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New Mac Mini vs iMac 2012

thomamon

thomamon

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 24, 2008
1,218
162
Flemington, NJ
So my wife keeps complaining her iMac has slowed down, she has a 2012.

I was thinking of getting her a Mac mini for Christmas. Do you think the default memory is enough or should I upgrade to 16? She really only uses it for browsing the web and e-mails. Nothing complicated. I would upgrade to the storage to 512.

Thanks for your opinion.
 
I have the base model M1 and a 2014 iMac - the M1 is fast, very happy with it, keeping the iMac as well as has 1tb storage
 
I’m making the leap from my 2012 iMac to the M1 Mac mini myself. 8GB would be perfectly fine for your wife. The unified memory is going to be more efficient than how memory is utilized on Intel Macs.
 
For just web and email, 8gb of RAM is probably going to be fine.
The m1 Mini will probably feel like "a nice jump up" performance-wise.

Another important consideration -- what kind of display does she want?
If you don't have a spare one, here's a list that might be of a little help:
IPS Monitor List: Best AHVA, PLS & IPS LCD Displays
 
thomamon said:
So my wife keeps complaining her iMac has slowed down, she has a 2012.

I was thinking of getting her a Mac mini for Christmas. Do you think the default memory is enough or should I upgrade to 16? She really only uses it for browsing the web and e-mails. Nothing complicated. I would upgrade to the storage to 512.

Thanks for your opinion.
Click to expand...

If it’s really just browsing and emails, and budget matters, I’d go with the 256GB and put that money to the extra RAM. With our cloud focused world, I’d argue extra RAM increases longevity far more than disk space. You can always add an external SSD in the future.
 
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Good jump but I would be worry about getting the right monitor cause even in better resolution, some of them doesn't have the shapness text as your Imac. I would test them personally before buying.

By my side I would be very happy if the slowing down my wife complains was the Imac ;)
 
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thehighwaystar said:
Good jump but I would be worry about getting the right monitor cause even in better resolution, some of them doesn't have the shapness text as your Imac. I would test them personally before buying.

By my side I would be very happy if the slowing down my wife complains was the Imac ;)
Click to expand...
I am not sure she would notice sharpness. Sucks you can't use the old iMac as the monitor.
 
thomamon said:
I am not sure she would notice sharpness. Sucks you can't use the old iMac as the monitor.
Click to expand...
"Well actually", you should be able to as long as it's not a retina iMac. Look up iMac Target Display Mode. You probably need a thunderbolt adapter of some kind, but in theory you should be able to use the old iMac as a mac mini monitor provided you can find the right combination of cables and dongles.

Then you have to consider how much those would cost plus the power consumption of the iMac vs a brand new screen.
 
Jeez, I bought my missus the cheapest screen i could find for her works laptop as a 2nd screen. Cost me £49 and she loves it.

You’ve had the iMac for 8 years. Even the base M1 Mini will be a huge leap in every aspect...plug in some external storage and you’re laughing.

So base mini + external storage + new screen would be perfect for your needs, I’d say.
 
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If you put an SSD in that old iMac it’ll be fine. My main machine until this week was a 2010 iMac, with SSDs, and it runs everything fine, and fast. Its only problem was being stuck at High Sierra.
 
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thomamon said:
So my wife keeps complaining her iMac has slowed down, she has a 2012.

I was thinking of getting her a Mac mini for Christmas. Do you think the default memory is enough or should I upgrade to 16? She really only uses it for browsing the web and e-mails. Nothing complicated. I would upgrade to the storage to 512.

Thanks for your opinion.
Click to expand...
1. Get the new M1 Mac mini, with 512GB SSD and 8GB memory....16GB is Way Overkill for her use. It's better to throw that extra money, into a bigger SSD still.

2. After fully setting up New M1 Mac mini, make sure old iMac is running macOS High Sierra or earlier on the iMac to be used as the external display. It will not work with macOS Mojave or later.

3. Use the Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter with your thunderbolt cable, to connect from the Mini to the iMac. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207266

4. Report back here for the benefit of all
 
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Hi BuffyzDead....have you ever experienced this described setup as Imac monitor working ? This information is decisive for me to jump into M1 scenario.
I have the imac with HS and I m hell of slowing down..
 
thomamon said:
So my wife keeps complaining her iMac has slowed down, she has a 2012.

I was thinking of getting her a Mac mini for Christmas. Do you think the default memory is enough or should I upgrade to 16? She really only uses it for browsing the web and e-mails. Nothing complicated. I would upgrade to the storage to 512.

Thanks for your opinion.
Click to expand...
Please donate the iMac to a poor starving teacher like me! ;)

It seems like upgrading to 16GB is making a nice difference from the threads I've seen. Personally, I will get the 16GB option when the opportunity presents itself OR even wait for the next gen.
 
I wound up getting her the 16GB of memory with the 512 SSD drive! Should be no speed issues for her for a while, lol
 
BuffyzDead said:
1. Get the new M1 Mac mini, with 512GB SSD and 8GB memory....16GB is Way Overkill for her use. It's better to throw that extra money, into a bigger SSD still.

2. After fully setting up New M1 Mac mini, make sure old iMac is running macOS High Sierra or earlier on the iMac to be used as the external display. It will not work with macOS Mojave or later.

3. Use the Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter with your thunderbolt cable, to connect from the Mini to the iMac. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207266

4. Report back here for the benefit of all
Click to expand...
Can I go back and install an old OS on the iMac?
 
BuffyzDead said:
3. Use the Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter with your thunderbolt cable, to connect from the Mini to the iMac. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207266
Click to expand...

If you buy an adapter, make sure it's returnable! There is another thread here (sorry, can't find it now) which claims the M1 Mini cannot use an iMac as a monitor in target display mode. IIRC, somebody got Apple to confirm this.

I also found this with a quick Google search.

"No 2020 Macs support Target Display Mode, either as the source or the target computer."

Use iMac screen for 2020 M1 Mac mini? - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com discussions.apple.com
 
thomamon said:
I wound up getting her the 16GB of memory with the 512 SSD drive! Should be no speed issues for her for a while, lol
Click to expand...

Congrats. How do you like it so far compared to your 2012 iMac? I am considering upgrading our 2012 iMac 27 to this same Mac Mini specs. What monitor did you end up getting. The Apple/LG 27 monitor seems pricey.

Wish Apple would update the iMacs soon.
 
Last edited:
GDF said:
Congrats. How do you like it so far compared to your 2012 iMac? I am considering upgrading our 2021 iMac 27 to this same Mac Mini specs. What monitor did you end up getting. The Apple/LG 27 monitor seems pricey.

Wish Apple would update the iMacs soon.
Click to expand...
you have a 2021 iMac?
 
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