I have a late 2012 Mac Mini and it is very (very) slow. The spec is 2.5GHz dual core Intel Core i5 processor, 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 and I have 500 GB of storage of which 292 GB is available. It was running very slowly and Apple last week installed the latest version of Mac OS Catalina (10.15.5). That has made little or no difference - I think it is actually running more slowly now. It has been suggest that one way to speed it up considerably is to install 1TB SSD at a cost of £200. Is this worthwhile or would it make little appreciable difference? Would I be better off buying a 2014 or 2018 machine. I want to minimise expenditure but I want a computer that actually works and I am prepared to pay for it. If anyone has any ideas I would be very grateful. Please speak in simple terms since I am not very techie!
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Is it worth installing SSD in my very slow Mac Mini
- Thread starter ajcaecdorset
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Single best upgrade you can make. Sounds like you could save some with a 512gb drive since you’re not using that much space. One thing you may try is running Activity Monitor and see how loaded your processor is during normal tasks. If you’re not maxing the CPU then go for the SSD. With 16gb memory should not be an issue.
^^^^^^
I will second the comment by glenthompson adding an SSD is a big improvement
did the same for my Moms mac mini made a huge difference - "like a new computer"
I will second the comment by glenthompson adding an SSD is a big improvement
did the same for my Moms mac mini made a huge difference - "like a new computer"
Alternately, you could get a fast external SSD, such as the Samsung T5, for example. The 500GB version is selling for under $100 USD (~£80) here. Check prices in your country - it would certainly be much cheaper than what you were quoted and no installation is necessary.
www.samsung.com
Just clone your internal drive to it, select it for startup and you're all set. You could also move the T5 to a new machine when you finally upgrade. An external SSD is not much slower than an internal SSD on the 2012 Mini (there's a bigger difference on newer Mini's). I run my 2012 Mini from an external Samsung T3 SSD.
So it's up to you... if you can afford a 2018 Mini, that will certainly be much better than your 2012 and should be simple to migrate to. At this point, I would not bother with a 2014 Mini unless you get a fantastic deal on one of the higher-spec models. The base 2014 Mini should definitely be avoided, it would be a step backwards from your 2012 Mini.
Samsung Portable SSD T5 | Specs & Features | Samsung Semiconductor Global
Samsung Portable SSD T5 delivers fast speeds and safeguards data. It has various capacities, 250GB to 2TB. Download T5 firmware, driver, and more.
www.samsung.com
Just clone your internal drive to it, select it for startup and you're all set. You could also move the T5 to a new machine when you finally upgrade. An external SSD is not much slower than an internal SSD on the 2012 Mini (there's a bigger difference on newer Mini's). I run my 2012 Mini from an external Samsung T3 SSD.
So it's up to you... if you can afford a 2018 Mini, that will certainly be much better than your 2012 and should be simple to migrate to. At this point, I would not bother with a 2014 Mini unless you get a fantastic deal on one of the higher-spec models. The base 2014 Mini should definitely be avoided, it would be a step backwards from your 2012 Mini.
Firstly, the 2012 MacMini6,1 is an excellent machine.
When Catalina was installed you didn't say whether it was a clean install or over the previous OS. If the latter I'm not surprised that it's running somewhat slower.
In any case to get some vitamines pumped back into your Mac Mini, you have to install a Samsung 860 EVO (or similar) SSD of 500Gb with a clean install of Mojave. Whatever you do don't pay £200 for a 1TB SSD upgrade, as you can buy one yourself and install for £130.
I did this with my wife's 2012 Mini a few months back and it totally transformed the computer, very rapid and rock steady, performs beautifully - and still with the standard 4Gb memory. I planned to upgrade the memory to 8Gb but as I was so surprised with the performance as found, I decided not to.
So yes, go for the SSD, you'll only regret that you didn't do it earlier.
Tip: My advise is not to install Catalina, use FireFox browser and after the SSD is installed, don't forget to enable TRIM.
Pls report back on your eventual changes and user experience.
When Catalina was installed you didn't say whether it was a clean install or over the previous OS. If the latter I'm not surprised that it's running somewhat slower.
