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Lartymarf

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 11, 2007
132
6
The new Mac Mini is a fine piece of machine. Played with the new i5 version at the Apple Store and Final Cut Pro runs really smoothly and quickly on it. FCPX also loads faster on the Mac Mini compared to the high end iMac, most likely due to SSD in the Mini vs. Fusion drive in the iMac.

Anyway, just wanted to see how many ole faithful Mac Mini's are still performing duty out in the wild. Please stand up!

I have a 2010 Mac Mini with 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo and 2GB ram that I bought brand new and to this day still running like a little champ. In 2014, she was running slow, so I gave her a boost in energy by replacing the 2GB of ram with 8GB of ram. And then in 2018 I replaced the 320GB HDD with 500GB of SSD to give it a new life, and on top of that running High Sierra. :) I wouldn't try doing any video work on it, and it stutters when running 1080p YouTube video in full screen on the 1440p monitor, but everyday tasks like checking email, web browsing, editing documents, and playing music are still snappy.

If anyone knows how I can get it to run smoothly playing 1080p YouTube videos in full screen please do tell.

Which Mac Mini are you running and what duty is it performing? Do share!
 
2012 quad i7 2.3GHz, 16GB RAM, 2 x 1TB drives.

General browsing, playing lots of videos and music, and a small amount of processing video (recorded off TV, ripped from DVD, etc) and audio recordings (natural soundscapes). Main issue with it is the limits of the iGPU (HD4000). Means I need to watch how many windows and tabs I have open, which is always too many. :rolleyes:
 
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2012 quad core 2.6 , 16GB ram and 2x1TB ssd - Plex server .

With an egpu this is still a great machine, I don’t need to move up from as I choose a iMac Pro for my work needs .
 
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I think ours is a 2009. We upgraded with 8 gb ram and 500 gb sdd. It was like a new machine! Running El Cap. Used to be our dvr with eyetv until the 3.x version broke everything.
 
2012 quad core 2.6 , 16GB ram and 2x1TB ssd - Plex server .

With an egpu this is still a great machine,
Are you running an eGPU?

I don't much extra GPU grunt, so adding a modest eGPU could buy me a couple of years or so.
 
2012 server i7 2.3 quad 16GB ram and the two original 1TB 5400 RPM spinners.

Music production in Studio One.

I'll use it 7 - 10 days more ... then the new 2018 should be here.

I guess I'll keep the old one for a while until I know everything is up and running on the new one.
 
Are you running an eGPU?

I don't much extra GPU grunt, so adding a modest eGPU could buy me a couple of years or so.

I was for a while, and it extends the Mac mini’s life by many years . Though due to the lack of updates I moved the egpu to an intel hades , and got an iMac Pro . Highly recommend an egpu if u have a 2012 quad. It’s not TB3, but extends its life by years , depending on gpu
 
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2009 mini - retired after whole lot of heat from extensive video encoding.

2012 2.3 quad i7 - 8GB of RAM -- soon to be upgraded to 16. Fusion drive. Still running strong on the latest version of Mojave.

2018 3.2 hex i7 mini -- 8GB of RAM -- to replace an aging Windows10 box that self-destructed from an automatic update.

Extremely dislike the push away from full-featured computers to disposable glass screens. I love MacOS. I would love to find a way to run FreeBSD on the 2009 mini... if I had that kind of time.

I am very happy that Apple is still offering a computer that does not cost more than my car.
 
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My 2014 base Mini is an iTunes server, it runs itunes 24/7 with home sharing and my large library on an external drive.

My 2012 2.6ghz quad i7 Mini has 16gb memory and original Apple internal 256gb SSD. I left Mountain Lion on the internal SSD with all my expensive legacy software, for the times I still need it. Most of the time it boots from an external Samsung T3 1TB SSD with Sierra. This machine is used exclusively for video/audio editing.

No plan to replace either of these machines for awhile.
 
I have two 2012 Core i5 base models running Linux as server systems. These are the stock configuration as sold by Apple and I have no plans to replace them any time soon.

Regarding your video playback I would recommend heading over to the PowerPC Macs forum and asking there. Those guys are wizards at getting video to play back on older equipment. If anyone can find a solution those guys can.
 
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2012 i5 here. Upgraded with 16G's and an SSD. Used to be my Mac desktop until a couple days ago. Will probably see some TV/streaming duty in the future. Just replaced it with a trashcan (Mac!).

Also I have a 2005 Mini sitting here in it's box. 1.5 Ghz G4, 512 MB RAM. First Apple machine I bought - used to run at my Dad's until three years ago.
 
