It’s not your fault. It’s Apple's fault for not making Fusion Drive standard, not even in a mid-tier $699 desktop. The age would be less of a problem, if Apple wouldn’t have made the 2014 Mini less upgradeable.
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Can I modify my 2018 Mac mini?
- Thread starter dkupras
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The read and write speeds of your boot volume make almost no difference unless you are transfering a lot of data all day.This is what I get with the 1tb Samsung T3 - I also have 500gb T3 and the performance is the same. The T5 is supposed to be slightly faster but I don't know that it would make much difference on the Mini.
I have never installed an internal SSD on a Mini, but I'm sure someone else can comment on that. I think the 2014 Mini could get read speeds of around 700MB/sec (this is what I get on my 512gb 2013 MacBook Air) however that requires the correct kind of SSD and cable. I think these are more expensive than the one in the link you posted.
But you run the risk of damaging your Mini by opening it up - it was never designed to be user upgradeable. Even if you don't do any damage, you will void your Apple warranty. I wouldn't want to do that with a brand new machine.
You guys using Black Magic Speed Test’s r/w speeds as some sort of benchmark for your boot volume performance makes no sense ...
The reason the OPs mini was slow is the fact that he has an hdd. Because hdds have a lot of latency.
Swap the hdd for an ssd and the mini will be snappy and responsive.
Alternatively he could’ve used an externel ssd to boot from.
I'm sorry, but you should actually read the whole thread before drawing such a conclusion. The OP was getting 7MB/sec write and 35MB/sec read speed on his mini. Something wasn't definitely wrong with that, it wasn't just because he had a hard disk. The 5400RPM hard drive on a Mini should get about 100MB/sec read and write. The disk speed test revealed this problem.
But, whatever... he no longer has the Mini.
My point was that r/w speeds are pretty irrelevant except in very specific usage scenarios.I'm sorry, but you should actually read the whole thread before drawing such a conclusion. The OP was getting 7MB/sec write and 35MB/sec read speed on his mini. Something wasn't definitely wrong with that, it wasn't just because he had a hard disk. The 5400RPM hard drive on a Mini should get about 100MB/sec read and write. The disk speed test revealed this problem.
But, whatever... he no longer has the Mini.
I agree that in this case they seemed to indicate a problem with the drive.
I have a 2.3 2011 mini with 8gb ram and high sierra. Not slow at all. Can't imagine a 2014 mini with 8gb ram is that slow. Cpu and gpu is even weaker in my 2011. But if it is slow I will wait to upgrade. Rumors say a new mini might be coming in the fall or new low cost air. So I will wait.
Good call. That MacMini was trash. It's Haswell CPU was 4 generations old.
It didn't support ANY HEVC decode, didn't support any 4K, the mechanical spinner as you experienced was trash.
If you got a Kaby 7gen or especially a CoffeeLake 8gen! CPU in your new MB Pro, you are sitting miles ahead of that old Mac Mini.
I wish I could have afforded the 15" fully specced out but this will work for now (well I mean it has to for a while lol)
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Does anyone actually read before posting anymore?
haha I like this...I should have ran like it was a race but let's keep our fingers crossed for the next update hoping its worth it.
Yes, it's still quite unfortunate Apple are selling 2014 hardware at 2018 prices. I guess for anyone that hasn't experienced an SSD, it's no different to them, but what I do know from first-hand experinece is the 1.4 GHz Mac mini with just 4 GB RAM is an absolute pile of crap. I had a 1.3 GHz MacBook Air in 2013 and I was generally always keeping it plugged into my external monitor, so when Apple released the new Mac mini in 2014, I bought the base configuration as the processor and RAM was almost identical to my MacBook Air. Well, I quickly learned how much that SSD made a difference. I also noticed the MacBook Air was paging to disk regularly but the SSD was so fast that it was at most times unnoticeable. I had to upgrade to the 2.6 GHz Mac mini to get acceptable levels of performance. App launch times were slower but I was perfectly happy with it for several years. In 2016, I decided I wanted to upgrade my monitor to a shiny new 4K that I was thinking of buying, only to find out that the Mac mini only supports that kind of resolution at 30 Hz (basically unusable). So I ended up having to sell my Mac mini just a few years after I bought it to get a 27-inch iMac because Apple still do not sell any desktop Mac that supports 4K or 5K resolutions @ 60 Hz unless you want a Mac Pro at £3,000.
