New computer, not a MacBook

[Felino Bautista]

Been following the thread on the MacBook Air. Recommendations for a Mac mini, to replace my elderly “trash can” Mac. Big user with photo shop/lightroom/photos . Also audacity and libra office for docs and editing music

Fel Bautista
Fat fingered from my iPhone

[MIKE SHULMAN]

In December I replaced my father’s 2015 27” iMac that had a failing internal HD with a M4 Mac Mini with 16GB RAM (that’s the default now) and 1TB SSD. For a monitor, I got an LG 32” 4K from Costco on a great sale for $219.99 (Not on sale now but in stock: https://www.costco.com/lg-32-class-ultrafine-uhd-ips-monitor.product.4000287902.html ) 

I also ordered a Thunderbolt 4 to DisplayPort cable from amazon to get the best video connection: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J6DT070

For connecting some legacy USB-A devices I got a USB-C “hub” that also has SD/microSD card reader: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKPYY8BC

He uses the monitor’s built-in speakers and is quite happy so far.

For a webcam, I gave him my trusty Logitech C920 and he has used it with FaceTime and Zoom.

He uses the same BT Apple keyboard and Magic Mouse he used with the iMac.

For myself, I replaced my 2017 27” iMac that also had a failed internal HD (was booting from external TB3 SSD and ran OpenCore Legacy Patcher to keep it able to run the current MacOS releases) with an M4 Pro Mac Mini with 24GB RAM (Thats the standard for the M4 Pro model Minis) and 1TB SSD. I also got the same 32” 4K LG 32UN650K-W.AUS monitor and TB4 -> DisplayPort cable.

I already had a 7-Port USB-C hub so I replaced the cable from the hub to the Mac with a USB-C cable. The Thunderbolt 3 SSD enclosure I was using with the 27” iMac is now an external storage drive for the new Mini. I also got a new “right angle” 3.5mm to RCA audio cable to connect my Mini to my Klipsch ProMedia Heritage 2.1 speakers. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077GRJ33V 

I have not yet decided on a “hub”, however Anker has released a Thunderbolt 5 device that has my attention: https://www.anker.com/products/a83b5-anker-prime-thunderbolt5-docking-station-14-in-1-140w-8k

For a webcam I got the OBSBOT Meet2 4K camera that was on sale from Amazon: https://www.obsbot.com/obsbot-meet-2-4k-webcam

I use the same Apple Magic Trackpad and Satechi USB extended keyboard that I was using with my iMac.

I found this great free utility to help with the monitor’s resolution options, brightness and HDR settings: https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay  I have not found a need to purchase their “Pro” upgrade yet. I installed this on mine and my father’s Mac Mini.

These M4 and M4 Pro Mac Minis are rock solid, silent and can handle everything I have thrown at them so far. They are the best Macs I have ever used!

Let me know if you have any questions.

Mike

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[Allison Sheridan]

That’s a great breakdown, Mike. You covered all of the bases.

That Thunderbolt 5 dock by Anker looks pretty sweet. LOTS of ports, and more importantly the right kind of ports (for me). 3 USB-A, 2 USB-C, 2 Thunderbolt 5.  I don’t see an SD card slot which may concern some. I like the tiny form factor, and 140W of Power Delivery is awesome.

I’ve had a CalDigit TS3+ on my desk for I don’t know how long, which I chose after testing five different docks. The TS5 is coming out in June but I’m pretty sure most of us wouldn’t see an advantage of Thunderbolt 5 over 4, so the TS4 might be a good choice too. I chose CalDigit because it had a lot of ports (and the right ports for me, including an SD card slot) but also because of the form factor. It stands up on the desk like a fat book, so it doesn’t take up a giant footprint on the desk.

It’s 98W of power delivery which isn’t as good as the Anker. Most of the time ~100W is enough to charge my 14” MacBook Pro and say an iPhone, but adding more devices will throw an error. But as a device for a Mac mini, 98W should be more than enough.

The TS4 is $380 on Amazon right now:

I’m curious whether you noticed going from 5K down to 4K in an even bigger monitor. I’ve been lead to believe that 4K isn’t the right aspect ratio for the Mac at that size and have shied away from 4K as a result.

Would you advice Fel consider getting a smaller disk and adding an external SSD for a lot less money than Apple charges for an upgrade, or would you say the hassle of managing data across multiple disks a big pain?

