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Trying to decide between 2012 or 2014 Mac Mini

A

AshleyH

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 30, 2014
1
0
United Kingdom
Hi, I am new on here, but have been browsing for a while.

Currently an iPad Air and Windows PC user. Was about to pull the trigger on an entry level 2014 Mac Mini 1.4Ghz, but then the stories started to break about the soldered RAM etc. sells in the UK for GBP 399.

This morning our UK equivalent of Best Buy, PC World, has cut the price on the 2012 Entry Model to GBP 379. With a work discount scheme I can get it for GBP 349.

Looking at the reviews the performance seems roughly the same as the 2014 model and I know I can upgrade from Mavericks to Yosemite.

But here is the crunch, does the 2012 model give you free iWorks Pages, Numbers, Keynote etc or is that only with the 2014 model?

Just remembering last year with the iPad Air launch you only got the software with iPad Air or iPhone 5s hardware purchase.

Thanks
Ashley
 
Last edited:
I think it depends on when the machine was manufactured. Just prior to the release of the 2014 models, the Mac Mini did come with free iWork and iLife. Sometime in 2013 the transition occurred. If it's a recent 2012 model that includes Mavericks it most likely will have the other applications as well.

If it's not included for some reason, there seems to be a simple hack which might still work:

http://lifehacker.com/get-iwork-for-free-on-any-os-x-mavericks-machine-1469700860
 
My two 2012 Mac mini's that I recently purchased both came with the full software suite.
 
one week ago was in the same spot as you

Tried to decide between the two.
Finally got the 2012 mini with student discount...
For office use and some coding i think they deliver roughly the same performence (the slower GPU is not a deal breaker for my usage) and in the 2012 model you can upgrade the RAM if and when you need to and even throw a ssd drive in it.

It came with mavericks, iWork and iLife installed.

Good luck!
Shimon
 
The 2012 HD 4000 sucks but the 2014 HD 5000 and 5100 suck 50% less, but that still sucks. Might as well get the faster cpu in the 2012.
 
AshleyH

I just purchased a Mac Mini 2012 model last week at Best Buy. It came with iWorks and iLife at no additional cost.
 
The 2012 models do come with free software, the first time you open the AppStore and sign in you should be asked to accept terms and it will be l associate the software with your App Store ID.

As BJonson said the graphics card in the 2012 is inferior to that of the 2014.

But on the plus side you can replace your ram.
 
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