Buying Mac mini 2018 versus Mac mini 2020 as replacement for mini 2011

[CMR90]

So I’m considering replacing my Mac mini (mid 2011) as it’s got a lot of lag upon starting and switching between mail/web browser/etc., and lots of force-quitting necessary. The specs on my Mini 2011: 2.3 GHz Intel i5 processor, 16 GB memory 1333 Hz DDR3, 500 GB hard drive.

I have a lot of data in iTunes and documents (lots of PDFs for my hobbies), and with all the other categories put together, maybe 5% of the hard drive free. I mostly use it for iTunes, Web, email and document storage (lots of PDF files) and if it didn’t lag so much, maybe do some writing.

So would a refurbished mini 2018 be enough for the next decade, or should I go with the mini 2020?

 

[iAssimilated]

A refurbished mini. Since the 2020 and the 2018 mini are the exact same machine except for the default SSD sizes were doubled.

 

[mikehalloran]

A refurbished mini.

I agree—if you can find one with enough storage. 256GB isn't enough for you.

The best way to increase storage on any Thunderbolt 3 Mac with not enough drive space is to buy a Samsung X5. The storage is nearly as fast as onboard and 6x faster than any external using a SATA III drive, there are no sleep issues and the MINI will enable TRIM by default.

Here's the thing, an X5 is priced the same as storage upgrades on a Mini, MacBook Pro or iMac Pro (this is not a coincidence) but, if you get a sweet deal on a 2018 and the only issue is not enough storage, the X5 is a plug and play solution.

You do not need iTunes on your boot drive. With Mojave and later, you no longer need Symbolic Links to an external (those still work, however). There's a way for iTunes to think your sound files are onboard.

 

[iAssimilated]

Or, if you do not want to spend that much money on a X5, the Samsung T5 is great drive as well. Since the drive is USB 3.1 vs. TB3 it is no where near as fast, but I haven't notice any issues with the speed. I have my iTunes collection as well as my Steam game collection on the T5 drive and I have had zero throughput problems.

 

[Cookie18]

As others have said, there's zero difference between the 2018 and 2020 Mini's. They just have different SSD configurations. An i5 or i7 Mini would definitely last for the next decade, whether you get a 2018 or 2020 basically comes down to what storage configuration you want and what your budget is. I personally bought an i5 256GB Mini for a big discount because I don't need more than 256GB on any of my Macs, the 100 euro saving over a discounted i5 512GB was worth it to me.

Of course make sure you get an 8GB model and upgrade the RAM yourself too.

 

[762999]

So would a refurbished mini 2018 be enough for the next decade, or should I go with the mini 2020?

mini 2020 doesn't exist, the current model still display Mac Mini 2018 in the About window. The new badge is there to list the new storages skus.

 

[chrfr]

Or, if you do not want to spend that much money on a X5, the Samsung T5 is great drive as well. Since the drive is USB 3.1 vs. TB3 it is no where near as fast, but I haven't notice any issues with the speed. I have my iTunes collection as well as my Steam game collection on the T5 drive and I have had zero throughput problems.

When connected to a 10Gbps USB port as found in current Macs, the Samsung T7 Touch is almost twice the speed of the T5 and is only slightly more expensive than the T5, so I'd consider the T7 over either the X5 or T5.

 

[mikehalloran]

Or, if you do not want to spend that much money on a X5, the Samsung T5 is great drive as well. Since the drive is USB 3.1 vs. TB3 it is no where near as fast, but I haven't notice any issues with the speed. I have my iTunes collection as well as my Steam game collection on the T5 drive and I have had zero throughput problems.

The T5 has a SATA III drive inside. USB 3.1 doesn't mean a thing here because the SATA III drive is the bottleneck. eSATA, Thunderbolt, USB 3 and 3.1 are all the same speed because the drive inside is slower than any of those protocols.

If you accidentally use a USB 2 cable (USB-C is a port and some of the cheap ones are only USB 2), that will make a T5 slower but nothing can make it faster. If a USB-C cable advertises 480 Mbps transfer speed, that's a USB 2 cable in disguise. 5 Gbps is USB 3.0; 10Gbps is 3.1 and Display Port for video. 40Gbps is Thunderbolt 3 and lesser cables will Not pass TB3.

