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New M2 Pro and M2 Max MacBook Pro + New M2 Mac mini

David Nahmani
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skillzmcgavern Explorer

skillzmcgavern

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7 minutes ago, des99 said:

Have you got a link to that report? I haven't used an Arm Mac Mini - do the fans run all the time (like the Mac Studio) or do they only turn on when needed, like the laptops? Or is it a case that the M2 fan only turns on when needed, but the M2Pro fan runs all the time?

There are a few threads at MacRumors following this, but here's the most prominent: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/so-how-silent-is-the-m2-pro-mac-mini.2378290/

Seems like the M2 Pro is as quiet as M2 except at max loads, where it both gets higher fan noise and, for some, a whine similar to what some experienced on the M1 Max Mac Studio.

I have a M2 Pro 12/19, 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD Mac Mini on the way, but if it has those problems and the M2 doesn't, I'll probably return it for a regular M2 Mini and just upgrade sooner than I would otherwise if needed.

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des99 Grand Master

des99

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Posted (edited)
29 minutes ago, skillzmcgavern said:

Seems like the M2 Pro is as quiet as M2 except at max loads, where it both gets higher fan noise and, for some, a whine similar to what some experienced on the M1 Max Mac Studio.

Interesting. Max loads presumably being both CPU *and* GPU being used heavily, which is similar to my experience, and doesn't really apply for using Logic etc as previously discussed - I think it's unlikely you would ever hear the fans using Logic. I'll take a nose through the thread though, thanks for the link... 👍

Edit: It, it seems the fan does run all the time, at 1600rpm. Back on my 2010 MBP, the fans ran at 2000rpm by default (although I cranked mine up a bit at idle) and that was just about audible to me in a quiet room, with the machine 1 foot from my face.

One guy is saying it wasn't completely silent and it was a deal-breaker so he sent it back:, another said "he couldn't hear it even under load". Or "10 minutes into a Cinebench multi-core test I would still have to lean close to the M2 Pro Mac Mini to hear anything at all."

Or: "So far it's been dead silent and cool to the touch throughout the entire setup process in addition to the Venture 13.2 upgrade and several restarts. Either the fan hasn't turned on yet, or it's running at a low speed where you cannot hear it. I can also report that there is no coil whine or any PSU noise.

I am personally very sensitive to noise and primarily work from home in quiet surroundings, so a cool and quiet Mac is a priority for me. If you have any kind of steady ambient noise, I am sure the Pro models won't be all that audible and will also be relatively quiet, especially considering how powerful they are."

There isn't anything I read in that thread that would indicate a widespread concern over noise performance in the M2 Pro Mac Mini.

Edited by des99
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Ylan Apprentice

Ylan

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Posted
On 1/17/2023 at 10:21 PM, AllTheButtons said:

Anyone else notice how the M2 and M2 Max both increased their max memory by 50%, but the M2 Pro is still stuck on 32GB?

Seems like a sneaky way to push users with high memory needs onto the more expensive chip. In my case I’d have to get the Studio instead of the mini.

I’m torn… on the one hand, the mini’s 32GB is cutting it fine for large orchestral sessions. On the other hand, the mini is guaranteed silent and I’m scared of the Mac Studio ‘noise lottery’.

There is the binned Max version. You have to choose M2 Pro in Apple's chooser and then update to the binned Max, you get 30 instead of 38 graphics cores and you can choose up to 64 GB RAM.

Humbly, Ylan

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skillzmcgavern Explorer

skillzmcgavern

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Many users have insisted they don't experience any whine on the M1 Studio, too, but it's definitely not an isolated incident. Maybe some don't consider it widespread but there are no reports of it on the regular M chips. The main defense has been that some users expect too much or are overly sensitive. I don't doubt many are free from the noise - just want to make sure I will be prepared to recognize these issues should they arise.

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luckyal Apprentice

luckyal

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On 1/25/2023 at 12:19 PM, kerochan said:

  You can clearly hear the Mac Mini M2 Pro hissing away, around 8.30.     totally useless if its in the same room you are recording!   My mac mini m1 is silent, even with 100 +Logic tracks & plug ins.     I am hoping the Mac Mini M2  (not Pro ) is silent?

