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Is the 1.4ghz enough for my needs? Or should I go for 2.6 ghz
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The processor really isn't an issue. Probably biggest issues will be RAM and/or the Spinning hard drive in the base model. Even the Base Mini w/ the Fusion Drive would be a decent computer. An SSD can somewhat make up for the lack of RAM.
Anyway, yes it would probably work for you. I'm just not a fan of mechanical drives anymore.
8Gb Of RAM Is A Start...
Sure that 8Gb of RAM will help. You still need an SSD or Fusion Drive (FD) to complete the package. Paulrbeers is right. If you still have doubts, then you should try a stock (1.4/4/HD) base model before you buy.
On Monday I visited our nearest Apple store and test drove some of the machines. For most tasks, the nMP didn't really feel different from a mid-range mini. Likewise, other than the display, the high-end 5K iMac was not much different from any given MacBook. The real shocker was the base mini. The beachballs were brutal. When I clicked iMovie the icon started bouncing, and bouncing, and bouncing... I thought that it would never stop! After an eternity (30+ seconds?) of bouncing the mini entered that nether-world of "disk activity" that those obsolete HD LEDs used to inform us about. The icon was still but so was everything else. This went on for a while as well. Finally iMovie opened. It ran okay. Files took a while to load and everything seemed a little groggy but iMovie did get up and running.
With an SSD things are completely different.
Sure that 8Gb of RAM will help. You still need an SSD or Fusion Drive (FD) to complete the package. Paulrbeers is right. If you still have doubts, then you should try a stock (1.4/4/HD) base model before you buy.
On Monday I visited our nearest Apple store and test drove some of the machines. For most tasks, the nMP didn't really feel different from a mid-range mini. Likewise, other than the display, the high-end 5K iMac was not much different from any given MacBook. The real shocker was the base mini. The beachballs were brutal. When I clicked iMovie the icon started bouncing, and bouncing, and bouncing... I thought that it would never stop! After an eternity (30+ seconds?) of bouncing the mini entered that nether-world of "disk activity" that those obsolete HD LEDs used to inform us about. The icon was still but so was everything else. This went on for a while as well. Finally iMovie opened. It ran okay. Files took a while to load and everything seemed a little groggy but iMovie did get up and running.
With an SSD things are completely different.
Honestly the Fusion drive is probably better than than the 8GB of RAM, but I realize to add the FD is 50% of the cost of the base Mini, vs. only 20% for 8GB of RAM.
Me Personally, I got a good deal on a Mid-Mini and then I upgraded the mechanical drive with an SSD (just swapped). With that said, it's not an easy swap and some prefer to go external SSD off the USB 3.0 bus rather than swapping drives...
All are good options.
1.4ghz will be plenty. see my other post. I did a test with my 1.4ghz 4gb
I had Fusion vm running with windows 8, an hd movie playing, music playing, firefox open with like 30 tabs i think, safari open with multiple tabs, google chrome open playing youtube video, website design software open, and app store plus a few more.
Switching between some windows was just a tad slower but the 1.4 proved itself worthy! Its a beast!
It did all this at the same time with no hiccup!
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will you guys quit saying this. He ask will this be good for him, not good for what you think or want.
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yep i just tried to open iMovie and it did the same , it took 45 seconds but that doesn't bother me as I multi task. Once it opens up it runs normal.
Get a sad drive via usb is a good increase but not really needed.
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But This Kool-Aid Tastes So Good!
Finally our voice of reason has arrived! Now the OP has the whole story. SSD speed is a wonderful thing and 8Gb of RAM is enough to do the job for years to come. However, the base model is a real Mac computer for an amazing price. The RAM is stuck at the amount that you originally purchase but the storage has several upgrade paths. The internal options use the PCIe or SATA interfaces but the externals are close behind with Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 ports.
