Moving from a Late 2013 21.5" iMac

[langl3y]

Hi there,
I have a Late 2013 21.5 " iMac which has the following spec:
Processor - 2.9GHz Quad-core i5
Memory - 16GB DDR3
Graphics - NVIDIA FeForce GT 750M 1GB

I know this spec is extremely outdated, but I just wondered, how would I find this in comparison to the new M1 Mac Mini for everyday use, but with gaming also which is mainly used on the Steam platform (mainly thinking of the integrated graphics part)

Opinions etc would be appreciated or am I best off waiting to see what they do with the new iMacs to be released?
Thanks

 

[anubis1980]

I have a mbp 2015 i7 2.5ghz quad , 16gb ram, 512 gb ssd. with the dedicated graphics card R9 370x. I just picked up my MBA base model. 256gb ssd and 8gb ram. its quick. blows the mbp out of the water in benchmarks. its still got photos loading and I've got music playing, indexing, lots of safari tabs open etc and its cold and quick. I haven't tested games yet but lots of others have.This def feels quicker than the mbp which I will be selling tomorrow. so I think the Mac mini with the m1 will be decent upgrade. Its not a gaming pc but can handle optimised games well.

EDIT

ive just loaded ZWIFT on it , and tbh I'm amazed. its not an intensive game but the highest setting at the moment I can go to is 1080p high , it flies on this. on my old laptop the fans would be screaming at that setting and poor fps sometimes, this just flies through it.

 

[langl3y]

I have a mbp 2015 i7 2.5ghz quad , 16gb ram, 512 gb ssd. with the dedicated graphics card R9 370x. I just picked up my MBA base model. 256gb ssd and 8gb ram. its quick. blows the mbp out of the water in benchmarks. its still got photos loading and I've got music playing, indexing, lots of safari tabs open etc and its cold and quick. I haven't tested games yet but lots of others have.This def feels quicker than the mbp which I will be selling tomorrow. so I think the Mac mini with the m1 will be decent upgrade. Its not a gaming pc but can handle optimised games well.

Appreciate the reply and feedback, i appreciate that this is not a full on gaming machine, but there are just a few games i play every so often. I don't want to hang out for the new iMacs really, it seems to far out to wait! I feel the mac mini with M1 will be a fitting upgrade for a nearly 8 year old machine even with a separate 24" or 27" 4k display

 

[anubis1980]

Appreciate the reply and feedback, i appreciate that this is not a full on gaming machine, but there are just a few games i play every so often. I don't want to hang out for the new iMacs really, it seems to far out to wait! I feel the mac mini with M1 will be a fitting upgrade for a nearly 8 year old machine even with a separate 24" or 27" 4k display

what games do you play? I'm wondering if someone has tested them already. Zwift gets between 68 and 101fps . on my old laptop id max at 45-60 but went as low as 17. Zwift doesn't even know what an M1 is. so Its not optimised and I'm getting that kind of performance, so its looking good.

 

[4sallypat]

Hi there,
I have a Late 2013 21.5 " iMac which has the following spec:
Processor - 2.9GHz Quad-core i5
Memory - 16GB DDR3
Graphics - NVIDIA FeForce GT 750M 1GB

I know this spec is extremely outdated, but I just wondered, how would I find this in comparison to the new M1 Mac Mini for everyday use, but with gaming also which is mainly used on the Steam platform (mainly thinking of the integrated graphics part)

Opinions etc would be appreciated or am I best off waiting to see what they do with the new iMacs to be released?
Thanks

I have this machine (ME086LL/A) my wife uses for crafting and photo editing.

Long time ago, I ditched the internal spinning HDD with an external Thunderbolt SSD that runs circles around the SATA drive.

But in reality, I am looking to marry this iMac with the M1 Mini.

The Mini needs a display so I will put the iMac into Target mode and use it's display.

The M1 Mini will be much better and her iOS apps can also run which is important to her...

 

[langl3y]

what games do you play? I'm wondering if someone has tested them already. Zwift gets between 68 and 101fps . on my old laptop id max at 45-60 but went as low as 17. Zwift doesn't even know what an M1 is. so Its not optimised and I'm getting that kind of performance, so its looking good.

