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Mac Mini 2014: Which Model to Buy

tuc said:
Apple sells thunderbolt-to-DVI and thunderbolt-to-VGA adapters for $29. The story mentions this, but does not say that third-party adapters can be much cheaper.

I would add that cable-length adapters can be more convenient than dongle-length ones.

Something I don't understand is why thunderbolt-to-VGA adapters (which are hard to find under USD$13) seem to be more expensive than thunderbolt-to-DVI adapters (which can be found under USD$7).
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i was looking for cheap cables. i was looking at HDMI to VGA, and it said something about hot plug and made it sound like something would blow up if you tried to hot plug it. heh

my mac mini 2006 is getting old , i just use it for syncing , so i just decide to save the money and go with the $499 model.

bill me later has no payments no interest at the apple store :), but store pickup is not eligible


so I'm looking for a cheap display port to vga as well

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tuc said:
Apple sells thunderbolt-to-DVI and thunderbolt-to-VGA adapters for $29. The story mentions this, but does not say that third-party adapters can be much cheaper.

I would add that cable-length adapters can be more convenient than dongle-length ones.

Something I don't understand is why thunderbolt-to-VGA adapters (which are hard to find under USD$13) seem to be more expensive than thunderbolt-to-DVI adapters (which can be found under USD$7).
Click to expand...

thunderbolt and dvi are digital. vga is analog. so you pay more for the digital to analog conversion.
hdmi is dvi + sound + copy protection + ethernet

so its relatively easy to convert HDMI and DVI
 
The 2011 Mini with the nVidia dGPU is the best deal for an HT. Since then, no dGPU options, shame Apple!
 
The 2012 Mini(s) can be updated to Yosemite (of course), but the 2014 Mini(s) can't be downgraded to Mavericks, as far as I know. No point-zero release of a new operating system for me, thanks.
 
PWard6 said:
This isn't going to be a popular option, but I picked up one of the new minis. I am an audio engineer and I'm loving the performance so far. I upgraded to an SSD and more memory. It's really running just fine.
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Cool. I'm curious, what specs does your Mac mini have?
 
I think this update is meh. However, I am sure when the new delayed processors come out there will be a nice processor update for the mini in Feb. Wait to buy.

I like the mini as a standalone box. I hate having to buy a new monitor built into the iMac every time I upgrade. Monitors rarely go bad. And why should we have to buy a monitor every time we upgrade to new processors and specs.

Retina is a different story. But the mini for basic computing, as the story says, is low level and good at what it is intended for.
 
Any 2012 the best

Yeah, tough choices, but the answer is simple - any 2012 is better value than 2014, period.:eek:
 
I've 2012 Mac mini and it is connected to my TV... It is still working fine... After OS X Yosemite update, it looks even gorgeous.... While I buy, the shop guy gave me free upgrade from 4gb to 8gb and gave me wireless mouse... I can't ask more... I love my 2012 Mac mini. No need for me to upgrade to new one...
 
antipex said:
I think the best answer here is "none of the above." Even if you're only looking for something lower-end for basic uses, the best value right now is to purchase a 2012 model or go with a low-end iMac.

I hope we see a redesigned Mini next year...
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I agree here.

At this point, IMHO, Apple shouldn't even be selling Dual Core processors in their OS X systems (or only as a very limited offering)…Quad core processors have been a mainstream option from Intel for almost a decade now - way past time for Apple to move the needle up here (like they do for other technologies).

Its also too easy to overwhelm that number of cores on a machine that people use for their daily driver - especially with all the in the background services Apple keeps adding with every release since Lion. JMHO...
 
Was waiting until this announcement to upgrade from my 2011 Mac Mini (still a nice box) but the soldered RAM killed any hope of that. I have taken have of the money and upgraded the CPU, Motherboard and RAM on my current Core2Duo and will be attempting a hackintosh on the dual boot PC I have. I will continue to use my MacMini 2011 with 8GB for the next couple of years and we'll see if Apple can get it right next year.

Note: iMacs are out of the question cause the cost of a useable iMac can get me a PC (or MacMini 2012) with 2 IPS monitors.
 
PWard6 said:
This isn't going to be a popular option, but I picked up one of the new minis. I am an audio engineer and I'm loving the performance so far. I upgraded to an SSD and more memory. It's really running just fine.
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Are you stupid? Actually using and enjoying your new computer instead of benchmarking and talking about raw performance? Shame on you!

I too replaced old mini with 2014 model (upgraded memory and SSD) and it's just fine for my work. It's a compact nice machine and in 3-5 years I'll replace it anyway. Left the old one as a server and dedicated virtual machine platform.
 
rigormortis said:
thunderbolt and dvi are digital. vga is analog. so you pay more for the digital to analog conversion.
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While that is true, I don't think a VGA adapter is doing any signal conversion. It simply has the computer produce an analog signal which it simply passes through. (This is definitely how it worked in the mini-DVI days.)

