1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,800 As young PC builders, you will be tempted by sleek, shiny options, 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:08,960 but you mustn't take the easy path. Oh, is that the Mac Mini? Awesome! 3 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:16,000 Elijah, you didn't even try to resist it! It's a $600 computer. Nothing even compares to this. 4 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:23,520 And while thousands took to the online streets to rip into Apple's outrageous storage pricing, 5 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:28,560 it doesn't change the fact that for the base model M4 Mac Mini, he's right. 6 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:34,160 If all you want to do is email and video conferencing, some light professional work, 7 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:40,080 even some casual gaming, $600 seems like an outright steal for this new machine. 8 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:45,200 I mean, heck, I'd probably recommend it to a friend who just needed a decent computer at a fair price. 9 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:50,560 So has Apple built the best system for the 99%? 10 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:55,520 To find out, we're going to drag race it against both a $600 mini-PC 11 00:00:55,520 --> 00:01:00,480 and a tower desktop PC while also discussing some of the pros and cons that you might 12 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:03,520 gloss over if you take these devices at face value. 13 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:05,760 But be sure not to gloss over our sponsor. 14 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:24,720 Let's meet our three computers. For Team Malice, standing at a height of two inches and featuring 10 CPU and 10 GPU cores, 15 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:31,280 the Mac Mini! Will it be held back by its lack of storage or will its unified memory 16 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:37,600 deliver a knockout blow? For Team PC, standing at two inches tall, 17 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:44,160 the Minus Forum Venus, and towering over the rest at 15 inches, 18 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:49,520 the cobbled together desktop tower. This machine sure takes up a lot of room, 19 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:55,200 but its dedicated graphics card means that when it comes to gaming, it means business. 20 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:00,560 There is, of course, a lot more to know about each system, so here it is. 21 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:04,880 But those are just details for now. What matters is that at the time of ordering, 22 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:09,440 each of these machines came in under $600 US dollars before taxes and shipping, 23 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:14,720 which brings us then, without further ado, to benchmark number one, Cinebench in both single 24 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,840 and multi-core flavors. And go! 25 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:18,320 Here we go. 26 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:25,040 Oh god. This is not going to be close, dude. 27 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,320 Wow. Wait, it might be a little close. Oh, this is spinning up. 28 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:34,080 Oh, it is starting to slow down, but it's not slowing down much. 29 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:38,320 Wait, wow, this passed it. 30 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:40,800 Wait, what? That's very surprising. 31 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:42,960 I am also surprised. 32 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:50,960 What's in here? Huh, that's not even current gen Ryzen. 33 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:56,400 If you remember as well, this is normally $150 over our $600 budget, but it was on sale. 34 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:03,600 I like sales. So it's kind of, you know, being a little bit of a cheater here by joining the lower weight 35 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:09,760 class. Anyway, while these run, let's talk about Apple's new M4 silicon. Compared to last year's 36 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:14,960 M3, Apple's added two more efficiency cores, they have more than doubled the number of operations 37 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:19,760 that their neural engine can complete per second, and they have increased the memory bandwidth of 38 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:26,000 their already fast unified memory by 20%. Perhaps most importantly, though, compared to their most 39 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:32,000 recent Mac Mini, which had an M2 processor, and even compared to their other M3 devices, 40 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:37,920 Apple has doubled the memory capacity of the base configuration from just 8 gigabytes to 16. 