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new mac mini for FCPX?

Looking to purchase a new (2018) Mac Mini. What would be a good configuration for light (nonprofessional) use of FCPX? Editing family and hobby videos mostly. Currently using an early 2015 Macbook Pro I7/16/512 with an external Thunderbolt drive which has worked well. Thanks!


Mac mini 2018 or later

Posted on Jul 28, 2019 8:53 AM

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Posted on Aug 2, 2019 9:51 AM

I recently got Mac mini 2018, 6-core i7, 16GB, 1TB with LG Ultrafine 23.5" Thunderbolt 3 display. I also got OWC dual drive Thunderbolt 3 dock for archives to replace the old Firewire docks (they worked with adapters but the dual dock makes life easier).


I am happy with it (it runs FCP a lot faster than my old Mac mini late 2009 -- no need to optimize media anymore...).

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Aug 2, 2019 9:51 AM in response to Don Wolford

I recently got Mac mini 2018, 6-core i7, 16GB, 1TB with LG Ultrafine 23.5" Thunderbolt 3 display. I also got OWC dual drive Thunderbolt 3 dock for archives to replace the old Firewire docks (they worked with adapters but the dual dock makes life easier).


I am happy with it (it runs FCP a lot faster than my old Mac mini late 2009 -- no need to optimize media anymore...).

Aug 2, 2019 12:10 PM in response to Don Wolford

A correction: it is the USB-C (USB3.1 gen2) Dual Drive Bay dock. I connect it to Mac mini's Thunderbolt USB-C connector (I try to study and use the correct USB-C / Thunderbolt nomeclature but it is still messy...). But I do like them because it has greatly reduced the rat's nest of wires under my desk.


I got the fastest CPU because I do photos and video and just to be future proof (I tend to buy expensive and use the gear for a long time).


I got 16 GB RAM because some reports suggested 8 GB might not be enough for smooth display. I have experience installing RAM and storage so I could have saved some money by installing cheaper RAM myself but some cheap suboptimal RAM might produce obscure errors so I didn't do it on such a new Mac, maybe later.


I got 1 TB HD because according to MacInTouch forum that is faster than smaller drives (*) and I do video work that needs HD space.


(*) Sequential write performance between the SSD sizes in the Mini:

128GB -> ~0.6 GB/s

256GB -> ~1.3 GB/s

512GB -> ~1.9 GB/s

1TB -> ~2.6 GB/s

Reads are all > 2 GB/s.


I also got 10 Gigabit Ethernet option although I might never need that. That might be useful when moving large video files between computers although currently I use HD docks for that.


https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TCDRVDCK/

new mac mini for FCPX?

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