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

What to do with a 2012 i7, 16gb RAM & Fusion drive Mac Mini

Trvlngnrs

Trvlngnrs

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 8, 2010
361
38
Hi, I just replaced my old top of the line Mac mini with a 16gb M1. No problem with it, just wanted to upgrade my office computer.

I can get $145 for it as a trade thru Apple, but I'm wondering if it has other uses. I understand some people hook it to their entertainment center and load it with all their music and songs. Is their advantage in doing that over a USB thumb drive?

How would I access the songs without a computer screen?

If I put it on the classified section, what do you think it's worth?

Blessings,
Trvlngnrs
 
Trvlngnrs said:
Hi, I just replaced my old top of the line Mac mini with a 16gb M1. No problem with it, just wanted to upgrade my office computer.

I can get $145 for it as a trade thru Apple, but I'm wondering if it has other uses. I understand some people hook it to their entertainment center and load it with all their music and songs. Is their advantage in doing that over a USB thumb drive?

How would I access the songs without a computer screen?

If I put it on the classified section, what do you think it's worth?

Blessings,
Trvlngnrs
Click to expand...
Try looking here, I got a much better $ for my used MAC Book Pro than from Apple. https://www.decluttr.com/start-selling
 
AFAIK, the first Mini with an i7 was 2011, the 2010 Mini's were all core 2 duo processors. I thought they didn't offer the fusion drive until 2012, but could be wrong there. You might want to check the different models at everymac.com to see what you really have, just offhand it sounds like it could be a 2012 Mini.

To answer your other question, you can access a "headless" Mini with the built-in screen sharing feature of MacOS, I use my 2012 Mini as a fileserver this way with a little HDMI plug that fools the Mini into thinking a monitor is actually connected. You can find these on Amazon for under $10, do a search for "HDMI dummy plug".
 
My mistake, it's a 2012, I edited the post. Thanks for that. So to use it headless am I connecting via Bluetooth or wifi?

Do you know if there is an advantage over a USB thumb drive holding the music?

The link Boyd01 provided is offering $200. Thank you, if I decide to sell it, that's an improvement over Apple!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Boyd01
Trvlngnrs said:
My mistake, it's a 2012, I edited the post. Thanks for that. So to use it headless am I connecting via Bluetooth or wifi?

Do you know if there is an advantage over a USB thumb drive holding the music?

The link Boyd01 provided is offering $200. Thank you, if I decide to sell it, that's an improvement over Apple!
Click to expand...
You connect by WiFi.

The main advantage would be organization. As you’ll have access to whatever your preferred music app is, like iTunes. To navigate your library, create playlists and such.
 
Trvlngnrs said:
The link Boyd01 provided is offering $200. Thank you, if I decide to sell it, that's an improvement over Apple!
Click to expand...

I didn't post a link, that was somebody else. :)

A USB thumb drive wouldn't work very well for me. I have around 600 movies, 600 TV shows and tens of thousands of songs on an external 4tb SSD on a 2014 Mini that I use as a media server. It just runs iTunes with home sharing, so I can access from two AppleTV's, a couple Macs, an iPad and iPhone. But that machine is also connected to a cheap 24" monitor, so I can use it directly with a wireless keyboard and mouse. The audio output is connected to my home stereo system with speakers in several rooms.

But I could do the same thing "headless" if I wanted to. All my Mini's are on hard-wired gigabit ethernet, I only use wifi for my iPad and Phone.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: StumpJumper
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