#m1 macs are fast

[netscapenavigator-official]

Anyway. Since my dabble into WEBP, I've discovered that WEBP is actually considered a last generation format. I've also discovered that H.264 is ancient akin to the likes of JPEG, PNG, and GIF. So now I'm busy re-encoding all the videos on my Jellyfin server as AV1, and once that's done, I'm re-encoding all my photos as AVIF. If Shutter Encoder ever implements support for JPEG XL (JXL), then I'll be converting my photos again. There are no lengths I will not go to in order to save a few megabytes of storage space.

[sirfrogsworth]

Wishlist Haul

All I asked for were pants, and those are coming Saturday. But you all came through in a big way with my wishlist and helped me solve some problems that have really been bugging me lately.

One of my biggest current issues is my decision to use my M1 MacBook Air as my main computer until I can move my PC upstairs at some distant time in the future. Which means I need to ask a lot more of it. And it is capable, as these Apple Silicon devices are amazing and very zippy, but I only got 256 GB of storage because I thought this would just be a secondary computer while I was taking care of my dad.

So I need storage. And if you do photography and use Lightroom, you know you need *fast* storage. In the days of spinny disc drives, going back and forth between images was maddeningly slow. I already hate the process of culling photos and picking the best ones. And sometimes you'd need to find 5 winners out of a few hundred. And when it took 3 seconds to switch between every photo, I wanted to die. And honestly, it could still be better.

But one of the best solutions is a super fast SSD. Which I had. I bought it right before my parents got especially ill and was planning to install it in my PC. But my priorities changed and I just never found the energy.

The problem is that was an internal NVME SSD. I needed it to be external.

Which is where this little thingie comes in.

This is an NVME enclosure, and if you are looking for cheap, fast external storage, this is so much better than those external SSDs they overcharge for. For $200 they give you a 2TB drive that can read about 2000 MB per second. Or you can get a 2TB NVME and this enclosure for the same price and get 3000 MB per second. Not only that, but it is upgradeable. In a year when 4TB is $100, you can plop that in. And the Mac's Thunderbolt 4 has a max speed of around 5000 MB/s, so there is room to improve there as well. Though sometimes advertised speeds are not reality speeds.

The only thing you need to be aware of is these drives run hot. You're going to think there is something wrong with them. Like, they top out at 90C. Which is nearly 200 degrees in freedom units.

I wanted a convenient way to mount my drive, but I didn't want 200 degrees on the back of my screen, so... MAGNETS!

And I can stack a few more if that section starts feeling too hot.

So, I have that problem solved. I can now use this as my main computer and work on my photography.

Next up... fashion!

I'm going out more and I want to look a little more presentable. I thought these two tone shirts looked a little more fashionable. And they are very comfortable too. I have a red one that I think I'm going to wear on my trip. I know you can't see the two tone well in the picture, so here is the product photo of the red one.

Next problem?

Well, it's maybe not a problem so much as something cool I wanted. A black light!

My mom had all of this uranium glass and I had no idea my salt shaker was marginally radioactive all these years. I really wanted to take a proper photo of some of the glass before it all gets sold at auction. So this should be a fun experiment.

I will say, if you don't have uranium glass, don't get a black light. You will want to burn your house down. It does not matter how clean you think you got something... you didn't clean it enough. And I have all of this dry flaky skin on my feet. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't bother me. You can't even really see it unless you look really close. But when I shined the light on my feet they looked like they had some undocumented disease. I will not be sharing a photo of that.

But the depression glass, that's super neat.

Some proper photos coming soon I hope. Maybe after my trip.

Next problem!

My key fob. This thing is a piece of shit.

Even if it looks cool under a black light, it is THE WORST.

It's cheap plastic, it takes a stupid watch battery, the symbols on the buttons all wore off. And all of that I could handle, but for some reason this fob has an effective range of about 2 feet. I literally have to be standing next to the door before it will work.

I had a black fob that worked much better, only the plastic casing was falling apart. But I taped it up as best I could and hoped it would not fall apart. Then I went to get my tires changed and they needed the fob to do some special reset of the pressure sensors and the battery died before they could. I went home to try and change the battery, and the entire thing basically disintegrated on me.

The inside looks like this.

The battery retention contact is held on by a tiny dab of solder. And if you pull the battery up even a little, it snaps off. And that's what happened. And to make matters worse, the rubber buttons were falling apart and the unlock button just... fell off.

So I was either stuck with the 2 foot range green one or I needed a new fob. Thankfully, they are only 20 bucks for 2 on Amazon. Unfortunately you need a dealer or an auto locksmith to program them. The lowest quote was $100 for about 5 minutes of work. The dealer actually wanted to sell me the fob as well, which they quoted as $150 for ONE. Same cheap plastic piece of shit and everything.

So, I got all of the parts from the broken fob and I hot glued that battery contact back into place and I transplanted that into a shiny new casing.

Works just like new. The buttons feel much better, I can actually see the symbols, and it has a range of at least 100 feet. And that hot glue isn't going anywhere. Changing the battery might be an issue, but these lasted several years.

Next problem!

An intervalometer is a fancy shutter button for a camera that allows very long exposures. It is detached from the camera so you don't shake anything and it needs a backlit screen because if you are using it, you are most likely in the dark.

My intervalometer is about 12 years old and uses another dreaded watch battery. And the backlight on the screen seems to be dead. So it is pretty much useless.

But look at this!

The light even works in the... well, light! And it takes normal batteries. Seriously, watch batteries need to stay in watches.

I don't know if I will get to take a long exposure in Florida, but I want to have this with me in case I do.

Next problem!

This one I actually solved on my own. But I found these stainless iron (yes, iron!) shims and I covered them with black tape and now all of my most used kitchen items never take up counter space.

Yes, I use magnets and hot glue to solve most of my problems.

Next problem!

My garage door is not very smart. And the remote control for it is huge and does not fit in my man purse.

So I downsized the remote.

But I wanted to fix the non-smart thing as well. A while back my brother got into my garage without me knowing. He must have taken a remote of his own. And I really don't feel like figuring out how to change the frequency, so I now have a sensor that lets me know when the door is open with a phone notification. Beyond that, I can open or close the door from my smartphone from anywhere. And I can give access to anyone with a smartphone in case of an emergency.

I will say, this company is really paranoid about people being crushed by garage doors. The instructions tell you to put up this sign in your garage...

And if you use the app to close the door, you get a light show with annoying beeping...

And I know that these accidents happen in real life. But whenever I think about how that could actually happen, all I can imagine is that scene in Austin Powers...

In any case, I am really glad I have this now. And I also like that if I forget to close the garage door, I can check the app and not have to get up to do it.

OH! I almost forgot. If I want, I can have Amazon place packages inside my garage.

Next problem!

What in the heck do I need galvanized steel plates for?

In product photography you need a diffusion panel called a scrim. If you try to buy one of these already made, they are hundreds of dollars. They are mostly made for movie productions, and those items always have inflated costs.

So most product photographers make their own out of tracing paper or a special plastic called Translum. It's $80 per roll, but lasts forever. I used to hang my scrims from the ceiling. But you can't really angle or move them, so you have to move the object you are photographing instead. Which is just a backwards way to work. So I invented my own scrims with two strips of very thin wood, metal chip clips, these little plastic feet that held up plexiglass barriers during COVID. And to weigh everything down... steel plates.

