Resolved Mini Late 2014 update to SSD or buy late 2018?

[Tb87Bln]

Hello everyone!

I need some suggestions to help me decide what to do with my Mac mini late 2024 (2,8GHz i5; 8GB RAM; 1TB fusion drive) because I am a little lost and my mind goes round in circles…

I bought it in 2016. I don’t use it for fancy high end stuff and I am certainly not a power user… I also own a late 2016 MacBook Pro (2,9 GHz i5; 8GB Ram; 500GB ssd) for some „on the go stuff“ and I plan on upgrading to a new MacBook Pro this year…).
The mini actually serves mainly as a file storage and to sort through PDFs, documents, photos, manage iTunes, do some browsing and office work. But I like to work with (too) many open windows and safari tabs so I feel some speed limits. I have two 25“ UHD monitors connected which work fine. I use bootcamp occasionally, so I need an intel Mac and can’t use the new M1 ones…
And now, I feel a little time pressure to decide what to do next because with the keynote for the new Macs in foreseeable future and probably discontinued intel macs I fear I might not be able to buy a new intel Mac which fits my needs if I wait too long…

I plan to keep a Mac mini to do the mentioned work for the foreseeable future…
So, I think it would be wise to get rid of the fusion drive because I am a little scared that it might fail in the near future (Dr. Google doesn’t help)

But I am not sure if it is more advisable to try to upgrade to a 512 GB ssd and get rid of fusion drive along the way or to buy a new Mac mini 2018 (3,0 GHz i5; 8 GB RAM, 512GB ssd). With both solutions I would connect an external 1 TB hdd for data storage). Cost difference to buy the new one would probably be about 600$…(or actually € as I am from Germany…)
or am I even too paranoid and should simply keep the mini as it is now…?
Like I said… I am a little lost…

So any help and suggestions are appreciated!
Thank you very much!

 

[Boyd01]

I have the exact same 2014 Mini but only use it as an iTunes server. It just runs iTunes under Mojave with home sharing and all my media on a 4tb external SSD, so I can access it from two AppleTV's and other devices. Anyway, I don't need much space on the internal disk, so I split the SSD from the fusion drive, which can be done with terminal commands. The fusion drive is actually just a 128gb SSD paired with a 1tb hard drive, so I installed the system on the SSD and boot from that.

You could do the same thing and get an external SSD for your other files, or you could pull the 128gb internal SSD and replace it with a bigger one and boot from that. Alternately, you could get an external SSD (such as a Samsung T5) and boot from that which is even simpler (no need to open up the mini).

Having said that, my personal choice would be to replace it with a 2018 Mini, they are far better machines. It will be much faster than your 2018 Mini, have faster ports, RAM that can be upgraded to 64gb and will be supported for more years. If you go this route, start checking the Apple refurb store regularly. They have a good variety of 2018 Mini configurations, prices are about 15% less than new but have the same warranty. If you don't see the model you want, just keep checking. Got my own 2018 Mini this way, it took about a month of constant checking but I found the exact configuration I wanted.

Refurbished Mac - Mac mini

Save up to 15% on a refurbished Mac mini. Tested and certified by Apple including a 1-year warranty. Free delivery and returns.

www.apple.com

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Having said that, my personal choice would be to replace it with a 2018 Mini, they are far better machines.

That's the best advice, and the 2020 base model M1 Mini is going for $599.99 on Amazon, last time I checked. Personally I would wait for the rumored M1X Mini because if it does happen it will only further drop the price of the M1 mini.

 

[Boyd01]

Note that the OP specifically said they want an Intel Mini. I also need Intel, because I make heavy use of both Windows and MacOS virtual machines. The OP did not mention that however, so an M1 might be a good option unless they need to use 32-bit Mac apps.

 

[Fishrrman]

Get a 2018 from the Apple refurbished store (assuming they have the configuration you want in stock).

Or... perhaps consider one of the new m1x Minis that are reportedly going to be released within a month or so. I reckon "the base model" of these will do fine, with ONE EXCEPTION: I would not buy ANY m-series Mac UNLESS it has 16gb of RAM. 8gb is no longer "enough" for the m-series (you'll get excessive disk writes).

