Keep and upgrade RAM on Mac Mini 2012 or upgrade to a MBP?

[mariotheotaku]

Currently I have a late 2012 Mac Mini 2.3 ghz i7 and my Apple thunderbolt display died on me and now I am debating whether I should buy a new monitor and upgrade the RAM to 16gb (currently 4gb) or buy a new 13 or 15 MBP 2017.

I currently am using my computer for photo editing (lightroom, PS), browsing and some once in a while gaming (Diablo3, WoW). As far as the specs on the MBP I would be looking to get it with 16gb ram and at least a 256-512gb HD, not sure if yet if I would get a 13 or 15 yet.

Does it make sense to upgrade to a MBP or just to keep and upgrade the Mac Mini? The monitors I'm looking at should run me around $300-$500. The 15" TB MBP should be a pretty decent upgrade but I'm not sure if the specs of a 13 TB MBP with the 3.1 dual core would offer any benefits over a quad core as far as speeds (not to tech savvy on that part)

Thank you.

 

[Yvan256]

Quad core is better than two cores for the software that supports it. I would look into Lightroom and PS to see if they do.

I installed 16GB and a 128GB SSD into my mid-2010 Mac mini and I'm still using it today.

 

[Fishrrman]

I have a late 2012 Mini, also.
When I decided I wanted to upgrade the RAM, I bought a single 8gb DIMM and put it into the "top slot" (when the bottom plate was off). "Bumped it up" to 10gb RAM, still runs just fine.

Others will say that having 2 "mismatched" DIMMs won't give you the maximum possible speeds, but I haven't noticed any difference...

If you're accustomed to a large display, you may find the MacBook Pro display (even the 15") somewhat "limiting". For now, I'd get a 27" 4k display. Even though the Mini can't do 4k, you can still run the display at lower rez, with "an eye on the future" ...

 

[MarkJames68]

I have a late 2012 Mini, also.
When I decided I wanted to upgrade the RAM, I bought a single 8gb DIMM and put it into the "top slot" (when the bottom plate was off). "Bumped it up" to 10gb RAM, still runs just fine.

Others will say that having 2 "mismatched" DIMMs won't give you the maximum possible speeds, but I haven't noticed any difference...

If you're accustomed to a large display, you may find the MacBook Pro display (even the 15") somewhat "limiting". For now, I'd get a 27" 4k display. Even though the Mini can't do 4k, you can still run the display at lower rez, with "an eye on the future" ...

More RAM trumps faster RAM that’s too little, resulting in system swaps to disk.

 

[Tech198]

Currently I have a late 2012 Mac Mini 2.3 ghz i7 and my Apple thunderbolt display died on me and now I am debating whether I should buy a new monitor and upgrade the RAM to 16gb (currently 4gb) or buy a new 13 or 15 MBP 2017.

I currently am using my computer for photo editing (lightroom, PS), browsing and some once in a while gaming (Diablo3, WoW). As far as the specs on the MBP I would be looking to get it with 16gb ram and at least a 256-512gb HD, not sure if yet if I would get a 13 or 15 yet.

Does it make sense to upgrade to a MBP or just to keep and upgrade the Mac Mini? The monitors I'm looking at should run me around $300-$500. The 15" TB MBP should be a pretty decent upgrade but I'm not sure if the specs of a 13 TB MBP with the 3.1 dual core would offer any benefits over a quad core as far as speeds (not to tech savvy on that part)

Thank you.

Mac mini you have more flexibility as to what monitor u want.. And ram upgrade on the mini would be cheaper than gettinga Pro, but as stated, u'd also benefit from quad-core if the app supports it.... That doesn't mean it won't run smoothly with 16Gig,, just means less of an issue on performance with quad-core..

Memory is also important anyway.

 

[davidg4781]

I think you just have to look at what's best for you. RAM shouldn't be that much so you're looking at paying ~$650 to keep using your 5 year old mini.

Or drop a bit more and get a new MBP. It'll be portable and have the latest CPU.

Personally, I just upgraded my mini to an SSD. I plan on keeping it around for a while, unless I can get some free money soon.