Advice for base model macMini 2014 ?

redheeler said:

My mistake, there is no early 2008, I was looking at the early 2009. Of course my late 2008 MacBook Air here (which was already underpowered for the time) is still supported by Yosemite. The reason the early 2008 MBA and mid 2007 Mac mini stopped at 10.7.5 is because of 32-bit EFI. Another thing to note is that while '06 Mac Pros stopped at 10.7.5 for the same reason, they can run Yosemite quite easily with a bootloader.

Click to expand...

It is actually possible to do a firmware update on 2006/7 Mini to a 2,1 and if using a Core2Duo you can then install Yosemiteusing same boot.efi as Mac Pro 1,1. The only issue is GPU. There are extensions to partially enable the GMA950, but you don't get full acceleration.

I am using just such a setup to test WiFi AC/BT 4.0 cards. And yes, with one installed you can use Handoff/continuity with no additional hacks.

Had Apple chosen to include GPU drivers they could still be supporting these with ease.

As far as 2014 that is rated at 1.4 Ghz, if you use Intel's CPU tool in Windows, the CPU is always at 2.0 Ghz and uses 13 Watts. Running Far Cry 4 at 4K 60Hz with effects maxed it never breaks a sweat. Most of the work is done by eGPU, the CPU doesn't seem to do much.

inscrewtable said:

Better, (as in more useful, easier and cheaper) to put in 8 Gig of ram.

Click to expand...

No

Samuelsan2001 said:

It will be fine it'll run much like your MacBook Air once you have booted up.

Click to expand...

That's not what I've heard.

This forum is filled to the brim with complaints about how slow and sluggish the 2014 entry-level mini is, due to the HDD. It will most likely feel much, much, MUCH slower than any version of the Air.

Agreed with above poster.

OP:
If you get an entry-level Mini with 4gb of RAM and a platter-based hard drive, you WILL be back here shortly afterwards complaining, "how can I make this faster"?

Be forewarned with this knowledge...

Fishrrman said:

Agreed with above poster.

OP:
If you get an entry-level Mini with 4gb of RAM and a platter-based hard drive, you WILL be back here shortly afterwards complaining, "how can I make this faster"?

Be forewarned with this knowledge...

Click to expand...

The base mini with HDD isn't an upgrade over most computers even 5 years old with SSD. My nearly 8-year old desktop with Q6600 and SSD is faster than the base mini still (granted, it uses 5x the electricity).

Mid-tier model and SSD are the way to go, or SSD at the very least.

Don't buy the entry level Mac mini unless....

Hello,

to the OP, I recently (a few weeks ago) bought an entry level Mac mini.
I was frankly disgusted at how it performs. It is so slow, I am surprised Apple even sell it like this.

I made adjustments which really helped;

1) I bought 2 external SSD drives and cases.
2) I loaded my iTunes library on to one of these.
3) I copied the OS X operating system on to the other.
4) Both drives are connected via USB 3 to the Mac mini.

Now I boot from the external drive, and run iTunes from the other external drive.
My Home folder lives on the internal HDD.

For me this solution really works and made a big difference. However, if I had my time again I would not have bought the entry level Mac Mini.
This solution has cost me around £180 extra, so better spend this buy having a fusion drive or straight SSD only drive built in.

Please.. do not buy the entry level model. You will regret it.

boogiedout said:

My question is, would this mini drive me mad for being too slow and underpowered or will it truly be fine for all its needed for? It doesn't have to be the fastest or bestest, but it does have to be reliable and quick enough.
Any thoughts please?

Click to expand...

Fusion drive (Macs)/Express cache (Ultrabooks) are the minimum acceptable storage speed these days. I wouldn't buy anything new that used HDDs as the system drive. Hard disks are nice option for backup/media storage, though.

I also don't like the external SSD boot drive. It's prone to crashes due to messing with cables or shocks in the desk (which can interrupt I/O for a fraction of seconds, but is enough to crash the system). It happens with me when using various USB enclosures.

Perhaps you should get a new base 11" Macbook Air.

----------

boogiedout said:

I plan on keeping this machine until it dies. This mini will hardly ever be switched off, so i'm not worried about start up times.

Click to expand...

SSD is not just about startup times. I had a Macbook with 8GB around 2011. At that time it was a great spec, but the benefit of having a lot of RAM is not even near of having a small SSD.

Before installing a SSD on my 2010 Mini, I played a little with it after installing 16GB of RAM, on OSX Snow Leopard. The impression was: 16GB, 4GB, who cares? It felt nearly the same even with 4x the previous RAM.

