Best OS for Mac Mini 2012?

[VirtuallyInsane]

Today I got my Mac Mini, and it's currently running on 16GB of RAM, has a 500HDD, and is on Mountain Lion (10.8.5.). It's a flying machine, and I am happy with my purchase so far. I would keep in on ML if I could, but not everything is supported. In terms of compatibility and performance, which would be the best operating system to put on it? I don't want to lose performance, but I still want compatibility.

 

[rovostrov]

Today I got my Mac Mini, and it's currently running on 16GB of RAM, has a 500HDD, and is on Mountain Lion (10.8.5.). It's a flying machine, and I am happy with my purchase so far. I would keep in on ML if I could, but not everything is supported. In terms of compatibility and performance, which would be the best operating system to put on it? I don't want to lose performance, but I still want compatibility.

I would probably go with 10.13 (high sierra) If I remember correctly, this OS did not slow the system down using HDD like some of the later releases did.

 

[VirtuallyInsane]

I would probably go with 10.13 (high sierra) If I remember correctly, this OS did not slow the system down using HDD like some of the later releases did.

Thank you. I don't mind upgrading to HS, but if my iMac 2019 is on Mojave, is it worth making it an extension of that? I don't want to do it if it's gonna hinder the performance, though.

 

[Andrea Filippini]

Today I got my Mac Mini, and it's currently running on 16GB of RAM, has a 500HDD, and is on Mountain Lion (10.8.5.). It's a flying machine, and I am happy with my purchase so far. I would keep in on ML if I could, but not everything is supported. In terms of compatibility and performance, which would be the best operating system to put on it? I don't want to lose performance, but I still want compatibility.

If you're planning to upgrade your storage to SSD, Mojave is the best option.
Personally my Mac Mini late 2012 with i7 runs easily Catalina but everything is on 64-bit so a faster cpu is mandatory.
Also High Sierra can be a good option but it has no dark mode.

 

[rovostrov]

Thank you. I don't mind upgrading to HS, but if my iMac 2019 is on Mojave, is it worth making it an extension of that? I don't want to do it if it's gonna hinder the performance, though.

Mojave is a great OS but personally, I wouldn't go past High Sierra unless you replace the HDD with an SSD.

 

[StellarVixen]

I used Mojave on my 2012 cMBP, and it worked well. I imagine 2012 Mac Mini has similar hardware, so I can recommend Mojave (if you have SSD).

 

[StellarVixen]

Mojave is a great OS but personally, I wouldn't go past High Sierra unless you replace the HDD with an SSD.

Agreed, if OP can't replace HDD then High Sierra is better option

 

[Andrea Filippini]

Agreed, if OP can't replace HDD then High Sierra is better option

Original drive is a 5400 rpm HDD.
Personally when I have upgraded to High Sierra my previous iMac late 2009 everything was sluggish (original 7200 rpm HDD replaced with 5400 rpm HDD).
So maybe it can run decently on a 7200 rpm HDD but I would avoid High Sierra on a 5400 rpm HDD.
Even a cheap SSD can do the trick.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

You can install the current version which is Ventura but you'll need to use OpenCore Legacy Patcher. If you decide to go that route then I would advised installing an SSD in the Mini and upgrade the RAM to a minimum of 8GB. I'm currently running Monterey on a 2012 Mini that has 8GB of RAM and an internal SSD and the performance is pretty good for a 13 yr old Mac.

 

[magbarn]

You already got 16gb of ram which is great so just drop in a 512gb or 1TB Crucial MX500 and you're set with that machine. But agree with the posters above, anything about High Sierra runs really bad on a HDD.

 

[glenthompson]

I'm running that model Mini as a file server on Catalina but I boot from an external SSD which makes a huge difference in performance. The external SSD is much easier to install than an internal. While an internal SSD will have better performance, the external is far faster than the spinning drive.

 

[darkelipse04]

Today I got my Mac Mini, and it's currently running on 16GB of RAM, has a 500HDD, and is on Mountain Lion (10.8.5.). It's a flying machine, and I am happy with my purchase so far. I would keep in on ML if I could, but not everything is supported. In terms of compatibility and performance, which would be the best operating system to put on it? I don't want to lose performance, but I still want compatibility.

Flying machine with an old school spinning HD? Now I've heard everything. 😂

 

[VirtuallyInsane]

If you're planning to upgrade your storage to SSD, Mojave is the best option.
Personally my Mac Mini late 2012 with i7 runs easily Catalina but everything is on 64-bit so a faster cpu is mandatory.
Also High Sierra can be a good option but it has no dark mode.

I will do it at some point in the future. Thanks. Not having a dark mode is alright. I can use a third-party theme, or some browser extension, right?

Mojave is a great OS but personally, I wouldn't go past High Sierra unless you replace the HDD with an SSD.

Agreed, if OP can't replace HDD then High Sierra is better option

👍

Thank you both for letting me know this. I am currently downloading HS for the Mac Mini.

You can install the current version which is Ventura but you'll need to use OpenCore Legacy Patcher. If you decide to go that route then I would advised installing an SSD in the Mini and upgrade the RAM to a minimum of 8GB. I'm currently running Monterey on a 2012 Mini that has 8GB of RAM and an internal SSD and the performance is pretty good for a 13 yr old Mac.

I was thinking of doing that, but maybe at some point further down the line.

You already got 16gb of ram which is great so just drop in a 512gb or 1TB Crucial MX500 and you're set with that machine. But agree with the posters above, anything about High Sierra runs really bad on a HDD.

Yeah, I'm not replacing it yet, at the moment. I will probably do it soon, but at the moment, I am seeing how it runs on High Sierra and I'm going to play around with it.

