Mac Mini Replacement
Discussion
So i have a Mac mini at home, that i use in the bedroom as my computer, mainly for web surfing watching TV streaming and stuff. I dont do anything overly taxing on it.
Its a 2011 with a 2.3 GHZ i5, 8Gb 1333mhz DDR3 ram and 500GB SSD
Over the last 2 weeks it has got all "gritty" swipes from one screen to another seem to stop mid swipe then cary on... I only have about 30gb free space on the HD will freeing some up help matters?
Will I see a great deal of improvement with this
https://www.johnlewis.com/apple-mac-mini-2018-desk...
Its a 2011 with a 2.3 GHZ i5, 8Gb 1333mhz DDR3 ram and 500GB SSD
Over the last 2 weeks it has got all "gritty" swipes from one screen to another seem to stop mid swipe then cary on... I only have about 30gb free space on the HD will freeing some up help matters?
Will I see a great deal of improvement with this
https://www.johnlewis.com/apple-mac-mini-2018-desk...
The 2018 ones are MUCH faster - but you can save a bit by buying it from Apple's Refurb store (same quality/warranty as new, but with about 10% saving).
Just got something similar to replace my dad's 2012 model that I'd upgraded with extra RAM and SSD, but his new one just blows it out of the water. The PCIe SSD is much faster than the SATA connection you have to use in the older models.
ETA: most of his docs (and iTunes music) is on a 4TB external drive - which is the same drive he had previously (about 2 years old) but seems much quicker to access now - and only the OS and apps are on the internal SSD.
Just got something similar to replace my dad's 2012 model that I'd upgraded with extra RAM and SSD, but his new one just blows it out of the water. The PCIe SSD is much faster than the SATA connection you have to use in the older models.
ETA: most of his docs (and iTunes music) is on a 4TB external drive - which is the same drive he had previously (about 2 years old) but seems much quicker to access now - and only the OS and apps are on the internal SSD.
Edited by mmm-five on Monday 18th November 10:13
nikaiyo2 said:
So i have a Mac mini at home, that i use in the bedroom as my computer, mainly for web surfing watching TV streaming and stuff. I dont do anything overly taxing on it.
Its a 2011 with a 2.3 GHZ i5, 8Gb 1333mhz DDR3 ram and 500GB SSD
Over the last 2 weeks it has got all "gritty" swipes from one screen to another seem to stop mid swipe then cary on... I only have about 30gb free space on the HD will freeing some up help matters?
Will I see a great deal of improvement with this
https://www.johnlewis.com/apple-mac-mini-2018-desk...
I doubt it because the JL model has a 256GB SSD whereas the model you have is 500GB.Its a 2011 with a 2.3 GHZ i5, 8Gb 1333mhz DDR3 ram and 500GB SSD
Over the last 2 weeks it has got all "gritty" swipes from one screen to another seem to stop mid swipe then cary on... I only have about 30gb free space on the HD will freeing some up help matters?
Will I see a great deal of improvement with this
https://www.johnlewis.com/apple-mac-mini-2018-desk...
Having only 30GB space won't help things, but judging by its age and performance I'm guessing the SSD drive is getting close to failing, so it might be an idea to copy your files onto an external hard-drive before it dies. Set up 'Time Machine' to copy to an external drive, then if the worst happens you can carry on like nothing happened, or wait till it does die and waste hours and hours trying to piece everything back together again!
For info, last year I swapped the failing 320GB hard drive out of my 2007 iMac for a 480GB Kingston SSD and it now flies. Not sure whether you can take the Mac Mini to bits, but if not am pretty sure you can connect an external SSD or HDD to copy your files across.
OP,
I’d buy the basic Mac Mini with 128Gb SSD at £800. It’ll be more than fast enough for what you do. Also buy a new external drive for back ups. Then, wipe the old Mini clean, reinstall iOS, from previous back up, see how it is. If it works fine, sell it for a fair few quid.
That’s just me though. You’ve had yours for a fair while, and it sounds like you want to get a new one
I’d buy the basic Mac Mini with 128Gb SSD at £800. It’ll be more than fast enough for what you do. Also buy a new external drive for back ups. Then, wipe the old Mini clean, reinstall iOS, from previous back up, see how it is. If it works fine, sell it for a fair few quid.
That’s just me though. You’ve had yours for a fair while, and it sounds like you want to get a new one
Ok
I was reading the specs and sort of thinking well a 3.0 i5 wont be that much better than a 2.3... but its a completely different gen, same goes for RAM etc.
I did not want to get one and think... well me old one was almost the same!
The SSD on my current mini is only a couple of years old so hope it is not failing (changing it was actually really easy a bit fiddly but everything fits together perfectly)
I have timemachine running, but on an ancient old HDD in a caddy.
So my thoughts are, get a new external SSD for timemachine/ storage. Do a full backup then re-set the current to factory, see how it is.
I was thinking about the lower cost replacement, but will the i5 not be a bit more long lasting? I would rather pay an extra £200 and have it last a bit longer.
I was reading the specs and sort of thinking well a 3.0 i5 wont be that much better than a 2.3... but its a completely different gen, same goes for RAM etc.
I did not want to get one and think... well me old one was almost the same!
The SSD on my current mini is only a couple of years old so hope it is not failing (changing it was actually really easy a bit fiddly but everything fits together perfectly)
I have timemachine running, but on an ancient old HDD in a caddy.
So my thoughts are, get a new external SSD for timemachine/ storage. Do a full backup then re-set the current to factory, see how it is.
I was thinking about the lower cost replacement, but will the i5 not be a bit more long lasting? I would rather pay an extra £200 and have it last a bit longer.
I completely understand what you’re saying, so just go for it. You really can’t go far wrong, no matter what you do.
And I bought a vastly over-specced MacBook Pro in 2014 for the same reason that you mention. It’s still going great guns, and yep, I need to clear some space on the 500Gb SSD!
And I bought a vastly over-specced MacBook Pro in 2014 for the same reason that you mention. It’s still going great guns, and yep, I need to clear some space on the 500Gb SSD!
Edited by Tony1963 on Tuesday 19th November 09:59
nikaiyo2 said:
Well to complete the picture, I unlocked the admin account.
There was a youtube window open, and playing i presume since I last logged into that user maybe 6 or 8 months ago. Closed that, re-start and all is well!
Damn!There was a youtube window open, and playing i presume since I last logged into that user maybe 6 or 8 months ago. Closed that, re-start and all is well!
However, now you’ve started shopping, are you past the point of no return?
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