In any case to get some vitamines pumped back into your Mac Mini, you have to install a Samsung 860 EVO (or similar) SSD of 500Gb with a clean install of Mojave. Whatever you do don't pay £200 for a 1TB SSD upgrade, as you can buy one yourself and install for £130.
I did this with my wife's 2012 Mini a few months back and it totally transformed the computer, very rapid and rock steady, performs beautifully - and still with the standard 4Gb memory. I planned to upgrade the memory to 8Gb but as I was so surprised with the performance as found, I decided not to.
So yes, go for the SSD, you'll only regret that you didn't do it earlier.
Tip: My advise is not to install Catalina, use FireFox browser and after the SSD is installed, don't forget to enable TRIM.
Pls report back on your eventual changes and user experience.
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OP:
You said you are not very "techie".
You should realize that opening a 2012 Mini and installing an internal drive involves the risk of breaking something inside during the process. So be sure you can do it BEFORE you try.
As mentioned above, the fastest, easiest, and SAFEST way to get SSD speeds is to buy an EXTERNAL USB3 SSD, plug it in, and set it up to be the new boot drive.
You said you are not very "techie".
You should realize that opening a 2012 Mini and installing an internal drive involves the risk of breaking something inside during the process. So be sure you can do it BEFORE you try.
As mentioned above, the fastest, easiest, and SAFEST way to get SSD speeds is to buy an EXTERNAL USB3 SSD, plug it in, and set it up to be the new boot drive.
i was given a mid 2010 Mac Mini and I removed the stock hard drive and replaced it with a Samsung EVO 860 1TB 2.5 SSD. I also upgrade the 2gb of ram to 16gb. Before installing the SSD I did the ram upgrade since it was quick and simple to accomplish. Once I installed the SSD it made a huge improvement.
With that being said I build my windows PC gaming rigs and I do this every 3 to 4 years. I am in no way an expert but I can follow instructions and Youtube has many videos. It was time consuming and I took my time. The hardest part for me was aligning the SSD in the notches on the frame of the Mac Mini.
With that being said I build my windows PC gaming rigs and I do this every 3 to 4 years. I am in no way an expert but I can follow instructions and Youtube has many videos. It was time consuming and I took my time. The hardest part for me was aligning the SSD in the notches on the frame of the Mac Mini.
Installing an SSD into your Mac mini 2012 (I have mid-2011s that I use as servers with SSDs in them) will make a huge difference. An idea would be to buy a bracket that will enable you install one into the "2nd bay" so that you could have both an SSD and your current HDD.
The question you have to ask is the value of the £200 and whether it's better off into your 8 year old computer or is it better spent toward a 2020 computer. Personally I would think it's the latter… but that's me. There are a lot of things that come with much newer hardware that isn't only a faster processor and graphics. However, with ARM maybe around the corner it may be an idea to wait for that. 🤷♂️
The question you have to ask is the value of the £200 and whether it's better off into your 8 year old computer or is it better spent toward a 2020 computer. Personally I would think it's the latter… but that's me. There are a lot of things that come with much newer hardware that isn't only a faster processor and graphics. However, with ARM maybe around the corner it may be an idea to wait for that. 🤷♂️
I’m not sure where you were quoted £200 but you quite clearly don’t need a 1TB. You’re only using 208gb so could get away with a 240gb SSD although I’d probably go for a 480gb SSD at around £55.
A 1TB SSD is about £120 so I’d ask yourself whether you think £160 per hour is a reasonable hourly rate, as it only takes around 30 mins to install the SSD. It would take a little while to clone your existing hard drive but this is hands off time and you could easily do it yourself.
It looks like you’re in Dorset, if you’re ever up in Gloucestershire let me know and I’d do it for you!
A 1TB SSD is about £120 so I’d ask yourself whether you think £160 per hour is a reasonable hourly rate, as it only takes around 30 mins to install the SSD. It would take a little while to clone your existing hard drive but this is hands off time and you could easily do it yourself.
It looks like you’re in Dorset, if you’re ever up in Gloucestershire let me know and I’d do it for you!
Probably worth opening your Mac Mini, and blowing the dust out..... Has worked a couple of times for my 2009 Mini when it started to run slowly.