Guess I'm late to this party, but a PCIe SSD can be added to the 2014 mini in about ten minutes, assuming you can source the SSD. The necessary cable is about $20 on eBay. I did it myself on my 2014 and the speed improvement is night and day. SSD performance would then be similar to the 2013-2015 retinas, depending on which SSD you can source.
To be honest you made the right choice by returning it. A message needs to be sent to Apple by as many customers as possible that the hardware is a pile of crap and needs to be updated. They are guaranteed to listen when people vote with their wallets, less so when people just voice their opinions. They are known to have a high degree of arrogance and follow a path that turns out to be the wrong choice, even in the face of user complaints. Like, I don't know, say the Mac Pro? They even admitted it took them longer to realise they were betting on the wrong horse, despite repeated complaints from pro users. They saw pro users were moving away from the Mac platform and that's what forced them to admit they made a mistake. Steve Jobs instilled a culture of arrogance at Apple and it's pretty much their biggest flaw.
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https://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac
Or there is a refurbished mini for 419. Still 4 years old. But 80 dollars and 99 cents cheaper.
Or there is a refurbished mini for 419. Still 4 years old. But 80 dollars and 99 cents cheaper.
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Yes, I did it.
It involves taking the entire computer apart, but it's straight forward with the right tools.
SSD upgrade is so nice.
If there's ever been a time not to buy a Mac Mini it's now.
1. Like some of the posters have shared already, it's gone nearly four years without being upgraded. The value per dollar here is really bad.
3. The other big reason is there are legitimate rumors that Apple has planned a fall event to introduce a new Mac Mini Pro (whatever that means).
So, yes, I recommend waiting til then to see if that offering satiates whatever upgrade itch you're experiencing now. Assuming, of course you can still return it.
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Also, I wouldn't install beta Mojave on it, because it may void your warranty. Apple may deny service to it, I don't know.
I know its if no use to you with a later mini with its soldered memory, but I've run an i7 quad core mini from mid 2011 which had 8Gb, 2x500Gb raided before El Capitan, although USB 2 a pain as the thunderbolt display only offers the same but read on if you were looking at this thread for an answer ..
After some research, although the specs for my model never mentioned that the board would support more than (2x4) 8Gb, took a gamble and upgraded with a Crucial 16GB kit this morning, The machine and I are very happy with doubling the RAM. The upgrade to the hard drives seems simple enough and should have 2x2TB SSDs arriving tomorrow and further performance improvements are expected.
Having recently added a second monitor due to a failing Thunderbolt display, the only thing to consider is the graphics and upgrading from the dual 2K (2560x1600) to a dual 4K+ platform and maybe an eGPU is a consideration.
This all means I can delay my decision on a new MAC until Apple actually decide where their customers fit. By that I mean Mac Pro, minis and MacBooks have had no 'ecosystem' display option since the thunderbolt display was discontinued ... if I wanted a PC monitor I'd of bought a PC !?
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Spot on save for the comments in my post above, same could be said for continuing the iPad mini, its the perfect size but with a pen would be awesome...
After some research, although the specs for my model never mentioned that the board would support more than (2x4) 8Gb, took a gamble and upgraded with a Crucial 16GB kit this morning, The machine and I are very happy with doubling the RAM. The upgrade to the hard drives seems simple enough and should have 2x2TB SSDs arriving tomorrow and further performance improvements are expected.
Having recently added a second monitor due to a failing Thunderbolt display, the only thing to consider is the graphics and upgrading from the dual 2K (2560x1600) to a dual 4K+ platform and maybe an eGPU is a consideration.
This all means I can delay my decision on a new MAC until Apple actually decide where their customers fit. By that I mean Mac Pro, minis and MacBooks have had no 'ecosystem' display option since the thunderbolt display was discontinued ... if I wanted a PC monitor I'd of bought a PC !?
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Spot on save for the comments in my post above, same could be said for continuing the iPad mini, its the perfect size but with a pen would be awesome...
Actually, it's no use to him because he returned the Mini more than two weeks ago and bought a MacBook Pro.
I know this thread probably is not relevant anymore and you probably know it already
, but Apple finally has released a new Mac mini, with SSD and user replaceable/expandable RAM. It is more expensive than the old one, but it looks promising.
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It was "awesome" to hear the new refresh!!! Thank you all for your guidance and support. I think the new Mini will reel in some value and productivity.