The game changed when I dropped in a SSD. In short,

2GB RAM + SSD > 16GB RAM + HDD

I/O happens all the time, even when your browser is caching a thumbnail or a logo in a site. This small writes makes the overall experience feel laggy.

----------

boogiedout said:

I want to thank you and everyone for all the advice. I've pulled the trigger on the mid level model (8gb ram, 2.6ghz, 1tb) on amazon for £530. I know it still has the HDD but hopefully it'll be fine. I'll report back when it comes on Saturday!

Click to expand...

If your country allows returning, you'll probably want to do it. A base Air seems to be the best option if you don't need the additional ports from the Mini.

Just upgraded 2nd 2014 Mini

Hey Guys,

Wanted to tell you about experience doing SSD upgrade on 2nd Mini 2014.

All went well, it had been long enough since first that I forgot a few things.

The iFixit tear down isn't as big a help it could be.

One of the trickiest moments was pulling the SATA connector off the HD. I thought I had ruined it due to pulling on wrong part.

After I ordered a new cable ($15?) I realized I hadn't broken the first one.

Since I was going all the way to the HD itself, this time I didn't unglue the PCIE SSD blade cable off of the HD carrier.

Absolutely crucial that you get a good quality T6 Security Bit.

But after that, take your time and don't YANK on anything.

Put a 256GB SSD in as well as a 256GB PCIE blade from nMP. The nMP blade looks especially cool as it has a metal heatsink painted same color as interior of Mini.

The other thing that isn't clear in iFixit teardown is how to use the 2 little holes to PUSH the logic board out of the chassis.

But seriously, don't be afraid of this little machine. With a SSD and Blade SSD it is wicked fast now.

boogiedout said:

I want to thank you and everyone for all the advice. I've pulled the trigger on the mid level model (8gb ram, 2.6ghz, 1tb) on amazon for £530. I know it still has the HDD but hopefully it'll be fine. I'll report back when it comes on Saturday!

Click to expand...

Hello. The HDD is still the weak link here. 5400 rpm HDD just is not good enough. The processor jump and the RAM jump will certainly help, but the weak point is still present! I do hope you find this machine to your liking, but I have suspicions you may not be happy.

All the best, I hope you get on well....

boogiedout said:

I want to thank you and everyone for all the advice. I've pulled the trigger on the mid level model (8gb ram, 2.6ghz, 1tb) on amazon for £530. I know it still has the HDD but hopefully it'll be fine.

Click to expand...

Why would it be fine? HDDs are decades old tech. They are not fine.
You were strongly advised not to buy any mac with an hdd inside.
Get ready to buy an external ssd to run your OS from.

----------

brdeveloper said:

-
SSD is not just about startup times. I had a Macbook with 8GB around 2011. At that time it was a great spec, but the benefit of having a lot of RAM is not even near of having a small SSD.

Before installing a SSD on my 2010 Mini, I played a little with it after installing 16GB of RAM, on OSX Snow Leopard. The impression was: 16GB, 4GB, who cares? It felt nearly the same even with 4x the previous RAM.

The game changed when I dropped in a SSD. In short,

2GB RAM + SSD > 16GB RAM + HDD

I/O happens all the time, even when your browser is caching a thumbnail or a logo in a site. This small writes makes the overall experience feel laggy.

Click to expand...

That is the experience everyone has.
It makes absolutely no sense for to stick hdds into the mini series. A 128gb ssd costs about as much as a 500gb hdd and increases overall performance dramatically.

brdeveloper said:

SSD is not just about startup times. I had a Macbook with 8GB around 2011. At that time it was a great spec, but the benefit of having a lot of RAM is not even near of having a small SSD.

Before installing a SSD on my 2010 Mini, I played a little with it after installing 16GB of RAM, on OSX Snow Leopard. The impression was: 16GB, 4GB, who cares? It felt nearly the same even with 4x the previous RAM.

The game changed when I dropped in a SSD. In short,

2GB RAM + SSD > 16GB RAM + HDD

I/O happens all the time, even when your browser is caching a thumbnail or a logo in a site. This small writes makes the overall experience feel laggy.

Click to expand...

I completely agree, which is why my 2008 MacBook Air will be getting an SSD.

Altis said:

The base mini with HDD isn't an upgrade over most computers even 5 years old with SSD. My nearly 8-year old desktop with Q6600 and SSD is faster than the base mini still (granted, it uses 5x the electricity).

Mid-tier model and SSD are the way to go, or SSD at the very least.

Click to expand...

