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[FaceChart2]

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[teohyc]

Hi everyone,

I have a "Late 2014" Mac mini with a Core i5 2.6ghz dual core and 8GB RAM.

I am wondering how big of an upgrade (if any) going to the new Apple Silicon Mac mini with 16GB RAM would be? Like would it be drastically improved in terms of speed for everyday use or only a little?

Basically I use the Mac mini for Microsoft Office apps, web browsing, photo editing, iMessage, etc. No games.

Right now my Mac mini sometimes "hangs" for a few seconds and lags on things, so I was thinking about upgrading.

Thanks for any info!

Are you using Fusion drive or the spinning hard drive. If latter, you can just get an external SSD and run your OS on it. It will feel like a new computer. And in the future you want to upgrade, you can continue to use your external SSD

 

[FaceChart2]

Are you using Fusion drive or the spinning hard drive. If latter, you can just get an external SSD and run your OS on it. It will feel like a new computer. And in the future you want to upgrade, you can continue to use your external SSD

I think I already have an SSD on it that I selected when I ordered it.... I know for sure it isn't a spinning drive.

 

[B.A.T]

Buy the new mini and let us know how well it works.

 

[Meatsuit]

Probably a lot faster. No benchmarks yet. First Gen ARM...it might be a while for third-party software to arrive. Hard to say the memory demands for the new architecture.
I have the same 2014 Mini, SSD makes all the difference. Even then it's still a dog.

 

[Fishrrman]

For the use case the OP mentioned above, the M1 Mini would probably be a nice upgrade.
I would get the 16gb RAM upgrade and at least a 512gb SSD.