Am 01.10.24 um 16:31 schrieb mike wilson:

The processor power will be quite sufficient, whereas 8 GB RAM is the
absolute minimum and bear in mind that there's no way of extending it later.

Most probably.

This Mac Mini has a HDMI port and will work with any monitor with a HDMI
input.

Any as in a non-Apple keyboard? No idea. Never tried it. Any cabled USB
mouse should work.

Ralf

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Like Ralf said, the minimal RAM could be a choke point. Pretty much any
USB-A keyboard and mouse should work. I have one from Macally that was
around $40 and does the trick.

Have you considered laptops?

On 10/1/24 10:31 AM, mike wilson wrote:

Am 01.10.24 um 20:04 schrieb Doug Brewer:

Does Logic run under Windoze?

Ralf

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Ralf R. Radermacher  -  Köln/Cologne, Germany
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Not natively.

On 10/1/24 3:38 PM, Ralf R Radermacher wrote:

That’s an M2 Mac mini. You can get it at a good price with 16 gigs of RAM. That will be plenty although more is available. Any bluetooth keyboard eill connect and any monitor will as well. Although for simplicity sake I’d go with the basic Apple wireless keyboard. it’s not expensive and quite good. I use the same Mac for photo editing with the latest PhotoShop version including new AI functions. It kicks butt.  I have one 37-inch Drll monitor and one 31-inch LG monitor connected using the Mac video port. I have 20 external dtived connected. Simple,
Paul

Thanks all, for help and suggestions.  It looks like some serious bullet-biting is in my future.

I don't know what a "normal video connection is".

A new Mac mini cpu configured with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD drive and delivered with Logic Pro installed is approx $1200. It has an HDMI port to drive video output, so any display with an HDMI input is usable, and any keyboard/mouse/trackpad input device with Bluetooth, USB-A, or USB-C/Thunderbolt outputs will be useable.

I would spend the extra couple hundred $ and go with 1TB SSD because sound and video manipulations generally consume a lot of disk space. External drives for extended storage with USB-C connection are best, and are reasonably inexpensive for capacities of 4 to 6 TB.

Apple systems are generally supported for about 5-6 years of macOS revisions, so that gives your daughter a computer she can rely upon for an entire University degree program, rather than buying an old system that will go out of date and not be upgradable to the next revision of the apps/macOS she needs.

(This is pretty much precisely what my partner and I gifted our niece with over the Summer because she is starting her University degree program as well. We went with a MacBook Air laptop, though, because she needed/wanted mobility use, which added a bit to the cost. Call it $1900, and that of course includes the display and keyboard in the unit rather than having to purchase them separately. She'll use it for the entirety of her degree program, so $500 per year if it was then just tossed into the garbage (which it won't be), so that's really not a lot for an essential part of a modern student's annual University budget.)

G

On 10/1/2024 10:31 AM, mike wilson wrote:

Specs say it's got a 256GB internal SSD.

External SSDs that work with the Mac Mini are fairly inexpensive. Much
more so than the Apple upgrade price for internal drives.

I would think about getting the memory upgrade because I don't think you
can add memory later.

Specs say it's got one HDMI output. You might need a "Thunderbolt 4 to
HDMI" adapter cable.

I have an older Mac Mini (Intel Mac) and it came with a Macally Keyboard
& Mouse (cabled, numeric keyboard, 2-button scroll mouse) and an AOC
monitor. The Macally keyboards have the Apple specific keys.

https://www.amazon.com/Macally-Keyboard-Shortcut-Optical-MKEYECOMBO/dp/B01A109UHW/?th=1

https://www.amazon.com/AOC-27B2H2-Frameless-1920x1080-Compatible/dp/B0C8ZJ6RW8/?th=1

I think the Mac Mini is meant for people who want Apple, but don't want
to bust their budget, so it's designed to work with non-Apple displays,
mice, keyboards & external drives.

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i moved from a Mac Pro 2013 to a Mac Mini M2 Pro last year; the Mini is extremely capable; i don't think the regular M2 would make much difference, but i would suggest 16GB RAM — i push mine hard and sometimes wish i had 32GB; i run apps for audio, photo, GIS, design and lots and lots of browser tabs

there is likely an M4 mini to be announced this month, which may figure into the choice; it might default to 16GB — it will also mean discounts on the current line

i have both thunderbolt and USB external drives plus two thunderbolt displays attached, no problem; HDMI is supported natively as well (no need for an adapter), and adapters can be had for most anything else

i have used a lot of different keyboards, both bluetooth & USB; they all work, but if she uses a Windows-style keyboard (like me right now) she'll need an obscure yet trivial tweak to put the command and option keys in the right place (if she cares)

but i think most students would prefer a laptop; the MacBook Air line is about as powerful as the Minis, but with fewer ports for external devices; again get 16GB RAM

On Tue, Oct 1, 2024, at 08:31, mike wilson wrote: