Advice needed: Mac mini 2012 - upgrade to SSD + RAM - performance questions

[addictive]

A family member no longer needs their Mac mini 6.1 (from 2012), they've moved away from it because they found it frustrating sitting in front of the spinning circle for everything given they used the traditional HDD the machine came with.

I'm considering using this Mac Mini for myself but will upgrade it to a 2TB SSD and 16GB RAM. Is this overkill?

How long can I expect it to work for me? Several years? It seems to me that Catalina might be the final MacOS that will support it. I guess we won't know until it's successor.

I want to maintain using my Retina MacBook Pro (2015) but I'd like to use this purely as a laptop rather than keep connecting and disconnecting it to an external monitor. However, will I notice a drop off in performance going from Broadwell to Ivy Bridge. My guess is not a significant one as my usage is largely research (I often have tens of tabs and windows open), YouTube and using Pages, Notes and some other similar apps. No content creation or photo editing.

 

[triptolemus]

Listen, that's exactly the machine I'm rocking right now, except with a smaller SSD and 2 monitors. Main tasks are video streaming (YTTV and Netflix), web browsing, photo editing, some VM work, and the usual ancillary tasks. I have no problems whatsoever and will probably rock this setup until it dies.

Get the proper tools, follow the guide, and for your needs, that 2012 Mini will kill it for several years to come.

 

[addictive]

Listen, that's exactly the machine I'm rocking right now, except with a smaller SSD and 2 monitors. Main tasks are video streaming (YTTV and Netflix), web browsing, photo editing, some VM work, and the usual ancillary tasks. I have no problems whatsoever and will probably rock this setup until it dies.

Get the proper tools, follow the guide, and for your needs, that 2012 Mini will kill it for several years to come.


View attachment 878910

Thank you for the great advice, how do you utilise a second monitor? HDMI for one but for the other?

 

[triptolemus]

HDMI on 1 then DP to HDMI adapter for the other.

 

[Trusteft]

A family member no longer needs their Mac mini 6.1 (from 2012), they've moved away from it because they found it frustrating sitting in front of the spinning circle for everything given they used the traditional HDD the machine came with.

I'm considering using this Mac Mini for myself but will upgrade it to a 2TB SSD and 16GB RAM. Is this overkill?

How long can I expect it to work for me? Several years? It seems to me that Catalina might be the final MacOS that will support it. I guess we won't know until it's successor.

I want to maintain using my Retina MacBook Pro (2015) but I'd like to use this purely as a laptop rather than keep connecting and disconnecting it to an external monitor. However, will I notice a drop off in performance going from Broadwell to Ivy Bridge. My guess is not a significant one as my usage is largely research (I often have tens of tabs and windows open), YouTube and using Pages, Notes and some other similar apps. No content creation or photo editing.

I think Catalina is the last version that is going to be supported on the 2012 minis. So if you want to install later versions of the OS and the programs that require it, the 2012 will not last you much longer.

If that is not something you care about, the 2012 can last you as long as the hardware doesn't fail. Capacitors, etc.
Which could be decades.
Performance wise, upgrading to SSD and more RAM will always help, though if you do go that way I recommend performing a clean install.
If the upgraded performance is going to be enough for you it depends on what you are going to use the mini for.

 

[nebo1ss]

I am rocking a 2012 mini server with 2 disk drives, a 500gig SSD and a 1TB regular drive. It is fully maxed out on memory. i picked this up in 2014/15 because it was still the best mini available. If this is the last version of the OS that will run on the mini i would still not look to upgrade.

 

[Boyd01]

I also use a 2012 quad core Mini Server and it's great. But you have the base model 2.5ghz dual core i5 version (it would have helped if you posted that, so I didn't need to look up the cryptic "6.1" label ).

I had one of these and used it as an iTunes server for over two years. It was great for that, and later I upgraded it to 16gb and added a 500gb external SSD for a boot drive. It was actually able to handle Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro. I ended up giving it to my daughter's family and they used it for about a year, but had a lot of problems. It was hard for me to diagnose these at a distance, but I think the basic issue was that the original internal 500gb hard drive was dying.

