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In January, tech giant Apple introduced its new Mac Mini with it’s most capable, powerful, and versatile next-generation chip, the M2 Pro. Suddenly, office workers around the globe could run high-performance workflows, with phenomenal desktop experiences, that were previously unimaginable in such a compact design; speedier performance, huge memory bandwidth, advanced connectivity, longer battery life, and support for up to three displays. As GRAZIA’s Art Director, the Mac Mini and M2 Pro chip with up to 12-core CPU literally changed the way I did business for the better. Here’s a few notes and observations on my experience of the new technologies as they relate to my job.
1. While I’m usually Sydney-based, at present I’m working from the United States and delivering on content for our Australian team. Jumping on the flight from Sydney to LA was as easy as packing up my Mac mini (which is about the size of an external HD) and plugging it into a display when I arrived in the US. All my files and apps were ready to go! 
2. For context, GRAZIA magazine—the 600+ page quarterly beast that it is—is produced by a team of creatives who live in different cities all over the world: some work from home, some from an office, at times there are some on fashion shoot sets, and at other times there are others working from the literal place we print the respective issues. This means that I’m often jumping back and forth between locations, and thus back and forth between my iPhone and my Mac. Apple’s recent technological upgrades have allowed me to easily switch between the two devices (once I’m logged in with my Apple ID on both, of course). For example, if I’m writing an email on my iPhone, I can move it to my Mac to finish writing the email on my computer. I can even copy and paste back and forth from my iPhone to my computer.
3. Being a designer, I live in Adobe Creative Cloud; Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Premiere. Apple’s development of the M chip technology has brought BIG performance to a tiny physical size. It has brought faster running speeds and improved performance. This in turn has allowed Adobe to focus on adding new features to their own software, rather than writing code to ensure the software loads quickly on the operating system. For example, Adobe Photoshop’s ‘Object Select Tool’ (instant deep-etch!) and ‘Neutral Filter’ (which allows you to transform a winter background into summer). Adobe has really been able to build some amazing features, which all run super quickly.
4. Video is another area that I’m seeing massive improvements in when using the Mac Mini with the M2 Pro Chip. Designed to dramatically accelerate video playback, it exports video much faster from Adobe Premiere and iMovie than it used to – even when using 4K+ quality clips. (In fact, the next-generation Neural Engine is 40 percent faster than M1, speeding up ML tasks like video analysis and image processing!)
5. Along with the Mac Mini, I’m using the amazing Apple Mac Studio Display with 27-inch 5K retina and nano-texture glass. With over 14.7 million pixels, it truly shows off every single inch of our fashion shoots in incredible detail. Magazine deadlines can mean some late nights and the ‘True Tone’ technology automatically adjusts the screen’s colour temperature as the amount of light in the room changes, for a more natural viewing experience. The display also has a counterbalancing arm that makes tilting or changing the height of the screen feel weightless.
If you’re a designer who jumps between desks, locations, or is sick to death of watching the dreaded spinning wheel, consider the Apple Mac Mini with M2 Pro Chip with 12-Core GPU. It packs the speed needed to get the job done faster. Take it from me, it will save you so much time. The future really is here.
Explore the details of Apple’s new Mac Mini with M2 and M2 Pro
Explore the details of the Apple Studio Display
