports dual Xeon CPUs, plenty of memory and drive space. Plus parts are all over eBay. I just run Rocky on that and use VNC or SSH to access.
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