The machine was configured to boot from the external SSD and only used the internal drive for time machine backups, but they still had problems and I had to talk them through re-installing the system. This happened a few times and they finally gave up on it. I gave them a new MacBook Air which they are much happier with. They are not at all technical, if they were then maybe this wouldn't have been a problem.

So, it's certainly still a usable computer for everyday stuff. Performance is similar to my 2013 MacBook Air that I still use for regular tasks. Personally, I am reluctant to invest much (if any) money in computers this old however, since they could die at any time. You will need to decide whether that's a gamble worth taking. You can compare performance with your MacBook Pro by checking the geekbench ratings here: https://everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_mini/specs/mac-mini-core-i5-2.5-late-2012-specs.html

 

[Fishrrman]

Looking at your use case, you probably don't need "as much" as 2tb and 16gb.

How about 10gb of RAM and a 1tb SSD?
Much more cost-effective (considering it's a 7-year-old Mac).

I'd buy a pre-assembed EXTERNAL USB3 SSD (or use a bare 2.5" SSD and USB3 enclosure), to create an "external boot drive".
VERY easy to do, and the drive will be "unplug-ready-to-go" when you move on.
You can use the internal HDD as a backup, otherwise it will just sit there, "idle".

For RAM, I'd buy ONE 8gb DIMM, and just pop off the back and replace the "topmost" (with the back off) DIMM. I did that to mine, and it ran just fine.

Again, it's possible to "get much better performance" from the 2012 Mini, without spending much.

 

[Boyd01]

I also like the idea of using an external USB 3.0 USB SSD, as I did with that old Mini. But my 2012 quad server also boots from a 1TB USB 3.0 Samsung T3 SSD. I use this machine pretty extensively for audio and video editing and performance is fine. Here is what I get from the external SSD, and based on what I've read around here, this is about the best you can expect from an external USB SSD (some are slower than this).

That same machine as an original Apple 256gb internal SSD, which is definitely faster, but from a user standpoint I notice almost no difference. The most obvious difference is that it takes about 30 seconds to boot from the external SSD vs 15 seconds from the internal.

 

[addictive]

Looking at your use case, you probably don't need "as much" as 2tb and 16gb.

How about 10gb of RAM and a 1tb SSD?
Much more cost-effective (considering it's a 7-year-old Mac).

I'd buy a pre-assembed EXTERNAL USB3 SSD (or use a bare 2.5" SSD and USB3 enclosure), to create an "external boot drive".
VERY easy to do, and the drive will be "unplug-ready-to-go" when you move on.
You can use the internal HDD as a backup, otherwise it will just sit there, "idle".

For RAM, I'd buy ONE 8gb DIMM, and just pop off the back and replace the "topmost" (with the back off) DIMM. I did that to mine, and it ran just fine.

Again, it's possible to "get much better performance" from the 2012 Mini, without spending much.

Can you link me to a pre-assembed EXTERNAL USB3 SSD I'm not sure I understand. I think I know about USB enclosures. Your advice sounds intriguing and would save me time/trouble of doing an internal upgrade to the Mac.

 

[brdeveloper]

A family member no longer needs their Mac mini 6.1 (from 2012), they've moved away from it because they found it frustrating sitting in front of the spinning circle for everything given they used the traditional HDD the machine came with.

I'm considering using this Mac Mini for myself but will upgrade it to a 2TB SSD and 16GB RAM. Is this overkill?

How long can I expect it to work for me? Several years? It seems to me that Catalina might be the final MacOS that will support it. I guess we won't know until it's successor.

I want to maintain using my Retina MacBook Pro (2015) but I'd like to use this purely as a laptop rather than keep connecting and disconnecting it to an external monitor. However, will I notice a drop off in performance going from Broadwell to Ivy Bridge. My guess is not a significant one as my usage is largely research (I often have tens of tabs and windows open), YouTube and using Pages, Notes and some other similar apps. No content creation or photo editing.