Allison

On May 9, 2025, at 3:04 PM, 'MIKE SHULMAN' via MacHACers <mach...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

In December I replaced my father’s 2015 27” iMac that had a failing internal HD with a M4 Mac Mini with 16GB RAM (that’s the default now) and 1TB SSD. For a monitor, I got an LG 32” 4K from Costco on a great sale for $219.99 (Not on sale now but in stock: https://www.costco.com/lg-32-class-ultrafine-uhd-ips-monitor.product.4000287902.html ) 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/machacers/7C8A1B13-8559-46D7-8071-124F14D1A126%40aol.com.

[Felino Bautista]

At last count I have three raids backing up my photos/music and the computer. All areTB2, with an elderly gaming curved screen display (35 inch) that lets me put LR and Photoshop up at the same time 

Fel Bautista

Fat fingered from my iPhone

On May 9, 2025, at 3:30 PM, Allison Sheridan <all...@podfeet.com> wrote:

That’s a great breakdown, Mike. You covered all of the bases.

That Thunderbolt 5 dock by Anker looks pretty sweet. LOTS of ports, and more importantly the right kind of ports (for me). 3 USB-A, 2 USB-C, 2 Thunderbolt 5.  I don’t see an SD card slot which may concern some. I like the tiny form factor, and 140W of Power Delivery is awesome.

I’ve had a CalDigit TS3+ on my desk for I don’t know how long, which I chose after testing five different docks. The TS5 is coming out in June but I’m pretty sure most of us wouldn’t see an advantage of Thunderbolt 5 over 4, so the TS4 might be a good choice too. I chose CalDigit because it had a lot of ports (and the right ports for me, including an SD card slot) but also because of the form factor. It stands up on the desk like a fat book, so it doesn’t take up a giant footprint on the desk.

It’s 98W of power delivery which isn’t as good as the Anker. Most of the time ~100W is enough to charge my 14” MacBook Pro and say an iPhone, but adding more devices will throw an error. But as a device for a Mac mini, 98W should be more than enough.

The TS4 is $380 on Amazon right now:

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/machacers/956C599F-716F-496D-AA83-44E0938A3939%40podfeet.com.

[MIKE SHULMAN]

Allison,

The Anker TB5 dock I linked to does have SD/microSD slots on the left side as seen in this image:

As for resolution, I have my LG 32” 4K display set at 3008 x 1692 thanks to the Better Display extension. Below is a screenshot of how I have it configured. The resolution seems pretty close to what I could get without having to invest in a fancy Apple display (with a smaller size and much bigger price) 

I have spent many hours in front of this monitor and have no complaints.

I opted for 1TB internal, and use a OWC  Envoy Thunderbolt 3 enclosure with a Samsung 4TB m.2 SSD to store my streaming media library, VMs (VMWare Fusion with Windows 11 Pro amazingly fast on my M4 Pro Mac Mini!) and other large files. My Time Machine and Carbon Copy Cloner backups are to external USB3 drives, since I am not worried about speed for them. 

MacOS 15.1 or later does allow you to install and run larger app store apps from an external drive if one needs to. See: https://support.apple.com/guide/app-store/download-install-large-apps-a-separate-disk-fir06754f864/mac

Mike

  

On May 9, 2025, at 3:30 PM, Allison Sheridan <all...@podfeet.com> wrote:

That’s a great breakdown, Mike. You covered all of the bases.

That Thunderbolt 5 dock by Anker looks pretty sweet. LOTS of ports, and more importantly the right kind of ports (for me). 3 USB-A, 2 USB-C, 2 Thunderbolt 5.  I don’t see an SD card slot which may concern some. I like the tiny form factor, and 140W of Power Delivery is awesome.

I’ve had a CalDigit TS3+ on my desk for I don’t know how long, which I chose after testing five different docks. The TS5 is coming out in June but I’m pretty sure most of us wouldn’t see an advantage of Thunderbolt 5 over 4, so the TS4 might be a good choice too. I chose CalDigit because it had a lot of ports (and the right ports for me, including an SD card slot) but also because of the form factor. It stands up on the desk like a fat book, so it doesn’t take up a giant footprint on the desk.

It’s 98W of power delivery which isn’t as good as the Anker. Most of the time ~100W is enough to charge my 14” MacBook Pro and say an iPhone, but adding more devices will throw an error. But as a device for a Mac mini, 98W should be more than enough.

The TS4 is $380 on Amazon right now:

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/machacers/956C599F-716F-496D-AA83-44E0938A3939%40podfeet.com.

[all...@podfeet.com]

Ah! I only studied the front and back, thanks for the correction, Mike. This is a great price for a Thunderbolt 5 dock and a company we've come to trust.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/machacers/82CA2031-DA65-4706-8EE9-163009CD4BE8%40aol.com.