IMHO, this is a totally underestimated, underrepresented issue. I have a M1 Max MBP 14" and my fans never kick on. Based on my initial analysis, for any non-real time audio related tasks (printed audio tracks), especially those with VERY high track counts, M2 is a better bet.  However, if you're doing any sort of arrangement and recording while monitoring through effects, M1 is a better way to go.

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ozinga Community Regular

ozinga

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Posted

I work heavily with lots of plugins and tracks on  a Macbook Pro 16" M1 Max and I am yet to hear the fans. And it is not even warm. Crazy!

Also the CPU usage in Logic is finally great with the latest updates. When I first got the MBP I was not able to play my old projects from a 2017 i7 iMac.

 

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Kim Olesen Rookie

Kim Olesen

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So i’ve migrated all my licences (waves central threw a hissy fit at me, had to get waves support involved) and sessions that heavily taxed my late 2011 i7 mac mini, run on the M2pro mac mini without registering much on the cpu meter in logic. It’s dead silent on sessions that used to set the fans into overdrive on the old mini. 
 

As expected. 

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mrgeeze Explorer

mrgeeze

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1 minute ago, Kim Olesen said:

So i’ve migrated all my licences (waves central threw a hissy fit at me, had to get waves support involved) and sessions that heavily taxed my late 2011 i7 mac mini, run on the M2pro mac mini without registering much on the cpu meter in logic. It’s dead silent on sessions that used to set the fans into overdrive on the old mini. 
 

As expected. 

That's encouraging. I'm looking at the m2pro with 32gb RAM.

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kerochan Community Regular

kerochan

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Posted
12 hours ago, fisherking said:

i just ordered the mac mini m2pro and should be setup by friday... and will report my observations this weekend.

i don't mind a little fan noise as long as it's in key.... 🤔

Do let us know how you get on, I need ZERO fan noise here, as the Mac Mini is really close to me. Huge Logic projects and my M1 Mac Mini is silent and cold. Hopefully the M2 Pro will be also for you.

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fisherking Veteran

fisherking

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10 minutes ago, redgreenblue said:

Oh yeah, just like moving it gets one to question just how much stuff do they need. 

it's all the details with logic; templates, setttings, etc. but yes, also a chance to NOT install loops i don't need, sounds, etc. still, am glad i have a kitkat bar nearby (that's a candy bar, not a strip club)... 😔

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fisherking Veteran

fisherking

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it's a grueling and confusing process; am trying to install native-only plugins, but, for example, izotope and waves need me to install rosetta... to install native plugins.

waves central installed natively; the plugins i want to install are silicon-ready; but (according to waves support), i need rosetta to install those plugins. what? 🙄

and izotope's portal requires rosetta, even tho the plugins i need are silicon-ready. 🤯

so, may just give in, install rosetta, and get my 'native' plugins. amazing that, after all this time, these developers are half-in, half-out with silicon support. 😔

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des99 Grand Master

des99

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Yes, sometimes the installers (which are themselves compiled applications) are old and haven't been rebuilt. Makes no difference to the actual plugins that are running in your host, of course.

Yes, you should install Rosetta, if you want a seamless transition (for that is what it is for). It just won't be used for anything native, and anything you have that *isn't* native, will still just work.

Unless you deliberately want a bunch of stuff to not work (like installers), for some reason, probably related to liking to complicate your computing life by always running macOS betas etc... 😝

(I don't understand this purist approach I've seen a la "I refuse to have Rosetta on my system", for no logical/rational reason I can figure out. It's not somehow corrupting your system, or reducing the performance or other things people I guess must think it's doing.)

Edited by des99
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mrgeeze Explorer

mrgeeze

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8 minutes ago, fisherking said:

it's a grueling and confusing process; am trying to install native-only plugins, but, for example, izotope and waves need me to install rosetta... to install native plugins.

waves central installed natively; the plugins i want to install are silicon-ready; but (according to waves support), i need rosetta to install those plugins. what? 🙄

and izotope's portal requires rosetta, even tho the plugins i need are silicon-ready. 🤯

so, may just give in, install rosetta, and get my 'native' plugins. amazing that, after all this time, these developers are half-in, half-out with silicon support. 😔

it is a pain that others are using rosetta as a crutch rather than coding for Apple silicon.

