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What do you think about the M2 compared to PC options? I'd like to buy a desktop for Windows-based apps, and have been considering a Mac Mini with Parallels. Wh

What do you think about the M2 compared to PC options? I'd like to buy a desktop for Windows-based apps, and have been considering a Mac Mini with Parallels. What are better alternatives?

peferron 3y ago
Depends what you'll be doing with it I guess? My 2022 M2 Macbook Air is great for most things but takes 40s to complete the same test suite that my 2020 5950x finishes in 10s.
viraptor 3y ago
The question has no answer in vacuum. What are you typically working on? What apps do you use? How much of a power user are you? Are you working with teams that rely on any specific apps/solutions?
hulitu 3y ago
I think for this price you can built a much better PC.
sdflhasjd 3y ago
I've found it disappointing for some multithreaded/multiprocess CPU heavy workloads as Apple's cooling solution doesn't keep up and begins thermally throttling down to the rough equivalent of maybe just a 2-Core CPU.
ksec 3y ago
>What do you think about the M2 compared to PC options The same age old question. You have to compare every aspect of it. i.e Not a Full size tower PC. If you buy the same PC at a similar size, similar cooling potential ( e.g NUC ), including Thunderbolt 4, WiFi 6E, for $100 more you get integrated 10Gbps Ethernet, and the Apple Silicon Mac mini still has the integrated PSU. You will find the default config to be similar if not in flavour of Mac mini. But as you soon as you add more memory and SSD storage, very early in the upgrading options it goes the PC way. That is ignoring the Software Experience. Most people buy Mac because of the Software or macOS. Or they are an iPhone user with so they prefer an integrated ecosystem. But that is obviously not what you are asking.
whyoh 3y ago
Buying a Mac to run Windows never made much sense to me. And it makes even less sense now, because you're forced to virtualize. There are many different PCs out there in many form factors, some are very small, some are fanless... It's hard to give a recommendation without knowing more about what you want.
dxxvi 3y ago
IMO, for Mac, text looks good only on Apple monitors. I'm using a MacBook Pro M1 connecting to the LG Ultrafine 32" 4k monitor. Text on the laptop monitor looks very good, but looks terrible on the 4k monitor. It is said that it's because of no ClearType feature in Mac OS. If I want a small machine like the Mac mini, I'll pick up some Chinese mini pc on Amzn or an Asus mini pc (for a better brand name) or an Intel nuc (the most expensive in the mini pc line). Those mini pc's can connect to at least 2 4k 60Hz monitors (for the ones < $300). The $400+ mini pcs are usually able to connect to 3 4k monitors. They can go with 16GB or 32 GB memory easily. Only the $2k M2 pro mac mini's can connect to 3 monitors and have 16GB ram. I think all of Apple products are very durable. You can stick with 1 mac mini for 10 years or more. If you're not very unlucky, you can use a Chinese mini pc for 3-4 years. When it dies, you can have a newer, better (in configuration) Chinese mini pc for the same price.
- lgvln 3y ago
  This is not true. If you’re running a 4K monitor @2x scaling, it will look exactly the same as Apple’s 4K monitor @2x scaling. The issue is running 1080p monitors at their native resolution. Apple removed sub-pixel anti-aliasing a while back and 1080p monitors look really bad the last time I tried. Also, Apple’s displays are typically of a higher quality - they are better calibrated, have better colors, proper profiles for translating sRGB content into wide color gamuts etc.
josephd79 3y ago
This is what I did, it works just fine. Been running this setup for a few years now and I've never had any issues. Coherence mode makes it even better.

What do you think about the M2 compared to PC options? I'd like to buy a desktop for Windows-based apps, and have been considering a Mac Mini with Parallels. What are better alternatives?

peferron 3y ago

Depends what you'll be doing with it I guess? My 2022 M2 Macbook Air is great for most things but takes 40s to complete the same test suite that my 2020 5950x finishes in 10s.

viraptor 3y ago

The question has no answer in vacuum. What are you typically working on? What apps do you use? How much of a power user are you? Are you working with teams that rely on any specific apps/solutions?

hulitu 3y ago

I think for this price you can built a much better PC.

sdflhasjd 3y ago

I've found it disappointing for some multithreaded/multiprocess CPU heavy workloads as Apple's cooling solution doesn't keep up and begins thermally throttling down to the rough equivalent of maybe just a 2-Core CPU.

ksec 3y ago

>What do you think about the M2 compared to PC options The same age old question. You have to compare every aspect of it. i.e Not a Full size tower PC. If you buy the same PC at a similar size, similar cooling potential ( e.g NUC ), including Thunderbolt 4, WiFi 6E, for $100 more you get integrated 10Gbps Ethernet, and the Apple Silicon Mac mini still has the integrated PSU. You will find the default config to be similar if not in flavour of Mac mini. But as you soon as you add more memory and SSD storage, very early in the upgrading options it goes the PC way. That is ignoring the Software Experience. Most people buy Mac because of the Software or macOS. Or they are an iPhone user with so they prefer an integrated ecosystem. But that is obviously not what you are asking.

whyoh 3y ago

Buying a Mac to run Windows never made much sense to me. And it makes even less sense now, because you're forced to virtualize. There are many different PCs out there in many form factors, some are very small, some are fanless... It's hard to give a recommendation without knowing more about what you want.

dxxvi 3y ago

IMO, for Mac, text looks good only on Apple monitors. I'm using a MacBook Pro M1 connecting to the LG Ultrafine 32" 4k monitor. Text on the laptop monitor looks very good, but looks terrible on the 4k monitor. It is said that it's because of no ClearType feature in Mac OS. If I want a small machine like the Mac mini, I'll pick up some Chinese mini pc on Amzn or an Asus mini pc (for a better brand name) or an Intel nuc (the most expensive in the mini pc line). Those mini pc's can connect to at least 2 4k 60Hz monitors (for the ones < $300). The $400+ mini pcs are usually able to connect to 3 4k monitors. They can go with 16GB or 32 GB memory easily. Only the $2k M2 pro mac mini's can connect to 3 monitors and have 16GB ram. I think all of Apple products are very durable. You can stick with 1 mac mini for 10 years or more. If you're not very unlucky, you can use a Chinese mini pc for 3-4 years. When it dies, you can have a newer, better (in configuration) Chinese mini pc for the same price.

lgvln 3y ago
This is not true. If you’re running a 4K monitor @2x scaling, it will look exactly the same as Apple’s 4K monitor @2x scaling. The issue is running 1080p monitors at their native resolution. Apple removed sub-pixel anti-aliasing a while back and 1080p monitors look really bad the last time I tried. Also, Apple’s displays are typically of a higher quality - they are better calibrated, have better colors, proper profiles for translating sRGB content into wide color gamuts etc.

josephd79 3y ago

This is what I did, it works just fine. Been running this setup for a few years now and I've never had any issues. Coherence mode makes it even better.