This is version 1.0 where I glued the plastic rather than affixing it with the chip clips.

The clips work much better and allow me to put different weights of plastic on, or even double plastic, for more or less diffusion. And I ended up not needing that board at the bottom which allows me to curve it as well.

And these scrims let me take this photo...

It's called graduated lighting and it makes things look neat.

I also got a backpack for my trip and shorts, but I am going to forego an explanation of those.

To all that helped, thank you so much. I hope you can see I am putting everything to good use.

[matt3470srandomthoughts]

Nostalgia

One of the things I've been feeling a lot recently is nostalgia, I have a love-hate relationship with the feeling. On one hand you smile remembering good times but on the other you get sad you can never re-experience that ever again. That's why I try to enjoy so many things in the moment now. But anyway, it's been on my mind a lot. I recently watched a video about a design language called "Frutiger Aero" (video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL7kTMtvebQ) and this is what I grew up with. Skeuomorphism was rampant during these years, which is considered to be a key part of the design language. This design langauge in operating systems such as Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard. These are my personal favorites not just because of nostalgia, but I feel these systems were really refined and looked really clean. It also just felt like you were in a different world, especially with some of those wallpapers. I remember as a kid I would just go through the wallpapers on Windows 7 and imagine the kind of worlds they were in. Truly a magical time. Also around this time, I was first exposed to the iPhone, namely the 4. I was too young to care about "antenna gate" and I thought a touchscreen phone was just so incredible. iOS 4 through 6 were definitely the most nostalgic for me. I remember iOS 5 on my sister's iPod Touch 4, another super nostalgic piece of tech for me. She really liked Owl City, and I would then come to listen to a lot of their stuff too. My favorites were Fireflies and then Peppermint Winter, a song I've been listening to a lot recently, with it being Christmas and all.

Enough about tech, another thing I'm super nostalgic for is TV channels back in the early 2010s. You see back then cable was actually worth watching I feel like, and definitely peaked then until Netflix took over in the mid 2010s. I also miss old Netflix from 2011. It was reasonably priced, no ads and had a good library. As far as TV networks go, I would mainly watch Cartoon Network, Nick and PBS Kids. CN was going through a huge renaissance, with tons of new shows, that are super nostalgic to me now, something I like to dub the "Check It Renaissance" referring to CN's branding at the time. A kind of weird interest of mine is channel idents or bumpers that air between programming and commercials. Check it 1.0 from CN (2010-2013) is by far the most nostalgic for me, with cool flipnote like bumpers, catchy music, and skeuomorphism galore. But PBS Kids' bumpers from around the time (and PBS Kids Go's) are also super nostalgic for me. Nickelodeon's branding was already bland af and hasn't really improved since. But I loved spongebob, drake and josh, and icarly as a kid so I would watch it frequently. I think it was just such a good time for me simply because I was a young kid. I wasn't quite aware of what happened in the world, I just enjoyed life, played with friends, and quite a few family members who are unfortunately deceased now were alive and doing very well then. I think people weren't quite as addicted to the internet back then as a lot of us are now, obviously the internet has done a lot of good over the years, getting us through a pandemic and all, but it definitely has its downsides. I just feel like back then people would only pull their phone out if they had a call, or to show it to friends/family because it was such a novelty then. I miss when technology was advancing so fast, everything new was so cool. Each new iphone was a huge improvement over the previous, while now it feels like the only thing that really improves is the battery. The iPad was first introduced in 2010, quad core processors became standard back then too in desktops and high end laptops... and desktops nowadays are STILL shipping with quad cores. I'm not saying there's been no improvements to tech- that is incredibly untrue. VR has matured a ton since the clunky Oculus DK1 from 2013, 100 core processors are now a thing apparently, Apple's M1 and M2 processors have been able to accomplish things unimaginable back in 2010, and tons of discoveries with technology has been discovered to help the medical field and such. I guess I'm just not a young kid who thinks every new piece of technology is the coolest thing ever haha.

In conclusion, I love the late 2000s/early 2010s, it was just a truly special and incredible couple of years for me. Hopefully one day things like the design language from then will make a comeback or something. Anyway, hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve. Happy Holidays :)

[apn-music]

Virharmonic announces virtual instrument 'Bohemian Viola'

Virharmonic has announced the virtual instrument Bohemian Viola and is accepting pre-orders. The product launch is scheduled for October 20th.

Creating music has never been so easy, with the help of our Virtual Performer making split second decisions based on your playing input, inspiring you to write lyrical lines like never before. Part of an expanding series of performers, the Bohemian Viola was created to free you to perform real Viola Performances fast, without the need to be a Violist yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSPqlfGIks0 To achieve realism, we recorded an unprecedented amount of samples for a solo instrument, but managing all this by loading individual patches would be slow and cumbersome and stifle inspiration. This is where the virtual performer comes in, controlling all the varied legatos, bow types and emotive expressions as you play, all from one patch and all in real time. - vst / au / aax dedicated plugin built on the gorilla engine (64bit). - mac os 10.14.6 to 13.5.2, plug-in is M1 native - (AAX Requires Rosetta2 - update to M Native coming soon) - Installer requires Rosetta - windows 10/11 onwards - one time codemeter server response activation - compatible with all major 64bit DAWS like logic, cubase, pro tools, studio one, reaper, ableton - computer needs 4Gb memory+ - 88 Key Velocity Sensitive Midi Keyboard recommended - near instant loading with an ssd using real time streaming, which is a massive memory saver. - Digital Downloads provided by Pulse Downloader features - the virtual performer: enables incredibly easy live play, auto selecting the bow types, legatos and bow positions based on your play style. - mood selection: improv, emotive, assertive, classical and sprightly, allowing you to change the behaviour of the cellist on the fly - performer mode: solo, second cello, trio, chamber, divisi trio & divisi chamber - maestro: the very first Performer Poly-Legato - crafting: blend any forced on bow type/articulation with our legatos. - reverb & space: convolution & algorithmic reverbs with added spaces: hall, chamber and studio - built in velocity control - built in expression control - built in help guide. Read the full article

[amazonproduct12]

(GET INSTANT ACCESS HERE)- Click Here

Product Name : Apple 2021 MacBook Pro (16.2-inch, M1 Pro chip with 10‑core CPU and 16‑core GPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) - Space Gray

Product Details :

Brand : Apple

Model Name : MacBook Pro

Screen Size : 16.2 Inches

Color : Space Gray

Hard Disk Size : 512 GB

CPU Model : Others

Ram Memory Installed Size : 16 GB

Operating System : Mac OS

Graphics Card Description : Integrated

Graphics Coprocessor : M1 Pro

About this item

Apple M1 Pro or M1 Max chip for a massive leap in CPU, GPU, and machine learning performance

Up to 10-core CPU delivers up to 2x faster performance to fly through pro workflows quicker than ever

Up to 32-core GPU with up to 4x faster performance for graphics-intensive apps and games

16-core Neural Engine for up to 5x faster machine learning performance

Longer battery life, up to 21 hours

Up to 64GB of unified memory so everything you do is fast and fluid

Up to 8TB of superfast SSD storage launches apps and opens files in an instant

Stunning 16-inch Liquid Retina XDR display with extreme dynamic range and contrast ratio

1080p FaceTime HD camera with advanced image signal processor for sharper video calls

Six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers

[havnblog]

My Setup for the M4 Mini as a Secondary Mac

NAS, Media Server, and Light Gaming

I spent the weekend setting up my little new Mac – and I have to say: it went pretty smoothly! Here’s what I did, and how you can do it yourself if you like.

