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Would it just be better to get a 2011 mini?
- Thread starter theRAMman
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Depends on if you want USB3 and 60% faster graphics. I picked up a deal on a refurbished 2011 because it is just used as my video server for the house. In that case I have 8TB of drives in a 4 bay USB3 enclosure but running it at USB2 is just fine for streaming. So 2011 was perfect for my needs.
Your decision may be different if this is going to be your day to day machine and you need USB3 and/or faster graphics performance. I heard Intel had a fix out for the HDMI issues? Not sure what can be done about noisy hard drives although personally I swap out drives for SSD'd in all my Macs so it isn't an issue for me.
Clacky HDD? Really? Is that the definitive assessment? No noise from mine at all, though I did get the Fusion drive -- but that still has an HDD component, and I'm using well over the SSD's capacity.
It's quite easy to replace the drive with an SSD, which lots of people are doing regardless of clackiness.
I haven't had any HDMI issues, and I believe that the recent EFI firmware fix has sorted them out. From what I've gathered, it only affects some setups, and you can always use the TB port for your monitor. (I use both.)
I haven't had any speaker issues either.
Nor a million and one other problems.
Some problems may be sub-par quality control on some units; some may be design flaws, which may be fixable by firmware fixes, or not; and some problems may just be problems that people get with computers, and unrelated to the hardware itself.
I dare say if you go back through the forum archives, you can find people complaining about problems with their brand new 2011 Minis.
For me, the 2012 mini is far and away better than the 2011. USB 3; much faster CPU; more energy efficient. I've certainly found the Intel GPU to be more than capable of what I've thrown at it.
If you can get a 2nd-hand 2011 for a good deal, then fair enough: it'll be fine for most uses. But if you are looking to spend on a new Mac, then you can't beat the 2012 Mini for value.
I think he was comparing the HD3000 to the HD4000 graphics. Notice he stated that USB3 and 60% faster graphics.
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Pretty sure you are reading into too many posts. Any forum will be filled with people with issues. Most who have no issues don't start threads just to state "My Mac mini is fine".... Further even if they do, they are generally wasteland'ed anyway because it is a waste of server space. The "broken HDMI" has been greatly improved with the most recent update. Is it perfect, some say yes, some say "it's better", others state "no", but it is definitely better and/or fixed for many. The "million and 1" other things is a complete overstatement by you. Frankly, I'm not even sure there is a million things that can go wrong with a computer. Clacky HDD's? what does that even mean? What that some can hear their hard drives click? Yeah, probably normal for a lot of hard drives. Speaker problems? I guess I haven't seen that as a widespread issue (or really an issue at all?).
You know what is REALLY helpful when you post things like this, to use links... Show us what you mean. Frankly if I was in the market right now for a Mini, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a 2012 especially with the recent EFI update that really helped fix the HDMI issues. The mid-mini with the quad core processor is just a beast especially for the size. Drop in 16GB of RAM and a decent sized SSD for a total of maybe $200 and you have a machine that will go for years...
I experienced the black screen and the white snow. After the EFI update those are fixed for me. My hard drive made the clicking noise for a while but now it no longer makes it. I don't know what changed there but it is better. Don't know about the speaker problems.
I upgraded from a 2006 1.66 Core Duo. After the initial problems I couldn't be happier. Yeah it was a little frustrating but the i7 quad cores are sweet.