Anyone using a Mac Mini M4 or M4Pro with x16?

[jgriesshaber]

I currently have an Alienware R15 with Ryzen 9 7900x and Radeon RX 7900XT with 32GB DDR5, but was wondering if anyone uses the Mac version of x16 and uses the Physical Ray Tracing and uses the newer machines.  I am temped to sell my Gaming Laptop which is an Intel i7 11th Gen with RTX 3050 and maybe get the Mini as a backup/when I travel...

[Michael_Gia]

20 hours ago, jgriesshaber said:

Mac version of x16

I use an M3 pro Macbook pro with X16. 
 

Although I am able to do PBR (RTRT) it takes about a minute to render a view that takes the same view less than 3 seconds to render on an RTX 4060 laptop. 

Although the MacBook is a little snappier for creating and orbiting around standard render 3D models. 
 

I personally still find MacOS better than Windows 11 and the laptop experience is still clunky on Windows pc’s. 

 

[Steve-C]

I just got the Mac Mini M4 Pro yesterday. I was optimistic that it might have enough power to be my main rig, it's close but I will likely trade it in on the M4 Ultra Mac Studio next year. The only reason I bought it was because my video card (4070Ti) crashed in my Windows machine. With that said, PRT image times have been around a minute like Michael said, but I almost never use that feature. I too prefer Mas OS to Windows.

[Arcadian]

+1 for mac over windows. Have been using an M2 Macbook Pro for about 6 months now and took a while to adjust to different system.  Not perfect but better than Windows. Old windows desktop gathering in the corner never to be resurrected as I originally thought.

[designergy]

I just got the maxed out MBP M4 max.  Came from the M1.  It’s fast.  Very little lag.  That being said the M1 Max was pretty snappy too.  I do lots of 3-D renders and it chews through them in about half the time and the extra ram seems to prevent crashes on the higher frame count walkthroughs. 

[Steve-C]

After working with the Mac Mini for a couple of days I sent it back. As much as I love the Mac OS, their renders don't even come close to a decent windows machine with dedicated graphics. I suppose the M4 Ultra might come close when it is released next year, but I can't see spending $5k for a computer that may come close to the renders I get from a Windows system half the cost (or less).

[DawnSimp]

I am in the same boat. my exisitng Asus laptop is starting to fail because I don't have enough RAM and it's time for an upgrade. I've always has a PC, but am considering a MacBook Pro as I've been told that it's great for graphics. This is what Apple told me I need to get based on the X16 requirements. Is this similar to the M4 that you purchased  @designergy? 16-inch MacBook Pro Configuration:

Apple M4 Pro chip with 14‑core CPU, 20‑core GPU and 16‑core Neural Engine 48GB unified memory 140W USB-C Power Adapter 1TB SSD storage Three Thunderbolt 5 ports, HDMI port, SDXC card slot, headphone jack, MagSafe 3 port 16-inch Liquid Retina XDR display² Standard display Backlit Magic Keyboard with Touch ID - US English Accessory Kit

[ValleyGuy]

@DawnSimp there is one option from Apple that you may want to consider, Nano-Texture Display. I have it on my iMac and I love how it basically eliminates almost all glare. Sunlight through house windows when at a clients home is no problem at all, even if they are sitting on an angle to the screen. Well worth the price in my humble opinion. 

[DawnSimp]

On 1/3/2025 at 10:03 PM, ValleyGuy said:

@DawnSimp there is one option from Apple that you may want to consider, Nano-Texture Display. I have it on my iMac and I love how it basically eliminates almost all glare. Sunlight through house windows when at a clients home is no problem at all, even if they are sitting on an angle to the screen. Well worth the price in my humble opinion. 

Thanks fr the suggestion.