I see, just for completeness I'm driving two 23 inch monitor at 1920 x 1080. I don't have a good understanding of performance vs. screen resolution. I suspect the higher the resolution the harder the computer has to work. Not sure how those compares to the Apple cinema display.
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BENCHMARKED: Mac mini 2009 + Yosemite = MEGA slow!
- Thread starter MuzakaEklekta
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I see, just for completeness I'm driving two 23 inch monitor at 1920 x 1080. I don't have a good understanding of performance vs. screen resolution. I suspect the higher the resolution the harder the computer has to work. Not sure how those compares to the Apple cinema display.
On my Mac mini, I found that Finder still has trouble resizing a window in column view, regardless of resolution.
Even my decked out 2012 iMac (32GB RAM, i7) has lag typing in new tabs on Safari. It's the recent sites box that pops up. I turned that off in the Safari settings and the issue was solved.
Not sure exactly what you mean by the description, but I suspect you mean when you put a folder in column view then click somewhere on the title bar and the finder windows should adjust to show the entire items in the folder?
If that's the case, I think mine is works fine.
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It's amazing how much memory gets gobbled up doing silly little GUI tricks...we put people on the moon with thousands of times less memory than it takes to check a damn Facebook page these days.:roll eyes:
It's great to see so many still running 2009 Mini's and pretty happy with their performance and functioning 5 years later.
Interesting previous comment about memory usage these days. It almost seems intentional not so much from real need but to get people to constantly upgrade hardware.
Interesting previous comment about memory usage these days. It almost seems intentional not so much from real need but to get people to constantly upgrade hardware.
I'm using a 2011 i5 Mac mini with the discrete AMD graphics chip. My display is an Apple Thunderbolt Display (2560x1440).
I too noticed the laggy UI once I updated to Yosemite.
I've since disabled the transparency (Accessibility options -> Reduce Transparency) and the UI is noticeably less laggy. I suspect the old AMD chip is hitting the end of it's useful life.
May give a second thought to a new Mini with the Iris graphics after all.
I too noticed the laggy UI once I updated to Yosemite.
I've since disabled the transparency (Accessibility options -> Reduce Transparency) and the UI is noticeably less laggy. I suspect the old AMD chip is hitting the end of it's useful life.
May give a second thought to a new Mini with the Iris graphics after all.
I've got an early 2009 mini and haven't noticed an issue with lag, but then I don't spend an awful lot of time interacting with the UI as it's mostly used to drive my TV and hifi. I'll try to pay more attention when I use it tonight.
Shortly after installing mavericks I swapped the HDD for an SSD and it's so much faster that any lag from the UI has probably been compensated for. I know it's not exactly a new idea, but I'd thoroughly recommend this upgrade to any 2009 mini owners who still have the stock drive (I went through an intermediate period of running the system on an external SSD via FW800 because I was worried about opening up, but it was easy).
Shortly after installing mavericks I swapped the HDD for an SSD and it's so much faster that any lag from the UI has probably been compensated for. I know it's not exactly a new idea, but I'd thoroughly recommend this upgrade to any 2009 mini owners who still have the stock drive (I went through an intermediate period of running the system on an external SSD via FW800 because I was worried about opening up, but it was easy).
I just got a hand-me-down Early 2009 Mini at work, 2GHz C2D, 4GB memory, running Mavericks with one each of 24" and 17" screens.
I use it for light work; I'm usually running Safari with 8-10 tabs open, Evernote, Mendeley, Calendar, Mail and Word simultaneously. Performance is not great. Bootup is slow, App launching is slow, Word is horribly slow.
I'm fairly sure most of the slowness comes down to the original 5400RPM 120GB drive. I have a 1TB 7200RPM drive on the way. I'm terrified about upgrading this to Yosemite though. I just ran a new copy of Xbench with a fresh boot and it scored a 90.48. CPU performance wasn't bad, memory was OK, but the disk performance was abysmal.
I use it for light work; I'm usually running Safari with 8-10 tabs open, Evernote, Mendeley, Calendar, Mail and Word simultaneously. Performance is not great. Bootup is slow, App launching is slow, Word is horribly slow.
I'm fairly sure most of the slowness comes down to the original 5400RPM 120GB drive. I have a 1TB 7200RPM drive on the way. I'm terrified about upgrading this to Yosemite though. I just ran a new copy of Xbench with a fresh boot and it scored a 90.48. CPU performance wasn't bad, memory was OK, but the disk performance was abysmal.
Just installed 10.10 on an Early 2009 2.0GHZ model with 120GB HDD and 4GB RAM. I've been using it on my TV at 1080p and the performance seems to be okay.
You'd be much better off putting in a small SSD (256GB is good) and keeping most of your data externally.
M.
I agree, but I got a killer deal on a new Travelstar drive (as in, free!!) and money is rather tight at the moment.
I have Samsung 830 and 840 SSDs in my Asus netbook and Mac Pro respectively and they are awesome little drives.
I bet it's the transparency that's utterly destroying the UI performance. Remember when iOS7 first came out? As a web developer, I try to refrain from using transparency effects because performance is so poor.
Luckily you can reduce it or turn it off here. Sped up my browser scrolling speed.
http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/os-x-yosemite-turn-translucency-off-or-on
Luckily you can reduce it or turn it off here. Sped up my browser scrolling speed.
http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/os-x-yosemite-turn-translucency-off-or-on
So after about five days use things are pretty much as with Mavericks - to maintain response I've had to eventually reboot as it just starts to degrade. The good news though is that it still runs very well after a reboot (2GHz 2009 Mini with 8GB ram and 256GB SSD).