41 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:44,720 Now, I have no doubt that the most tab hungry of you could easily make use of more, but we've at 42 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:50,640 least reached the point where I'm not uncomfortable recommending a base configuration. So good job, 43 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:56,560 Apple. And good job on the processor itself. We'll talk about performance in a second, but first, 44 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:01,600 I want to talk about energy efficiency. Look at this thing. Here's all three machines running 45 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:08,880 the same load, except the M4 is using a fraction of the power of the other two. For a desktop, 46 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:14,720 obviously this level of efficiency matters less than it does in a phone or a thin and light laptop, 47 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:20,560 but less power consumption means less heat output and quieter operation. You can see, 48 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:30,560 even when it's running a test, does it even have a fan? Oh yeah, it does. Wow, is it ever quiet, 49 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:37,680 enough fawning though. Let's take a look at the performance. And wow, the desktop and the Mac mini 50 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:43,200 are shockingly close in multicore. But what's really surprising to me is how far out ahead that 51 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:49,120 mini's forum pulls. Two extra performance cores goes a long way for the multicore. But does that 52 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:59,600 hold up for single core? Let's see. Three, two, one. And now we wait. A while. I mean, technically, 53 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:06,080 we don't have the final result, but we have enough of it. Where the M4 really excels is 54 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:10,480 single threaded performance, which is one of the things that contributes to Apple Silicon machines 55 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:16,000 feeling so responsive and snappy. Even the first generation ones, which seems to have become a 56 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:22,960 bit of a drag on Apple sales. You talk to an M1 Mac owner and they're like, upgrade? Why? Who needs 57 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:37,040 to upgrade? Wait, there's one right now. Let's move on to our next test. Here we're going to target 58 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:45,520 the GPU using Blender to render the classroom test scene. And go. Okay. What are we expecting? 59 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:54,880 Oh, dedicated GPU turns out having one of those. That's a thing. But an outstanding integrated GPU. 60 00:05:55,760 --> 00:06:02,160 It's doing much better than this one. That's a thing too. Yeah, he was invited. 61 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:10,640 Oh, wait, is that frozen? Oh, no, there goes a minute. Yeah. Okay. That's about 12 seconds slower 62 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:18,720 than our tower PC, but a lot faster than this. Is this even done yet? No, it has quite a ways to go. 63 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:26,400 Good Lord. Now, in fairness, 3050, not exactly the most impressive GPU to be 64 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:33,040 almost on par with, but when we consider that this is on board, it's pretty darn impressive. 65 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:38,320 However, custom form factor machines like this are giving up a lot in terms of 66 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:43,200 upgrade ability in the long term, which makes them a pretty questionable value. 67 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:50,240 If GPU performance is a priority, not just today, but in the future. Because this 3050, 68 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:55,520 we can get rid of it, throw something else in there, and we're going to be even faster. 69 00:06:55,520 --> 00:07:02,800 All right, movie magic cut final score just under four minutes. Wow. The Mac mini is just a quarter 70 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:09,760 the time. And you've got to give it credit. It's just so cute, which like it or not, 71 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:13,120 is a significant factor for some people when they're choosing a computer. 72 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:19,200 Now, before we get to gaming, let's take a look at a large language model, specifically Llama. 73 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:25,520 How about we have them each write 10 haikus about our tech bro vest now available on lttstore.com. 74 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:29,040 I was the medium labeled Elijah, no offense, but I don't think so. Bruh. 75 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:33,680 What? You're taller than me. And wider. I don't think I'm an XL though. 76 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,120 Wow, you really do look like budget sandbanks right now. 77 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:49,680 Ready? Go. This is the same test we used back in our 50 versus $50,000 computer video. And 78 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,040 while I don't expect as big of a difference on these three machines today, 79 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:57,920 it is an opportunity for us to talk about one of Apple's biggest advantages. 80 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:03,760 If there happens to be an AI workload that utilizes GPU memory, the typical wisdom has been, 81 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:08,880 sure, no problem. Just slap some high capacity GPUs like our Quadro into your system. 82 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:15,120 But with Apple's unified memory, the SoC is able to dynamically adjust how much RAM each section 83 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:22,000 has access to, whether it's the CPU, the GPU, or in this case, Apple's neural engine. Faded glory 84 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:25,840 worn. My love for tech still shines through all. Vest is my heart. 85 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:31,040 Tech bro flair that won't be beat. Are you rolling on this? This is freaking ridiculous. 