Mac Mini M2 Pro or Mac Studio M2 Max - 32GB

[barbd91753368]

Hi - I am looking to upgrade my 2017 iMac & had been considering the Mac Mini M2 Pro (10 Core CPU 16 Core GPU) with 32Gb unified memory and 2TB SSD. This is above my planned budget but I want 32GB and 2TB SSD seems sensible as my current 1TB drive is full, even with all my photos on external drives.

I noticed the Mac Studio M2 Max, also with 32 GB unified memory (12 Core CPU, 30 Core GPU)  but a 1 TB SSD is around the same price.

I use Photoshop minimally because the iMac struggles with it. Most of my editing is in LR and it beachballs when doing things like perspective correction, and to open Photoshop I have to restart the computer. But my intention is to use it a lot more for layered images (no idea what size these would be because I can't do them to test them out).

Possibly some of this is to do with the photos being on external HDDs with USB. But I need to upgrade anyway - so knowing very little about cores & processors, would I be better off with the 12/30 Mac Studio and the smaller SSD, or with the larger SDD of the 10/16 Mac Mini?

I've read that PS doesn't always need all the cores so that processor may be overkill & it would be better to have a larger SSD for scratch disk purposes. But I am completely clueless & am looking for any guidance that might be available.

Many thanks

[D Fosse]

I've read that PS doesn't always need all the cores so that processor may be overkill & it would be better to have a larger SSD for scratch disk purposes.

By @barbd91753368

Correct. Go for the 2TB option.

Just as system drive + Photoshop scratch disk, a 1TB drive should normally work well - but it's nice to have some additional internal storage space so that you don't need to have everything dangling off the end of flimsy cables. That's inefficient as well as risky (loose and worn connectors).

Note that "unified memory" just means an integrated GPU that uses shared system memory. The GPU can eat up a lot of memory, so the standard advice would be to double the amount of RAM you would normally need.