Should I go ahead and buy a Mini?

[travisbrowning]

I've been rocking a 2009 MacBook (white) for quite some time now and it's starting to show its age. Still a great computer and I want to keep it around for the portability but I need a new computer and I want a desktop. I know the Mini has been expecting a refresh for awhile now but I need something soon. I do light gaming (WoW, Starcraft, Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, Minecraft ...etc), make music in Garageband and I would need it for some basic web and graphics design. From what I've read the HD 4000 basically doubles the performance of the nVidia 9400m so that would be great, and I would max the RAM and toss an SSD in it down the line. Think the Mac Mini would be a solid machine for me?

 

[aPple nErd]

Hi there, from another minecraft mac user. I use a mid 2011 iMac with a core i5, and 8gb of ram. slightly different that the mini, but my machine is great at minecraft, although if i wanted to play anything graphically intensive, i'd get an i7, with 16gb of ram. It should be fine for what you want to use it for. Just keep in mind that it wont have a disk drive.

 

[travisbrowning]

Hi there, from another minecraft mac user. I use a mid 2011 iMac with a core i5, and 8gb of ram. slightly different that the mini, but my machine is great at minecraft, although if i wanted to play anything graphically intensive, i'd get an i7, with 16gb of ram. It should be fine for what you want to use it for. Just keep in mind that it wont have a disk drive.

Thanks, I figure that if I could run WoW/Minecraft decent enough now the newest Mini would be good enough. Thanks for the info

 

[blanka]

The HD4000 is about 4-times as fast as the 9400M. We had the 320M and HD3000 in between, those were about double the 9400m speed, the HD4000 is way faster than those.
Just go and buy the mini. Especially the quad's are still competitive as the ceiling of regular consumer grade CPU power is moving not at all for more than a year now. The latest Haswell quad i7's are still roughly on par with quad i7 Sandy bridge processors when it comes to raw CPU power. Not much happened other than down-clock options to reduce battery use.

 

[brdeveloper]

The only problem is the price of the current Mini. I'd be regretful if I saw a brand new Mini being launched a couple of months after I have bought a 2012 one.

The next Mini will have at least a HD 5000, TB2 (4K@60Hz support), more BTO SSD options and processors around 20%-40% faster (from 200MHz faster Haswells to Broadwells). If I needed a modern hardware immediately, I would get a used Mini 2012 from someone who is planning buying a rMBP or a next Mini iteration.

 

[jg321]

If I needed a modern hardware immediately, I would get a used Mini 2012 from someone who is planning buying a rMBP or a next Mini iteration.

Agreed with this. I actually gave up waiting and ditched the monitor I had and bought a 21.5" iMac instead.

 

[travisbrowning]

The HD4000 is about 4-times as fast as the 9400M. We had the 320M and HD3000 in between, those were about double the 9400m speed, the HD4000 is way faster than those.
Just go and buy the mini. Especially the quad's are still competitive as the ceiling of regular consumer grade CPU power is moving not at all for more than a year now. The latest Haswell quad i7's are still roughly on par with quad i7 Sandy bridge processors when it comes to raw CPU power. Not much happened other than down-clock options to reduce battery use.

Oh wow, I didn't realize there were that many GPUs between the 9400m and the HD 4000! Thanks for the info!

The only problem is the price of the current Mini. I'd be regretful if I saw a brand new Mini being launched a couple of months after I have bought a 2012 one.

The next Mini will have at least a HD 5000, TB2 (4K@60Hz support), more BTO SSD options and processors around 20%-40% faster (from 200MHz faster Haswells to Broadwells). If I needed a modern hardware immediately, I would get a used Mini 2012 from someone who is planning buying a rMBP or a next Mini iteration.

Hmm, thats a good idea, I'll have to look at the used market on those models. Part of the Apple experience to me is the packaging though! But if I can get can get a used one cheap enough I might as well take that option. Thanks!

 

[Agent OrangeZ]

I bought a 2012 Mini quad-i7 with 8GB RAM and 256GB/1TB Fusion Drive with wireless keyboard, magic trackpad and Mobee Magic Bar charger for $600 shipped on MacRumors Marketplace... about a month ago. Keep your eyes peeled. People offer great deals often on that forum.

 

[justinTlME]

I bought a 2012 Mini quad-i7 with 8GB RAM and 256GB/1TB Fusion Drive with wireless keyboard, magic trackpad and Mobee Magic Bar charger for $600 shipped on MacRumors Marketplace... about a month ago. Keep your eyes peeled. People offer great deals often on that forum.