I only play games on my steam account, euro truck simulator 2 and American truck simulator. I do have an origin account which has simcity: cities on which I haven't played for a few years. I am hoping the new Mac mini with 8GB ram would be plenty to play these

 

[langl3y]

I have this machine (ME086LL/A) my wife uses for crafting and photo editing.

Long time ago, I ditched the internal spinning HDD with an external Thunderbolt SSD that runs circles around the SATA drive.

But in reality, I am looking to marry this iMac with the M1 Mini.

The Mini needs a display so I will put the iMac into Target mode and use it's display.

The M1 Mini will be much better and her iOS apps can also run which is important to her...

Thanks for the reply, this might be a daft question, but I still have the very old keyboard and mouse which is battery powered, are you going to be using these also? as I don't think the Mac mini even comes with the latest mouse and keyboard?

 

[4sallypat]

Thanks for the reply, this might be a daft question, but I still have the very old keyboard and mouse which is battery powered, are you going to be using these also? as I don't think the Mac mini even comes with the latest mouse and keyboard?

If it's Bluetooth, then yes the older wireless KB & M will connect to the Mini using an older BT protocol.

 

[langl3y]

That’s good to know, looks like I’ll be ordered the standard Mac mini and get an external hard drive if I need one, for what I want to use it for it should be a great upgrade

 

[4sallypat]

Yes, today it's arriving and will setup the Mini with an iMac as a target display and also my 24" Apple Cinema display as a second display.

Can't wait to test her out!

 

[langl3y]

Yes, today it's arriving and will setup the Mini with an iMac as a target display and also my 24" Apple Cinema display as a second display.

Can't wait to test her out!

Did you purchase the entry spec Mac mini? It will be interesting to see how you find this and how you are going to connect up the display also, from the reviews I have read the machine is extremely quick and seems to breeze anything that is thrown at it!

 

[4sallypat]

Did you purchase the entry spec Mac mini? It will be interesting to see how you find this and how you are going to connect up the display also, from the reviews I have read the machine is extremely quick and seems to breeze anything that is thrown at it!

Yes, got the base M1 Mini.
Will post photos on the setup to show off the dual display capability (iMac Target Thunderbolt & HDMI display)

I do wish I can connect 2 iMacs as target displays so that side by side they look identical and awesome.

Based on what I am hearing in real life, this M1 will run circles around any Intel based Mac.

 

[langl3y]

I think the M1 mini will also do the same, I like to see reviews etc before I make a concrete decision on biting the bullet and ordered one. I know coming for a nearly 8 year old iMac this will be crazy quick in every aspect, just a shame they are quiet on the graphics information front

Look forward to hearing your thoughts on this for sure

 

[Olslov]

I'm also interested in buying an M1 Mac Mini. My gaming PC is quite outdated and it's GPU died recently. I'm not playing much games anymore. Mostly American Truck Simulator, Euro Truck Simulator 2 and Rocket League. If these run fine on the Mac Mini M1. I will prefer an Mac Mini M1 over building a new gaming PC.

 

[4sallypat]

My new M1 Mini does not work as Target display with a 2013 iMac - quite pissed off now!

 

[langl3y]

Ohhh...that puts my purchase a bit more expensive then! I thought it would have working using either the DisplayPort or something? I'll be buying a 27" display then by the looks of it with the new M1 mini

 

[Moccasin]

As I understand it, you can downgrade the iMac to High Sierra and use it in Target Display then. I‘ve just bought an M1 Mac Mini and may do that, although I may decide to take the £150 trade in value & free up some desk space.

After 7 years, it‘ll be good to be able to use all the features again in my Mac Mini, assuming I keep it! I’ve had to order a Magic Trackpad with it, as I’ve been using a third party mouse after the trackpad I got with the iMac no longer clicks. I’m hoping unlocking with my watch will be more reliable now, but have lost track of the features that have been introduced along with the new hardware over the past few years.

Other than using my iPad Pro as a second screen via Sidecar, what other new MacOS features have I been missing out on?