Mac Mini 2011 vs 2012

[palebluedot]

there are people reporting that hd4000 is not capable of smooth system animations with TBD... and I am keen to believe, I have tested it in store and some animations with new air connected to TBD were not smooths - this is not the case with ati 6330m... it is pitty that quad core with ati like gpu does not exist.. why, only apple knows

What is TBD? Thunderbolt Display?

I would think "choppiness" of the OS animations is super subjective, considering they aren't that great to begin with.

What I would be more concerned with is 1080p seamless playback. Thanks for the input both of you, in any case!

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

In know others have asked but it seems subjective so I'll ask you, do you think the GPU is really worth it for non-gaming. Like will the difference be noticeable for 1080p flash/YouTube videos?

Even Mac-hardware from 2009 can decode two 1080p H.264 streams in realtime (GPU accelerated, (Mac) OS X >= 10.6.x). And that is only the IGP, not the dGPU.

On OS X 10.7 an newer, the GPU drivers are the problem, not the hardware. And Mountain Lion has a brand new GPU driver architecture.

 

[Che Castro]

So for non gamers , is it better to get a 2012 base refurb or 2011 base refurb ?

The 2012 is $509
2011 base is I think $469

 

[paulrbeers]

So for non gamers , is it better to get a 2012 base refurb or 2011 base refurb ?

The 2012 is $509
2011 base is I think $469

The 2012 can use two TBD's, but then again if you are considering a Base Mini, you probably aren't planning to run 2K worth of monitors.

The only other major advantage of the 2012 over the 2011 is that the 2012 has USB 3.0 which allows for much faster transfer rates (like 10x faster). Otherwise, you are probably only looking at 10-20% faster CPU and a GPU that is 1.8X faster (neither of which are amazing).

 

[philipma1957]

yeah the 2012 quad 2.3 refurb at 679 is a lot of machine. and you only need it if you run the correct software. I am liking it more and more. comes with a 1tb hdd which is nice


http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD388LL/A/refurbished-mac-mini-23ghz-quad-core-intel-core-i7

 

[blanka]

The Radeon 6630 Mini is the Mac capable of driving the most external displays (except when you stuff more videocards in a Pro).
It runs 2 27 inch TB displays and a 1920x1200 HDMI screen all at the same time. No other mac is capable of that out of the box.

 

[53x12]

The Radeon 6630 Mini is the Mac capable of driving the most external displays (except when you stuff more videocards in a Pro).
It runs 2 27 inch TB displays and a 1920x1200 HDMI screen all at the same time. No other mac is capable of that out of the box.

27" iMac can. Especially the new 27" with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX.