MP 1,1-5,1 Migrating from a CMP 5,1 to an M2 Mini - Worth It or Not?

[MacDann]

Long time Mac person, especially CMPs. Started out with my 3,1 probably 10 years ago and eventually moved up to a 5,1, 2x3.33 GHz, 128 GB, GTX680, 2-1TB SSDs, 1-6TB and 1-2TB spindle drives. In fact, I have two of these and another 5,1 in the closet as a backup and parts machine. I move between two homes in different states, so I have the same CMP 5,1 setup at both.

My setups also contain 2 - 30" Apple Cinema Displays, a component of my setup I don't want to part with. This has probably been the biggest hindrance for upgrading, but more about that later...

I've got my 5,1s pushed to 10.14.6 (Mojave), which is as far as I can go with the existing configuration as far as I know. I did seriously consider going OpenCore and even tried it for a few days, but unfortunately I ran into issues with a few things, and because I work from my CMPs I can't have them be hinky - they've got to be stable. That said, I'm finding issues with work related things with Safari. I could run Chrome, but it's no longer supported in Mojave. I am not a power user in the sense that nothing I do is demanding for this computer. No video or audio processing, gaming, etc.

So I've struggled with how I can move up as far as CPUs and retain most of my storage configuration without making a major investment. That puts me square in the M2 Mac Mini market.

The two big issues are displays and storage.

I have a number of adapters for the 30" ACDs that are proven to work on Thunderbolt 4/USB-C. That's about $120 for two.

To keep the same storage setup, I'll have to go to some sort of external storage setup. The lower end Mac Minis only have 2 Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports, so I'll need a hub as well.


First time I went for a refurb 6,1 (trash can) from OWC and a "bare" Thunderbolt 2 external storage device. This would only accommodate 2.5" drives, so I would have had to buy new storage in 2.5" form. Total bill for everything would have been about $1400, but when I got the 6,1 from OWC it wouldn't boot. I had already had buyers remorse after it shipped for buying a trash can in the first place, so it really worked out well since all of it went back and I was credited for it. Kudos to OWC and the great job they do, I would add.

I'm taking another swing at this. Now I'm going with an Apple Store refurbished M2 Mac Mini with an 8‑Core CPU and 10‑Core GPU, 512 GB SSD and 8GB of RAM $679.00, no tax. To address the storage issue, I'm getting an OWC 2.0TB (SSD) OWC miniStack STX Stackable Storage and Thunderbolt Hub Xpansion Solution for $365.00 (no tax again, as we have a tax holiday in Florida right now.)

With the M2 Mini setup and the OWC storage/hub, I'm pretty sure I can cover all of my bases. I'll swap my 6TB spindle drive that is my internal Time Machine backup into the OWC hub, and the internal 2TB SSD in the hub will cover the other spindle drive.

So adding it all up ($365 + $679 + $120) and I'm at $1164.00.

I would have liked to stay below $1000, but this isn't too bad. The 6,1 trash can setup was more expensive and wouldn't have brought me "up" in places like interfaces (Thunderbolt 2).

Everything is showing up this coming week. As soon as it's here and set up I'll report back. If you've read this far and have any realistic comments about alternatives to this approach I'm all ears. That does not include OpenCore or using one of DosDude's patches, both of which I have either used or researched and found unacceptable.

Thanks!

MacDann

 

[tsialex]

So, you are going to go from 128GB of RAM to just 8GB? You are going to have to rethink that.

Even with the better memory allocation of ASi Macs, 8GB is not enough for any Pro workflow and the 8GB of RAM is shared with the GPU and the CPU. You will be using swap all the time and will kill the internal SSD in a year.

Even if you are not using any Pro apps and this will be a web browser/media player Mac, look at how much memory Safari (or worse, Chrome) takes after some hours of usage.

 

[MacDann]

Yup, I know. I don't do anything remotely resembling a Pro workflow, so that's not a concern.

However, if it's as doom-and-gloomy as you suggest, how are these machines being used out in the wild? If they're that underpowered why aren't people griping about it?

I think I'l be fine, but as previously stated, will post my findings here. If things are substandard as far as performance I'll send everything back and continue to use my old workhorse.

