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ganja24

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 9, 2009
344
87
Is it worth trading my late 2012 i7 16gb 128 SSD for a 2018 base model i3 8gb 128PCI Mac Mini? Which Mac mini will be faster like boot up time and converting videos?
 
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Sarpanch

macrumors regular
Jan 12, 2013
137
123
SoCal
Is it worth trading my late 2012 i7 16gb 128 SSD for a 2018 base model i3 Mac Mini? Which Mac mini will be faster like boot up time and converting videos?
Not much difference between the 2012 i7 vs 2018 i3 in terms of CPU performance gain. Unless, you plan to use 4k monitors, I’d recommend you stick with the 2012 i7 for now.
2018 i5 and i7 models offer a significant performance boost.
 

ganja24

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 9, 2009
344
87
Also do you guys think 2012 Mac Mini will get the next major update of macOS at WWDC?
 

a2jack

macrumors 6502
Feb 5, 2013
482
336
Also do you guys think 2012 Mac Mini will get the next major update of macOS at WWDC?

Very much doubt it. The 2012 is taking sales away from their later models especially those with the none up-gradable RAM. a2
 

Heat_Fan89

macrumors 68020
Feb 23, 2016
2,051
2,430
Very much doubt it. The 2012 is taking sales away from their later models especially those with the none up-gradable RAM. a2
I very much agree as an owner of a 2012 Mini. It would just cut into sales as there would be no incentive to upgrade to the new Mini’s. So i’m not expecting my Mini to make the cut for 10.15 but even if it doesn’t get 10.15 I won’t buy a new Mini.
 

russell_314

macrumors 603
Feb 10, 2019
5,370
7,668
USA
Is it worth trading my late 2012 i7 16gb 128 SSD for a 2018 base model i3 8gb 128PCI Mac Mini? Which Mac mini will be faster like boot up time and converting videos?
Benchmarks show the 2018 i3 is about 30 percent faster with single core and about 20 percent faster with multi core compared to the fastest 2.6 GHz i7 from 2012. The i3 is intended for light use so if you're worried about performance get the i5. All 2018 CPU options are fairly close when it comes to single core performance but where the i5 and i7 shine is multicore. That's because the i5 and i7 have six cores vs four cores for the i3. While the i3 is only about 30 percent faster the i5 is almost double the multicore performance of the 2012 i7.

https://browser.geekbench.com/macs/435
 
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MRrainer

macrumors 65816
Aug 8, 2008
1,467
1,054
Zurich, Switzerland
Well, I do think the 2012 will get macOS 10.15.
From a cursory look, there's nothing in Haswell that isn't also in Ivy Bridge, except maybe for AVX2.
I don't think they're ready to cut the 2014 MacMinis.

Remember: while they came out in 2012, these were sold well into 2014.

I bought my 2012 in 2014. So 2020 will have gotten me six years of use.
Given that I paid about 1400 CHF for the lot (base 2.3 i7 + 16 GB RAM + 500GB SSD), that would come down to about 233 CHF per year or 0.63 CHF per day. That's not too outrageous.
A top-end 2018 is close to 2000 CHF - but because the 500GB SSD actually feels a bit small these days, I'd have to go to the 1TB SSD, which brings the cost to 2500 CHF. Or just get the 2TB model, if they haven't up'ed the prices on that again by that time...
And that doesn't include the fact that I probably would want to have a new display at that point.

I can see why with with this kind of money, people are noping out.
 
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Boyd01

Moderator
Staff member
Feb 21, 2012
6,904
3,722
New Jersey Pine Barrens
I have a 2012 2.6ghz quad i7/16gb with the original Apple internal 256gb SSD. I use this machine almost exclusively for video/audio with Final Cut Pro and Logic pro. Still meets my (relatively modest) needs, so no rush to upgrade. And when I do, not at all sure that I will stay with the Mini. As for whether the next version of MacOS will work... I couldn't care less. Still running Sierra on mine and booting from a 1TB external Samsung T3 SSD. I left Mountain Lion on the internal 256gb SSD, so I can boot into it for the times I need my very expensive legacy software - this is also a plus for the 2012 Mini.

But for the OP, who asked which machine would boot and render video faster, I would expect the 2018 to have the edge there, and it's certainly a better choice if you are concerned about future support. The 2011 Mini Server has already been added to the "vintage" list of products that Apple will not service, surely the 2012 isn't far behind.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624

"Vintage products are those that have not been manufactured for more than 5 and less than 7 years ago."
 

pl1984

Suspended
Oct 31, 2017
2,230
2,645
Also do you guys think 2012 Mac Mini will get the next major update of macOS at WWDC?
Just wait and see if it is. If it's not then you can always buy a 2018 if running the next major release of macOS is important to you.
[doublepost=1554048737][/doublepost]
Is it worth trading my late 2012 i7 16gb 128 SSD for a 2018 base model i3 8gb 128PCI Mac Mini? Which Mac mini will be faster like boot up time and converting videos?
I would not recommend buying a 2018 Mini merely because its boot time might be faster. Converting videos is another matter. How often do you convert them? If it's something you do frequently then a 2018 Mini may be a wise move.
 

MBAir2010

macrumors 603
May 30, 2018
5,644
5,336
sunny florida
quick ?, I'm buying ram for my Mac mini 2012. will 8gb in one slot, 2 in the other work?
i read somewhere years ago that was not a good idea.
i figure getting 8gb instead of 2 4gb will help me in the long run if i need 16 Gb in the future
you peeps here are great here as always!
 

StellarVixen

macrumors 68030
Mar 1, 2018
2,958
5,051
Somewhere between 0 and 1
Mac OS drops support every other version. If Apple continues that way, the 2012 should be safe one more year.

Yosemite: dropped support for some Macs.
El Capitan: no drop of support.
Sierra: dropped support form some Macs.
High Sierra: no drop of support
Mojave: dropped support for some Macs
10.15: ???
 

Farsider

macrumors 6502a
Jul 30, 2014
618
300
London, UK
I have a 2011 MacMini (base model) upgraded to 8GB RAM with a 500GB spinning disk. Mojave dropped support for it.

How does the base model of the 2018 MacMinis compare? Something tells me dropping an SSD into my Mini is a better choice than upgrading now the cost of these things has shot up.
 

bigfatipod

macrumors 6502
Sep 22, 2011
333
171
I have the QC 2.6 2012 and, if I decided to upgrade to 2018, I think it would only be worth it to look at the i5 or i7.
 

MBAir2010

macrumors 603
May 30, 2018
5,644
5,336
sunny florida
I have a 2011 MacMini (base model) upgraded to 8GB RAM with a 500GB spinning disk. Mojave dropped support for it.

How does the base model of the 2018 MacMinis compare? Something tells me dropping an SSD into my Mini is a better choice than upgrading now the cost of these things has shot up.
Does apple still installs non-ssd drives in their new models anymore?
 
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MBAir2010

macrumors 603
May 30, 2018
5,644
5,336
sunny florida
Yes, I have the original 500GB spinner drive in my 2012 Mini and Mojave just converts the partition to APFS.
Me too, what ram specs do you have?
I just ordered 8gb through owc macsales today, my first internets purchase since 2105, february!
I hope i can run 8/2 without the mini going all Altzhiemers on me!
Aint these mac very shinny? I love my mini!
 
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