The Mac mini is among the best entry-level Macs compared to iMac, Mac Studio, and MacBooks. It comes in a small form factor with extraordinary performance and starts at $599.

If you edit videos regularly, you may consider the Mac mini but doubt its capability. To clear the air, we'll show you how some popular video editing apps perform on the Mac mini to determine whether or not it's suitable for video editing.

What Makes the Mac mini Powerful?

Mac mini next to LG display, Apple keyboard, and trackpad

The Mac mini is powered by Apple silicon, which can breeze through your day-to-day tasks without breaking a sweat. The M2 chip in the 2023 Mac mini offers decent performance improvements over its previous generation.

All thanks to the 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU coupled with unified memory and a super-fast SSD for making it possible. Besides, it can connect to up to two monitors simultaneously, making it perfect for video editing. This is why the Mac mini is the best entry-level Mac you can buy right now.

Furthermore, the best part about Apple silicon chips is that they offer outstanding performance while consuming much less power than Intel and AMD chips. As a result, you shouldn't get confused about whether you should get an Intel or Apple silicon Mac mini.

Mac mini's Performance in Video Editing

Currently, three popular video editing software have been optimized for Apple silicon processors: Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, and DaVinci Resolve.

Given that you're into video editing, you might be looking at one of these apps to run on your Mac mini. We've tested both 4K and 1080p footage on these three apps, and here are the results:

Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro on macOS

Apple's Final Cut Pro is one of the most optimized video editing apps for macOS. But you might be wondering if the Mac mini can handle it.

When we tested a 4K video at 60FPS, we could scrub through it without issues, even when the preview was on the Better Quality playback setting.

Nevertheless, when you introduce effects like the Basic 3D Text, you'll notice a stutter, which will disappear once the effect gets rendered. Although, you won't face this issue in the Better Performance playback setting. Besides, you can do all the color corrections flawlessly. The Mac mini can easily handle 4K footage in the Better Performance mode.

In contrast, the Better Quality mode requires occasional pre-rendering, but that won't stop you from editing an 8K or 4K 10-Bit HDR clip. On the other hand, 1080p clips are not a big deal for the Mac mini on Final Cut Pro, and they work flawlessly.

Lastly, the rendering time can be slow on the Mac mini compared to higher-end Macs, but it's still significantly faster than older Intel Macs. It's best for basic editing with some LUTs, effects, and transitions; you will still have room to push it to its limits.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro on macOS

Adobe Premiere Pro is a classic and popular video editor that recently got optimized for Apple silicon. We tested out the exact 4K 60FPS footage as we did in the Final Cut Pro. Surprisingly, it worked fine when imported when scrubbing through the timeline.

However, when you apply some effects, the video becomes a little choppy if you set the preview to 100%, which is generally not visible to the naked eye but is there. Nevertheless, once pre-rendered, everything works fine. Although, if you set it to 50% or 25%, you won't face this issue.

1080p videos, on the other hand, swoosh through the Premiere Pro like a piece of cake. You won't face any delays or stutter while working on them with tons of effects on top of it.

Besides editing, the rendering times can be twice that of Final Cut Pro but way better than Intel Macs or PCs. If you work with a lot of 4K or 8K footage, it might not be one of the best apps for video editing for the Mac mini.

DaVinci Resolve

DaVinci Resolve on macOS

DaVinci Resolve has been the go-to companion for those who work with color grading, and its performance on the Mac mini is similar to that of the Final Cut Pro. You can easily edit 4K 60FPS videos, and you can edit them without many hiccups, but you will notice delays when scrubbing the timeline when you add many effects, LUTs, and transitions.

However, you won't see the same if you switch to Quarter playback resolution while editing. As for 1080p videos, they cruise through DaVinci Resolve on the Mac mini. You won't have any issues regardless of the number of effects or transitions you put on; DaVinci Resolve will take care of it.

Finally, the rendering time on DaVinci Resolve is similar to what you would find on Final Cut Pro. So, you can call it a Final Cut Pro alternative for the Mac mini.

ProRes Acceleration for Video Editing

Apple M2 Chip Specifications
Image Credit: Apple

Working with ProRes codec helps you play back footage when editing a video without many issues. Since the Mac mini runs on the M2 chip, it comes with ProRes hardware decoding and encoding acceleration. And if you record ProRes video on your iPhone, you'll find it more valuable.

Apple ProRes is a video codec that compresses the video file while retaining the high quality of the video and all file data you might need for professional editing. Furthermore, it supports up to 8K resolution on the M2 chips. So, you'll see a boost in the performance if you're working with this codec.

Whether you have a Mac mini or not, all Apple silicon Macs can handle it perfectly, regardless of the video editing app you use. But you'll find better results if you use Final Cut Pro.

Should You Get the Mac mini for Video Editing?

The Mac mini with the M2 chip and 256GB SSD costs $599, and the 512GB SSD version costs $799. These two options are perfect for basic video edits without many CPU and GPU-intensive tasks.

However, if you are into professional-grade video editing or intend to work with many 8K footage in the long run, you can go for the Mac mini with the M2 Pro chip that starts at $1,299.

Nevertheless, you can use any video editing software for your Mac mini, and they'll work just fine. Not only that, but you can also use your Mac mini for various other things.