So it's 1/6 the speed. As you have observed, that's not an issue for iTunes. Many types of files are fine with that. Archive projects onto it.

You do not want to use a T5 for hosting active DAW projects, Photoshop, FCPx or anything else requiring speed and a wide data path. If doing any of those tasks and your Mini's internal drive is too small, get an X5.

When Time=$$$, the X5 is cheap. It's also the same price as adding the same capacity when a Mini is new. Interestingly, if you can find a 1T or 2T internal storage on a Mini in the Refurb Store, an X5 is actually more expensive.
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When connected to a 10Gbps USB port as found in current Macs, the Samsung T7 Touch is almost twice the speed of the T5 and is only slightly more expensive than the T5, so I'd consider the T7 over either the X5 or T5.

The T7 has an NVMe blade in it instead of a SATA III drive which accounts for the speed.

For my needs, the X5 is the only choice since it is nearly as fast as the internal storage— but I'm not you.

With the kind of work I do, the ability to restore deleted files within a minute or a complete system restore in less than 5 min is very important. That can only be done through APFS Snapshots on the System drive if Time Machine is enabled. Near instant Snapshots restore cannot be done on any files located on external drives, even an X5.

 

[Farsider]

So I’m considering replacing my Mac mini (mid 2011) as it’s got a lot of lag upon starting and switching between mail/web browser/etc., and lots of force-quitting necessary. The specs on my Mini 2011: 2.3 GHz Intel i5 processor, 16 GB memory 1333 Hz DDR3, 500 GB hard drive.

I have a lot of data in iTunes and documents (lots of PDFs for my hobbies), and with all the other categories put together, maybe 5% of the hard drive free. I mostly use it for iTunes, Web, email and document storage (lots of PDF files) and if it didn’t lag so much, maybe do some writing.

So would a refurbished mini 2018 be enough for the next decade, or should I go with the mini 2020?

I had the same poor performance in my 2011 MacMini running High Sierra. Then I put a 1TB Samsung QVO SSD inside it. It makes the world of difference. No lag or beachballing. Fast boot and fast App load times.

You might want to investigate this route before dropping all the cash on a new one.

 

[mikehalloran]

I had the same poor performance in my 2011 MacMini running High Sierra. Then I put a 1TB Samsung QVO SSD inside it. It makes the world of difference. No lag or beachballing. Fast boot and fast App load times.

You might want to investigate this route before dropping all the cash on a new one.

As long as Mojave and Catalina are not an issue, that't a good suggestion. Likewise if you know you need to upgrade but don't need to do it yet.

As fast as a new machine? Well, no but definitely a big step up.

I'm not a fan of the 1TB QVO SSD @ $129 (Amazon price). Too expensive for 3yr warranty and V-NAND.

Either spend the extra $20 for the 860 EVO or save $15 and go for either the WD 3D Blue or Crucial MX500. All have 5yr warranties and 3D NAND. Far more robust and a much better bargain.

In the short term, nothing wrong with V-NAND for a System drive but it can get flaky down the line. 3D/5yr is better.

V-NAND is ideally meant for setups that read a lot more than they write. I have a couple 4TB QVOs for virtual instrument and sample storage — perfect for that use.

BTW, Samsung, WD and Crucial all have excellent customer service but the idea scenario is to never have to need it.

 

[Farsider]

As long as Mojave and Catalina are not an issue, that't a good suggestion. Likewise if you know you need to upgrade but don't need to do it yet.

As fast as a new machine? Well, no but definitely a big step up.

I'm not a fan of the 1TB QVO SSD @ $129 (Amazon price). Too expensive for 3yr warranty and V-NAND.

Either spend the extra $20 for the 860 EVO or save $15 and go for either the WD 3D Blue or Crucial MX500. All have 5yr warranties and 3D NAND. Far more robust and a much better bargain.

In the short term, nothing wrong with V-NAND for a System drive but it can get flaky down the line. 3D/5yr is better.

V-NAND is ideally meant for setups that read a lot more than they write. I have a couple 4TB QVOs for virtual instrument and sample storage — perfect for that use.

BTW, Samsung, WD and Crucial all have excellent customer service but the idea scenario is to never have to need it.