If the most practical way to get a new Mac is to purchase a base model mini then the OP should do exactly that. Despite our fondness for SSD speed, the RAM upgrade is the critical decision because you cannot do it after the original purchase.
So, I am going to heed applelover4u and answer the original questions this way:
Yes ipos the 1.4Ghz with 8 is enough for you. It will run just like applelover4u said.
Finally our voice of reason has arrived! Now the OP has the whole story. SSD speed is a wonderful thing and 8Gb of RAM is enough to do the job for years to come. However, the base model is a real Mac computer for an amazing price. The RAM is stuck at the amount that you originally purchase but the storage has several upgrade paths. The internal options use the PCIe or SATA interfaces but the externals are close behind with Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 ports.
If the most practical way to get a new Mac is to purchase a base model mini then the OP should do exactly that. Despite our fondness for SSD speed, the RAM upgrade is the critical decision because you cannot do it after the original purchase.
So, I am going to heed applelover4u and answer the original questions this way:
Yes ipos the 1.4Ghz with 8 is enough for you. It will run just like applelover4u said.
No, because SSD (or FD) is good for any computer user, regardless of what the usage is. Even users who aren't knowledgeable enough to know an SSD from a turkey baster will unwittingly appreciate an SSD.
Apple still offers hard drives for only one reason - to lure customers in at a lower price point in order to up-sell them to the next price point that includes an SSD. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I think it hurts their brand more than it leads to sales - lots of users end up disappointed in Macs because it didn't have an SSD... because most people aren't knowledgeable enough to know the reason was a lack of SSD, they go away thinking Macs are as crappy as the Windows PC they use at work.
If budget is an issue, in almost all cases you're better off buying an older model with an SSD than a brand new one without an SSD.
The 1.4 Ghz Mini can lift its act to 2.7Ghz on occasion, should the need arise. Normally it will loaf along, cool and efficient, at the lower, rated speed.
Yes, there is a tendency for folks here to post you need this or that, based on their own, perception, situation, budget, needs, desires, dreams or whatever.
If I bought the "best" computer based on specs and what others say I should have, I would regret spending more than I can afford for performance I don't need.
Sure, a snappy SSD may be nice to have. The Fusion Drive option offers the benefits of both for those with the need and the budget. But HDD still remains proven and more cost effective.
Good to see a post based on the base model Mac Mini in use.
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No we won't. The average user may not know what an SSD/FD is, but he/she will definitely appreciate a machine with one inside.
If 45 seconds is acceptable to you, you must have never used an SSD or FD before. If it takes more than 15 seconds to boot from a cold shutdown, this is unacceptable for a computer today. If it takes 45 seconds to open an app for a modern computer today, it's also unacceptable.
Modern computers at such a price should be able to start up within 15 seconds and open apps within a second (or within 5 seconds, for large ones). And that will only happen with an SSD/FD.
What is acceptable/unacceptable is a personal thing. I am all SSD machines yet I don't find HDD machines unacceptable to use. My browsing the Internet isn't any slower. My movies play smoothly etc
Is Yosemite too much fat for hdd drives doing basic tasks or are you dramatizing?
I've a 6-year old laptop (t5800,4gb ram ddr2 800, hd 3430) with Windows vista and i do browsing and watch movies without problems.
Yeah, it has a 5400rpm drive, but it remains reliable.
I prefer base mini, use ssd external drive as OS partition and internal drive as storage.
I've a 6-year old laptop (t5800,4gb ram ddr2 800, hd 3430) with Windows vista and i do browsing and watch movies without problems.
Yeah, it has a 5400rpm drive, but it remains reliable.
I prefer base mini, use ssd external drive as OS partition and internal drive as storage.
OS X since Mavericks has been too fat for HDDs, because the Macs that have the highest sales are the portables, and they all have SSDs already, and so Apple optimizes OS X for SSDs and not give a damn about HDDs. Windows is still designed to run on older hardware with slow parts, but OS X lives on the bleeding edge.