2012 i7 Quad 2.3, 16 GB, 480 SSD, 1TB spinner. Sonnet Breakaway eGPU with RX 580. Dedicated to running Zwift game at 4k on a 32" screen. Frozen at OSX 10.13.2 or the eGPU will not work on Thunderbolt 1.
 
I have a 2012 2.3ghz x4 i7 16 g RAM 750 SSD 1T HHD. Apples trade in will give me US$105???? They did not ask about RAM or drives?
 
2012 Mac mini (base model dual-core i5 upgraded to 8 GB RAM) being used as a HTPC. Runs slow without an SSD, but works fine for 1920x1080 video playback.
 
I have a 2012 2.3ghz x4 i7 16 g RAM 750 SSD 1T HHD. Apples trade in will give me US$105???? They did not ask about RAM or drives?
The 2012 quad core held its value extremely well. So did the 2012 i5 model. Probably because the 2014 model was considered so weak many people held on to the 2012 models. The new Mini will probably force prices on the 2012 models lower but the higher cost of the 2018 models will likely temper that somewhat.
 
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2009 and 2010 minis here, used for business by myself and biz partner.

Both 2.66ghz Core 2 Duo, 8 gigs ram. The 2009 has a 500GB SSD (installed it myself), the 2010 is has the 500GB original slow spinner.

After buying both many years ago, I stuck my head in the technology sand — didn't want to get distracted with, and be sidetracked by, the latest and greatest. Just wanted to get my work done.

Therefore, I didn't know until a few days ago Firewire is obsolete. Thunder who? You mean USB 2 isn't the latest and greatest? lol

But, now it's time to move on.

Will make the switch to new 2018 minis -- after doing LOTS of research beforehand to smooth the transition — during the week or two downtime I have coming up, probably next summer.

But I know enough now that I won't attempt to change the RAM myself in the new minis.

I destroyed the logic board of a perfectly good spare 2010 mini I had on hand by misunderstanding a key step to change out the hard drive.

And I nearly destroyed the 2009 mini when I installed the SSD (but I still managed to break the bluetooth antennas).

Plan to sell both on Ebay or donate to Goodwill after making the switch.
 
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Mid 2011 base model... Improved with 8gb 256ssd. Still chugging along quite nicely. when I found out it was not eligible for Mojave, I began to think about what might eventually replace it. And struggled. Much happier that the new mini has finally appeared. and, I will eventually have one. But no rush... No need to rush. The machine does exactly what I need as well as ever and long may that continue. When the sad day arrives and it dies then I will move to the next mini. But.. With luck that won't be this current new machine but one of its successors in the future.
 
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2x MM mid-2007 (2GB RAM/120GB HDD) running 10.6.8 just fine, one's my wife's, the other for guests and for us watching DVDs (no Netflix with 1-2Mb/s internet...)
Much faster than my 2007 MBP running 10.11.6 that, with 4GB RAM, is painfully slow opening MS Office or even system requirements.
 
I have a Late 2009 Mac mini (2.53 GHz, 4GB Ram, 500GB) and a 23" Apple Cinema Display. It’s mainly used for photography with Lightroom 6 and a scanner.
 
2012 2.3 GHz quad i7, 16 GB RAM, 2.12 TB Fusion drive

I got the stock model refurbished in early 2013 as a “tide me over until I can afford a new MBP” after my 2008 MBP became unusably slow. When I bought a new 2015 MBP, my plan was to sell the mini, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I upgraded the RAM and eventually created a Fusion drive. The high resale value on eBay has tempted me to sell it more than once, but still I keep it. I use it as a base station to connect all my peripherals, to house all my files (including my iTunes and Photos libraries), to rip my DVD collection, and to serve as a backup for my MBP. Once, my MBP somehow became corrupted during upgrade to Yosemite, and I had to reformat it and reinstall everything from scratch. Having everything on my mini made it much easier to recreate my setup on my MBP. Eventually, I’ll get a new Mac mini — but, for now, my trusty 2012 does everything I need it to do. If only it could drive my 4K monitor at full resolution...
 
I have a Late 2009 Mac mini (2.53 GHz, 4GB Ram, 500GB) and a 23" Apple Cinema Display. It’s mainly used for photography with Lightroom 6 and a scanner.

I have had the same mini and had 8GB ram and 512GB SSD installed 5 years ago for improved performance. Now I am considering getting one of those 2018 mini, but have not decided which configuration yet.
 
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