The hardware

As Apple’s upgrade prices are certified insane, I went for the absolute base model. I did briefly consider getting 10 gig Ethernet �� but I had to change too much about my setup to get any benefits from it. And I don’t really need that fast a connection for my use case.

16 GB of ram is enough for me, but the built-in 256 GB of storage is obviously too little. But as it’s a stationary machine, getting external storage works great.

There are some reports that these Macs' storage is actually upgradeable! But that's above my pay-grade.

Some drives will use regular USB speeds (for instance USB 3.2 Gen 2). These are cheaper – but if you go for USB 4 or Thunderbolt 3+ you will get about three times the speed. **If you, like me, want to run programs (like games) straight from the disk, you’ll probably want the latter.**more

Instead of getting a regular external SSD like this 🖇️, I went for getting an enclosure + a separate drive. These are much less compact – but they’re flexible and upgradeable down the line.

For enclosure, I have seen this 🖇️ from HyperDrive and this 🖇️ from Satechi receiving numerous recommendations – and I found both of them in Norway. The only difference between them (apart from looks) I could see, was that the HyperDrive is rated for a maximum of 4 TB, while the Satechi can handle 16 TB. I could only afford a 2 TB drive currently (and don’t need more currently) – but I still went for the Satechi, also because I’ve had good experiences with the brand previously. (BTW, they also have a much cheaper, enclosure 🖇️ for regular USB-C.)

My drive is a Samsung 🖇️ 990 EVO 2 TB SSD. It’s rated for 5000 MB/s, which is probably more than needed (but it was about the same price as slower drives here). Especially if you’re going for regular USB-C, the drive doesn’t have to be fast. (But perhaps get something name-brand, to make sure it’s stable.)

Drive setup

This is what was included with the enclosure. The thermal pad was on the inside – but I removed it for now.

Then I connected the drive, and added the little rubber plug at the end.

The plug was easy to fasten.

There was no mention of the thermal pad in the manual! But I did my best to stick it to the lid so it touches the drive when closed.

There were no tools required, and it was as easy as it could get!

When I then connected it to my MacBook, I got this:

But don’t worry! Hitting “Initialise…”, or launching the Mac app Disk Utility, brings you here:

Hitting Erase up top, and formatting it to APFS, is all you need to make it work. (APFS isn’t the best for cross-platform-ness – but it’s the best for Mac, and needed for Time Machine.)

The speeds

Here are the speeds I got from different devices. 👇🏻 I ran a couple of tests, and these results were representative. Not too bad, IMO!

Measurement Enclosure M1 Pro MB M4 Mini Sequential R: 2445 MB/s 4689 MB/s 5221 MB/s Sequential W: 2508 MB/s 4665 MB/s 5318 MB/s Random R: 848 MB/s 857 MB/s 768 MB/s Random W: 844 MB/s 852 MB/s 780 MB/s

I think the sequantials are the most important. And, I have no idea why the Mini seems slower for the randoms. Maybe the disk was busy with something new?

The SSD enclosure is absolutely warm while in use, but not hot. I assume that’s OK? 😅

My placement

Next, I unboxed the Mac, and placed it where it’s supposed to be. The Mac setup would’ve been easier if I took it to my office, where I have my external screen, keyboard, and trackpad. But I made do with my TV and what I had at home.

Mac Mini, Apple TV 4K, Nintendo Switch, Anbernic RG35XX 🖇️, and 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller 🖇️.

The following are permanently connected to the Mini:

Power

HDMI to the TV

Ethernet

The SSD Enclosure

The 8BitDo dock

I’ve previously made a quick reviewed of the 8BitDo controller here – but things are even better with my current setup: The dock being connected to the Mac, not only gives it power for charging – it also makes it so the 2.4 GHz dongle in the base is connected to the Mac. Out-of-the-box the controller, sadly, doesn’t support Mac – but 8BitDo support sent me a beta firmware for the dongle, which makes it work! So now it’s connected to the Switch via Bluetooth and the Mac via 2.4 GHz – and I can easily change connection with a switch at the back of the controller.

But I had to connect some temporary peripherals as well:

I think the last image, including the USB-C adapter on the mouse’s USB-A cable, shows why the front-ports are nice, and why the lack of USB-A ports is a total non-issue.

Sadly, I don’t think I could set up the Mac Mini by only using my MacBook – so I had to connect some peripherals. I could probably have made do with only the keyboard – but I didn’t know the following: When you tab through to select things like Confirm buttons, you have to hit Space (and not Enter/Return, for instance). So a mouse was practical – even though I didn’t have a wireless one.

I just sat on the floor while running through the initial setup. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Mac setup

As mentioned in the subtitle of this post, my use cases for this Mac are NAS, media server, and light gaming. And here’s the software stuff I did to make it happen.

Screen setup

My TV is a pretty average older Philips 4K TV (with the, IMO, underrated feature Ambilight) – and I had a couple of issues regarding resolutions in macOS. What I wanted was to run it in 1080p HiDPI, which means that the screen has the size as if it is running in 1080p, but it’s technically running in 4k. Every “pixel” in the 1080p is actually four pixels. (I’ve written more about this here.) However, I could only choose between regular 1080p or 540p HiDPI!

I did find a fix for this, though, by installing (and buying) BetterDisplay Pro. This allowed me to override the given resolution, making sure macOS knew the screen was 4k, and allowing me to select 1080p HiDPI.

More system configuration options and Edit native panel pixel resolution was the answer.

The options available under here also improved the way the TV looks. 👌🏻

File and screen sharing, and remote control

Quickly, I wanted to find a way to control the Mini from my MacBook. And here I’ll outline the two ways I do it.

Doing it via Screen Sharing is nice because then I don’t have to be able to look at the TV while doing it. However, initially, that method was really unstable for me. I think it was because the network was being taxed by initial setup, downloads from cloud storage, etc. So, in the beginning, regular Continuity was the way to go. This meant I could just move my mouse up and above my laptop screen, to have the built-in MacBook trackpad and keyboard control the Mini.

Here’s a video of me moving from my iPad, via my MacBook, and to my Mini, with Continuity:

I tried to lower the volume of my Norwegian mumblings – so don't mind the sound.

You’ll set up screen and file sharing the same place: System Settings -> Sharing

Here you also get a glimpse of the state of my Mini's dock.

This last screenshot is of the File Sharing options – but I forgot to show one thing: I added the home folder (named “erlend” in my case) as being shared. It’s the folder icon you can see in the background. I then right-clicked that folder, and turned on Share as a Time Machine backup destination.

All of this, leads to the following, when I select Erlend’s Mac mini in the Finder sidebar:

As you can see, both my home folder, internal disk (Macintosh HD) and external disk (Satechi SSD) are available. I can also hit Share Screen… up top to take control of the Mini.

Time Machine

If you haven’t enabled Share as a Time Machine backup destination, you’ll get this when trying to set it up:

But by following the steps I outlined above, it becomes possible to select the external drive connected to the other machine here.

