iMac 27in 5k or new Mac Mini m1

Either machine choice is going to leave behind all 32-bit applications. I anguished for months over the decision to purchase a 2020 iMac, or the M1 mini, and I chose the latter with 16GB RAM and a 512 GB drive. It is connected to an LG 32UN880-B Ultrafine 4K HDR Ergo display that is color-corrected at the factory. The mini is connected via HDMI to the display and 4K HDR is amazing on this anti-glare, 0.18x0.18 dot pitch unit.

The only interoperability issues that I have are 1) no keyboard audio controls via HDMI, and no keyboard display controls. That may or may not be fixed with subsequent Big Sur releases, and for me, is not a big deal.

I am using the extended Magic Keyboard, and about a five-year old Magic Mouse 2. The former never disconnects, and the latter may be connected for several hours, and then go through spasms of dropped and regained connections, then straighten up and work fine for hours again. No other Bluetooth devices are on in the house. No microwave running during the mouse outages. No changes at all in the household electronics. The mouse problem only began after two weeks of flawless Mi mini usage without disconnects, and the battery charge is still in the 80% range

Contemplating a new Magic Mouse 2 in case the current one has exceeded its electronic lifetime. Apple's compatibility now shows the new MM2 for 2017 or newer Macs.

My photo processing "suite" consists of Adobe Bridge for management (until

it is no longer free use), DxO PhotoLab 4 for RAW processing of my Nikon

photos, Affinity Photo for final tweaks and things like panoramas or HDR merge.

All of them work fine and together on my 8 GB, 8 cpu/8 gpu MacBook Air, open all

at the same time. No noticeable lags. And no fan and internals don't get above 100F.

BTW, Affinity Photo blazes on the M1 chip. The others, while still Intel, perform 3-4

times faster, even with Rosetta, than my late 2013 27" iMac which based on Geekbench

comparisons would be equivalent to the current iMacs all except for the i9s.

Just my own POV: I got the 2020 iMac knowing that M1 was right around the corner.. I figure that it'll take care of my needs (video, audio, etc) whilst the full M1 transition (and inevitable growing pains) take effect. There's rumors that a 32-core Apple Silicon iMac maybe in the pipeline, so for me M1 (M1X, M2?) is wait and see.

Hello biggmann2k13,

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I’ve switched over to Afinity Photo, Publisher, and Designer and find that they do what I need. There’s a learning curve involved switching from Adobe but it is mostly a matter of UI. Pixelmator Pro is another popular photo editing program.

FWIW, Lightroom and Photoshop are not yet M1 native but Adobe

claims the current CC versions "should work". According to Adobe,

they "expect" a native M1 version of Lightroom before the end of the

year and Photoshop "sometime" in 2021.

FWIW, there are alternatives to Adobe products if you are a new

photographer just starting out. Some are M1 native and some aren't

but work just fine. They are also a pay once and use forever (at least

until an OS no longer supports it) instead of the Adobe ball and chain

pay them forever.