This explains why it doesn't work to daisy chain a passive DVI-to-VGA adapter onto the end of of DVI adapter. The DVI adapter causes the computer to produce a digital signal, which would require an active (containing a CPU) DVI-to-VGA adapter to convert to analog VGA.

rigormortis said:
hdmi is dvi + sound + copy protection + ethernet

so its relatively easy to convert HDMI and DVI
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I would say it's trivial to convert between DVI and HDMI video, since the signals are the same. They aren't like DisplayPort, which is digital but different. (Btw, DVI can do HDCP copy protection, though some DVI devices don't support it.)
 
This update was glossed over in the media event, and also in the minds of mini users. 2014 is forgettable for the mini. Best product pipeline ever...my a$$...

It's sad when the 2012 is a better spec'd machine than the 2014. Apple has failed on this one in a big way, in the sense that we will NOT be placing an order for 1500 new mini's to replace our 2012 ones. Hopefully they will turn this around in early 2015 with better spec'd machines and user upgradeable ram. Until that point, the mini is dead.
 
A desktop computer with no upgradable ram is fundamentally flawed. I guess it's no wonder... they went from being run by a visionary to being run by a bean counter. They talk about how "green" they are and then build disposable computers. Foolish.
 
This reminds me of when Apple "upgraded" the Mac Pro ahead of their full redesign. Either they're about to discontinue the Mac Mini, or they're going to release a redesign/revamp later on.
 
No System is Downgradeable

xylitol said:
The 2012 Mini(s) can be updated to Yosemite (of course), but the 2014 Mini(s) can't be downgraded to Mavericks, as far as I know. No point-zero release of a new operating system for me, thanks.
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I don't think Apple or MS for that matter ever make Operating systems easily downgradeable. There's no reason can use your Time Machine backup to do a "clean" reinstall.
 
dannys1 said:
Not entire true re the 2014 vs 2012 model.

Don't forget the Intel Iris graphics is far better, which if you're using it as a home entertainment system is going to allow you to play 4k video, which is quite useful for future proofing in that area.

If like me you use it for an entertainment hub running plex and also a home server running OSX server, I think that sorts out the 2014 over the 2012 model just.

It is a dying shame it doesn't have the Iris Pro though.
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I guess you like to watch your 4K videos at a wonderful 30hz then as the 2014 Mini does not support HDMI 2.0 and thanks to Intel gimping the Iris iGPU, neither does the display port support 60hz either.
 
magbarn said:
I guess you like to watch your 4K videos at a wonderful 30hz then as the 2014 Mini does not support HDMI 2.0 and thanks to Intel gimping the Iris iGPU, neither does the display port support 60hz either.
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Well, seen as all movies are 24fps anyway it makes no difference - Pal is 25fps and NTSC 30fps so for video 30hz is is enough to show at native 4k resolutions yes.

TV wont be in 4k for a long long time yet anyway, so its all going to be 4k24p movies for now - and 24hz is obviously the best for that.
 
Yet more proof that Apple is no longer run by visionaries, nor even engineers, who used to strive to incrementally improve the experience of the end user. Nope, today's Apple is run by profit seeking businessmen. How else can one explain such a huge step backwards for the Mac Mini? :mad:

Sometimes it feels like the end game is for the Mac to evolve into a form factor like the Apple TV. It will have a display port and a power button (oh wait, that costs money...ok, always on) and that's it. All your Apps/Data will be "in the cloud" and Macs will just be used as a go-between between the user and the cloud. No more local drives and no more "ownership" of content.
 
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SeattleMoose said:
Yet more proof that Apple is no longer run by visionaries, nor even engineers, who used to strive to incrementally improve the experience of the end user. Nope, today's Apple is run by profit seeking businessmen. How else can one explain such a huge step backwards for the Mac Mini? :mad:
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A bit of hyperbole here don't you think? Incremental changes are not "visionary" ...

Apple is changing the way we do computing and these changes are heading towards more mobile devices. BTW, How much did apple charge for the latest MacOS? I bet more engineers worked on the oS than worked on the Mini hardware.
 
dannys1 said:
Well, seen as all movies are 24fps anyway it makes no difference - Pal is 25fps and NTSC 30fps so for video 30hz is is enough to show at native 4k resolutions yes.

TV wont be in 4k for a long long time yet anyway, so its all going to be 4k24p movies for now - and 24hz is obviously the best for that.
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For movies, sure, 30Hz is no problem. For getting work done where you have to mouse/trackpad around moving windows, etc... it is severely gimped.

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dugbug said:
Oh bs
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iFanboy/apologist spotted.
 
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