One piece of code I use a lot is Band in a Box. They are Rosetta only for mac. they maintain native silicon support is not necessary. I'm not impressed with their attitude. For A small company, Rosetta is understandable. Band in a Box (PG Music) is no longer in that category.

 

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fisherking Veteran

fisherking

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Posted (edited)
6 minutes ago, des99 said:

Yes, sometimes the installers (which are themselves compiled applications) are old and haven't been rebuilt. Makes no difference to the actual plugins that are running in your host, of course.

Yes, you should install Rosetta, if you want a seamless transition (for that is what it is for). It just won't be used for anything native, and anything you have that *isn't* native, will still just work.

Unless you deliberately want a bunch of stuff to not work (like installers), for some reason, probably related to liking to complicate your computing life by always running macOS betas etc... 😝

(I don't understand this purist approach I've seen a la "I refuse to have Rosetta on my system", for no logical/rational reason I can figure out. It's not somehow corrupting your system, or reducing the performance or other things people I guess must think it's doing.)

i wanted to keep everything 'native'... just my preference. nothing to do with 'corrupting the system' or whatever. either way, at some point, rosetta, and non-silicon apps, will be vanished (just like rosetta 1 years ago); so just future-proofing. again, my preference.

anyway... i just installed rosetta, and only need it to install native apps; simple enough. we'll see how things go.

 

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des99 Grand Master

des99

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20 minutes ago, fisherking said:

i wanted to keep everything 'native'... just my preference.

Yep, and as I say, I don't understand the people that have this attitude, on a platform (the Mac) that's clearly in a transitional stage and will be for a few years yet. You are just signing yourself up to having things not work at any time (eg, installers), and it seems a bunch of hassle that's completely unnecessary, when you can just install Rosetta once, and those things that would previously break, will now just work.

Including any plugins used in old projects that don't yet have native versions - you'll still be able to load and use your projects, rather than have them... break...

And when you update that software with native versions, everything will *still* work. Only slightly faster.

Up to you of course, I just find it weird...

Edited by des99
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fisherking Veteran

fisherking

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31 minutes ago, des99 said:

Yep, and as I say, I don't understand the people that have this attitude, on a platform (the Mac) that's clearly in a transitional stage and will be for a few years yet. You are just signing yourself up to having things not work at any time (eg, installers), and it seems a bunch of hassle that's completely unnecessary, when you can just install Rosetta once, and those things that would previously break, will now just work.

Including any plugins used in old projects that don't yet have native versions - you'll still be able to load and use your projects, rather than have them... break...

And when you update that software with native versions, everything will *still* work. Only slightly faster.

Up to you of course, I just find it weird...

not worried about you finding it 'weird', anymore that i worry about running betas & being criticized.

meanwhile, every single plugin and app i'm running is native, so am happy to feel 'future-proof'. and rosetta's on my mac if i need it (for, at least, the installers). so, for me, all is well...

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des99 Grand Master

des99

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51 minutes ago, fisherking said:

not worried about you finding it 'weird', anymore that i worry about running betas & being criticized.

I was commenting on the situation I've frequently seen that some people out and out refuse to install Rosetta, for reasons I can't figure out. Usually they are complaining about something they are trying to do that isn't working, because it's Intel-only software.

I wasn't telling you how to do anything, simply making a comment about me, which is, I can't understand the rationale behind that attitude.

To be honest, I was kind of hoping I could learn something from someone who started off with that point of view - perhaps they could give me some insight into what I was missing.

And as you well know, the macOS beta thing is just a fun LPH topic, and is not, and has never been a critiscism from me. On the contrary, I kinda admire it.

51 minutes ago, fisherking said:

meanwhile, every single plugin and app i'm running is native, so am happy to feel 'future-proof'. and rosetta's on my mac if i need it (for, at least, the installers). so, for me, all is well...

Great, exactly what I'd recommend. Native software where possible, and Rosetta is there for the times you need it, and no more thought or interruptions due to stuff that doesn't work are necessary. The way Apple designed it to be. That makes sense to me.

For those folks that seem to think that having Intel code on their shiny new Mx system somehow makes them feel dirty (or something) - I just feel like telling them that every native app on their system they are running has another, equally sized binary full of Intel code on their disk. But perhaps that would just be mean... 😉 

Enjoy your new machine. Pretty sure you'll find it awesome!

Edited by des99
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