Hey all. Im trying to decide if I should get a 2011 Mac Mini that I can get for really cheap. I would want to use it as my main desktop for a bit to tide me over until more Apple Silicon desktops come out to replace it. The 2011 models cut off at 10.13 which is unsupported now. Is it at all safe to run this with my passwords and other info saved on it? I really don’t know what it means to have an unsupported machine in practical terms.
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Is running a High Sierra machine today safe?
- Thread starter thingstoponder
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Yes it is "safe" - but . . .
Might be good to check out if the 2011 mini has HDD or SSD ? - High Sierra will run slow on a HDD drive
also is it an i7 processor? How much memory? 4g ? 8G? 16g?
Upgrading the Hard drive and memory might cost more than the Mini?
It will be fine for your passwords and other info - if it was me I would put Sierra or El Capitan on a 2011
Or better yet try to find a i7 2012 Mini or later with a 500g SSD - then move up to Mojave
Just my 2 cents . . . 😃
Might be good to check out if the 2011 mini has HDD or SSD ? - High Sierra will run slow on a HDD drive
also is it an i7 processor? How much memory? 4g ? 8G? 16g?
Upgrading the Hard drive and memory might cost more than the Mini?
It will be fine for your passwords and other info - if it was me I would put Sierra or El Capitan on a 2011
Or better yet try to find a i7 2012 Mini or later with a 500g SSD - then move up to Mojave
Just my 2 cents . . . 😃
Though 2011 is a bit older model it shouldn't be of any concern to your data or files. Just avoid installing any malicious app on your Mac. Enable "Allow apps from App Store and identified developers only".
I really don’t know what it means to have an unsupported machine in practical terms.
Older systems are not supported by the latest macOS like Big Sur, Catalina, etc. For older devices, High Sierra is the halting point. If possible, try to get a model for the year 2017-18.
I got a 2013 Macbook Air 7 years ago, and I was still using it till last Friday, when I got a new M1 Macbook Air. I never updated the 2013 Macbook Air, so it was running on Mac OS X Mavericks (10.9) the whole time. Main reasons I did not update are that I much prefer the classic Mac OS X look (rather than the flat design in 10.10) and updating an older computer often slows it down. But I figured it was time for a new machine now, since many apps (even firefox, my main browser) stopped releasing new versions for the old operating system. So I would either have had to update (but I prefer to keep the macbook in its original state), or get a new machine.
But point is, I used it as my daily driver, even for university and banking, and I never had any safety/privacy concerns. One thing I reccomend tho is using Firefox as your main browser- it supports old operating systems much longer than Chrome or Safari, and it has a lot of good pricacy features.
Just because you never had a problem doesn't mean it's fine. Or safe. I've never been in a motorcycle accident despite 20+ years of riding around the world yet I would never claim that riding a motorcycle is perfectly safe and nothing will ever happen to anyone simply because I've never had a problem 
What happens when you're running an unsupported operating system can be quite tricky to assess. Chances are you'll be fine as long as you keep your web browser, email client, and other applications you use on a day-to-day basis to communicate with the outside world (file transfer clients, chat and communications software, etc.) up to date. Problems will arise once a serious bug is found in macOS 10.13 that gets exploited. Again, chances are this will never happen because given it's effectively negligible niche status macOS is not a target worthy of serious consideration and effort. Thus, statisically and despite all those repeated claims by security software manufacturers coming up with these grim and menacing studies of how much more dangerous it has become to run macOS without their specific flavor of anti-malware protection year after year after year there's a very very high chance that you'll be safe for many years.
However, security by obscurity is not the greatest way to protect yourself against harm, and therefore the chances of your data getting stolen or encrypted are higher on an unsupported system than on a supported system. That's the bottom line.
What happens when you're running an unsupported operating system can be quite tricky to assess. Chances are you'll be fine as long as you keep your web browser, email client, and other applications you use on a day-to-day basis to communicate with the outside world (file transfer clients, chat and communications software, etc.) up to date. Problems will arise once a serious bug is found in macOS 10.13 that gets exploited. Again, chances are this will never happen because given it's effectively negligible niche status macOS is not a target worthy of serious consideration and effort. Thus, statisically and despite all those repeated claims by security software manufacturers coming up with these grim and menacing studies of how much more dangerous it has become to run macOS without their specific flavor of anti-malware protection year after year after year there's a very very high chance that you'll be safe for many years.
However, security by obscurity is not the greatest way to protect yourself against harm, and therefore the chances of your data getting stolen or encrypted are higher on an unsupported system than on a supported system. That's the bottom line.