 

[Populus]

Hey @VirtuallyInsane I agree with most people here. If, and only if you can install an SSD (it doesn’t matter if it’s just a SATA drive), go ahead and install macOS 10.14 Mojave.

But if you cannot, I wouldn’t go as far as Mojave. Believe me, I have a 2014 Mac mini and with the original HDD on Mojave, the machine was so slow I could barely use it.

I advise you to put an SSD and install Mojave but if you are going to stick with an old HDD, try macOS 10.12 sierra (was very smooth for me) or you could go even further and try macOS 10.13 High Sierra.

Good luck

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Boot times in HS are still slow. It only gets worse all the way up to Catalina. IIRC, High Sierra is when Apple switched to the Apple File System. If I can replace the HDD in a 2012 Mac mini in about 10 minutes then anyone can do it. Going to an internal SSD will make a world of difference. My boot times dropped from 1 min and 25 secs to around 40 secs.

 

[Populus]

Boot times in HS are still slow. It only gets worse all the way up to Catalina. IIRC, High Sierra is when Apple switched to the Apple File System. If I can replace the HDD in a 2012 Mac mini in about 10 minutes then anyone can do it. Going to an internal SSD will make a world of difference. My boot times dropped from 1 min and 25 secs to around 40 secs.

Yep, I agree. Putting an SSD is the simplest and most effective upgrade one can do to an old Mac. Especially to a 2012 Mac mini (it’s easy). However I understand they want to start below Catalina because of the lack of 32 bit support. But yeah even in older operating systems, they will notice a big boost in speed.

Putting an SSD to my 2014 Mac mini was the difference between waiting minutes to open an app or a window, and opening almost everything instantly. My old Mac is now, with its CPU and GPU limitations, blazing fast.

 

[Jack Neill]

Big Sur ran super great on mine with an SSD.

 

[Boyd01]

I can't imagine that you won't want to upgrade to a SSD. As has been suggested, an external USB 3.0 SSD is fine and a 512gb one should be inexpensive. I ran a base 2012 Mini that way with a 500gb Samsung T3 external SSD and a 2012 2.6ghz quad Mini from a 1tb Samsung T3. The internal disk interface is relatively slow on the 2012 Mini, so there's very little difference in performance with an external.

Currently running my 2012 quad as a file server on Catalina. No problems, it boots from the original Apple internal 256gb SSD and has 4 5tb external hard drives connected.

Running a 2014 base Mini as an iTunes server with my media on a 4tb external SSD and a 500gb Samsung T3 USB SSD as a boot disk with Mojave. This also works fine for me.

Those slow (5400rpm) 500gb internal Apple hard disks are pretty bad. On the base 2012 mini I described above, the internal hard drive started to fail. It was only used as a time machine disk as the Mini booted from the USB SSD. However, the disk errors were causing frequent crashes of the whole system, even after I stopped using the hard disk for time machine.

 

[Andrea Filippini]

I will do it at some point in the future. Thanks. Not having a dark mode is alright. I can use a third-party theme, or some browser extension, right?




👍

Thank you both for letting me know this. I am currently downloading HS for the Mac Mini.


I was thinking of doing that, but maybe at some point further down the line.



Yeah, I'm not replacing it yet, at the moment. I will probably do it soon, but at the moment, I am seeing how it runs on High Sierra and I'm going to play around with it.

You can try third-party apps like Onyx (https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html) or DoctorDark (https://github.com/w0lfschild/DoctorDark) but at this point I would replace the HDD with SSD and directly upgrade to Mojave.

 

[fricotin]

Catalina runs fine with 16GB of RAM and Fusion drive (250 SSD / 1T HDD).

 

[SpotOnT]

Probably Sierra would be your best bet. I have found that High Sierra can be a bit combersome on older machines wtih HDD's. HS also uses more hardware accelerated graphics, which can be particularly taxing on older machines with very limited graphic capabilities. My 2 cents anyway.

As others have mentioned, if you swap out the HDD, that changes the dynamics here.

 

[padams35]

Flying machine with an old school spinning HD? Now I've heard everything. 😂

Mountain Lion was very friendly to spinning HDs. Same with Mavericks and Yosemite if you had enough RAM. El Capitain was where I remember 2.5" 5400rpm HDDs becoming a noticeable bottleneck, a situation which just got worse with APFS.

If I remember correctly Sierra used the old MacOS Extended format by default, High Sierra would use either, and Mojave tried hard to 'helpfully' convert drives to APFS by default on install to prepare users for Catalina where APFS was required.

 

[VirtuallyInsane]

Flying machine with an old school spinning HD? Now I've heard everything. 😂

A flying machine on Mountain Lion, for what it is LOL I think that it's the RAM. It's pretty responsive and fast, just not supported. I mean, it's nowhere as fast as my iMac/M1 MBP or anything like that, but for what it is, it's fast lol. Should have rephrased that one.

I'm running that model Mini as a file server on Catalina but I boot from an external SSD which makes a huge difference in performance. The external SSD is much easier to install than an internal. While an internal SSD will have better performance, the external is far faster than the spinning drive.

Aren't they kinda expensive?

 

[Boyd01]

Aren't they kinda expensive?

Not sure how you define "expensive". A quick look showed new 500gb Samsung T7 USB SSD's for $70 at Best Buy. Shop around, I'm sure there are even less expensive options, although I have quite a few Samsung T7's and use them heavily with no issues. Just be sure to reformat them for MacOS (APFS if using Mojave or Catalina).

 

[headlessmike]

Big Sur ran super great on mine with an SSD.

Mine has an SSD too (with 16GB or RAM) and Big Sur was possibly the smoothest OS I've ever run on this machine, certainly better than Mojave or Catalina. Not sure how it would work with an HDD though.