there is many power pc mac users here so not a big worry for mac at least.
ur mini will run sierra so not an issue for you anyway.
ur mini will run sierra so not an issue for you anyway.
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.
My Mac Situation: Please Help!
- Thread starter BeautifulWoman_1984
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I know my Mac Mini can run Sierra, but my big worry is that it won't be supported in the next version of OSX.
Does anyone know when the next version of Mac OSX will be released and which Mac's it'll support?
Thank you.
Does anyone know when the next version of Mac OSX will be released and which Mac's it'll support?
Thank you.
You have about 2 years yet, before they pull support for sierra.
guesstimating fall 2019.
everything eventually gets left behind.
still use my 2007 imac and 2009 macbook with no issues.
guesstimating fall 2019.
everything eventually gets left behind.
still use my 2007 imac and 2009 macbook with no issues.
We have lots of Mac Mini 2011/2012 i7 we have large SSDs 16GB of RAM in them and run ESXi. They are a fantastic reliable machine so JUST GET AN SSD. It will make the machine fly again and get another 3-5 years out of it. Overall don't worry about OS support too much it will be good for a while.
Sorry for replying to such an old thread, but I thought it'd be better if I posted in this thread instead of making a new thread and taking up space on the forum here.
Update on my situation:
One of my family members became sick some time ago and a bunch of other "life stressors" hit me hard so I couldn't get this Mac Mini mid2011 working again.
Now I'm VERY desperate to get this Mac Mini mid 2011 working.
I'm looking at my options and I'd prefer not to buy an SSD as this Mac Mini mid2011 of High Sierra's support ending in Sept 2020...
I thought since it's 2020 now there may be other options for me to consider?
Thank you for any help!
Update on my situation:
One of my family members became sick some time ago and a bunch of other "life stressors" hit me hard so I couldn't get this Mac Mini mid2011 working again.
Now I'm VERY desperate to get this Mac Mini mid 2011 working.
I'm looking at my options and I'd prefer not to buy an SSD as this Mac Mini mid2011 of High Sierra's support ending in Sept 2020...
I thought since it's 2020 now there may be other options for me to consider?
Thank you for any help!
SSD is still the best value for money, so I am not sure why you are avoiding it. There is no guarantees in life even with a brand new Mac so I would not worry about High Sierra's support ending.
I actually did my banking in Mac OS X 10.5.8 Leopard right until May 2018 without any issues. Then I discovered "Mojave on Unsupported Macs" thread and there is no stopping me ever since.
Your options haven't changed, unless you want to use the patcher and go all the way to Mojave or Catalina
But you'll still want an SSD so...
But you'll still want an SSD so...
You can use an ordinary 2.5" SATA SSD anywhere, not just a 2011 Mini. There's nothing special about it. Like the other responders, I suggest you re-think your resistance to putting in an internal SSD, because that's really your best option.
If the Mini eventually gets replaced, you can pull the SSD back out, stick it in a cheap ($15-ish) external USB3 enclosure, and keep using it as an external drive. The only reason you wouldn't do that with your Mini is that it only has USB2, not USB3.
If the Mini eventually gets replaced, you can pull the SSD back out, stick it in a cheap ($15-ish) external USB3 enclosure, and keep using it as an external drive. The only reason you wouldn't do that with your Mini is that it only has USB2, not USB3.
It's still the same machine as it was before. If the drive is not working, you are going to have to purchase a replacement drive. At this point, ssds have come down in price enough that they are the preferred option. SATA ssds are slower than the ones Apple uses in their notebooks, but you won't notice a difference. I don't think the 2011 Mini has any remaining support from Apple at this point.
Now that it's 2020, your Mac Mini mid2011 got even older. It didn't learn any new tricks. So your options are still the same:
1) Keep booting from your external USB 2.0 and suffer from slow speed but enjoy 0 extra hassle and expense
2) Buy a usb3 drive, buy a thunderbolt dock and try to figure out how to connect your drive and a display at the same time. A painful and expensive path to take. Even if you manage, the speed will not be good
2) Buy a 2.5" SATA drive (HDD or SSD), take your mini apart and install it yourself, or have someone do it for you. HDD will be a cheap but questionable investment as resulting machine will be slow and unpleasant to use. SSD will cost only a little bit more but will make your mini usable for few more years
But if you are really paranoid about using an OS that's not supported anymore, it doesn't make sense to invest in a computer that won't run a newer OS. Just go for option 4:
4) Let this horse die and purchase a newer machine. You only need one as recent as late 2012 to run Catalina which will be supported for a while.