Other uses of external drive

As the internal storage is so paltry, I have to set up the Mini to use the external drive as much as possible. And here are some ways I’ve done this:

Dropbox

Due to Apple depreciating some APIs, you can’t have your Dropbox on an external drive if you use the default client. But if you use Maeastral, this becomes possible.

Be warned, though: Running the initial Time Machine on two laptops, while also syncing iCloud and Dropbox on a new machine, is best done overnight…

App Store

Recently, Apple added this new option to the App Store:

I don’t think I’ll install anything over 1 GB on this Mac – but I thought I’d shout it out anyway!

Steam

I’ve installed two versions of Steam on the Mini: A regular macOS install, and a Windows version via Whisky. And if you go to the Steam settings, and Storage, you can select a default destination for your game installs. This can also be on an external drive, so I chose that, of course.

No Mac version? No problem! Loving UFO 50, by the way.

Media server – Jellyfin

The last step in my setup, was to set up the Mac up as a media server. I’ve used Plex previously, but I wanted to give the open-source alternative Jellyfin a shot. And I love it!

The installation was relatively easy. The only hiccup I had, was that when I followed this guide to turn on hardware acceleration, I also turned it on for AV1 – and this broke stuff. I posted in the forums here, and in minutes I got a reply telling me to turn off AV1, and everything worked.

But the best part about Jellyfin isn’t Jellyfin. It’s that I can use Infuse as a client. I just love un-bundling and third-party options, as I’ve written about here and here. It’s great that the people writing Infuse can be laser focused on making a delightful video player, while it’s OK if the people behind Jellyfin focus on creating a good backend. I love that I don’t have to choose media server software based on whether I like the player!

Infuse is a delightful software experience.

Pretty painless

… is how I’d summarise the process. And I bet I’ll discover new things to use this machine for as times goes by! Will keep you updated – and please don’t hesitate to ask questions!

And I have a question for someone who knows: Can the Mini do its job even if I let it go to sleep? 🤔

[andyrush]

A Mini MicroBlog Post

I’m not going to make the joke about introducing you to my little friend. However, I have been installing apps and configuring my new Mac Mini M4 Pro, as well as making some screencasts about what I configure and install. Knowing the past me, those will just sit around, but I’m feeling hopeful that there’s motivation to post them soon. We’ll see.

A couple of notes:

The 512GB SSD is fast. Almost as fast as the Mac Studio Max that I purchased at UNF – 4GB write speed and 5GB read! – Thanks to the Blackmagic Design Disk Speed Test app.

The power button is a total non-issue – just slightly tip it up if I ever need to push that button.

The built-in speaker is surprisingly good. As I say I’ve recorded screencasts and hearing the videos playback, sound is not bad.

Still putting it through it’s paces, but it’s fun to see how much has improved since the M1 from 2020 entered the household.

[govindhtech]

Apple M4 Max & M4 Pro With Improved AI And Thunderbolt 5

Apple today unveiled the M4 Pro and Apple M4 Max, two new CPUs that, when combined with M4, provide the Mac far more sophisticated capabilities and power-efficient performance. The industry-leading, second-generation 3-nanometer technology used in the construction of all three chips enhances performance and power efficiency.

The CPUs of the M4 series have the fastest CPU core in the world, which results in the greatest single-threaded performance in the industry and much better multithreaded performance. One With faster cores and a ray-tracing engine that is twice as fast, the GPUs expand upon the revolutionary graphics architecture that was first presented in the previous generation. The M4 Pro and Apple M4 Max significantly boost unified memory bandwidth by up to 75% and allow Thunderbolt 5 for the Mac pro M4 for the first time.

The Apple M4 Max series of processors offers remarkable performance for professional and AI tasks when paired with improved machine learning (ML) accelerators in the CPUs and a neural engine that is up to two times quicker than the previous generation. Additionally, they preserve users’ privacy while delivering lightning-fast performance for Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that revolutionizes how people work, interact, and express themselves.

M4: Outstanding Results and Novel Capabilities

For the first time, M4’s incredible performance is available on Mac for artists, students, businesses, and more. With four performance cores and up to six efficiency cores, the M4’s CPU can have up to ten cores. Because it is up to 1.8 times quicker than M1, multitasking between programs like Excel and Safari is very quick. Everything from picture editing to AAA gaming is very quick and fluid thanks to a 10-core GPU’s amazing graphics performance, which is up to two times quicker than M1. Additionally, Apple Intelligence products like Writing Tools and other AI tasks benefit greatly from the speedier 16-core Neural Engine.

M4 has a greater memory bandwidth of 120GB/s and can accommodate up to 32GB of unified memory. In addition to a built-in display, the M4 family’s display engine is improved to enable two external monitors. Additionally, M4 now has up to four Thunderbolt 4 connections, which offers quick data transfers and even greater peripheral versatility.

M4 Pro: Far More Powerful and Capable than Any AI PC Chip

For customers with more demanding workflows, such as academics, developers, engineers, creative professionals, and others, M4 Pro expands upon the cutting-edge technology introduced in M4. The M4 Pro has a CPU with up to 14 cores, which includes four efficiency cores and up to 10 performance cores. It is up to 2.1 times quicker than the newest AI PC chip and up to 1.9 times faster than the M1 Pro’s CPU.

With up to 20 cores, the GPU can outperform the newest AI PC chip by up to 2.4 times and double that of the Apple M4 Max. Building and testing applications across several simulators in Xcode is now faster than ever with this significant speed gain. Additionally, games like Control seem more captivating because to the enhanced hardware-accelerated ray-tracing engine in the M4 series GPU, which also enables professional 3D renderers to create breathtaking graphics even faster.

Up to 64GB of fast unified memory and 273GB/s of memory bandwidth are supported by M4 Pro, which is a huge 75% increase over M3 Pro and twice as much capacity as any AI PC processor. When paired with the M4 family’s speedier neural engine, on-device Apple Intelligence models operate at lightning speed. Additionally, M4 Pro supports Thunderbolt 5 on Mac, which more than doubles the throughput of Thunderbolt 4 with data transfer rates of up to 120Gb/s. The M4 Pro provides amazing speed and the renowned power efficiency of Apple silicon for professionals working with greater file volumes in AI, video, code bases, and other fields.

M4 Max: The Most Powerful Chip for a Pro Laptop

For data scientists, 3D artists, and musicians who want to push professional processes to their limits, Apple M4 Max is the best option. Up to 12 performance cores and four efficiency cores make up its maximum 16-core CPU. It is up to 2.5 times quicker than the most recent AI PC chip and up to 2.2 times faster than the CPU in the M1 Max. With up to 40 cores, the GPU can outperform the most recent AI PC chip by up to 4 times and outperform M1 Max by up to 1.9 times. Thus, demanding tasks such as de-noising unprocessed video material in Deviance Resolve Studio may now be completed in real time.Image credit to Apple

Up to 128GB of rapid unified memory and 546GB/s of memory bandwidth four times the capacity of the newest AI PC chipare supported by the Apple M4 Max. Large language models with about 200 billion parameters may now be readily interacted with by developers. M4 Max is the best option for video professionals because of its upgraded Media Engine, which has two video encode engines and two ProRes accelerators. Additionally, the Apple M4 Max supports Thunderbolt 5 with a data transfer rate of up to 120Gb/s, much as the M4 Pro. The M4 Max excels at handling the most demanding professional jobs and offers remarkable laptop battery life because of Apple silicon‘s energy efficiency.

