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Can the new 2020 Mac mini run macOS 10.14 Mojave?

E

esdf

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 20, 2017
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Hi all,
Understand the specs are pretty much identical to the 2018 Mac mini. So I'm wondering, would the new 2020 Mac mini that ship out from here on out still be able to run macOS 10.14 Mojave? Has anyone been able to test or confirm this?

Really need to know b/c some software I use for work doesn't run in 10.15 yet, so I need to 'downgrade' for the time being -- that's why I ask.

Appreciate any feedback.
 
The 2020 Mac Mini comes preinstalled with Catalina 10.15 and different firmware than the 2018 Mini. So it probably can not run Mojave.
 
We won't know the answer to this question until someone here who HAS the "2020 Mini" tries to do this and then reports back as to the results.

My guess is that it CAN be done, but to do so one will need a "pre-created" USB flash drive installer (or external drive with a copy of Mojave installed) to "do the job".

Easiest way would be to take an EXTERNAL USB boot drive with Mojave installed, plug it in, and see if you can get the 2020 Mini to boot from it. One would first have to boot to the recovery partition and disable Startup Security, of course (which I did first thing after I took my 2018 Mini out of the box).
 
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I just created a backup external hard drive with Mojave for my 2018 Mac mini.

Funny thing was, after I created the Mojave installer disk and booted from it I found I was unable to install Mojave to the external hard drive until I reformatted it as APFS! I was hoping to keep that external drive as Mac OS Extended.
 
chscag said:
The 2020 Mac Mini comes preinstalled with Catalina 10.15 and different firmware than the 2018 Mini. So it probably can not run Mojave.
Click to expand...
Yes & no. I ordered a "new" mini two weeks ago. It arrived last Monday. About this Mac shows the year as 2018, it appears that there is not really a 2020 Mac mini.

It did come with Catalina (10.15.3) pre-installed.

I did call Apple Support and confirmed that there is only a 2018 Mac mini, no 2020. I also asked, since I have a 2018 and the original OS was 10.14 when released, that I should be able to downgrade to Mojave. The Support person said I should be able to downgrade the OS. I'm not currently planning on downgrading to Mojave.
 
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esdf said:
Hi all,
Understand the specs are pretty much identical to the 2018 Mac mini.
Click to expand...
They are identical. The "new" one that Apple is selling is simply a storage bump, nothing more.

If you look at the footnotes in the Overview page for this model at Apple's website, you'll note that all of the performance tests were conducted in 2018.
 
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chscag said:
The 2020 Mac Mini comes preinstalled with Catalina 10.15 and different firmware than the 2018 Mini. So it probably can not run Mojave.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I'm worried about. Does installing 10.15 also upgrade the firmware somehow? Have you seen a change log or documentation somewhere that mentions not being able to downgrade?


Fishrrman said:
We won't know the answer to this question until someone here who HAS the "2020 Mini" tries to do this and then reports back as to the results.

My guess is that it CAN be done, but to do so one will need a "pre-created" USB flash drive installer (or external drive with a copy of Mojave installed) to "do the job".
Click to expand...

I *do* have a USB flash drive with 10.14 Mojave installer on it. Made with DiskMaker X. So I'm all set there. Just wish I could walk into an Apple store to test it out in person but the current situation and store closures in the US makes it impossible for now.

I really appreciate all the input. Might have to take a chance on it and report back here.
 
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CoastalOR said:
Yes & no. I ordered a "new" mini two weeks ago. It arrived last Monday. About this Mac shows the year as 2018, it appears that there is not really a 2020 Mac mini.

It did come with Catalina (10.15.3) pre-installed.
Click to expand...

Where did you order it from? I purchased my late 2018 Mac Mini at a Best Buy in Portland on February 1st, and it came with Mojave, OS 10.14.6, installed.

When I got home, I subsequently did a clean, fresh installation of Catalina, OS 10.15.4, then migrated/copied needed files, folders, applications, settings, etc. from a just completed SuperDuper! backup of my late 2012 Mac Mini (subsequently sold it to an individual in Portland).

CoastalOR said:
I did call Apple Support and confirmed that there is only a 2018 Mac mini, no 2020. I also asked, since I have a 2018 and the original OS was 10.14 when released, that I should be able to downgrade to Mojave. The Support person said I should be able to downgrade the OS. I'm not currently planning on downgrading to Mojave.
Click to expand...

One would "expect" that to be the case, but for me, given I am not seeing any differences between Catalina and Mojave, you are wise just to leave things as they are.
 
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esdf said:
Exactly what I'm worried about. Does installing 10.15 also upgrade the firmware somehow? Have you seen a change log or documentation somewhere that mentions not being able to downgrade?
Click to expand...