Just because the warranty is 3yrs, don't mean it'll die in 3yrs. The QVOs are absolutely fine for all typical workloads except writing large (40GB+ files). I think you're being too picky on a simple £90/$90 spend to breath new life into a very old Mac.

 

[mikehalloran]

Just because the warranty is 3yrs, don't mean it'll die in 3yrs. The QVOs are absolutely fine for all typical workloads except writing large (40GB+ files). I think you're being too picky on a simple £90/$90 spend to breath new life into a very old Mac.

Just because you don't like what I wrote, it doesn't make me wrong.

Let's consider the facts.

(In the US) you can save $15 by buying a better SSD from Crucial or WD. Even if you spend the extra $$ for the 860 EVO, the 5 year warranty still makes it a better buy. Do the math.

V-NAND is not recommended for a system drive by Samsung or any of those who do exhaustive testing. The recommended use is write rarely, read mostly. Look it up. Google is your friend. They're ok for short term and excellent for those who use them for streaming VIs like myself.

I'm guessing that you have never sent in an SSD under warranty. I've sent in over a hundred while managing enterprise networks.

 

[Farsider]

Just because you don't like what I wrote, it doesn't make me wrong.

You're not right saying a 3year warranty means the drive is good for just 3 years. A Samsung QVO drive is perfectly acceptable for an Old Mac like the 2011 MacMini. It won't die within 3 years and makes for a perfect system drive where value is prioritised unless you're dealing with huge files and/or overwriting entire contents of the drive on a very frequent basis.

Also, you guess wrong. 20 Years working as an IT Storage Professional managing 25Pb of All Flash Storage arrays from EMC, NetApp and HP. I live and breath Storage all day.

 

[mikehalloran]

Your argument is not with me. It's with the facts and I am only the messenger.

The 860 QVO is no bargain. Do the math.

Today's price on Amazon US for 2TB SATA III SSDs:
860 QVO $249.99 3-year V-NAND $83 yr
MX500 $229.99 5-year 3D NAND $46 yr
860 EVO $322.49 5-year 3D NAND $64 yr

If Samsung is so confident about long term reliability, why only 3 years?

Now look up all the serious reviews and see what they have to say about V-NAND vs 3D NAND. V-NAND is not recommended for system disks and nothing you write changes that. It isn't WORM but it performs best along those lines. So, in the short term, it's ok for a system drive and in the long term, it isn't. Again, LOOK IT UP.

Now, my personal experience is that I've never had to send in a 5 year warr. SSD for replacement under warranty—not yet, at least. I've sent in over 100 Crucial MX300s—every one that I bought and installed in clients' machines. Crucial, to their credit, sent MX500s in return and I was only out the labor, time filling out the forms, postage and the time spent reinstalling the drive, OS and restore from backup. Back when I bought the MX300s, the price difference was $200 less than the Samsung 850 EVO so, I paid for the savings with my own labor. Live and learn but that was then—this is now.

I own a pair of 4TB QVOs but I use them for streaming libraries and VIs, an excellent use that they are designed to handle. At the 4TB level, they are $449 ($150 yr x3) vs $619.99 for the EVO ($124 yr x5). The WD Blue 3D hadn't come to market yet ($527.46 / $105 yr x5) or I might have bought a pair. I went in eyes wide open and if the QVO doesn't give me 5 years, oh well... I make my living with these things and cost/benefit is part of the equation.

Was your resume supposed to impress me? It's less than half the years I've been dealing with storage. You don't want to challenge me on that.

 

[Farsider]

No need to make things so personal. I couldn't care less about impressing you and your facts miss the point.

QVO drives are a great choice for reviving ancient Macs. They are a great value proposition for such an old machine. Yes there are more expensive options that are better but they cost more and come with diminishing returns for such an old machine. That's the value proposition taken away.

Shorter warranties mean cheaper operating costs for the Vendor. Longer warranties mean increased operating costs and the consumer pays more for that. A 1 year warranty doesn't mean the drive will die in year 2. A 3 year warranty doesn't mean the drive will die within in year 4. Its all down to usage and your workload profile.

You do you and enjoy your storage. Enough now.

 

[mikehalloran]

Facts don't support your argument.