Apple Silicon Powers Apple Intelligence

M4, M4 Pro, and Apple M4 Max are Apple Intelligence designs. Apple Intelligence brings personal intelligence to the Mac, ushering in a new era. Apple Intelligence uses Apple silicon and the Neural Engine to provide Mac users new ways to work, communicate, and express themselves by combining industry-first privacy measures with powerful generative models. In the US, macOS Sequoia 15.1 is available in English. Systemwide writing features let users edit, revise, and summarize practically anything they write.

The newly updated Siri answers hundreds of Mac and Apple device questions and lets users move between spoken and typed queries, speeding up daily tasks. New Apple Intelligence features will launch in December, with more to come. Users may instantly create custom emoji using Genmoji and create fun photographs with Image Playground. The Siri will become much more powerful when it can conduct tasks throughout the system and utilize a user’s context to give personalized insight. ChatGPT will be added to Writing Tools and Siri in December, letting users apply its expertise without switching apps.

Apple Intelligence always protects user privacy. Private Cloud Compute offers on-device computing, Apple’s larger server-based models for more complex workloads, and groundbreaking personal data protection. Everyone may use ChatGPT without registering, and privacy is protected: Users’ IP addresses are masked, and OpenAI doesn’t store requests. Users who connect their accounts must follow OpenAI data-use policies.

Better for the Environment

Because to the M4, M4 Pro, and Apple M4 Max power efficiency, the new MacBook Pro line fulfills Apple’s high energy efficiency criteria and delivers up to 24 hours of battery life. It takes less time to plug in and consumes less energy. Apple silicon saves energy in iMacs and Mac minis. Apple 2030 seeks carbon neutrality by the end of the decade. Globally, the corporation is carbon neutral.

Read more on Govindhtech.com

[laptopstore123]

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[proffittblog]

How Does Apple Balance Hardware and Software?

Apple has achieved a remarkable balance between hardware and software. This sets their products apart.Apple designs the hardware for its devices. They also design the software. This gives them control over how the hardware and software work together.The result provides a smooth user experience. This is appreciated by users because it means their devices function reliably.

Take the iPhone as an example. Apple designs the hardware for it. They also develop the iOS software that runs on the iPhone. This enables them to optimize its performance.Feature by feature, Apple ensures careful integration. For instance, the Face ID feature: Functions seamlessly. Achieves this through the combination of: a. Well-designed camera. b. Effective software.This level of integration ensures fast experiences for users. It also provides security. That's why many people prefer iPhones over other phones.

Apple uses this balance in their Macs as well. The latest MacBooks are equipped with Apple's own M1 chip. This chip, designed by Apple, is optimized to work seamlessly with macOS.Users report faster speeds. They also notice longer battery life. Everything runs well. Apps open quickly. Multitasking is smooth.Apple's control over hardware allow them to innovate. They have the ability to create their own hardware solutions. Apple's control over software allows them to innovate as well. They don't need to rely on other companies to make their software work.This balance is key to Apple's success. Apple continues to deliver the following: - Fast products - Reliable products - User-friendly products.

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[is-this-ai-generated]

why "poisoning" AI algorithms simply doesn't work how you think it does.

off and on, i'll come across posts that get tens of thousands of reblogs that are peppered with alarmist and urgent language, saying things like "if you're an artist, do this to your art now" and so on. they tend to link to things like nightshade or glaze.

while these tools are great for perhaps long-term defense and offense against AI scraping, they will do nothing to protect art that has already been scraped. this is something i see overlooked entirely when people make a mad rush to utilize this tool.

when an algorithm is provided a data set, that data set is typically a snapshot at the moment it was scraped. this means that if there are changes made to that data set online, they more than likely will not affect the current data set in use in real time. algorithms work in sandbox environments to prevent confusing results for this reason.

this means that if your art has been scraped and you go back and nightshade and/or glaze the pieces, then replace the old file with the new file, it doesn't matter. that data has already been processed.

however, that's not to say it's still not a decent idea anyhow for subsequent scrapes made by other algorithms. it's not a bad idea to experiment with them. but that of course depends on your computer's ability to even use these tools and if your art style doesn't suffer from the results of the "poisoning."

the system requirements to run nightshade and glaze are as follows:

your PC must be running Windows 10 or 11 OR MacOS. Linux is not supported.

to get the most out of using nightshade or glaze, you must have a dedicated NVIDIA GPU on a win10 or win11 machine. this means that if you are using a computer that only has integrated graphics (i.e.: no dedicated GPU), OR your system uses an AMD GPU, your experience will be vastly different.

as mentioned, that dedicated GPU must be an NVIDIA GPU to use GPU rendering mode. they recommend one of the GPUs on this list. you will want to look under the RTX and/or GEforce banners to locate your card. the rest are workstation units.

there are known bugs with specific NVIDIA GPUs, specifically in the GTX 1660/1650/1550 lines. this may affect your results.

if you do not have a dedicated GPU, or are using an AMD GPU, you can still use nightshade or glaze, but it will devour your PC's CPU resources. this means you will experience extreme system slow-down at best, or a system crash at worst if your CPU isn't fast enough or have enough cores. as such, you have to make sure that there are no other programs running when using these tools.

MacOS installs appear to be limited to ARM CPUs, meaning M1, M2, and M3 chipsets. if your mac uses an intel processor, you're out of luck.

some other things to consider when using nightshade or glaze:

they seem to cite 20 minutes as an average time elapsed for "poisoning" a piece of artwork. this might be affected by the file size and the speed of the CPU or GPU being used.

since this is essentially rendering software, your PC may run hot if it's under-powered. make sure your PC has adequate ventilation.

if you have a lot of art to "poison," this might take you hours if not days to fully complete.

mobile devices are not supported (i.e.: no app you can download) and do not appear to be on the roadmap at all at this time.

images of certain textures may end up distorted to the human eye. this seems to be primarily for flat colors or smooth backgrounds. this means if your art is generally flat-shaded, you will likely see distortion on the final image.

glaze can be used on mobile devices, but only on the web browser. again, a mobile app does not appear to be on the roadmap at this time. this method is also invite-only, though they seem generous with their invites.

the functionality of using these tools is very involved and might be overwhelming to those who have no experience or comfort with technology. this isn't as simple as "upload and it does the rest for you," at least in the case of nightshade and the desktop version of glaze.

nightshade and glaze are algorithms in and of themselves. yes, they themselves are essentially AI. this means that they need to be constantly updated to match the advancements of the algorithms they're combating against.

because of this, it's highly likely that when updates are made to the algorithms for glaze and nightshade, you will need to re-glaze or "re-poison" your art as those updates are made.

since both tools are made by the university of chicago, they rely on grants for funding. as we know, grant providers can be fickle and funding could be removed at any time. i wasn't able to find any sort of donation funding option, but that doesn't mean they don't accept donations. however, it would still be dependent on the department of the university that houses this project.

i still see people passing around posts about how glazing and/or nightshade-ing your art is a surefire way to "defeat the AI bros," but it just isn't that simple, unfortunately. it also isn't especially "user friendly" if you aren't already comfortable with navigating programs on a desktop or laptop environment. further than that, it also seems to benefit a specific subset of computer users, primarily those who use windows machines and NVIDIA CPUs. basically, if you keep up-to-date with PC gaming as well as do your own art, you'll probably be able to use these tools no problem.

but that's not to say this isn't a step in the right direction. if you are able to use these tools, i would highly recommend them, especially if you are a very prolific professional artist, someone who gets a lot of commissions, or someone who is selling your art on merchandise in some capacity.

and if you have discovered an algorithm that's using your art style? get a lawyer; you may have a case against the algorithm in use under DMCA. but y'know. i'm not a lawyer so. ask one. yeah.