It appears your new Mini is the same as the 2018 model. That would mean no firmware update. I would try installing Mojave by using a flash drive installer as recommended. If the 2020 Mini is indeed the same as the 2018 model, Mojave should install okay. You will need to do a clean install though as you can not install Mojave over the top of Catalina. Let us know how it goes.
 
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esdf said:
Exactly what I'm worried about. Does installing 10.15 also upgrade the firmware somehow? Have you seen a change log or documentation somewhere that mentions not being able to downgrade?




I *do* have a USB flash drive with 10.14 Mojave installer on it. Made with DiskMaker X. So I'm all set there. Just wish I could walk into an Apple store to test it out in person but the current situation and store closures in the US makes it impossible for now.

I really appreciate all the input. Might have to take a chance on it and report back here.
Click to expand...
Make sure you have a backup of your current system, preferably one made with either SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner.
 
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I'm also interested to know if new Mini can run Mojave. I have statistical software which is 32 bit. My version has everything I need, I don't want to pay few grands for new version only to keep up with new Mac Os.
 
cltd said:
I'm also interested to know if new Mini can run Mojave. I have statistical software which is 32 bit. My version has everything I need, I don't want to pay few grands for new version only to keep up with new Mac Os.
Click to expand...
Not all software requires either a "huge" amount to upgrade to 64 bit, or in fact any money at all. Also, maybe you can find a similar product that is either very inexpensive or free.
 
honestone33 said:
Where did you order it from? I purchased my late 2018 Mac Mini at a Best Buy in Portland on February 1st, and it came with Mojave, OS 10.14.6, installed.

When I got home, I subsequently did a clean, fresh installation of Catalina, OS 10.15.4, then migrated/copied needed files, folders, applications, settings, etc. from a just completed SuperDuper! backup of my late 2012 Mac Mini (subsequently sold it to an individual in Portland).
Click to expand...
I purchased it from the online Apple Store March 22. It shipped from China on March 25. Arrived March 30.
 
honestone33 said:
Not all software requires either a "huge" amount to upgrade to 64 bit, or in fact any money at all. Also, maybe you can find a similar product that is either very inexpensive or free.
Click to expand...
This one: 1. indeed requires huge amount (in the meantime software became "pro" and went subscription model only) 2. there are no serious free/cheap alternatives. Hey, I forgot MS Office 2011 too ;)
 
cltd said:
This one: 1. indeed requires huge amount (in the meantime software became "pro" and went subscription model only) 2. there are no serious free/cheap alternatives. Hey, I forgot MS Office 2011 too ;)
Click to expand...
Cannot see what "This one: 1." is, but I'll take your word for it. Now as for Office 2011, you should have upgraded to Office 2016 a while ago, and then you would be OK.

As for Office 20whatever, you should look at LibreOffice. It's 64-bit, and it does an excellent job with Office compatibility, especially in how many formats it supports (especially for Word- and Excel-compatibility). One drawback is that it does not include an EMail client. But I had a serious issue with Outlook 2016 a few years ago, and abandoned it in favor of Thunderbird, and it works very well for me.
 
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honestone33 said:
Now as for Office 2011, you should have upgraded to Office 2016 a while ago, and then you would be OK.

As for Office 20whatever, you should look at LibreOffice. It's 64-bit, and it does an excellent job with Office compatibility, especially in how many formats it supports (especially for Word- and Excel-compatibility). One drawback is that it does not include an EMail client. But I had a serious issue with Outlook 2016 a few years ago, and abandoned it in favor of Thunderbird, and it works very well for me.
Click to expand...

Why I "should"? 2011 works fine and covers all my needs.

Libre Office - I have and it has unresponsive, slow interface (I got MB Pro i7). Problems with docx too.
 
esdf said:
I *do* have a USB flash drive with 10.14 Mojave installer on it. Made with DiskMaker X. So I'm all set there. Just wish I could walk into an Apple store to test it out in person but the current situation and store closures in the US makes it impossible for now.
Click to expand...
The sanest way to proceed would be to do this on an expendable external drive just for testing purposes.

Plug in external drive, plug in bootable Mojave installer USB flash drive, reboot holding down option key. Select the installer drive, use Disk Utility to wipe the external drive clean, then proceed with the installation.
 
I just received a brand new 2018 model from the refurb site. It had Catalina and I was successful in downgrading it to Mojave to use 32bit applications.

There was a bit of a process to turn off some security settings in the recovery menu prior to using an external boot USB with Mojave on it.
 
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monkeybongo said:
There was a bit of a process to turn off some security settings in the recovery menu prior to using an external boot USB with Mojave on it.
Click to expand...

Could You elaborate more? Thanks in advance.
EDIT: Nevermind.
 
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