Some of us haven't been on the forum or haven't posted enough....so that kind of screws us....lol.

 

[blanka]

Agreed with this. I actually gave up waiting and ditched the monitor I had and bought a 21.5" iMac instead.

Great, unless you got a quad i7 BTO one, the mini outperforms it, and the display of the 21 inch is also SO-SO. For the money spend on the 21 inch, you can still buy a lot better workstation based on the 2 year old Mini.

 

[justinTlME]

Great, unless you got a quad i7 BTO one, the mini outperforms it, and the display of the 21 inch is also SO-SO. For the money spend on the 21 inch, you can still buy a lot better workstation based on the 2 year old Mini.

My thoughts exactly, and this is exactly what I am doing. If I wanted an iMac it would be a 27" model and would cost just over $2,000.

I can configure my mini, max out the RAM, get a fusion drive, and run dual 23" IPS monitors and only be right around $1,500 total. Plus, in 4-5 years when I want to inevitably upgrade I can just use the mini as a Plex server. I will take the mini….

 

[jg321]

Great, unless you got a quad i7 BTO one, the mini outperforms it, and the display of the 21 inch is also SO-SO. For the money spend on the 21 inch, you can still buy a lot better workstation based on the 2 year old Mini.

I have the quad i5/8GB/256GB SSD.

You've honestly lost me, which Mini in particular are you talking about?

The screen is excellent IMO. Of course I'll be jealous if/when the retina ones come out!

In terms of "a lot better" - surely this is subjective. I like having everything in one "package" and not having the mess of cables everywhere. For me, this makes the iMac better than a Mini + separate screen. YMMV.

 

[justinTlME]

Just buy your mini!

I just placed my order on Apple an hour ago or so! I hope it gets here soon....like THIS WEEK!

Mac Mini i7 Quad 2.6 GHz
1 TB Fusion Drive
Upgrading RAM to 16 GB myself.

Now all I have to do is order my RAM, keyboard and Magic Trackpad.

These are the monitors I am also buying. Two of them to be precise, and I'm mounting with a dual mount stand.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008DWITHI/ref=gno_cart_title_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I'm so EXCITED!!!!

 

[blanka]

I like having everything in one "package" and not having the mess of cables everywhere

I usually have less clutter when I "glue" the mini UNDER my desktop. And we did not have any mac-theft with the Mini's.

 

[travisbrowning]

So, even after these supposed rumors and the not so helpful tweet by macminiolo is it worth it to buy it sooner? My gut is telling me to wait a bit, but my gut is also hungry.

 

[Rodster]

So, even after these supposed rumors and the not so helpful tweet by macminiolo is it worth it to buy it sooner? My gut is telling me to wait a bit, but my gut is also hungry.

If money is burning a hole in your pocket by all means buy now. We'll let you know shortly how great the new refreshed Mini's are.

 

[blanka]

If you can find a good deal, like 100 bucks off, always buy. You can Mini for a year for free then, because 100 bucks is roughly the drop in value the first year.

 

[Neodym]

So, even after these supposed rumors and the not so helpful tweet by macminiolo is it worth it to buy it sooner? My gut is telling me to wait a bit, but my gut is also hungry.

The next mini may lose functionality (ports, self-service for Ram and drives) and won't be that big of an advancement CPU-power-wise (if at all - it might also get an Arm/Apple A7 in an AppleTV-sized housing), at least taking a quad core as reference.

So unless you are speculating for a potential Iris(Pro) graphic system or can make good use of a potentially smaller footprint...

 

[Malte.]

So, even after these supposed rumors and the not so helpful tweet by macminiolo is it worth it to buy it sooner? My gut is telling me to wait a bit, but my gut is also hungry.

I have had My 2012 i7 mini since they were released, and it's has been great with zero hiccups and it's an awsome computer. But the hd4000 is horrible, it can just barely run diablo 3 and wow on low/ugly settings.
I say wait a little longer or get something else!

 

[antonio22m]

If you are looking for a computer for surfing the internet, watching movies, editing documents, programming and other activities of daily average usage, then the mac mini is an ideal choice for you.
Mac mini is small, compact and quiet, but you will not be able to play the latest games, therefore it is not recommended for gamers.
Take a look at this comparison at http://antoniom1.hubpages.com/hub/What-is-a-Mac-Mini and You will see comparison to iMac and Mac Pro.Anyone considering purchasing this Mac Mini needs to see the information in this chart.