M.
M.
I can read the problem, it obvious; you all are using the 2009 product.
Don't you get it? If you don't buy a newer model of Apple products, your future is as secure as the old CPM operating system. Do any of you still use an Apple 2 or the old Motorola based Macs? How about a C64?
In computer time a 2009 is an old Ford with a carburetor.
Where I work we are currently updating the iPad 2 with the newer iPad Air (not sure if they ordered the Air 2 model) because the software is getting too slow for the older processor.
Help Apple grow and dominate buy a new computer!
What I use:
Late 2012 Mac Mini; early 2014 MBA 11", iPhone 6, iPad Retina,
Don't you get it? If you don't buy a newer model of Apple products, your future is as secure as the old CPM operating system. Do any of you still use an Apple 2 or the old Motorola based Macs? How about a C64?
In computer time a 2009 is an old Ford with a carburetor.
Where I work we are currently updating the iPad 2 with the newer iPad Air (not sure if they ordered the Air 2 model) because the software is getting too slow for the older processor.
Help Apple grow and dominate buy a new computer!
What I use:
Late 2012 Mac Mini; early 2014 MBA 11", iPhone 6, iPad Retina,
I'm sure a company with more money than the US government really needs my help.
Should I throw my G3 iMacs away? They make excellent jukeboxes, running Tiger and iTunes 8.
You mean those old cars that, despite not having many spare parts available, are still on the road? And still drivable? Those cars?
If you'd kept it running an older iOS, and the same versions of software, it'd be fine. And you know what? It'd function perfectly well.
Just like my G3 iMacs running early versions of OS X.
Just like my 2006 iMac running Snow Leopard.
Just like my 2009 Mac mini running Mavericks.
Just like my iPad 3 running iOS 6.1.3.
This "Ooh, a shiny software update. Oh no, it's slowed my machine down, better buy a new one" cycle is for people who don't know how to run computers properly.
Guys I found this forum thread a few days ago just registered to respond.
I had the same problems, mainly with Finder window resizes being extremely slow. However I may have found a solution, in Prefs-General, I changed the scrollbars to 'always show'. Resizes are still slightly choppy but much better. Let me know if this helps.
I had the same problems, mainly with Finder window resizes being extremely slow. However I may have found a solution, in Prefs-General, I changed the scrollbars to 'always show'. Resizes are still slightly choppy but much better. Let me know if this helps.
I'm currently on the look-out for a Mac Mini 2010 model. I'd be curious to hear from people on how that one handles Yosemite? The current one I'm biding on has 4gb ram and 320gh HDD. The seller is selling it with Snow Leopard installed and the install disk is included. I'll be upgrading RAM to at least 8 GB and insert my Kingston 256 SSD that is currently in my Macbook Pro. My main use will be as a media station for my 42" LED TV.
What do you guys think? Should I stay with Snow Leopard or maybe Mountain Lion that is still purchable instead of going with Yosemite?
What do you guys think? Should I stay with Snow Leopard or maybe Mountain Lion that is still purchable instead of going with Yosemite?
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After reading these posts with much interest, it's not clear to me what the consensus is on upgrading to Yosemite with the early 2009 Mac Mini. I don't trust Apple anymore in always upgrading if your device is supported, given what happened to iPad users and IOS 8.
I hear Yosemite user interface is much improved and visually a great experience with nice additional features. But the nagging question is whether the 2009 Mini can handle it. Is performance significantly degraded? Or best to just stay on Mavericks?
Any conclusions?
I hear Yosemite user interface is much improved and visually a great experience with nice additional features. But the nagging question is whether the 2009 Mini can handle it. Is performance significantly degraded? Or best to just stay on Mavericks?
Any conclusions?
The 2009 Mini can run Yosemite. But if you use the default user interface settings it will be slower than previous OS versions. If you tweak those settings you should be able to eliminate or greatly reduce the choppiness. OS X demands a lot of memory and computing power for basic UI functions, and the older Minis will run slower with each OS revision.
I will be sticking with Mavericks for now, but if I had to upgrade today I wouldn't be terribly upset.
Still, it's too bad there isn't a one-click option to use a "barebones" UI that would run fast on older machines. The whiz-bang UI tricks are nice but I do not need them.
Great advice and thanks. I'll stick with Mavericks as well on the 2009. Added note: barebones UI would be perfect for older Macs. But I'm guessing they don't want these owners to get too comfortable with their machines to pressure them to spend $$ on the latest hardware.
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The only setting I've changed is reduce transparency but I don't think it makes much difference. My 2009 is if anything running better on Yosemite, with the proviso that a reboot every other day or so gets it back to its best.
I've picked up cheapo 2012 quad i7 but really it doesn't seem to be any snappier with the UI on Yosemite. I think we'll find Apple has done a good job with 10.10.
M.
I don't know about the benchmarks, but my early 2009 mini (2.0 GHz) is running Yosemite just fine with 8 GB RAM and an SSD.
It was struggling to run Mavericks with a 7200 RPM Seagate hybrid drive. I put in an SSD and upgraded to Yosemite on the same day. It is so much better.
I also have a 2010 mini with a 5400 RPM HDD and 8 GB RAM. It is running Yosemite well.
It was struggling to run Mavericks with a 7200 RPM Seagate hybrid drive. I put in an SSD and upgraded to Yosemite on the same day. It is so much better.
I also have a 2010 mini with a 5400 RPM HDD and 8 GB RAM. It is running Yosemite well.
Strange, that seems contradictory....the SSD and 5400RPM drive are miles apart in speed.