Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mini 2018 vs 2020 intrenal Drive Benchmarks

Meatsuit

Meatsuit

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 29, 2018
83
36
North America
I have an early from November 2018 Mini i7/500/32. It's running like a champ. Looking to get a second Mini. I was curious if the internal drives are faster on 2020 Mini with a similar configuration??? Ran some benchmarks with the Blackmagicdesign-Disk Speed Test when it was new. Any input would be helpful. Cheers


internal SSD.png
 
It's actually quite funny constantly hearing there is no 2020 Mac mini. I have one arriving with the same configuration in a few days and I am tempted to insist on calling it a 2020 model ;)

One point worth noting with a speed test like this is that it would depend to a great extent on how full the drive is. Those are good figures though and clearly faster than I have on my current drive, which is AHCI and not NVME.
 
ashleykaryl said:
It's actually quite funny constantly hearing there is no 2020 Mac mini. I have one arriving with the same configuration in a few days and I am tempted to insist on calling it a 2020 model ;)

One point worth noting with a speed test like this is that it would depend to a great extent on how full the drive is. Those are good figures though and clearly faster than I have on my current drive, which is AHCI and not NVME.
Click to expand...
It's cause there isn't a 2020 Mac Mini... They just made the Mac Mini 2018 256GB cheaper
 
I know that and you know that, but for some reason it seems to bother people who bought them in 2018.
 
MacMini2020.png

Here's my "2020" Mac mini (i5/512/8). Write is a bit faster, and read is a bit slower. Not sure if that's due to the i5 vs your i7. But the difference is probably negligible for real-world tasks.
 
ashleykaryl said:
It's actually quite funny constantly hearing there is no 2020 Mac mini. I have one arriving with the same configuration in a few days and I am tempted to insist on calling it a 2020 model ;)

One point worth noting with a speed test like this is that it would depend to a great extent on how full the drive is. Those are good figures though and clearly faster than I have on my current drive, which is AHCI and not NVME.
Click to expand...
ashleykaryl said:
It's actually quite funny constantly hearing there is no 2020 Mac mini. I have one arriving with the same configuration in a few days and I am tempted to insist on calling it a 2020 model ;)

One point worth noting with a speed test like this is that it would depend to a great extent on how full the drive is. Those are good figures though and clearly faster than I have on my current drive, which is AHCI and not NVME.
Click to expand...


The test first I posted was from the first week I got the Mini back in Nov 2018. It was running Mojave.
Here's a current test. Read might be getting slower? Recording a few Ip cams. The drive is busy 24/7. Should move the camera's record drive to an external source.

Screen Shot 2020-04-23 at 5.40.06 PM.png
 
Last edited:
ashleykaryl said:
It's actually quite funny constantly hearing there is no 2020 Mac mini. I have one arriving with the same configuration in a few days and I am tempted to insist on calling it a 2020 model ;)
Click to expand...

I am just saying I purchased a 2018 mm in 2018 but now I can call It a 2020. I just got 2 years younger 😬.
 
My speed is with in a few % of when I first got it back in 12/2018. The scores will vary and the more you have open and processing will reduce the score from my experience. Just like running a Geekbench test will be reduced as well.

Here is this morning test below. When it was new I documented a one time high test of 1918 write and 2798 read



MacMini 4-27-2020.png
 
ashleykaryl said:
Judging by the length of time my Mac mini is sitting with TNT in Hong Kong it will be a 2022 model by the time it arrives.
Click to expand...

Mine had a weekend stop over in the Netherlands - It was easter so I can't complain.

Screenshot 2020-04-27 at 17.38.02.jpg


Just in case anyone wonders - even Apple Consider the 2020 'new' Mac Mini to be a 2018 model.

I called Apple about it (as it really shouldn't say 'new' on the website - maybe 'updated' instead) and got £80 credited back to my account.
 
Mine is still sat there in Hong Kong. I contacted TNT this morning and they were worse than useless, merely saying it could be several days late but no indication of when or why.
 
FYI, when the new mini came out there were speed differences between storage options. The TL;DR was that more storage was faster, sometimes a lot faster.
 
ashleykaryl said:
Mine is still sat there in Hong Kong. I contacted TNT this morning and they were worse than useless, merely saying it could be several days late but no indication of when or why.
Click to expand...

Mine was listed as having a process failure during its time in the Netherlands, my mini was scheduled for the 15th, then changed to the 14th - but turned up on the 15th as originally specified. To be honest it's no big deal especially with all the various lockdowns and associated capacity issues.
 
What are the Disk-Speed & Benchmark test for an similar iMac 21.5"
21.5-inch iMac with Retina 4K display
3.2GHz 6-core Intel Core i7 8th generation processor (Turbo Boost up to 4.6GHz)
16 GB 2666 MHz DDR4 memory
Radeon Pro 560X with 4 GB GDDR5 graphics memory
1 TB SSD storage

I am thinking between iMac 21.5" and the Mac mini
3.2 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7 processor of the 8th generation (Turbo Boost up to 4.6 GHz)
16 GB 2666 MHz DDR4
Intel UHD Graphics 630
1 TB SSD storage

Or should I wait for ARM?
 
ashleykaryl said:
It's actually quite funny constantly hearing there is no 2020 Mac mini. I have one arriving with the same configuration in a few days and I am tempted to insist on calling it a 2020 model ;)
Click to expand...
Apple doesn't refer to it as a Mac mini 2020 in its support documentation or in the About This Mac panel.

If you look at System Report, it still identifies as a Macmini8,1. There is no hardware revision.

On the product overview page on the corporate website, Apple only quotes benchmarks from October 2018. There are no revised benchmarks because the hardware is the same.

A Mac mini "2020" [sic] is the same as a Mac mini 2018 with a BTO storage option.

Of course, none of this will prevent people from referring to it as the "2020" model.

😆
 
  • Like
Reactions: opeter and Boyd01
Apple simply deleted the 128GB option. It is NOT a 2020 Mini. Still a 2018, just with different base level storage.

In 2016 they updated the Mac Pro trashcan lineup by deleting the D300 and quad-core CPUs... but they didn't suddenly call it a 2016 model. Same thing with the Mini.
 
  • Like
Reactions: opeter and Boyd01
tpivette89 said:
Apple simply deleted the 128GB option. It is NOT a 2020 Mini. Still a 2018, just with different base level storage.

In 2016 they updated the Mac Pro trashcan lineup by deleting the D300 and quad-core CPUs... but they didn't suddenly call it a 2016 model. Same thing with the Mini.
Click to expand...

Yes, but given the glacial update cycle for the mini - “any change” is remarkable enough to warrant a distinction; like “2020 Mac Mini”.
 
Apple are free to change flash chip suppliers any time they want, without telling us. So it's entirely possible that a "manufactured in 2018" and a "manufactured in 2020" Mini could have different SSD performance :p
 
frou said:
Apple are free to change flash chip suppliers any time they want, without telling us. So it's entirely possible that a "manufactured in 2018" and a "manufactured in 2020" Mini could have different SSD performance :p
Click to expand...

In that case, and in the public interest, here are my disc times from a CTO July 2020 Mac mini (i7/8gb/500GB):

Screen Shot 2020-10-10 at 9.56.38 AM.png
 
This is my i7/64gb/2tb 2018 Mini, bought as a refurb from Apple in June 2020. Quite a difference, about 50% faster write performance than the smaller SSD. I'm sure this has absolutely nothing to do with "2018 vs 2020" however.


mini-2018.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back