Trust, but verify: An in-depth analysis of ExpressVPN's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad weekThe used Mac Mini is good for a user that wants a powerful Mac on a budget. Apple has two configuration columns, one starting at 799 and one, with a six-core Coffee Lake i5, 8GB. External display support might be a swing factor for you.The 2018 Mac Mini starts at 799 with an i3, 8GB RAM, and 128GB storage. All of these devices support Bluetooth 5.0, and the M1 devices (the iMac 24-inch and Mac mini M1) support Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), while the Intel machines support Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac). Understandably, the Mac mini is pretty light on features outside of its core specs.Here's whyTo make sure that happens, they always look for the best and in-class applications and software that will give a cutting edge to help them create the best of. The iPhone 13 could smash sales expectations. So if you’re trying to put together videos or other projects that require a higher-end Mac, we would suggest getting a cheap Mac Mini and seeing if.
That means that all modern Macs, from the lowliest 2018 MacBook Air to the Mac Mini, can be turbocharged with a high-end graphics card in an eGPU (external GPU) case.When I built out my 2018 Mac Mini with the intent of making it my main workhorse machine, I knew its onboard Intel 630 graphics were probably not good enough for the kind of graphics load multicam 4K video editing requires. All currently-shipping modern Macs (we won't talk about the trash can!) support Thunderbolt 3. Its graphics capabilities are anemic.Fortunately, it doesn't have to stay that way. The best VPNs for iPhones, iPads, and iOS in 2021A fully-equipped 2018 Mac Mini is impressive in all but one way. The exact model I bought was the Sapphire Radeon Pulse RX Vega 56 8GB HBM2 Dual HDMI/DP PCI-E Graphics Card. To that, I added the Sapphire Vega 56 card recommended directly by Apple. I've reviewed a number of OWC products in the past with excellent results, so I reached out to it for its Mercury Helios FX eGPU enclosure. Toss some effects on top of that stream, add a third or fourth 4K video layer, and the chipboard 630 chip didn't have the chops.For that kind of load, an eGPU was necessary. But add a second camera and everything slowed to a crawl. But I will tell you this: The off-the-shelf Mac Mini i7 with 32GB of RAM edited a single 4K video stream in Final Cut surprisingly well. Had you bought that for $699, you would have been out of luck in October, just four months later, when Apple introduced the eGPU Pro. In June, Apple announced the BlackMagic eGPU, containing a Radeon Pro 580 GPU. While the extra $320 might be worth it for the extra ports, the big ding against Apple's eGPU solution is that it's not upgradeable.The downside of this is all too clear. It also contains an 8GB Vega 56, but it adds a bunch of ports, turning it into a Thunderbolt hub. It's still a whole lot less expensive than a MacBook Pro or iMac, both with screens I didn't want.If you add the $299 price of the Helios FX enclosure to the $579 GPU, the total eGPU solution cost is $879.Also: Max out your new Mac Mini with iFixit's new RAM upgrade kitNow, compare that to Apple's recommended BlackMagic eGPU Pro, which sells for $1,199. See it now: Helios FX enclosure at AmazonAt $579, the card was a quarter of the cost of the whole Mac Mini, but I expected the expense when I planned the purchase. Those are bigger, and the Helios isn't huge. I'd simply be able to buy the next generation and drop it into the Helios FX enclosure.This is the OWC Mercury Helios FX eGPU case.The only limit on the Helios FX enclosure is that it won't fit the Vega 64 cards. Even if I upgrade after a year or two of use, I can probably get close to half my board cost back. It's a standard PC board, and given how many crypto miners are buying up GPUs, there's always a used board market. Mini Good For Photoshop 2017 Skin Unscrews WithI routed my Thunderbolt 3 cable from the Mac Mini to the Helios FX and then a DisplayPort cable to my 38-inch (yay! finally!) monitor.There is no doubt the enclosure is a bit of a beast. No, it's not easyAll you do is drop the GPU card into the slot, plug in the power connectors, and close it back up. If you've built a PC, you've seen this kind of case.Also: Yes, it's possible to upgrade a 2018 Mac Mini's RAM. The skin unscrews with three thumb screws at the back and lifts out and up. It's basically a small form factor PC case. ![]() There's an option in the Get Info tab of most apps that allows you to specify Prefer External GPU. It turbo-boosts some video processing, but not everything. I kind of think of it like an afterburner. The eGPU and the Mac Mini make a powerful combination and I'm loving the ultrawide display.I've been curious about eGPU performance, especially about when the eGPU kicks in and out. That old iMac wouldn't support the resolution for an ultrawide.Get Info tells Compressor to prefer the external GPU when possible.The 2018 Mac Mini supports ultrawide monitors, even without the eGPU and the Helios enclosure. Still, it processed on the 630 chip.I contacted tech support, I called around to friends who use Final Cut. There's even a Use GPU option inside of Compressor, which I definitely made sure to check. Oddly enough, when I started to run Compressor, the eGPU stopped doing its thing and all the processing moved to the Intel 630.Compressor used the internal GPU (the lower graph)I was actually convinced something was wrong with the Helios or the eGPU itself. Except Compressor.Also: Yes, I bought a 2018 Mac Mini (and here's how I spec'd it out)Compressor is the encoding program that takes video edited in Final Cut and turns it into a file for viewing or uploading. ![]() With a single video source, it's not bad. Mac Mini 2018: Cheat sheet TechRepublicCan you edit Final Cut Pro X 4K video with just the Mac Mini? Yes. Mac Mini 2018 teaches an old design new tricks CNET Mac outlook error ok gimap ready for requests from 504178209 d12 v6mb168467006ivfBe sure to follow me on Twitter at on Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV. The Mercury Helios FX was standout in how quickly it faded into the background and just did its job.All told, if you're doing extreme pro work, the 2018 i7 Mac Mini, the Vega 56, and the Helios FX can help you get your job done - and all together, at about two-thirds of the entry price of a base iMac Pro.You can follow my day-to-day project updates on social media. That's just Apple being Apple.Also: New 2018 Mac Mini: Pro machine in a tiny, upgradeable packageThe real bottom line is I am thrilled with Thunderbolt 3, the 2018 Mac Mini, and the ability to add a full-sized high-end PC GPU to my setup. Adding on the eGPU makes it very nice, indeed.I'm a bit weirded about why Compressor insists on using the on-board video, but that's neither the fault of the Vega 56 nor the Mercury Helios FX.
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