Late 2009 mac mini with Mojave

[joeriggs]

Hi,

I'm thinking of updating a late 2009 Mac mini (internal drive is now an SSD and it has 8 GB ram) to Mojave using dosdude1 patch due to a piece of necessary software now requiring it (software is simply an up loader for medical data, so we're not talking about intensive video editing software or anything). Only other option would be to buy a new computer and I don't really need itas it is just used for web browsing and writing documents.

I was curious to those who have tried it, want kind of performance hit will I experience in day to day tasks like writing documents and browsing the web?

 

[mdgm]

I would suggest that you do a Time Machine backup and do a clone using SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner. That way if you don’t like Mojave you can easily go back to El Capitan or whatever you are running now.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I have a 2008 MacBook with SSD on dosdude1's Mojave and don't really feel much difference between that and El Capitan. If I couldn't use Mojave it would probably be in a bag.

 

[loby]

I tried it on my mac mini 2009. It worked ok...but at times it was glitchy. I would do what was recommended by madgm and do a time machine backup first and try it out. If you don't like it you can revert back.

I think el Capitan probably works better than a boot-legged Mojave. Mine is set at El Capitan, but I thought OS X Yosemite worked good and maybe better, but depending on what software you use will determine what OS you should put on it.

Still the mac mini 2009 does the job for certain tasks in 2021...

 

[ivnj]

A new mini might be too much. But you ca always eBay a used 2012 or 2014 mini. It would officially support Mojave and no need for hacks. And would be much faster.

 

[loby]

A new mini might be too much. But you ca always eBay a used 2012 or 2014 mini. It would officially support Mojave and no need for hacks. And would be much faster.

I have the M1 mini and mac mini 2012.

M1 mini blows away any mini and is worth the cost To date. The mac mini 2012 is still a good contender to be worth it cost wise used today. It is still fast and good, but castrated at nothing beyond Catalina. probably to me the best mini for its time (though I still like the late 2009 for its overall function, design, form etc.).

If someone picks up a used mac mini 2012, make sure to reapply the thermal paste and it will probably last a good time longer.

 

[ivnj]

I have the M1 mini and mac mini 2012.

M1 mini blows away any mini and is worth the cost To date. The mac mini 2012 is still a good contender to be worth it cost wise used today. It is still fast and good, but castrated at nothing beyond Catalina. probably to me the best mini for its time (though I still like the late 2009 for its overall function, design, form etc.).

If someone picks up a used mac mini 2012, make sure to reapply the thermal paste and it will probably last a good time longer.

Yes, but the OP said they don't need a new computer. And plus mojave does not run on the new M1s. Probably their app does not work with the new M1s and rosetta 2 is not 100% compatible with all apps.