 

[Tb87Bln]

Note that the OP specifically said they want an Intel Mini. I also need Intel, because I make heavy use of both Windows and MacOS virtual machines. The OP did not mention that however, so an M1 might be a good option unless they need to use 32-bit Mac apps.

That’s true… and I kind of forgot about it…
A virtual machine should actually work for me in most cases… but I already encountered some software that doesn’t work in an virtual machine and also I don’t fully trust the windows ARM visualization…

I have the exact same 2014 Mini but only use it as an iTunes server. It just runs iTunes under Mojave with home sharing and all my media on a 4tb external SSD, so I can access it from two AppleTV's and other devices. Anyway, I don't need much space on the internal disk, so I split the SSD from the fusion drive, which can be done with terminal commands. The fusion drive is actually just a 128gb SSD paired with a 1tb hard drive, so I installed the system on the SSD and boot from that.

You could do the same thing and get an external SSD for your other files, or you could pull the 128gb internal SSD and replace it with a bigger one and boot from that. Alternately, you could get an external SSD (such as a Samsung T5) and boot from that which is even simpler (no need to open up the mini).

Having said that, my personal choice would be to replace it with a 2018 Mini, they are far better machines. It will be much faster than your 2018 Mini, have faster ports, RAM that can be upgraded to 64gb and will be supported for more years. If you go this route, start checking the Apple refurb store regularly. They have a good variety of 2018 Mini configurations, prices are about 15% less than new but have the same warranty. If you don't see the model you want, just keep checking. Got my own 2018 Mini this way, it took about a month of constant checking but I found the exact configuration I wanted.

Refurbished Mac - Mac mini

Save up to 15% on a refurbished Mac mini. Tested and certified by Apple including a 1-year warranty. Free delivery and returns.

www.apple.com

This sound like a brilliant idea! Thanks…
I haven’t even thought of the option to simply split the fusion drive without replacing the old hard drive! Then I could reuse it as server, which is something I thought about, but wasn’t so sure because of the fusion drive…

To replace my old mini with a new one is probably the easiest and best solution…
The problem probably isn’t even worth all the hard thinking…(after all for apple standards the mini isn’t even that expensive)
I probably only needed some reassurance… ;-)

Thanks!

 

[Tb87Bln]

Get a 2018 from the Apple refurbished store (assuming they have the configuration you want in stock).

Or... perhaps consider one of the new m1x Minis that are reportedly going to be released within a month or so. I reckon "the base model" of these will do fine, with ONE EXCEPTION: I would not buy ANY m-series Mac UNLESS it has 16gb of RAM. 8gb is no longer "enough" for the m-series (you'll get excessive disk writes).

The tip with the 8gb ram is something I’ll keep in mind when upgrading my MacBook Pro (Who knows what apple thinks works as entry level…)

 

[Kaida]

i run my 2014 i5 16gb ram model as my daily home machine exactly the way you used it for, i used 2018 for a bit and found out that it takes more power to run it and the tasks that i run it on is exactly the same...

I used a 2tb NVME on the 2014 with a 2tb Sata HDD everything internally. I do not like to boot from USB.

 

[Boyd01]

That’s true… and I kind of forgot about it…
A virtual machine should actually work for me in most cases… but I already encountered some software that doesn’t work in an virtual machine and also I don’t fully trust the windows ARM visualization…

I think you misunderstood my post. I am using virtual machines on a 2018 Intel Mini. It is not possible to run MacOS virtual machines on the M1 AFAIK. Parallels is supporting Windows 10 virtual machines on the M1, but Microsoft apparently does not endorse this and the only way to get it working is the beta ARM versions available through the Windows Insider program.

So, if you need virtual machines, IMO the M1 is not a good choice... at least for now.

 

[Tb87Bln]

I think you misunderstood my post. I am using virtual machines on a 2018 Intel Mini. It is not possible to run MacOS virtual machines on the M1 AFAIK. Parallels is supporting Windows 10 virtual machines on the M1, but Microsoft apparently does not endorse this and the only way to get it working is the beta ARM versions available through the Windows Insider program.

So, if you need virtual machines, IMO the M1 is not a good choice... at least for now.

Don’t worry. I did understand your post exactly as you clarified it and that’s the reason why I’ll get an intel Mac mini. My answer might have been a little unclear…
Thank you for your help!