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On 11/12/2018 at 2:13 PM, R C-R said:

Since there is no separate SSD circuit board in the Mini like there would be for pre-packaged SSD's, the controller that would normally be on that circuit board has to be somewhere else on the Mini's motherboard.

AFAI heard the T2 chip includes SSD controller capabilities and also does offer some other functions too (iSight cam control, SSD encription, Repair diagnostics etc.).

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12 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

AFAI heard the T2 chip includes SSD controller capabilities and also does offer some other functions too (iSight cam control, SSD encription, Repair diagnostics etc.).

Thanks for the info. It is confirmed in the Apple T2 Security Chip Security Overview pdf:

Quote

 In addition to the security components, the T2 chip integrates several controllers found in other Mac systems—like the system management controller, image signal processor, audio controller, and SSD controller.

 

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On 11/9/2018 at 4:13 PM, HYR said:

I'm pretty comfortable with any Mac, just can't afford most of them. :22_stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: I'm interested in the Mac mini above because I could upgrade the RAM myself up to 64GB and it seems like a decent machine. My only concern was the GPU issue. How will this affect my experience with Affinity products now (which based on the tweet thread above, not much at all) and in the future?

@MattP mind sharing your thoughts?

Hi HYR,

The new Mac Mini seems to be a solid machine :) The built-in GPU will be great for the time-being and modern eGPUs are going to be fine when we move our whole rendering pipeline onto Metal: At present they'll not show their full potential, but in the future it'll be a viable upgrade path to overcome any weakness of the internal GPU once we move all our processing to be on the GPU.

With a good CPU and a nice chunk of memory then you'll get a great experience anyway. I think that for the money, the Mac Mini is  a great device :)

Matt

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@MattP Thank you for your response! That's exactly what I had hoped to hear. I am hopeful that Mac mini 2018, because of the memory upgradability and the eGPU via T3 port (along with the other three T3 ports) will extend the life of the machine for me. I appreciate it! :) Thanks!

HYR

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Great thread! I can't tell you how many of my colleagues (in the pro photography field) are looking at the Late-2018 Mac mini for their own studios or for their significant others who assist on graphics-related projects. The new Mac mini definitely seems to be a tiny screamer. The one area where it lags (GPU) won't affect a majority of typical buyers. The question for me is: Just how much do the Affinity applications (Photo in particular) rely upon the GPU? And would the Affinity apps' performance make it worthwhile to invest in the $500-1300 it would cost to obtain the eGPU configuration I'd want? 

Methinks I'll need to look at some older threads elsewhere to see if the developers have been answering these questions in other posts.

[EDITED TO ADD: Did some quick research to find a comment from @MattP who mentioned that an eGPU might actually make performance worse for the Affinity apps because they're designed to be heavily dependent upon the CPU. This actually still bodes well for the Mac mini, which has a very nicely spec'd processor. No need to spend the extra on an eGPU for the Affinity apps, at least not yet.]

For those still considering the Late-2018 Mac mini, if you want to see how it compares with other Macs in some recent benchmark tests, you can see not only how well its i7 and memory are performing for tasks that are processor heavy, and how it performs with an eGPU. 
http://barefeats.com/mac-mini-2018-versus-other-macs.html

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got the Mac mini 2018 today and installed the memory. The process wasn't too bad. I bought an iFixit toolkit which really aided in the process. Nice to have 32GB of RAM with the ability to upgrade to 64GB!

Anyway, I just downloaded the Affinity apps. If I see any issue's I'll post them. :12_slight_smile:

 

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8 hours ago, HYR said:

...The process wasn't too bad. I bought an iFixit toolkit which really aided in the process.

Looks like the toolkit is highly needed for that process...

Quote

...The tools used were fortunately not too extensive, if special: A T6 security bit, a Torx screwdriver with a hole in the middle for Apple's security screws, a Torx 5 and a Torx 10 screwdriver and a plastic spatula suffice to gently open the case - and also a pair of tweezers proved helpful...

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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