Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Mac Mini 2009 OS X Upgrade
- Thread starter g33k
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
2GB would be a struggle with Mavericks too I think. Best put 4GB in at least. I've a mid-2009 2GHz Mini running Yosemite with 8GB ram and an SSD and it's OK but I've stopped using it now in favour of a 2012 quad Mini which is far faster, especially with web browsing, which is the big weak link of older machines. If you have a Mavericks installer you can partition a disk and compare.
I don't think you can download Mavericks unless you have got it before but I'm sure you can get an unofficial copy.
M.
I don't think you can download Mavericks unless you have got it before but I'm sure you can get an unofficial copy.
M.
I have a Late-2009 Macbook (2.26GHz, Core 2 Duo, 8GB RAM, SSD). Runs Yosemite pretty good, but I doubt you'll have any fun running it with just 2GB and without a SSD.
For Mavericks or Yosemite, definitely make sure it has an SSD or plan to add one yourself. This should make it a lot more usable.
2 GB is a little light, but should be fine as long as you keep open tabs and programs down to a minimum and don't do anything RAM-intensive. An upgrade to 4 GB would help if you plan to do more than the basics.
If all you want is nostalgia, stick Snow Leopard on it for sure
I think i'll stick with Snow Leopard, but I could save some money by getting a 2007 Mac Mini. Can this play YouTube and Netflix videos at 720p, at least? I'll probably upgrade it to a SSD down the road.For Mavericks or Yosemite, definitely make sure it has an SSD or plan to add one yourself. This should make it a lot more usable.
2 GB is a little light, but should be fine as long as you keep open tabs and programs down to a minimum and don't do anything RAM-intensive. An upgrade to 4 GB would help if you plan to do more than the basics.
If all you want is nostalgia, stick Snow Leopard on it for sure
I'm buying it for simply nostalgic reasons and its a nice HTPC. Love these little things. I'll probably just keep Leopard on it at this rate.
I've got five old Macs you can have - they are fine for word processing and a few games but mostly useless for the web.
M.
M.
I'm on a base model Mini I bought in early 2009, with 5 GB of RAM (original 1 GB plus 4 GB) the original HDD and Mountain Lion…….
It works just fine for the web, albeit with a rather slow, nominally 3G mobile broadband connection (no phone line to my apartment). It runs the iLife and iWork apps I use just fine. I don't do games.
I reckon I'll replace the HDD some time soon, and it should do me for a couple or three more years. I won't bother with updating from OS X 10.8. My internet connection is too slow to be bothered doing it myself, and it appears that Yosemite's main benefits are not available on an computer anyway. Being just a single computer household, with no other Apple devices, I have no need of the connectivity offered
Last edited:
I've got a 2009 Mini too (and a 2012) and it's OK. I'm talking about Powermac 6100, G3, Cube and a G5 I also have...
M.
As above my late 2009 Mini with 2GB was horrible running Mavericks. Post an upgrade to 8GB the machine runs very nicely indeed and is on the latest version of Yoesemiti. 2GB isn't enough
I have a 750GB HDD running at 7200 rpm which is fine for Yoesemiti, sure an SSD would be faster but the machine runs fine, a little slow to start up but you can sort that by just sleeping the machine rather than a shut down.
I have a 750GB HDD running at 7200 rpm which is fine for Yoesemiti, sure an SSD would be faster but the machine runs fine, a little slow to start up but you can sort that by just sleeping the machine rather than a shut down.