New Mac Mini: Slow?

[boxst]

I just bought a new Mac Mini and thought it would be comparable with my iMac or at least not noticeably slower. The iMac is a 2015 27" 4ghz/quad core/32gb/Radeon R9. The Mac mini is 3.2ghz/i7/32gb with an LG Monitor.

I have it scaled as it is on a 4K monitor and when I pinch to get to the launch screen the animation is slow. It doesn't have anything really loaded yet, so there are no processes running in the background.

Am I doing something wrong? Never seen a Mac be 'slow' before....

[P4ulB]

I suspect the issue here is the Mac Mini's lack of a decent graphics card option having to make do with just the Intel 630 integrated graphics (unless you splash out on an external GPU).

[boxst]

Thank you. This appears to be a mistake then and I will return it. Seems crazy to spend £2K on a machine that can't cope with the graphics.

Edited by boxst on Saturday 17th November 20:05

[Murph7355]

What are you using it for?

[boxst]

Murph7355 said:

What are you using it for?

Just browsing, document creation, email. I was just about to load fusion and put windows in a virtual machine.

Everything runs fine, it’s just the graphics that are bugging me. If I put it back to “default” resolution then it is quicker but then a waste of having a 4K monitor and much worse than my iMac.

[Brainpox]

Integrated graphics rendering at 4k is going to chug. Incredible that Apple even offer it to be honest, even if they just got rid of the offending animations for the Mini.

Maybe they were expecting everyone to just use the dock. The Launchpad is pretty unnecessary really.

[tim0409]

I purchased a base 2018 Mac mini last week and have using it with a 27" LG 850 with the default settings and it was fine. I just tried to scale it to 2560x1440 (I think) and the animation starts to get choppy so it must be (as others have said) down to the integrated graphics.

[boxst]

Just returned it and bought an iMac 27", i7 4.2ghz, 32gb, with Radeon Pro 580 / 8GB instead.

[Evolved]

Sign of the times with Apple unfortunately! Long time Apple fan and user, but their tactics and offerings are becoming a joke!

What you’re saying here is, they’ve released a brand new machine, that can’t even handle its own OS’s animations? Literally expecting people to then fork out on top for an EGPU no doubt!

[RobDickinson]

I was looking at getting a Mac mini for back end xcode / visual studio xamarin builds.

It shouldn't need a gpu at all really but it does look like a 21.5 iMac would be faster anyhow...

[boxst]

Evolved said:

Sign of the times with Apple unfortunately! Long time Apple fan and user, but their tactics and offerings are becoming a joke!

What you’re saying here is, they’ve released a brand new machine, that can’t even handle its own OS’s animations? Literally expecting people to then fork out on top for an EGPU no doubt!

I will put it down to me not reading the specs and assuming that something that costs so much could handle better than default graphics. As mentioned, if you leave the resolution alone then it works fine.

Having said that, I'm not sure who the Mac Mini is aimed at, as presumably anything that even moderately is graphical will struggle even at the default resolution and if it is a 'work horse' from a CPU perspective then there are far far cheaper options.

[Murph7355]

boxst said:

I will put it down to me not reading the specs and assuming that something that costs so much could handle better than default graphics. As mentioned, if you leave the resolution alone then it works fine.

Having said that, I'm not sure who the Mac Mini is aimed at, as presumably anything that even moderately is graphical will struggle even at the default resolution and if it is a 'work horse' from a CPU perspective then there are far far cheaper options.

The "cheaper options" angle has never really concerned Apple.

I have a few Mac Minis around the house...a very early one (white top) with DVD drive etc - gets used for ripping DVDs etc. A newer all ali' one with DVD drive that gets used as an HTPC and a newer still one with no drive used a my office machine (typically for remote connections onto other infrastructure).

They've been great, very reliable machines. But the HTPC one is starting to creak...my intention is to replace that with a NUC, but the one missing thing I need is a remote control solution for it - my Mac has an infrared eye that takes any IR signal and then issues IR (same or other) commands, macros etc within the TV cabinet to also control other equipment. Once I find the solution for that, I'll be moving ever further away from Apple kit.

[tim0409]

boxst said:

Just returned it and bought an iMac 27", i7 4.2ghz, 32gb, with Radeon Pro 580 / 8GB instead.

I've just returned my Mini as well; partly my fault as I don't know that much about graphic cards and just assumed there wouldn't be an issue with a 4K monitor.

I've always been a fan of Apple products but (for me) their pricing is getting ridiculous. Their rate of growth is slowing (mainly due to iPhone sales), and the only way they can maintain their share price is to focus on revenue growth which means higher prices. The difficulty is their prices were already at the top end of what the market could stomach, so it will be interesting if their approach works. I smile when I read people in Apple/Mac forums still defending them, believing that they only act in consumers interests; the fluffy Apple that might have existed years ago is long gone; at the end of the day, their only focus (like any company in business) is to extract the maximum possible revenue from customers, but they do risk a backlash.

[300bhp/ton]

boxst said:

Just returned it and bought an iMac 27", i7 4.2ghz, 32gb, with Radeon Pro 580 / 8GB instead.

Have to say its a bit disappointing.

I've been waiting a few years to buy a new Mini, but had been holding out until they updated it. I have a 2012 Mini that has been great, but I need a new machine in my home office.

Now that the new Mini is here, I'm not sure I want it though. Prices have sky rocketed, it'll cost nearly double what I paid for my 2012 one to get an equivalent modern spec. To hear it then doesn't handle 4k is a real let down. Thanks for your feedback.

[Bikerjon]

Yes it's a bit bizarre as the mini was originally pitched as the budget "way in" to a Mac as you could continue to use your existing keyboard/screen/mouse. Not sure where it fits now and disappointed to hear that it doesn't handle 4K too well.

[mari_fink]

No, It doesn't

[boxst]

Just to finish this off — I have my iMac and it is as expected. I’m disappointed that the Mac mini couldn’t cope with the what I think is the simplest of graphics.

I didn’t send back the monitor — so now am completely overscreened.

[sooty61]

Thanks for the info. I was seriously considering upgrading my 2009 iMac to a new Mac Mini with a large monitor, but his has put me off

[jesusbuiltmycar]

I was so close to ordering a mac mini but in the end, I bought an iMac - this thread confirms that I made the right choice.

[8bit]

boxst said:

Thank you. This appears to be a mistake then and I will return it. Seems crazy to spend £2K on a machine that can't cope with the graphics.

Edited by boxst on Saturday 17th November 20:05

£2k for a Mac Mini, WTF?!