Excruciatingly slow 2014 Macmini

[Alibags66]

I have a late 2014 Macmini 8GB. It’s always been slow but now it’s just excruciating. I don’t use it for anything fancy - just simple stuff. It’s using 12.7.6 Monterey. Is there any way to make it faster or should I give up and buy a newer version. I use my iPad Pro for most things so not requiring super performance.

 

[maflynn]

Is there any way to make it faster

Probably not, though reformatting and reinstalling the OS and your apps, may help a little bit.

or should I give up and buy a newer version

The computer is over 10 years old, I'd say the answer to that question is yes, particularly if you're dealing with significant performance issues

 

[chabig]

All is not lost. I think you would see a significant speed boost if you replaced your very ancient hard drive with a 2.5" SATA SSD. Here are some on Amazon. They are all under $100, some well under.

Amazon.com: 2.5" Sata Ssd

Amazon.com: 2.5" sata ssd

www.amazon.com

 

[twisted panties]

I have one of those. The good thing about it (apart from the fact that after 11 years of continuous 24x7use it is still operating) is that it takes very little power. Less even than the 2018 models that superseded it. Mine is a server, with the main disk replaced with a 2280 1TB PCIe SSD, and another 4TB 2.5" SSD fitted internally for media.

It goes to sleep when not in use. It wakes up when someone accesses it. It acts as a cache for Apple updates. It is manageable from the Finder on my other Mac, or any VNC app on my iPad. It is quiet, tiny and economic. It's the best home NAS ever made.

So I'd say if you don't need any software that needs something later than Monterey, fit an SSD internally (there are guides online) and keep it going. Otherwise, retire it with full honours and replace it with a new Mini.

 

[curnalpanic]

Like someone else said, if there's an HDD in there somewhere, that's the problem.

 

[genexx]

I wouldn’t invest another dollar in a Mac from 2014, but what Chabig said is spot on - installing an SSD or NVMe drive is a game-changer.

If this is still the first hard disk and you don’t have a backup, you’re in for a world of trouble because it’s probably going to die soon.
Or, it could be full to the brim, which will make it super slow.

Instead, get a MacMini M4 and a backup hard drive.
The old one will soon stop working if you’re unlucky.
Apart from that, every cell phone is faster now, or even an 80-dollar N100 mini PC.

 

[Honza1]

SSD may help, but disk duplication and surgery needed to replace the HD with SSD may be challenge. New m4 mini costs $500 and would be great replacement for another 10+ years. And those things use few W of power only.

 

[throAU]

If you're not up for surgery, buy an external SSD and install a fresh copy of macOS to that.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"I have a late 2014 Macmini 8GB. It’s always been slow but now it’s just excruciating. I don’t use it for anything fancy - just simple stuff. It’s using 12.7.6 Monterey. Is there any way to make it faster or should I give up and buy a newer version."

You didn't tell us what kind of drive is inside.
Fusion?
Platter-based HDD?
SSD?

The cold fact is... it's reached the end of its useful life.
8gb of RAM, perhaps coupled with a slow HDD or fusion drive, coupled further with the demands of virtual memory disk swapping for the OS, are what's slowing it down to a crawl.

You can't really "fix" this.
The memory is soldered in and not upgradeable.
If the drive isn't an SSD, you could put one in, but I predict it will help only incrementally, not greatly.

As you said, it's time to "give up and buy a newer version".

I'd suggest an Apple-refurbished m4 Mini from their online store:

https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/mac/2024-mac-mini

You want:
m4 (m4pro probably overkill for your needs)
16gb of RAM (standard, although 5 years down-the-road it may again seem "cramped". I picked 32gb for mine). You could also choose 24gb.
512gb of SSD storage (at least... DO NOT choose 256, TOO LITTLE).

For my own Mini, I picked an Apple-refurbished m4, 32gb RAM, 1tb SSD. That should last 5, 6 years easily.

 

[Honza1]

Just note, that thanks to current sales, you can find some specs of Apple devices (e.g., base M4 mini) on Amazon new for lower price than Apple refurbished. And Costco routinely beats the cost of refurbished devices, if they carry that spec. In both cases this is usually on cheapest, base, specs, so check all common sources, when looking for the best price.

 

[Starfia]

Hi, Alibags66,

If something is actually wrong with the configuration or hardware, you might be able to run Apple Diagnostics to get some insight about what.

Software configuration is another definite thing to look at. (Have you installed and forgotten about ten thousand things that run in the background?) You might inspect this using Activity Monitor, and test the difference between your current configuration and a clean configuration by restarting as a guest user.

As others have said, an internal hard disk (as opposed to a solid state drive) is sometimes a culprit, especially after so many years. Even if the hard disk is performing optionally, replacing it with an affordable SSD is a way to upgrade and improve performance with respect to disk-related tasks. You have to open your Mac to do this, but as far as hardware upgrades go for Apple devices, it's one of the more straightforward ones.

 

[throAU]

If you're not up for surgery, buy an external SSD and install a fresh copy of macOS to that.

The cold fact is... it's reached the end of its useful life.

Agree with this.

Reasonable spec Apple computers last approximately as follows:

• 0-3 yrs: power user, someone who makes money with it and can justify upgrades due to tax deductions, maintaining warranty cover, etc.
• 3-5 yrs: ideal for those looking for probably still-good second hand machines at a large discount, e.g., home users hobbyists, etc. looking to save money
• 5-10 yrs: on borrowed time. by 7-10 yr don't get macOS updates any more, spec way behind current demands, etc.

At year 10+ as above, it really is end of life, if you want to do much with it, especially at any sort of speed. An external SSD may help, and you can use the external drive with any other machine if it doesn't, but its not going to be a new machine like magic.