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Is the new Mini right for me

I

Itogator

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 16, 2008
65
0
Hello to all. I need to upgrade my old white macbook and have been waiting for the mini to update. I mainly use my computer for web surfing, iTunes, photo editing with iPhoto and home movie editing and converting using iMovie.
My macbook is intel 2.4GHz core 2 duo with 4 GB ram. I am thinking of the stock middle model at $699. Is this mini good enough? If not, recommendations are welcomed. Thanks in advance!
 
The $699 model would absolutely be good enough for your needs. It will certainly blow what you currently have clean out of the water.

I'd stay away from the base model out of principle. It's gimped and the CPU is worse than the 2012 model.
 
Tough Guy said:
I'd stay away from the base model out of principle. It's gimped and the CPU is worse than the 2012 model.
Click to expand...

This. The $700 model will be fine for you, but the 2012 is a vastly superior machine.

The $500 model is only good for people who will only use to browse the web 10 minutes a week and enjoy severe pain.
 
Oracle1729 said:
This. The $700 model will be fine for you, but the 2012 is a vastly superior machine.

The $500 model is only good for people who will only use to browse the web 10 minutes a week and enjoy severe pain.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! Are you suggesting the 2012 is better than the mini I want? If so, which model? Isn't the graphics card better on the new one?
 
Itogator said:
Thanks for the reply! Are you suggesting the 2012 is better than the mini I want? If so, which model? Isn't the graphics card better on the new one?
Click to expand...

The graphics one the new on is better. But when you look at the new middle model for $700, you get a dual core i5. The 2012 middle model for $800 was a quad core i7. The benchmark CPU speed on the older one was nearly double the new 2014. Compared to that loss, moving 1 generation newer on integrated graphics just isn't much of a benefit.

Try to grab the $800 2012 model in the refurb store if you can, they used to go for $680 there and should be cheaper now that they're not the current model. But everyone else is going to be doing the same so you'll have to be very lucky to get one.
 
Oracle1729 said:
The graphics one the new on is better. But when you look at the new middle model for $700, you get a dual core i5. The 2012 middle model for $800 was a quad core i7. The benchmark CPU speed on the older one was nearly double the new 2014. Compared to that loss, moving 1 generation newer on integrated graphics just isn't much of a benefit.

Try to grab the $800 2012 model in the refurb store if you can, they used to go for $680 there and should be cheaper now that they're not the current model. But everyone else is going to be doing the same so you'll have to be very lucky to get one.
Click to expand...

Time to visit all the local Apple reseller stores and maybe Best Buys and help them get rid of their i7 2012 stock :)
 
The refurb store has no mini's. I did see the 2012 2.3 i7 for $740 at B&H. It only has 4 megs of ram though. The 2012 2.6 w/8Gb RAM is $999. How important is 4 cores for my use? If it's not very, the price difference might force me to get the newer version. Thanks again.
 
Itogator said:
The refurb store has no mini's. I did see the 2012 2.3 i7 for $740 at B&H. It only has 4 megs of ram though. The 2012 2.6 w/8Gb RAM is $999. How important is 4 cores for my use? If it's not very, the price difference might force me to get the newer version. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Most are upset that the quad core option was dropped from the Mini's. Frankly, it isn't really all that surprising considering the 2012 Mid-Mini (the 800 model) would rival all but the fastest iMac's for a third of the cost (sure you didn't get the screen, but that's kind of why people buy Mini's to begin with). In my opinion, Apple kind of messed up their lineup when they released quad core Mac Mini's in 2012. This is sort of their way of fixing their lineup (whether that makes you happy or not). The GPU is dramatically superior to the HD4000 (just compare the 13" 2012 rMBP vs the 13" 2013 rMBP). For most, a fast dual core is more than enough (and will be for some time). As long as you are settling for the mid-Mini ($700) then you are more than fine.
 
Itogator said:
The refurb store has no mini's. I did see the 2012 2.3 i7 for $740 at B&H. It only has 4 megs of ram though. The 2012 2.6 w/8Gb RAM is $999. How important is 4 cores for my use? If it's not very, the price difference might force me to get the newer version. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

You can upgrade the RAM in the 2012 mini easily though...takes about 5 mins, something you cannot do in the new mini.
 
ABC5S said:
Why ? Something different about how they are placed ?
Click to expand...

From what I understand the new RAM in the 2014 is soldered. Meaning it's connected directly to the motherboard and doesn't have the slots like it did before.

In the 2012 version you just popped the bottom off, slide new ram in slots and voila.

Everyone kind of expected apple to do this with the new mini because they have done it to all of their other computers... This is precisely why I bought my 2012 version in July.
 
Itogator said:
The refurb store has no mini's. I did see the 2012 2.3 i7 for $740 at B&H. It only has 4 megs of ram though. The 2012 2.6 w/8Gb RAM is $999. How important is 4 cores for my use? If it's not very, the price difference might force me to get the newer version. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

You can get the 2012 with just 4GB memory and then upgrade the RAM yourself. It's still not known whether the RAM can be upgraded in the medium and high configurations of the newest Mini.
 
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