Buy this Mac Mini?

[Thebeat07]

this guy selling me his 2012 Mac Mini, core i5, 4gb ram and 500gb hard drive for $460 Canadian. Is it worth it? I only want to learn Sketch with this mac. Not sure how it will run. I will be upgrading to more ram and ssd. What worries me is the core i5 since is is a dual core and not quad.

 

[Yvan256]

AFAIK there was only one Mac mini model with a quad-core CPU. Other than that, the price seems a tiny bit high given that it only has 4GB RAM. Upgrading to 8GB (or even 16GB) and replacing the HDD with a SSD is a good idea.

 

[throAU]

I'd say that price is ridiculously high, given you can buy a brand new (still ancient hardware, but new ancient hardware, lol) i5 mac mini with 4 GB of RAM and a 500 GB hard drive for $499 US straight off the apple store.

That machine, i do not believe should be worth more than $100-200 US. TOPS. Anyone paying more than that for that spec, that old.... really needs to re-evaluate.

 

[Thebeat07]

Thank you guys. I will not be buying it as you are right the price is high for such an ancient machine.

 

[Miat]

Adding RAM, and an SSD will make a big difference. Shoot for the full 16GB of RAM, if you can afford it.

The iGPU is only a HD4000, which does basic stuff okay, but check that it is up to your requirements.

Can't comment on price coz on other side of world.

 

[throAU]

Thank you guys. I will not be buying it as you are right the price is high for such an ancient machine.

Bear in mind the brand new machine has soldered RAM if i'm not mistaken. But you can order a new one with 8 GB for not much more (extra $100?), and i think storage is still swappable.

 

[borgranta]

this guy selling me his 2012 Mac Mini, core i5, 4gb ram and 500gb hard drive for $460 Canadian. Is it worth it? I only want to learn Sketch with this mac. Not sure how it will run. I will be upgrading to more ram and ssd. What worries me is the core i5 since is is a dual core and not quad.

$460 Canadian Dollars is equivalent to $347.75 US Dollars

 

[Boyd01]

$460 Canadian Dollars is equivalent to $347.75 US Dollars

Only you can decide whether it's a "good deal". FWIW, a US company called MacSales offers used Mini's with a 90 day warranty. I bought a 2012 2.6ghz quad core from them two years ago and it's been great. But they are going to be more expensive than buying from a private seller. The model you are looking at sells for $449 USD at MacSales.

I had a base model 2012 mini like this for over two years, upgraded it with a SSD and 16gb RAM and gave it to my daughter's family two years ago. They still use it every day. These were very solid machines that can run powerful software like Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro.

Sorry I don't know what "Sketch" is. If it's a 3d program that relies on a graphics chip, that may result in slow performance. The HD4000 graphics are arguably the main problem with this mini. However my 2012 quad has the same chip and it runs Final Cut Pro very nicely.

The 2012 base model is a much better machine than the 2014 base model IMO. You can compare the geekbench and other specs to different Macs and get some idea of how it stacks up here: https://everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_mini/specs/mac-mini-core-i5-2.5-late-2012-specs.html
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That machine, i do not believe should be worth more than $100-200 US. TOPS.

Are you familiar with prices on used Mini's in the US? This doesn't sound right to me. And I would choose this 2012 model over the base 2014 Mini any day.

 

[elf69]

same spec mac mini here in uk is around £350 (460USD)

my 2010 mac mini was £173 and lower spec.
Used mac mini prices seemed to have stayed high probably due to lack of newer models.

I too disagree with throAU comment, $100-200 USD seems somewhat cheap.

 

[throAU]

Are you familiar with prices on used Mini's in the US? This doesn't sound right to me. And I would choose this 2012 model over the base 2014 Mini any day.

I'm referring to actual sanity vs. 6 year old, out of warranty ancient hardware, vs. something that you can actually get applecare on if desired.

Sure: there are plenty of people who massively overpay for ancient apple hardware. Doesn't mean it is a good idea, or that they are getting value for money.

Hard drive failure rate skyrockets beyond the 4 year mark.

But hey - you do you. I still think people who buy 5+ year old computer hardware are just rolling the dice (based on working as a tech for a living since the 90s).

 

[Boyd01]

My only point was that you’re not likely to find one in good shape for $100-200. Personally, I would not buy either a 2012 or a 2014 mini today. I have both, and they each continue to do what I need, but it’s 2018 now.

 

[Thebeat07]

I just bought this Mac mini 2012 from this girl for only $250 CDN!! I couldn't believe she sold it for that price. I just need to upgrade the RAM and Hard Drive and I'm good. THANKS ALL!!!