How much more time do I got with my 2007 Mini ?

[AVEGA]

I bought my Mac Mini mid year 2007 new from Apple Store . (1.83 ghz dual core ) and my friend upgraded it in 2011 to have 4 gigs of RAM and 320 gig hard drive (biggest and fastest one that was compatible ) and it's worked well over the years . It's running mountain lion because I don't think it could run anything newer .
Lately I noticed it being sluggish and having some random app crashes . Obviously some websites don't work well with it and overall it runs slower than my iPhone 6S+. It still does some things that I can't do on my iPhone.

So my question is how much more lifespan can I expect from this ? I have an external hard drive so I do semi regular back ups (every few months ) but I am worried about the mini dieting losing data and info . Can I wait another year ? Are Mac mini's meant to last more than 10 years ? I know Apple makes hardware that is supposed to last a while but I'm worried that maybe one day the Mini will not turn on .

I have thought about opening it up to clean it but I know that was a real hassle when we upgraded it . I do worry that lots of dust inside could be hurting it . I don't know .

This year I had to replace my truck and the fridge and so a new Mac isn't in the budget , but I don't want to be caught flat footed like I was with my truck and fridge both of which were old but we were working well until they died all of the sudden . Any ideas or suggestions

 

[Miat]

You have done very well indeed from that Mini. If it died tomorrow you couldn't complain.

The cold hard reality is that it is a very old computer and both its hardware and system software are not supported any more. I think the last security update for Mountain Lion was a couple of years ago.

You got a great run from it, but given its age and behaviour then I am afraid your best bet is to assume that it is going to die any day, make sure you have fresh backups of any important files (at least 2 copies), and start budgeting for another computer.

 

[AVEGA]

You have done very well indeed from that Mini. If it died tomorrow you couldn't complain.

The cold hard reality is that it is a very old computer and both its hardware and system software are not supported any more. I think the last security update for Mountain Lion was a couple of years ago.

You got a great run from it, but given its age and behaviour then I am afraid your best bet is to assume that it is going to die any day, make sure you have fresh backups of any important files (at least 2 copies), and start budgeting for another computer.

Thanks !

 

[opeter]

Maybe you could insert a smaller/cheaper SSD for the system and even if it works only in SATA 1 mode (1.5 Gb/s), it will be faster than the HDD.

The only problem is, that older MacOS systems doesn't really support TRIM, especially on 3rd party SSDs.

 

[Significant1]

You can enable trim with trim enabler (https://cindori.org/trimenabler/), but don't know if the latest version works or you have to look for an older version.

I have a 2006 machine with upgraded to Core2 from a Core processor. I am not using it as primary machine (actually I not really using it anymore). I ended up turning it into a windows 10 machine, in order to have an supported OS. So in theory it could run supported, as long as MS supports the hardware. But I don't have a use case for it and don't like Windows, so currently it is just sitting idle.

 

[Boyd01]

I wouldn't be happy with that machine, I have a 2008 MBP and stopped using it some time ago. But I run some pretty powerful software. If it still meets your needs there's nothing wrong with sticking with it. I just upgraded my 2012 quad mini and 2013 MacBook Air from Mountain Lion to Sierra last month and am very happy. But that isn't going to be an option for you. I was concerned about security issues with the old operating system on a primary computer.

I agree that you have gotten your money's worth from that old computer and it's time to replace, but if you can't afford to then you'll just have to wait. But "semi-regular backups every few months" are just not enough. Start backing it up regularly - that means every day that you do anything important on the computer. I realize that funds are tight, but external disks are cheap. With that old machine you don't need a fast disk and don't need USB 3.0. You should be able to find a new 1TB drive for about $50.

I would not be happy with any less than three separate backup disks, one of which should be stored off-site. The bare minimum should be two disks and you could acheive that by purchasing a new drive plus your old drive.

 

[HappyMBAowner]

With my iMac 2007, I recently reinstalled all original os and 're-upgraded' up to Mountain Lion 10.8.5. It now works like a charm. Of course, before doing that, I did a full backup of all my data. And it now works very lively as a charm. Maybe it's the only think you have to do to make it work to almost full speed now. I stil expect this great machine to operate for another 10 years. Not with the most recent software, but for all basics (text writing, spreadsheets, internet browsing, mail, contacts, calendar and some games), it's still perfect.
2.4 core2duo - 4 gig RAM.

 

[jpietrzak8]

Sadly, my own 2007 Mini started exhibiting some serious hardware errors a few months back. Up until then, I'd been running it 24/7 as a light-duty file server and HTPC. The device has worked wonderfully for me for ten years, but yeah, chances are that the aging hardware in your machine will eventually have some problem; after all, as the saying goes, "all machines are mortal".

 

[DouglasCarroll]

Hi,

I know this is an older thread but I am also running an upgraded 2007 Mac Mini that I bought cheap and then upgraded the OS to Lion and the CPU to Core 2 Duo 2.33 cheap and it is working great. I'm actually very surprised at how fast this thing is for basic tasks. If you need an updated web browser for this machine, you can download the latest version of "Pale Moon" browser from this thread here...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/snow-leopard-mini-apps.2110486/

I have ordered 4 Gigs of ram from Ebay and once that's here I'll go from 2 - 3 gigs (recognized). I've also installed Windows 7 using boot camp so this, to me, for such a cheap price (picked up the mini at the Goodwill for $14) is a great multi purpose machine. Yeah you're not going to play high end games, but that's what PS4/Xbox/Switch consoles are for.

I'm not sure what you expect to get out of your Mini as far as life but to me these machines are just great little fun performers. Consider a couple of CHEAP upgrades and extend the life of yours also. I would LOVE to get a 2009 Mini for faster video/CPU/HDMI audio out, but I'm happy with this 2007.

Take care!