Why I haven’t upgraded to Apple Silicon … yet

Despite the moronic comments from people like Linus, I’m very excited about Apple Silicon. The performance gains look as good as Apple presented. These entry level machines are running circles around the previous generation and are taking on much higher class and higher priced machines. However, I’m still waiting for my upgrade to appear, and feel it’s just on the horizon.

Despite the Mac mini looking like a great desktop machine, it doesn’t quite have enough of what I need to make it a worthy successor.

Even though my Mac Pro is from 2010, it sports a lot of features I need in a new machine, like 4 internal hard drives for 24TB of storage (2x3TB, 2x8TB), 128GB of ram with 8GB set aside as a ram drive, 8GB dedicated video card powering 4 monitors, and of course multiple USB ports front and back.

This is my development machine, so it runs a ton of web automation in the background. Additionally I run dozens of applications at a time across these monitors. There’s also dozens of background apps like SnagIt, Popclip, Rocket, Karabiner, TypeIt4Me, Alfred, etc. Added to that, I have a local install of Postgres and virtual machines I need to spin up from time to time.

I’m not saying the new hardware can’t handle it, but 16GB isn’t enough ram for me, not to mention the small internal storage compared to what I have. Then there is the lack of monitor support and expansion ports.

These entry level machines are great and I can’t wait to see what comes next. I assume there is a mid range Mac mini coming with more video ports and more ram. You can’t upgrade the ram, “so you gots to think ahead.” Hopefully that will come closer to what I need. If not, there is still the last tier, the “Pro” series. Maybe just the full on, refreshed, Mac Pro in late 2021 or early 2022?

I’ve read a lot of rumor and speculation, and the one I really hope is true is a “Mac mini Pro.” There needs to be a “Mac,” a machine that sites between the Mac mini and Mac Pro. I mean, who doesn’t want to see the G4 Cube make a comeback? That would look so hot!

You can mock the 4 monitor setup I currently have, but I’ve been working this way for more than 3 years. Each screen has the apps I need, and everything is in reach. Going with two monitors would actually be a hinderance. Not having 128GB of ram, or it’s equivalent under Apple Silicon, would be a hinderance. Only 2TB of storage would be a major hinderance.

These new machines are fantastic, and I expect the next generation to be even better with more expandability and the capability of adding bling bling.