Well I have 4gb and mines runs awesome with all kind of windows, music, vieos and vmware running.. Now imovie, photoshop and are slow to open(45 seconds or so) but I can deal with that.
I will add a external SSD to boot from and put apps on via USB later
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Apple been doing this upselling crap ever since they started period. Its nothing new
45 seconds is fine to me for th ebig apps imovie/photoshop for the price i paid of this "mac" usually im doing other things anyway multiltasking thus i can wait. I dont care about boot time 1 60 seconds is fine for me for the price i paid
my other apps open fast, its just the editing big apps that takes some time to open
I will put an external ssd via usb to boot off and put my apps on for less hen $100 and this thing will run like a beast and open up fast. Still come out cheaper
What we should tell op for his use, get the base 1.4ghz 4gb, then add a ssd later down the road which will still be cheaper then the other models
That's all fine and dandy for you. If you don't care, no one here is trying to force you to do something else.
External SSD's are a work-around as a boot drive - complicated to setup, poor TRIM support, not nearly as fast as PCIe (which makes a significant difference for memory management), susceptible to lost connections (whoops, just pulled out the wrong USB cable!), etc. They have their place when there aren't any other easy alternatives, or getting a little more life out of an old computer. No offense intended, but it's a terrible strategy for a new computer purchase.
The 1.4ghz is more than enough for what you want to do (the clock speed is misleading, it benchmarks just fine) and you can get by with 4gb of RAM easily. I would suggest getting an SSD or fusion drive if you can though, it will make a world of difference.
Listen to Hastings.
Your bottleneck will definitely not be RAM or CPU, but the ancient hdd.
Get an ssd!
I just joined the forum specifically to post on this!
I have a Mac Mini 2014 base model (1.4ghz, 4GB, the regular HD), and it's...wait for it...perfectly fine. It's loads better than the windows machine I had before (an ancient single core Win7 thing that I can laugh at now). I don't do anything heavy duty, though I had edited a few movies in iMovie and I game on it. For everything, no worries (though the most intense game I run are Total War games; not into FPSes, so there's that).
So, for the money, I think the base Mac Mini is just fine. I very happy with mine and I plan to use it at least 4-5 years, just like my last machine. Then, I hope, I'll have more cash, and I can go for a "better" mac, but if not, I'll be just fine buying whatever the Mini of that day will be.
I have a Mac Mini 2014 base model (1.4ghz, 4GB, the regular HD), and it's...wait for it...perfectly fine. It's loads better than the windows machine I had before (an ancient single core Win7 thing that I can laugh at now). I don't do anything heavy duty, though I had edited a few movies in iMovie and I game on it. For everything, no worries (though the most intense game I run are Total War games; not into FPSes, so there's that).
So, for the money, I think the base Mac Mini is just fine. I very happy with mine and I plan to use it at least 4-5 years, just like my last machine. Then, I hope, I'll have more cash, and I can go for a "better" mac, but if not, I'll be just fine buying whatever the Mini of that day will be.
Zombie Apocalypse
Sorry Mencelus, but you are about to find out that we cant tolerate your point of view! Like applelover4u, you have a base 2014 mini and claim to be satisfied. But that is impossible.
As brain-eating speed zombies, we know what is best for you and your computer.
Come on folks, drink some Kool-Aid and chant with me:
Spinner is bad. Fusion Drive is good. SSD is better. Brains taste good. Spinner is not tasty. I cannot be happy with any Mac if it boots from a spinner!
Sorry Mencelus, but you are about to find out that we cant tolerate your point of view! Like applelover4u, you have a base 2014 mini and claim to be satisfied. But that is impossible.
As brain-eating speed zombies, we know what is best for you and your computer.
Come on folks, drink some Kool-Aid and chant with me:
Spinner is bad. Fusion Drive is good. SSD is better. Brains taste good. Spinner is not tasty. I cannot be happy with any Mac if it boots from a spinner!