$800 2012 vs $694 2014

[SoCalReviews]

I already have a buyer for my dual core. 380€ for a 2 year old mini is reasonable. I bought the last quadcore in the apple store i went to and all other stores are sold out. folks are running for the 2012 quadcores now. what apps would actually benefit from the iris graphics?

If you already have a buyer for your dual core Mini and you don't need it then go ahead an sell it. It makes your decision easier. The Iris graphics will just be a notch faster than HD4000 but the i7 quad core speeds up processing as well (including single threaded applications... due to its greater L3 cache... 6MB vs. 3MB)... Therefore... in my opinion for most single and dual threaded applications it's sort of a wash in terms of i5 with Iris vs. i7 quad core with HD4000. With applications that can utilize multiple cores the quad i7 should have a greater performance advantage.

 

[873089]

what apps would actually benefit from the iris graphics?

basicly all graphic intense programs and games.
It's like day and night

 

[Meister]

basicly all graphic intense programs and games.
It's like day and night

I have used Lightroom, Photoshop and iMovie on my rmbp with iris and on my mini with hd4000. The mini is more sluggish because of the hd, but otherwise I see no difference.

My question is, for my usage, would you choose the i7quad/hd4000 or i5dual/iris.
I find this to be an incredibly hard decision.

 

[psymac]

Finally able to get a refurb 2012 for $589 this morning, missed my chance the other day. Now the price, with tax and memory upgrade to 8GB, is essentially the same as the 2014 model and for me a no brainer. This model will certainly get me through the next year or two, as I think the 2014 is really a transitional model.