In economics, there’s a principle called the law of diminishing returns. To explain why, I need to turn to economics. It might seem like this makes for three redundant options, but after reviewing the MacBook Pro and spending a month with the new Mac mini, I can confidently say that the Mac mini is the best choice for the majority of photographers. Well worth the investment.When Apple debuted the M1 system on a chip (SOC), it released three computers equipped with the same CPU/GPU/RAM combo: the M1 MacBook Air, the M1 MacBook Pro, and the M1 Mac mini. The trackpad is as good as ever, no issues there. I miss the metal backing to the keyboard, but that's not a deal breaker for me. That's something I have always wanted back on the Macbook series. I used it for brightness and volume adjustment often and had it customized to take screenshots easily. I'm surprised to say, but I miss the touch bar.

I have to hit space to wake the computer before using the fingerprint scanner or else the screen flickers and does weird things. I appreciate the fingerprint sensor, but it's a little bit finicky. The cable is also threaded and feels great.

No more worries about accidentally breaking the USB-C cable from tripping over the cable. The magsafe charging port is also excellent. Having a built in SD card port has made my use much more convenient for importing photos from my DSLR. We've had accessible 144hz monitors for years at this point. I also appreciate the periodic 120hz refresh rate. I had some qualms about the notch on the screen, but I've installed an application called TopNotch that blacks out the top bar and hides the notch for most scenarios. But it makes sense considering how much this machine is packing in. Noticably heavier than past models I've owned. They somehow create this amazing surround sound effect and I still don't understand it. I frequently run Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom and Chrome with 20 tabs open simultaneously with no issues. I haven't really been able to challenge the computing power much because of how well equipped this machine is. The battery life is phenomenal, and it charges super fast.

Mac mini m1 indesign