which mac mini? question about processor

300MHz or about 900 odd points on geekbench if that means anything.

I've got the 2.3 i7 and run Xcode and MS Visual Studio on VMWare on 2 screens without the slightest lag.

Oh and it's worth upgrading the ram yourself.

 

Upgrading the ram in the mini is about the easiest upgrade you can do, it's the hard drive that's tricky.

Ram has gone up abit since I did mine but it's still WAY cheaper than paying apple for it.

 

Most likely, yes an update is imminent. The parts that would go in it exist today and the current model is over a year old, but there's no telling what Apple will do, so if you need one today, and the current model serves your needs, it will continue to serve your needs even after a revised computer is shipped.

 

The short answer is no, it doesn't really matter which CPU as they are both extremely similar; both are Ivy Bridge Mobile Core i7 CPUs with Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics in tow and with 6MB L3 Cache. It's really just a 300MHz difference, which, given that it's not 2000 anymore, isn't all that big of a deal. That said, for $100, if you have it to blow, that could give you a subtle speed bump on your more intensive tasks.

 

ssd

Did you put in a ssd? I was considering it but some technicians told me it had few use for programming? Is the compiling fast? I also have the impression the mac mini is more powerful than most imac's? (i5 versus i7 but apparantly the boost is different or so?)

I'm using Xcode

 

Yeah problem with the mini really is that we've really no idea when it will get updated. January at the earliest, but it could not be selling well and they could skip a whole generation for all we know (like they did with the Mac Pro).

The current ones are fine, especially if you get 3rd party pricing or a used one. Just the new ones should come with faster graphics and pci-e ssd options making them quite the performance step up for a lot of uses.

 

I don't think they'll do that. I guess I wouldn't be that surprised if they delayed it until after the mac pro, but they have consistent on the mini for some time. It just seems like it's always the last priority.

 

I think the recently updated Macbooks are an indication of at least the CPU/GPU combination you can expect in the next Mac Mini and the Haswell CPUs seem to be performing roughly on a par with previously faster clocked CPUs of the 2012 range so the 2Ghz 2013 Macbook Pro CPU is equivalent to the 2012 2.3Ghz Mac Mini CPU and so on.

They'll more than likely get a minor bump to Haswell but there won't be the great leap in CPU power that happened when they went from dual core i5s to quad core i7s with the 2012 update. I also think they'll add Thunderbolt 2 or possible even 2 Thunderbolt 2 ports at the expense of Firewire 800. There's also the vastly faster integrated graphics and posibility of a discreet GPU.

I'd just pay the £80 extra for the 2.6Ghz CPU if I was buying one now and upgrade the RAM yourself at a later date. In the UK on Amazon the 16Gb RAM kit is £117 and the RAM is added very simply but there's videos online if you need a guide.

 

If you look on the mac mini forums, you'll see there are a lot of people patiently waiting for the next mini. I was expecting the next one in Sept, but it didn't come and so the waiting game continues. In the mean time I can still still surf, write & listen to music with my 2009 mini.

 

I hope they don't, but I don't feel confident they will update it any time soon. They are just never in a rush to release stuff these days. Hopefully it comes in December with the Mac Pro and they just didn't say anything so not to stall current sales. We'll see.

 

I'm one of those who spent the extra $$$ to upgrade from the 2.3ghz CPU to the 2.6ghz.

Was it worth it?
Hard to say. In my case, it cost me $80 -- I reasoned that I would be keeping the Mini for at least 4-5 years, and since the CPU was the only component that couldn't be upgraded later on, I'd spend the money "up front" and be done with it. But I made that purchase last January.

Having said that, I don't think I'd miss the .3ghz if I was buying today.

Also -- new Mini's may be coming, not that far around the bend, even though right now their arrival date is uncertain.

If you're going to buy a "late 2012" Mini, I'd advise that it's worth spending the money for the 2.3ghz i7 (over the i5), but the 2.6ghz probably isn't going to "wow you" in day-to-day usage.

If you're still doing ok with your _current_ setup, and can hold out until late January/February next year, you might consider waiting for the Haswell version of the Mini, which should appear around that time frame.

 

Just wait for a couple of weeks for the new minis.