Need help deciding

[ZachSpringman]

Little bit of background:

I'm selling my mid-2012 macbook air, and converting to an iPad Air (Gen 1) for school use. I really want a desktop at home, so I'm looking to go the Mac Mini route. I already have a keyboard and trackpad - just need to find a good monitor. I've been trying to study the forums and articles to decide if I should go the route of purchasing one of the newer models, or going with a refurbished one (2012 model) I found (Refurbished Mac mini 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7) due to all the talk that the new 2014 models aren't that impressive.

I don't edit movies or pictures and I don't play any games. I just use it as a computer - and the MacBook air has served me well for all the web browsing, schoolwork, downloading of music/movies/streaming that I've done. The only thing I might do is eventually install some time of ubuntu (now that I'll have some more HDD space)

Does anyone recommend going with the older model or going with the newer ones since I'm not a huge power user? The only worry about going older is if it will be able to have Yosemite, and future updates.

And lastly here is the link to the refurbished one I keep talking about:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD388LL/A/refurbished-mac-mini-23ghz-quad-core-Intel-Core-i7

 

[grandM]

Little bit of background:

I'm selling my mid-2012 macbook air, and converting to an iPad Air (Gen 1) for school use. I really want a desktop at home, so I'm looking to go the Mac Mini route. I already have a keyboard and trackpad - just need to find a good monitor. I've been trying to study the forums and articles to decide if I should go the route of purchasing one of the newer models, or going with a refurbished one (2012 model) I found (Refurbished Mac mini 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7) due to all the talk that the new 2014 models aren't that impressive.

I don't edit movies or pictures and I don't play any games. I just use it as a computer - and the MacBook air has served me well for all the web browsing, schoolwork, downloading of music/movies/streaming that I've done. The only thing I might do is eventually install some time of ubuntu (now that I'll have some more HDD space)

Does anyone recommend going with the older model or going with the newer ones since I'm not a huge power user? The only worry about going older is if it will be able to have Yosemite, and future updates.

And lastly here is the link to the refurbished one I keep talking about:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD388LL/A/refurbished-mac-mini-23ghz-quad-core-Intel-Core-i7

i would buy the link

 

[Ridley]

First off, you should consider the iPad air 2. There is a significant difference between that and iPad air in terms of performance. I know that wasn't your question but the differences between the 2012 and 2014 mac mini's are small. So you should agonize more over the iPad air version more so than the mac mini version.

I'd say the 2014 mac mini is a better buy if you are going to:

• Play games
• Use of bunch of monitors (3 total, or 2 monitors and drive TV through HDMI)
• Use wireless AC for network storage

If none of those seem important to you the 2012 mac mini would probably suit you right and save you some money. Just my initial thoughts

 

[ZachSpringman]

First off, you should consider the iPad air 2. There is a significant difference between that and iPad air in terms of performance. I know that wasn't your question but the differences between the 2012 and 2014 mac mini's are small. So you should agonize more over the iPad air version more so than the mac mini version.

I'd say the 2014 mac mini is a better buy if you are going to:

• Play games
• Use of bunch of monitors (3 total, or 2 monitors and drive TV through HDMI)
• Use wireless AC for network storage

If none of those seem important to you the 2012 mac mini would probably suit you right and save you some money. Just my initial thoughts

Interesting...then maybe I'll go for that Mac Mini and invest in the new Air. I just hate the price at the moment because the old air is at a great price right now - I only plan on getting the 16GB version either way because I have a 128GB iPhone 6. Also on the Mac Mini, I dont play games, and plan to only use one monitor so if what your saying is true I'll definitely choose the older model - I just want to make sure I want miss out on Yosemite and future updates.