Fishrrman said:

Agreed with above poster.

OP:
If you get an entry-level Mini with 4gb of RAM and a platter-based hard drive, you WILL be back here shortly afterwards complaining, "how can I make this faster"?

Be forewarned with this knowledge...

Click to expand...

Mines works just fine. I love it!!!!

GilesM said:

Hello,

to the OP, I recently (a few weeks ago) bought an entry level Mac mini.
I was frankly disgusted at how it performs. It is so slow, I am surprised Apple even sell it like this.

I made adjustments which really helped;

1) I bought 2 external SSD drives and cases.
2) I loaded my iTunes library on to one of these.
3) I copied the OS X operating system on to the other.
4) Both drives are connected via USB 3 to the Mac mini.

Now I boot from the external drive, and run iTunes from the other external drive.
My Home folder lives on the internal HDD.

For me this solution really works and made a big difference. However, if I had my time again I would not have bought the entry level Mac Mini.
This solution has cost me around £180 extra, so better spend this buy having a fusion drive or straight SSD only drive built in.

Please.. do not buy the entry level model. You will regret it.

Click to expand...

MacVidCards said:

Hey Guys,

Wanted to tell you about experience doing SSD upgrade on 2nd Mini 2014.

All went well, it had been long enough since first that I forgot a few things.

The iFixit tear down isn't as big a help it could be.

One of the trickiest moments was pulling the SATA connector off the HD. I thought I had ruined it due to pulling on wrong part.

After I ordered a new cable ($15?) I realized I hadn't broken the first one.

Since I was going all the way to the HD itself, this time I didn't unglue the PCIE SSD blade cable off of the HD carrier.

Absolutely crucial that you get a good quality T6 Security Bit.

But after that, take your time and don't YANK on anything.

Put a 256GB SSD in as well as a 256GB PCIE blade from nMP. The nMP blade looks especially cool as it has a metal heatsink painted same color as interior of Mini.

The other thing that isn't clear in iFixit teardown is how to use the 2 little holes to PUSH the logic board out of the chassis.

But seriously, don't be afraid of this little machine. With a SSD and Blade SSD it is wicked fast now.

Click to expand...

thanks for the advice

Base model should be fine. However, for a little more cash, you get 2x the ram and 2x the hard drive space.

If you are going to have multiple users logged in simultaneously then more ram is vital.

Since the ram is soldered onto the MB, I would absolutely go 1 step up from the base model. Mid range machine will last you much longer.

applelover4u said:

Mines works just fine. I love it!!!!

Click to expand...

That's a very common phrase used around here, "works just fine." It's such a low standard that it can be applied to anything. I'd expect more from such an expensive, premium product.

My '07 desktop with SSD also "works just fine", in fact better than the base Mini. I sure wouldn't recommend anyone to buy it in 2015 though.

I'm glad you like yours, but to set the bar that low doesn't really help anyone decide. Toss in an SSD and it's an entirely different machine!

Does the i7 model of this new mini even make a difference?

AOMG said:

Does the i7 model of this new mini even make a difference?

Click to expand...

Zilch. It's a dual core part and only about 3% more powerful than the 2.8GHz i5.

bernuli said:

Base model should be fine. However, for a little more cash, you get 2x the ram and 2x the hard drive space.

If you are going to have multiple users logged in simultaneously then more ram is vital.

Since the ram is soldered onto the MB, I would absolutely go 1 step up from the base model. Mid range machine will last you much longer.

Click to expand...

Congratulations, you scored!

Throughout this thread you have received some calm advice that focused on the details in your original post. Your mid level model (8gb ram, 2.6ghz, 1tb) is a great choice because the soldered ram made that 4Gb in the base model a permanent limitation. Now you still have multiple SSD based upgrade options with this machine. You can leave it as is or at any time choose:

• PCIe SSD
• SATA SSD
• PCIe SSD + HD (speed and size)
• PCIe SSD + HD Fusion (speed + size in one volume)
• PCIe SSD + SATA SSD (!)

I think that you did great. Enjoy!

(This list is not all-inclusive. It lacks the external options which provide the SSD performance boost through USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt ports.)

boogiedout said:

Well the mac has arrived. At first all I seen was beach balls. But, after I had installed everything I was installing and after a few restarts, the Mid level Mac Mini is doing a fantastic job. Is it the fastest machine? NO. Is it a nightmare to use? NO. Does it suit the family and do the job it was intended for? YES! This computer is great. It's quick enough, has tons of storage and flips between users like a dream. We now all have our own desktop, settings and favourite apps and no one is using my macbook air but me! That folks is a result. I know an SSD would make it a far better machine, however for the purpose it was intended it has surpassed my expectations. There is a lot of talk on here about how useless a machine it is, how much of a travesty for apple to have released and how much anyone who buys it will regret it. Nonsense. You have to get it, use it, let it sort itself out and then you will see that this is a great, inexpensive but fully functional little computer. Thanks to everyone for all the input and advice. If I could say one thing to anyone considering a mac mini it would be just go for it.