86 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:36,000 Look, the quality is not what we're using to evaluate them here, because they're all using 87 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:40,560 the same model. So theoretically, they should be about the same. What we're interested in is the 88 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:45,760 speed. And if you guys were looking over my shoulder, you'll have seen that the M4 absolutely 89 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:52,000 destroyed the others. So unless you're a data center and you need the absolute best in AI 90 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,800 performance and you're willing to spend millions of dollars to get it, one of these with a little 91 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:04,480 RAM upgrade might be the better choice for you. Although RAM upgrades on this are a pretty big 92 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:11,600 room elephant. Yes, my friends, we saw the Reddit post that you could buy two base model Mac mini's 93 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:18,000 for the price of one that has twice as much RAM and storage in it. Apple is still pricing their 94 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:24,720 storage at the literal weight of gold, which is an awful value. Another source spot for some is the 95 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:30,880 power button, which is not only now on the bottom of the machine, but at the back of the bottom. 96 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:35,440 With those two things aside, though, there's no denying that the machine we're reviewing, 97 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:42,720 which is the base model, absolutely kicks but for the price. But does it hold up in gaming? 98 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:47,600 While Apple Silicon has the raw grunt to put up decent gaming performance numbers, 99 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:53,120 compatibility continues to be a struggle. Now, of course, most Mac users aren't going to expect 100 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:57,520 to play the latest triple A game. So we're just using Shadow of the Tomb Raider as a tool to measure 101 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:04,880 the performance of the GPU in a different way and also to enjoy the onboard speaker that actually 102 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:12,320 sounds a lot better than not having a speaker at all. It's not a fair... Okay, that's fair, I guess. 103 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:18,320 What it is. Yeah. Oh, wow. What's also not fair is having a dedicated GPU apparently. 104 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:21,280 Dude, this poor thing. Yeah. 105 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:28,240 Even this one, though. It started before. Let Tim cook. 106 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:32,720 Hey! 107 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:41,280 Of course, the Mac couldn't hold a candle to our mid tower PC, but in fairness to it, 108 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:47,200 it held up quite well against a last generation AMD onboard GPU. And I know some of you are 109 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:52,720 going to say, well, AMD has newer ones, like that's nice, but we're looking at price comparables here, 110 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:59,360 not generation comparables. So what's our conclusion then? Mid tower PC wins? 111 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:05,040 I don't think it's that simple. No, it really isn't, is it? I mean, on the one hand, 112 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:11,600 good job with the high FPS there, buddy. But on the other hand, there's a lot more to life than 113 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:18,880 gaming and our M4 mini excels in areas that our custom PC falls flat in. Now, if you're the average 114 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:24,960 LTT viewer, the size, relatively high noise and power consumption, and the inconvenience of digging 115 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:30,000 through PC part picker for the best deals and then assembling everything, that's all part of the fun 116 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:36,160 rather than a burden and totally worth it for the upgrade ability and customizability of a machine 117 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:41,200 like this. But if your mom phones you up and she wants help troubleshooting this thing, wouldn't 118 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:46,080 you rather just send her to Tim Apple's house for help? And I didn't even mention it has a headphone 119 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:52,320 jack and Thunderbolt. This thing is sick. Now the upgraded configs suck and Apple really needs to 120 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:58,880 give their collective heads a shake. But this base model for $600 is every bit as good as it seems 121 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:03,680 on paper. If someone you know wants a computer on a budget, ask them what it's for. And if you 122 00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:10,480 don't hear gaming, I think that the mini PCs take the victory. And if that user happens to already 123 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:16,640 own an iDevice, the Mac mini gets a pretty big boost. The workflow of like air dropping and using 124 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:23,520 iCloud between devices really is kind of magic sometimes. Just like this magic spell to take you 125 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:28,720 to our sponsor. Thanks for watching. If you guys liked this video, why don't you check out the 126 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:35,520 $10,000 Mac Pro Killer that we made almost a year ago? Apple definitely doesn't perform as well 127 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:38,240 when you start going up into the higher price range.