1) Keep booting from your external USB 2.0 and suffer from slow speed but enjoy 0 extra hassle and expense
2) Buy a usb3 drive, buy a thunderbolt dock and try to figure out how to connect your drive and a display at the same time. A painful and expensive path to take. Even if you manage, the speed will not be good
2) Buy a 2.5" SATA drive (HDD or SSD), take your mini apart and install it yourself, or have someone do it for you. HDD will be a cheap but questionable investment as resulting machine will be slow and unpleasant to use. SSD will cost only a little bit more but will make your mini usable for few more years
But if you are really paranoid about using an OS that's not supported anymore, it doesn't make sense to invest in a computer that won't run a newer OS. Just go for option 4:
4) Let this horse die and purchase a newer machine. You only need one as recent as late 2012 to run Catalina which will be supported for a while.
I really appreciate everyone's replies and advice!
Thanks, but my Mac Mini mid2011 only supports up to High Sierra so I can't upgrade to a newer version of MacOS even though I'd really love to...
Thank you. Since my Mac Mini mid2011 only has USB2 ports how would it help if I bought a USB3 enclosure???
Thank you so much for laying out my options!
I can't keep using this USB2 external HDD as the main HDD as it's setup at the moment because it's just wayyyyyy too slow to do anything.
Using an external Thunderbolt HDD sounds like a good idea, but will I get any slowdowns from using it like when I voice chat on Skype or other apps that need to be responding in real time?
Right now I'm thinking of buying a 2.5" SATA HDD and installing it into the Mac Mini mid2011 myself.
Thanks, but my Mac Mini mid2011 only supports up to High Sierra so I can't upgrade to a newer version of MacOS even though I'd really love to...
Thank you. Since my Mac Mini mid2011 only has USB2 ports how would it help if I bought a USB3 enclosure???
Thank you so much for laying out my options!
I can't keep using this USB2 external HDD as the main HDD as it's setup at the moment because it's just wayyyyyy too slow to do anything.
Using an external Thunderbolt HDD sounds like a good idea, but will I get any slowdowns from using it like when I voice chat on Skype or other apps that need to be responding in real time?
Right now I'm thinking of buying a 2.5" SATA HDD and installing it into the Mac Mini mid2011 myself.
The links I listed are explicitly for upgrading a Mac’s operating system beyond what Apple officially supports, and by all accounts the patchers work well. Installing the HD yourself is a good cost saving option if you have or buy the tools, though it’s a little involved on the mini
This was discussed when you first started the thread.
Thunderbolt drives are a bad option. They require a dock to split the signal, since you have 1 thunderbolt port which also provides your display output. Such a dock needs to actually support booting like this, which means you have to test that option. Docks are expensive. Unless this is a thunderbolt 3 dock which also happens to support the original thunderbolt spec, you would never use it once you get rid of this machine. This still doesn't change the fact that hdds are slow. Assume a decent dock will run you $200-300. As I mentioned, that machine also uses an older version of thunderbolt, which uses a different port than the newest standard.
You are unlikely to ever have new options for that machine. The cheapest and simplest solution is to swap the drive. Don't do it yourself. Find someone competent with electronics. Realize if a clip breaks somewhere, the machine is probably not worth salvaging at that point, and that can happen. Back up your data before working inside of it and if you may need to access that drive, verify that you can read it from another machine before doing anything else. Don't order drives or anything until you're satisfied with your access to your data from a different machine.
An SSD is still your best option for performance, but any drive should be installed internally. Anything else is garbage advice due to the cost required in accessories for an old machine.
I was referring to what you could do AFTER you eventually replace the Mini. The SSD purchase wouldn't be wasted in any sense.
Mr_Brightside,
Your reply is much appreciated!
I don't know what you mean by "patchers"? Are these unofficial MacOS updates that aren't officially available from Apple? If that's the case then I want to completely avoid this as security is my number one concern...
I'm looking at ordering a HDD for this Mac Mini mid2011 as soon as I can, but it seems like the Mac Mini mid2011 ONLY supports 2.5" hard drives? If that's true then I'm very limited on which type of HDD I can buy as I want to buy a regular HDD and not an SSD. It seems like there are only a handful of 2.5" hard drives to buy compared to 3.5" hard drives?
You still download an official copy of macOS from Apple, but the patcher makes the macOS installer ignore your unsupported machine. Many on this forum and elsewhere use it safely.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of 2.5" hard drives available to buy. Where are you looking?