2015-17 12" Macbook or 2014-2015 27" 5k iMac, as a 2009 Mac Mini replacement?

[i486dx2-66]

Ok, here's one out of left field. 😆 Any gut feelings on a 2022 purchase of one of these two?

• Early 2015 - Mid 2017 12" Retina Macbook (2017 preference for the keyboard)
• Late 2014 - Late 2015 27" 5k iMac

I'm replacing a low-spec Early 2009 Mac Mini + 1920x1080 display (shop computer) that has given up the ghost (and stuck at 10.11.6, was unable to run recent software anyway). While polar opposites, both of these choices above seem to be available at the same price points used ($300-400), support much newer OS versions (Big Sur or Monterey), and have 2-5x the performance of my dead Mac Mini. One would be a computer + (significant) display upgrade, the other is just cool for what it is and would offer a portability benefit I've never had.

My baseline reference set the bar so low that both sound good. What do you think? 😁

 

[GMShadow]

The 2017 MacBook still has the defective butterfly switches, so you certainly can't count on that working forever unfortunately. Any MacBooks 2016-2019 (minus the 16" or the old Air model) all have those keyboards.

5K iMacs are big, just FYI, and not especially easy to repair, though the RAM is still easily upgradable.


Have you considered a 2018 Mini? They're about the same price point and they're supported by Ventura (and likely will be supported for a while going forward given that they're still on sale today).

 

[i486dx2-66]

Thanks for the reply. I actually have a 2018 Mini (with 28" 4k display) as my primary machine - and had intended for it to be the 2009's eventual flow-down replacement. But the plan was to replace the 2018 MM with a 27" Apple Silicon iMac or M2 Mini + ultrawide... neither of which has materialized yet.

I don't know that I would buy a second 2018 MM - if it doesn't bring anything "new" to the table (portability or display), I could pick up one of the <$150 2015 or earlier Mac Minis instead and mentally still consider it a short-term machine?

 

[profcutter]

I’d go for the 5k iMac. Not having usb c and thunderbolt 3 would be a little bit of a bummer, but so much faster and more reliable than the MacBook for sure. Just be sure to check for pink displays!

 

[darngooddesign]

Ok, here's one out of left field. 😆 Any gut feelings on a 2022 purchase of one of these two?

• Early 2015 - Mid 2017 12" Retina Macbook (2017 preference for the keyboard)
• Late 2014 - Late 2015 27" 5k iMac

I'm replacing a low-spec Early 2009 Mac Mini + 1920x1080 display (shop computer) that has given up the ghost (and stuck at 10.11.6, was unable to run recent software anyway). While polar opposites, both of these choices above seem to be available at the same price points used ($300-400), support much newer OS versions (Big Sur or Monterey), and have 2-5x the performance of my dead Mac Mini. One would be a computer + (significant) display upgrade, the other is just cool for what it is and would offer a portability benefit I've never had.

My baseline reference set the bar so low that both sound good. What do you think? 😁

These are very different computers, with vastly different capabilities, first decide if you want a laptop or a desktop.

 

[EugW]

I ran a 2017 12" MacBook for an entire month in clamshell mode with a 30" Cinema HD Display from 2007. It ran fine, but it was kind of a pain since the 12" MacBook has only 1 USB-C port. That port had to be connected to a dongle that could accept power, connect USB devices, and provide video output. Without the proper dongles and cables, that can get flaky. In my case it was even worse since I had to convert the video output signal to dual-link DVI for that monitor. Also, judging by reports, a lot of 3rd party dongles that can do this have a habit of dying after several months. (I only ran mine for a month though.) BTW, I just installed Ventura onto that 2017 MacBook and it runs great.

Since I didn't want to run a laptop as my main work desktop with that dongle mess, eventually I replaced it with a 2014 Mac mini. The one I bought (for uber cheap off eBay) had 8 GB RAM and HD, and I did a literally 10 minute upgrade to NVMe SSD for cheap. This has been running full time as my work desktop for the past year, waiting for that mythical M2 (or M2 Pro) Mac mini to get released.

Note that the M2 mini should appear in a few months. Apparently the hardware has been finalized, and has passed testing already. This comes from a leaker, but I'm inclined to believe it since this guy leaked the Mac Studio before anyone else in the world did. It was interesting watching his leak unfold at that time cuz a lot of people though he was full of ****, but he turned out to be 100% right.

As for a 27" iMac, consider it only if it has an SSD or else 128 GB SSD as part of a Fusion drive (which I'd then defuse into a separate 128 GB SSD and HD).

Strange though you're considering a tiny laptop and a giant desktop to replace a Mac mini. In your shoes I'd just continue to wait for that M2 Mac mini.