MacDann

 

[tsialex]

Look, performance is excellent CPU wise and a lot better than the MacPro5,1, but the moment you need more RAM, you'll are limited to swap and loads of M1 Macs are now dead with the NAND chips failed from excessive writes caused by the SSD being used as swap, search about it to see for yourself.

Btw, you will be using this as a stop gap or you pretend to run this setup for some years? 8GB today is already limiting, imagine three years down the road.

A Mac mini when the SSD fails require the whole logic board replacement, so, at least get AppleCare.

 

[MacDann]

Look, performance is excellent CPU wise and a lot better than the MacPro5,1, but the moment you need more RAM, you'll are limited to swap and loads of M1 Macs are now dead with the NAND chips failed from excessive writes caused by the SSD being used as swap, search about it to see for yourself.

Btw, you will be using this as a stop gap or you pretend to run this setup for some years? 8GB today is already limiting, imagine three years down the road.

A Mac mini when the SSD fails require the whole logic board replacement, so, at least get AppleCare.

Source?

Some years, with the loads being lower every year.

Good idea! Didn't know it was that inexpensive - $99/3 years.

 

[tsialex]

Source?

This was discovered by developers on Twitter a month or so after the first M1 was available, but now anything on twitter is impossible to find.

This is the best thread here:

ssd swap - high usage of Terabytes Written

Please read the update at the end of this post. Hi, I have Mac mini m1 256/16 for almost 8 days. After those 8 days I can see 0.9 TB written. From what I found on the web this ssd should last for ~~150 TBW. After 8 days I have 0.9 TBW :) I checked on my MacBook Pro 13" from 2018, 256/16 as...

forums.macrumors.com

There are several other threads also a good source are the YouTube videos from iBoff RCC:

https://www.youtube.com/@iBoffRCC

This one explains the complex issues in a lot of detail:

 

[mateo14]

I read somewhere it's impossible to retrieve data from the dead internal SSD in new Macs.

Why can professionals retrieve the data from these SSDs?

Relying on only the external SSD is a weird idea, especially when I think about laptops.

 

[MacDann]

This was discovered by developers on Twitter a month or so after the first M1 was available, but now anything on twitter is impossible to find.

This is the best thread here:

ssd swap - high usage of Terabytes Written

Please read the update at the end of this post. Hi, I have Mac mini m1 256/16 for almost 8 days. After those 8 days I can see 0.9 TB written. From what I found on the web this ssd should last for ~~150 TBW. After 8 days I have 0.9 TBW :) I checked on my MacBook Pro 13" from 2018, 256/16 as...

forums.macrumors.com

There are several other threads also a good source are the YouTube videos from iBoff RCC:

https://www.youtube.com/@iBoffRCC

This one explains the complex issues in a lot of detail:

Yes, and if you read the thread, specifically the first post/wiki, this issue has been addressed in 11.4 and is no longer a concern.

MacDann

 

[MacDann]

The migration is complete and a success!

I started out with just the M2 Mac Mini, the adapters for DVI-I and Cinema Displays and all worked well. Getting the displays recognized initially was a little wonky, but once I was able to configure them they've worked great.

I lost the use of a couple of applications I had, iWeb and an older version of Adobe Acrobat Pro, but that's no big deal. I maintain an ancient web site that's mostly images and text and it's tied deeply into iWeb. It still works, poorly, but the migration to another platform or editor is too much of a project for now.

On Wednesday the OWC external drive/hub came. Got it connected up on Thursday, and it worked flawlessly and has done so since firing it up. I took a 6TB WD Black NAS drive I had in my CMP with most of my external storage volumes and installed it in the hub. My storage setup is nearly identical as it was on the CMP, so that's great, too.

Performance, especially web browsing, is significantly better. On some occasional games, like Zen Pinball, graphics can be a little jaggy and I might even see some tearing in dark or black areas. Not a big deal for me, but wanted to clearly describe my experience.

All in all, things have proved out well for the situation with migrating off my CMPs to the M2 Mac Mini. I'll update if I encounter any changes.

MacDann

 

[HDFan]

My setups also contain 2 - 30" Apple Cinema Displays, a component of my setup I don't want to part with.

I too loved my 30" Cinema display. But then I upgraded to the latest Apple Display (currently a Studio) and the improvement was jaw dropping. Have no regrets sending it to pasture.