I am needing to replace my 21.5" iMac. I'm debating between the 2012 Mac Mini with quad core i7, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB Fusion drive and a new 11" Macbook Air with 8 GB RAM and the dual core Haswell i7. I'm going to be using Xcode, Photoshop, and Logic Pro X so I need something that will perform well with those. If I got the Air, I would just get the 128 GB SSD since it would be connected to external drives most of the time. The only thing that really bothers me about the Air is that I'd be limited to 8 GB RAM. I need advice!
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Need to Replace 2010 iMac
- Thread starter RagingGoat
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IMHO if you intend to run an Air with external drives all/most of the time you are negating the only benefit the Air has -- easy portability. I've recently heard there are issues using USB microphones on Fusion equipped Macs, so that would be a concern with your Mac mini alternative. Probably better to either un-fuse the drives or buy with just the HDD and add an internal SSD if you are handy with such things.
I'd doubt that the programs you cite are heavily dependent on the GPU (if you said FCPX and Aperture I'd say otherwise) so I'd say that the Mac mini, even without a recent update, will outperform the latest Air in processing tasks.
I'd doubt that the programs you cite are heavily dependent on the GPU (if you said FCPX and Aperture I'd say otherwise) so I'd say that the Mac mini, even without a recent update, will outperform the latest Air in processing tasks.
The thought behind the Air is that I'll be able to take it with me when needed, but I'm leaning toward the mini.
Well do you want portability? For what you do a Mini is definitely a better investment, it will run circles around the Air. I use Logic a lot and having 16GB RAM is almost a necessity (at least for me). I say go for the Mini.