Will the Mac Mini be fast enough?

[dom.c]

Hi,

I managed to convert my Dad from Windows to Mac last year.
I purchased him a refurbished 2014 Mac Mini, 1.4GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD which turned out to be horrendously slow.
He only used it for Mail, Safari, Word & Excel and even though I consider that to be pretty light, it was so slow it was difficult for him to learn on. I honestly thought it would be quick enough for general day to day use.
As his 10 year old Dell is quicker, I decided to sell the Mac Mini and try again.

Naturally I would like to try and get it right this time!

I have seen the new Mac Mini - 3.6GHz quad-core 8th gen i3 processor, 8GB RAM

• Just for comparison purposes, please can anyone advise how this would compare to my late 2015 27" iMac 3.2GHz intel-core i5, 8GB RAM?. I find this quick enough and my workload is a fair bit heavier than my Dad's.
• Would anyone advise against me purchasing the above new Mac Mini, for whatever reason?

I hope that makes sense.

Cheers!

 

[hallux]

An SSD in that 2014 Mini would be a huge improvement. Sadly, the 2014 won't allow you to upgrade the RAM. With the right setup (I don't know the enclosures to look for, someone else will though) you can even do it with an external drive.

 

[dom.c]

An SSD in that 2014 Mini would be a huge improvement. Sadly, the 2014 won't allow you to upgrade the RAM. With the right setup (I don't know the enclosures to look for, someone else will though) you can even do it with an external drive.

Thanks but I've sold that now!

 

[dom.c]

Bump. Thanks

 

[alfonsog]

Yes, it will be fast enough. It is faster than my iMac 27" 2017 base that I gave to my Mom because I wanted to go back to a larger monitor and her 2014 Mac mini was getting old. I just got the base Mac mini while I wait for the new Mac Pro.

 

[Velin]

It's all about the HD vs SSD. New Mini has SSD standard, so yes it will be a lot faster.

 

[MRrainer]

AFAIK, the low-end 2018 i3 Mini is about as fast as the high-end 2012 Mini.
And the SSD is much faster than any SSD in a 2012 could ever be.
I'd double the RAM to 16 and you'll be done here for five+ years.
Depending on the amount of data that you want to store, an upgrade to the 256GB SSD is advisable.
With a 4k screen, it's then pretty expensive - but far more flexible than an iMac.

 

[dom.c]

Both interesting comparisons, thanks.

 

[theluggage]

I purchased him a refurbished 2014 Mac Mini, 1.4GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD which turned out to be horrendously slow.

Yeah - its the hard drive that does it (the RAM might be a bit tight, too). Once you've used SSD you can't go back. The question with the Mini would be:

(a) Is the 128GB SSD big enough - probably "yes" for Mail, Safari, Word & Excel
(b) Is the integrated graphics good enough? Since you're not doing graphics work, that comes down to what sort of display you're using: if its a regular standard-def display you're probably fine. With 4k, it might depend on what mode you want to run it in - modes other than 4k native (3840x2160) and 2x ("looks like 1920x1080") hammer the GPU and VRAM.

Of course, both of those can be fixed with external boxes.

 

[dom.c]

Yeah - its the hard drive that does it (the RAM might be a bit tight, too). Once you've used SSD you can't go back. The question with the Mini would be:

(a) Is the 128GB SSD big enough - probably "yes" for Mail, Safari, Word & Excel
(b) Is the integrated graphics good enough? Since you're not doing graphics work, that comes down to what sort of display you're using: if its a regular standard-def display you're probably fine. With 4k, it might depend on what mode you want to run it in - modes other than 4k native (3840x2160) and 2x ("looks like 1920x1080") hammer the GPU and VRAM.

Of course, both of those can be fixed with external boxes.

Thanks for that. Yes to both of those I think. The display will just be something standard, nothing fancy.

 

[LeeW]

The entry level 2014 Mac Mini was a Donkey, still can't believe that even with the Apple negativity on this forum people are still complaining it no longer exists.

Anyway, for the use case the base model will be fine and super fast in comparison to the Donkey you had.

Is 8GB ram enough? Again yes for his use case, at least you have the option to upgrade again.
is 128GB SSD enough? Should be, but you can look at his previous/current usage to be sure.
For a standard monitor the iGPU will work fine, not so much for intensive work and nothing you suggest includes that.

 

[theluggage]

The entry level 2014 Mac Mini was a Donkey, still can't believe that even with the Apple negativity on this forum people are still complaining it no longer exists.

I don't think many are - its the 2012 range that was the "classic" - the 2014 model was widely regarded as a downgrade when it came out.

 

[MRrainer]

I don't think many are - its the 2012 range that was the "classic" - the 2014 model was widely regarded as a downgrade when it came out.

It was a downgrade. Except if you wanted to drive to 30" screens.
Due to the slightly better iGPU, it could do that and the 2012 could not.