[jcmarchi]

SanDisk Pro-Blade SSD System Review: Unifying Data Management for Phot - Videoguys

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/sandisk-pro-blade-ssd-system-review-unifying-data-management-for-phot-videoguys/

SanDisk Pro-Blade SSD System Review: Unifying Data Management for Phot - Videoguys

In this comprehensive review of the SanDisk Pro-Blade SSD System, Alex Coleman from PhotographyLife examines how this innovative storage solution caters to the needs of professional photographers and videographers. With the increasing demand for managing large volumes of high-resolution media, SanDisk’s Pro-Blade line offers a unified approach to streamline data management processes.

Key Features of the SanDisk Pro-Blade SSD System

Most professionals are accustomed to capturing images and videos on in-camera storage devices, then offloading them to portable hard drives, and finally transferring them to desktop systems. The SanDisk Pro-Blade SSD System aims to simplify this workflow. Central to this system is the Pro-Blade Mag SSD, which comes in storage capacities of 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB. The SSDs allow direct filming and easy connection to enclosures for editing, thus eliminating the import step and utilizing high speeds for both recording and editing.

Pro-Blade Mag SSD: Compact and Robust

The Pro-Blade Mag SSD is designed for durability and high performance. It features a compact aluminum housing rated for 3m drops and 4000lb crush loads. The proprietary Pro-Blade Interface ensures modularity, durability, and impressive throughput, rated for 2,000+ cycles into docks and capable of 3,000+ MB/s read speeds with the appropriate enclosure.

Transport and Station Enclosures

The Pro-Blade system includes two types of enclosures:

Transport Enclosure: Ideal for portability, this enclosure supports a single Mag SSD and offers up to 2000MB/s read/write speeds via a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2×2 port. Its clean design and efficient heat management make it a practical choice for on-the-go professionals.

Station Enclosure: Designed for desktop workflows, this enclosure houses up to four Mag SSDs, providing up to 16TB of storage with 3000+ MB/s speeds over Thunderbolt 3. It’s perfect for high-demand workflows, large studios, and productions requiring fast data access and massive storage capacity.

Performance Analysis

In testing, the Mag SSDs delivered excellent performance on both PC and Mac systems. Coleman used a 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro chip and a Windows system with an AMD 5950x processor. The SSDs achieved speeds that effectively saturated the available USB-C bandwidth and maintained high speeds during extensive file transfers without overheating or throttling.

Real-World Use and Recommendations

While the Pro-Blade Mag SSDs can reach their full potential in terms of speed and performance, their actual performance depends on the computer’s interface. The Transport enclosure’s lack of Thunderbolt support limits its speed to about 1000 MB/s on many systems, but the Station enclosure overcomes this limitation with Thunderbolt 3 connectivity.

Despite these limitations, the SanDisk Pro-Blade SSD System stands out for its high-quality build, modularity, and professional design. It’s an excellent choice for photographers and videographers who need fast, portable, and swappable storage solutions. Although the system is more expensive than simpler SSD options, its unique features and performance benefits justify the cost.

Conclusion

The SanDisk Pro-Blade SSD System is an exceptional choice for professionals requiring a streamlined and robust storage solution. Its combination of speed, durability, and modular design makes it a standout option for managing large volumes of high-resolution data on the go.

Read the full article by Alex Coleman for Photography Life HERE

[netscapenavigator-official]

I FEEL you so hard. Have had my iphone XR since 2019 and it works ok (battery life is still ok and it doesn’t crash ALL the time) but i can’t wait until it’s practically a brick so i can switch to an android without guilt. The faceID kills me and I’m practically never using it (got a thin scratch in the glass above the selfie camera 2 years ago, so i have to make sure no light is randomly bouncing on the scratch when I unlock my phone, or the halo blocks everything) and it’s like having a babysitter version of a phone. I’m not allowed to use any applications not vetoed by Apple Inc. and almost all features are so much less customisable… sure, and iphone is great in some regards (5S and XR have been surprisingly good models in my experience) but for the past 3 years I’ve felt soo limited by Apple’s philosophy

Well, good news (or bad depending on how long you want to keep that phone), the iPhone XR is most likely next on Apple's chopping block of support. The iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X were all dropped with the release of iOS 17, last September. If Apple keeps on their linear path, this September, with the release of iOS 18, the iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max will all be dropped. Apple usually gives phones two years of security patches after they're dropped, however, so it depends on what you consider a "brick." I, unfortunately, have an iPhone 12-series phone, so I've got at least two more years of updates left, four if I wanna push my goal to the security update deadline.

Also, for the Face ID issue, idk if you've tried this, but try doing a rescan. Go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode, and click "Set Up an Alternate Appearance." I don't know if all iPhones have this. I think they may have added it for the iPhone 12-series and newer, but if you have it, give it a try and see if it helps smooth over Face ID. By teaching it what you look like with the scratch interfering, it may be able to better compensate for it. If you're phone doesn't have that, you could always try tapping "Reset Face ID," too, to force it to re-scan. Although, with damaged glass, I don't know if it'll let you.

The App Store is another point of contention for me, too. I have a 2011 MacBook Pro that's been "obsolete" since 2017, when macOS High Sierra stopped getting updates. I wiped the drive clean and put Linux (Zorin OS) on it, and it's actually been really great. It runs like it's native. The problem, though, is that using Linux has opened my eyes to just how few free & open-source apps support iOS because of Apple's bullshit App Store requirements and $99/year developer fee. A lot of the apps I use on this computer are great, and they support Android, but they don't support iOS. It's a real bummer, and I'm just tired, in general, of not being able to do the things I want with my phone, so unless Apple decides to get really cool, really fast, this will certainly be my last iPhone. (Especially with iOS 18 coming with RCS Message support, almost entirely eliminating the difference between iMessage and Android to iPhone messaging.)

And I'm not trying to shit on Apple too much because Google is worse in plenty of ways. I have plenty of Apple devices from an iPhone, to an M1 iMac, to an Apple TV, etc. Apple makes really good hardware (with the exception of its repairability). Their problem is that they hold themselves back with their own greed. We've seen it with plenty of devices. The Apple Vision Pro is a great example. Apple thought they could use their brand image to make the device successful, but they recently had to cut production in half because demand fell off so steeply. If VisionOS was open and easy to develop for, then I'm sure it could've been a success, but Apple's desire to control everything has gotten in its way. I mean, who wants to develop for a $3,500 headset where you have to pay $99/year for a developer account, and then $400 for an Apple Vision Proprietary Port to USB-C adapter?

The Mac is honestly in the same boat. I saw a YouTube Short of a developer explaining why they dropped Mac Support, and it makes sense. To make an app on each platform you have to:

Windows

Have a PC

Code the app in any application of your preference.