Click to expand...

I bought my first Mac this week, if I remember right it's the same one you got (the Mini w/ 2.6 / 8 / 1TB). Not blazingly fast but it's fine for what we use it for - surfing, email, iTunes, photo management, and Word/Excel.

I love the size, it's so quiet, and it's not cluttered like our old Windows machine was.

I also LOVE Time Machine. I'm always super paranoid about losing my music and photos. TM virtually eliminates the possibility I'd lose them to a failed HD.

From what I understand you can add SSD, basically creating your own Fusion drive. I'm going to wait until it's out of warranty before considering that. But when I do it'll feel like a brand new machine all over again.

If it were up to me I would have bought something more expensive and more powerful. But I'm married so it's not up to me. Glad you like yours! This is what I had to do to get into a Mac and I'm happy I did.

boogiedout said:

Well the mac has arrived. At first all I seen was beach balls. But, after I had installed everything I was installing and after a few restarts, the Mid level Mac Mini is doing a fantastic job. Is it the fastest machine? NO. Is it a nightmare to use? NO. Does it suit the family and do the job it was intended for? YES! This computer is great. It's quick enough, has tons of storage and flips between users like a dream. We now all have our own desktop, settings and favourite apps and no one is using my macbook air but me! That folks is a result. I know an SSD would make it a far better machine, however for the purpose it was intended it has surpassed my expectations. There is a lot of talk on here about how useless a machine it is, how much of a travesty for apple to have released and how much anyone who buys it will regret it. Nonsense. You have to get it, use it, let it sort itself out and then you will see that this is a great, inexpensive but fully functional little computer. Thanks to everyone for all the input and advice. If I could say one thing to anyone considering a mac mini it would be just go for it.

Click to expand...

While I agree with your "just try it for yourself" philosophy (I did the same thing when buying my Mac Mini), the HDD vs. SSD isn't even a debate at this point, respectfully.

I did a homemade upgrade to a Fusion Drive with a 128GB SSD by Toshiba with the OWC data doubler kit last week (~7 months after buying the mini, so I tried it with the HDD), and MAN the difference in speed in mind-blowing. In total, the upgrade cost me about $90. If you're spending $500 on a computer you expect to last you at least a few years, you might as well take $100 extra and make it faster for you and your family. I'm hoping that with the next Mini release, HDD's will be eliminated.

Decimotox said:

While I agree with your "just try it for yourself" philosophy (I did the same thing when buying my Mac Mini), the HDD vs. SSD isn't even a debate at this point, respectfully.

I did a homemade upgrade to a Fusion Drive with a 128GB SSD by Toshiba with the OWC data doubler kit last week (~7 months after buying the mini, so I tried it with the HDD), and MAN the difference in speed in mind-blowing. In total, the upgrade cost me about $90. If you're spending $500 on a computer you expect to last you at least a few years, you might as well take $100 extra and make it faster for you and your family. I'm hoping that with the next Mini release, HDD's will be eliminated.

Click to expand...

HDDs are like using Cassette/VHS tapes in the CD/DVD era. They are still good as a home/small business backup storage, though.

Altis said:

That's a very common phrase used around here, "works just fine." It's such a low standard that it can be applied to anything. I'd expect more from such an expensive, premium product.

My '07 desktop with SSD also "works just fine", in fact better than the base Mini. I sure wouldn't recommend anyone to buy it in 2015 though.

I'm glad you like yours, but to set the bar that low doesn't really help anyone decide. Toss in an SSD and it's an entirely different machine!

Click to expand...

I agree an sad will make a big difference. Heck replacing a v6 in a camero with a v8 will make a big difference

My point that with the specs and the price, the "low level" make does an heck of a good job and it does it job well

applelover4u said:

I agree an sad will make a big difference. Heck replacing a v6 in a camero with a v8 will make a big difference

My point that with the specs and the price, the "low level" make does an heck of a good job and it does it job well

Click to expand...

Sure, it does it okay... but it doesn't do it better than anything else except older machines -- and even then, most machines in the past few years are still better.