Compile for Windows

Linux

Have the same PC

Code the app in any application of your preference.

Start a Virtual Machine and open the project inside it.

Compile for Linux

macOS

Buy Mac hardware ($600 for the base model Mac mini)

Pay Apple $99/year for a developer account

Code the app in Apple's Xcode

Acquire and add a Code Signature to the app so that macOS doesn't throw a fake error when attempting to open it.

Compile for macOS

If you want to upload your app to the Mac App Store, get Apple's blessing that it follows their guidelines.

Wait at least 24-hours before updates are published so Apple can approve them.

Give Apple a 15-30% cut of any money made from the App.

I used to thing that macOS had shit app support because developers just didn't want to support a niche market, but now I know it's the opposite that is true. Even if Linux has an even smaller market, it's as easy as clicking another button or booting up a free Virtual Machine and then clicking said button. You can use all the same hardware and programs. It's literally free to compile for Linux, and it expands your user base.

Meanwhile, for macOS, you have to spend a minimum of $700 just to make the app. Then, if you're not an A-List developer, you have to give a portion of your proceeds to Apple so you can put your app on their App Store for the exposure. Who the fuck would wanna do that?

Apple's death grip on their products worked for the iPhone and Apple Watch because they were both relatively new products to their respective category, but in a market where technology is starting to plateau, I'm simply no longer interested in supporting this behavior, mostly because I want to be able to use my favorite FOSS on all my devices, not just the non-Apple ones.

[hellotechnologyworld]

Unveiling the Most Powerful Mac: A Guide to High-Performance Computing

If you're in search of the most powerful Mac available, you've come to the right place. Apple's Mac lineup boasts impressive computing capabilities, catering to professionals and enthusiasts who demand exceptional performance for intensive tasks like video editing, 3D rendering, software development, and more. In this guide, we'll explore the pinnacle of Mac performance and highlight the most powerful Mac models currently offered by Apple.

Understanding Mac Performance

Before delving into specific models, it's important to understand the key components that contribute to Mac performance:

Processor (CPU): The heart of any computer, the processor determines how fast tasks can be executed. Apple's custom-designed M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max chips offer groundbreaking performance with industry-leading efficiency.

Graphics (GPU): For graphics-intensive tasks like rendering and gaming, a powerful graphics processing unit (GPU) is essential. Macs equipped with dedicated GPUs deliver superior graphics performance.

Memory (RAM): Adequate RAM ensures smooth multitasking and efficient handling of large datasets. Higher RAM capacities are crucial for professionals working with demanding applications.

Storage (SSD): Solid-state drives (SSDs) offer faster read/write speeds and improved overall system responsiveness. Large SSD capacities are beneficial for storing and accessing large media files.

The Most Powerful Mac Models

Now, let's explore the Mac models that stand out as the epitome of performance and power:

Mac Pro (Late 2019):

Ultimate Performance: The Mac Pro is Apple's flagship desktop workstation designed for professional users with demanding workflows.

Modular Design: The Mac Pro features a highly modular design, allowing users to customize and expand the system with powerful hardware configurations.

Processor Options: Offers up to a 28-core Intel Xeon processor for unparalleled processing power.

Graphics: Equipped with AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo graphics for exceptional GPU performance.

Memory and Storage: Supports up to 1.5TB of RAM and multiple SSD modules for high-speed storage.

Mac Studio (2022):

Professional-Grade Performance: The Mac Studio is a powerful desktop workstation featuring Apple's custom M1 Max or M1 Ultra chip.

Compact Design: Despite its compact size, the Mac Studio delivers impressive performance comparable to the Mac Pro.

M1 Max/M1 Ultra Chip: Offers industry-leading CPU and GPU performance, making it ideal for creative professionals and power users.

Memory and Storage: Configurable with up to 128GB of unified memory and up to 8TB of SSD storage.

Connectivity: Features Thunderbolt 4 ports for high-speed data transfer and connectivity with external displays and peripherals.

Choosing the Right Powerful Mac

When deciding which powerful Mac is right for you, consider the following factors:

Workload: Determine the specific tasks and applications you'll be using the Mac for. For heavy-duty tasks like 3D rendering, video editing, and scientific simulations, the Mac Pro or Mac Studio is ideal.

Budget: High-performance Macs like the Mac Pro and Mac Studio come with premium price tags. Evaluate your budget and prioritize features based on your needs.

Future-Proofing: Invest in a Mac that can grow with your needs over time. Consider upgrading options for memory, storage, and peripherals.

Portability: If mobility is important, consider a powerful MacBook Pro with M1 Pro or M1 Max chip. While not as powerful as desktop workstations, MacBook Pros offer impressive performance in a portable form factor.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, the most powerful Mac models, such as the Mac Pro and Mac Studio, represent the pinnacle of Apple's computing technology, delivering unmatched performance for professional users and enthusiasts. When choosing a powerful Mac, prioritize your specific workflow requirements, budget considerations, and future expansion possibilities.

Whether you opt for a desktop powerhouse like the Mac Pro or a compact yet powerful workstation like the Mac Studio, investing in the right Mac will elevate your productivity and creativity to new heights. Explore Apple's website or visit authorized retailers to learn more about the specifications and configurations available for these high-performance Mac models.

[havnblog]

My Setup for the M4 Mini as a Secondary Mac

NAS, Media Server, and Light Gaming

I spent the weekend setting up my little new Mac – and I have to say: it went pretty smoothly! Here’s what I did, and how you can do it yourself if you like.

The hardware

As Apple’s upgrade prices are certified insane, I went for the absolute base model. I did briefly consider getting 10 gig Ethernet – but I had to change too much about my setup to get any benefits from it. And I don’t really need that fast a connection for my use case.

16 GB of ram is enough for me, but the built-in 256 GB of storage is obviously too little. But as it’s a stationary machine, getting external storage works great.

There are some reports that these Macs' storage is actually upgradeable! But that's above my pay-grade.

Some drives will use regular USB speeds (for instance USB 3.2 Gen 2). These are cheaper – but if you go for USB 4 or Thunderbolt 3+ you will get about three times the speed. If you, like me, want to run programs (like games) straight from the disk, you’ll probably want the latter.

Instead of getting a regular external SSD like this 🖇️, I went for getting an enclosure + a separate drive. These are much less compact – but they’re flexible and upgradeable down the line.

For enclosure, I have seen this 🖇️ from HyperDrive and this 🖇️ from Satechi receiving numerous recommendations – and I found both of them in Norway. The only difference between them (apart from looks) I could see, was that the HyperDrive is rated for a maximum of 4 TB, while the Satechi can handle 16 TB. I could only afford a 2 TB drive currently (and don’t need more currently) – but I still went for the Satechi, also because I’ve had good experiences with the brand previously. (BTW, they also have a much cheaper, enclosure 🖇️ for regular USB-C.)

My drive is a Samsung 🖇️ 990 EVO 2 TB SSD. It’s rated for 5000 MB/s, which is probably more than needed (but it was about the same price as slower drives here). Especially if you’re going for regular USB-C, the drive doesn’t have to be fast. (But perhaps get something name-brand, to make sure it’s stable.)

Drive setup

This is what was included with the enclosure. The thermal pad was on the inside – but I removed it for now.

Then I connected the drive, and added the little rubber plug at the end.

The plug was easy to fasten.

There was no mention of the thermal pad in the manual! But I did my best to stick it to the lid so it touches the drive when closed.

There were no tools required, and it was as easy as it could get!

When I then connected it to my MacBook, I got this:

But don’t worry! Hitting “Initialise…”, or launching the Mac app Disk Utility, brings you here:

Hitting Erase up top, and formatting it to APFS, is all you need to make it work. (APFS isn’t the best for cross-platform-ness – but it’s the best for Mac, and needed for Time Machine.)

The speeds

Here are the speeds I got from different devices. 👇🏻 I ran a couple of tests, and these results were representative. Not too bad, IMO!

</th> <th> SSD enclosure </th> <th> M1 Pro MacBook </th> <th> M4 Mac Mini </th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td> **Sequential Read:** </td> <td> 2445 MB/s </td> <td> 4689 MB/s </td> <td> 5221 MB/s </td> </tr> <tr> <td> **Sequential Write:** </td> <td> 2508 MB/s </td> <td> 4665 MB/s </td> <td> 5318 MB/s </td> </tr> <tr> <td> **Random Read:** </td> <td> 848 MB/s </td> <td> 857 MB/s </td> <td> 768 MB/s </td> </tr> <tr> <td> **Random Write:** </td> <td> 844 MB/s </td> <td> 852 MB/s </td> <td> 780 MB/s </td> </tr> </tbody>

I think the sequantials are the most important. And, I have no idea why the Mini seems slower for the randoms. Maybe the disk was busy with something new?

My placement

Next, I unboxed the Mac, and placed it where it’s supposed to be. The Mac setup would’ve been easier if I took it to my office, where I have my external screen, keyboard, and trackpad. But I made do with my TV and what I had at home.

Mac Mini, Apple TV 4K, Nintendo Switch, Anbernic RG35XX 🖇️, and 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller 🖇️.

The following are permanently connected to the Mini:

Power

HDMI to the TV

Ethernet

The SSD Enclosure

The 8BitDo dock

I’ve previously made a quick reviewed of the 8BitDo controller here – but things are even better with my current setup: The dock being connected to the Mac, not only gives it power for charging – it also makes it so the 2.4 GHz dongle in the base is connected to the Mac. Out-of-the-box the controller, sadly, doesn’t support Mac – but 8BitDo support sent me a beta firmware for the dongle, which makes it work! So now it’s connected to the Switch via Bluetooth and the Mac via 2.4 GHz – and I can easily change connection with a switch at the back of the controller.

But I had to connect some temporary peripherals as well:

I think the last image, including the USB-C adapter on the mouse’s USB-A cable, shows why the front-ports are nice, and why the lack of USB-A ports is a total non-issue.

Sadly, I don’t think I could set up the Mac Mini by only using my MacBook – so I had to connect some peripherals. I could probably have made do with only the keyboard – but I didn’t know the following: When you tab through to select things like _Confirm _buttons, you have to hit Space (and not Enter/Return, for instance). 🤷🏻‍♂️ So a mouse was practical – even though I didn’t have a wireless one.

I just sat on the floor while running through the initial setup.

Mac setup

As mentioned in the subtitle of this post, my use cases for this Mac are NAS, media server, and light gaming. And here’s the software stuff I did to make it happen.

Screen setup

My TV is a pretty average older Philips 4K TV (with the, IMO, underrated feature Ambilight) – and I had a couple of issues regarding resolutions in macOS. What I wanted was to run it in 1080p HiDPI, which means that the screen has the size as if it is running in 1080p, but it’s technically running in 4k. Every “pixel” in the 1080p is actually four pixels. (I’ve written more about this here.) However, I could only choose between regular 1080p or 540p HiDPI!

I did find a fix for this, though, by installing (and buying) BetterDisplay Pro. This allowed me to override the given resolution, making sure macOS knew the screen was 4k, and allowing me to select 1080p HiDPI.

More system configuration options and Edit native panel pixel resolution was the answer.

The options available under here also improved the way the TV looks. 👌🏻

File and screen sharing, and remote control

Quickly, I wanted to find a way to control the Mini from my MacBook. And here I’ll outline the two ways I do it.

Doing it via Screen Sharing is nice because then I don’t have to be able to look at the TV while doing it. However, initially, that method was really unstable for me. I think it was because the network was being taxed by initial setup, downloads from cloud storage, etc. So, in the beginning, regular Continuity was the way to go. This meant I could just move my mouse up and above my laptop screen, to have the built-in MacBook trackpad and keyboard control the Mini.

Here’s a video of me moving from my iPad, via my MacBook, and to my Mini, with Continuity:

You’ll set up screen and file sharing the same place: System Settings -> Sharing

Here you also get a glimpse of the state of my Mini's dock.

This last screenshot is of the File Sharing options – but I forgot to show one thing: I added the home folder (named “erlend” in my case) as being shared. It’s the folder icon you can see in the background. I then right-clicked that folder, and turned on Share as a Time Machine backup destination.

All of this, leads to the following, when I select Erlend’s Mac mini in the Finder sidebar:

As you can see, both my home folder, internal disk (Macintosh HD) and external disk (Satechi SSD) are available. I can also hit Share Screen… up top to take control of the Mini.

Time Machine

If you haven’t enabled Share as a Time Machine backup destination, you’ll get this when trying to set it up:

But by following the steps I outlined above, it becomes possible to select the external drive connected to the other machine here.

Other uses of external drive

As the internal storage is so paltry, I have to set up the Mini to use the external drive as much as possible. And here are some ways I’ve done this:

Dropbox

Due to Apple depreciating some APIs, you can’t have your Dropbox on an external drive if you use the default client. But if you use Maeastral, this becomes possible.

Be warned, though: Running the initial Time Machine on two laptops, while also syncing iCloud and Dropbox on a new machine, is best done overnight…

App Store

Recently, Apple added this new option to the App Store:

I don’t think I’ll install anything over 1 GB on this Mac – but I thought I’d shout it out anyway!

Steam

I’ve installed two versions of Steam on the Mini: A regular macOS install, and a Windows version via Whisky. And if you go to the Steam settings, and Storage, you can select a default destination for your game installs. This can also be on an external drive, so I chose that, of course.

No Mac version? No problem! Loving UFO 50, by the way.

Media server – Jellyfin

The last step in my setup, was to set up the Mac up as a media server. **I’ve used Plex previously, but I wanted to give the open-source alternative Jellyfin a shot. And I love it! **

The installation was relatively easy. The only hiccup I had, was that when I followed this guide to turn on hardware acceleration, I also turned it on for AV1 – and this broke stuff. I posted in the forums here, and in minutes I got a reply telling me to turn off AV1, and everything worked.

**But the best part about Jellyfin isn’t Jellyfin. It’s that I can use Infuse as a client. **I just love un-bundling and third-party options, as I’ve written about here and here. It’s great that the people writing Infuse can be laser focused on making a delightful video player, while it’s OK if the people behind Jellyfin focus on creating a good backend. I love that I don’t have to choose media server software based on whether I like the player!

Infuse is a delightful software experience.

Pretty painless

… is how I’d summarise the process. And I bet I’ll discover new things to use this machine for as times goes by! Will keep you updated – and please don’t hesitate to ask questions!