Even a Mac Mini 2011 seems very comfortable for the activities you're doing. I'd add dual SSDs to the 2012 Mini and create a RAID0. This way (look for YouTube videos) you can reach nearly PCIe performance (900+ MB/s read and write). Also, buying low latency RAM will give you around 5% of extra performance on graphics. Since you've got the Mini for free, it can be a good deal investing on high performance parts.

I forgot to apply brand new thermal paste on the CPU last time I opened my Minis, but I'm also planning doing it when I install two SSDs for the RAID-0 (I've ordered the second SATA cable from China, so it will take at least a couple of months).

 

[Boyd01]

Can you link me to a pre-assembed EXTERNAL USB3 SSD I'm not sure I understand.

As I posted, I use a Samsung T3 external SSD. I have three and they're great. This model has now been replaced by the Samsung T5 and they are very popular units that are available everywhere, including places like Best Buy.

https://www.samsung.com/us/computin...ives/portable-ssd-t5-1tb--gold--mu-pa1t0g-ww/

Now, you can probably save a few bucks by using your own drive and enclosure... but there's a 5 page recent thread here where somebody spent several weeks messing around to get it working. These just work and IMO the price is reasonable.

 

[Dr_Charles_Forbin]

Hi all...my in-laws have a 2012 Mac mini with a fusion drive and it’s pretty slow. I‘m upgrading from 8 to 16 GB RAM was going to replace the HDD with an SSD but I’m thinking I’m maybe better off picking up a 1TB PCIE and replacing the SSD component and keep the hdd for backups. I haven’t been able to locate the SSD. Opinions?

 

[brdeveloper]

Hi all...my in-laws have a 2012 Mac mini with a fusion drive and it’s pretty slow. I‘m upgrading from 8 to 16 GB RAM was going to replace the HDD with an SSD but I’m thinking I’m maybe better off picking up a 1TB PCIE and replacing the SSD component and keep the hdd for backups. I haven’t been able to locate the SSD. Opinions?

The 2012 Mini doesn't have PCIe free slots, unless you can do something with the bluetooth/wi-fi port, but don't know if this is possible. The best solution for making your internal storage faster seems to be installing two SSDs in RAID0, so you can reach PCIe-like speeds.

 

[Dr_Charles_Forbin]

The 2012 Mini doesn't have PCIe free slots, unless you can do something with the bluetooth/wi-fi port, but don't know if this is possible. The best solution for making your internal storage faster seems to be installing two SSDs in RAID0, so you can reach PCIe-like speeds.

Can I just split the fusion drive, dump the PCI-E blade and just use one of the conventional “disk doublers” to mount the SATA SSD?

 

[brdeveloper]

Can I just split the fusion drive, dump the PCI-E blade and just use one of the conventional “disk doublers” to mount the SATA SSD?

Are you sure you have a 2012 Mini... by the description you're providing, it seems more like the 2014 Mini (PCIe blade). In the 2012 Mini you have two SATA ports (but only one SATA flat cable, if it's not a Mini Server version), so maybe you'll have to purchase a SATA cable for the second port. Then buy two exactly equal SSDs (for best results) and connect to the two ports.

 

[Dr_Charles_Forbin]

I’m just going by images on the web, I haven’t cracked their case yet. I’ve upgraded my mini 2014 (without a fusion drive) so I have a rough idea of what has to be done. I‘ll probably wind up doing this on Christmas Day at their house so I want to have everything I need in advance. What I need to know is if the fusion drive is an SSD blade (based on you it’s not) and whether it’s in the upper or lower drive bay so I can buy the disk adapter with the correct drive ribbon. Info is hard to find on the web about the 2012 w/fusion drive (with images) so it’s a little hard to figure out. If you know it, please give me a heads up. Thanks.

 

[brdeveloper]

I’m just going by images on the web, I haven’t cracked their case yet. I’ve upgraded my mini 2014 (without a fusion drive) so I have a rough idea of what has to be done. I‘ll probably wind up doing this on Christmas Day at their house so I want to have everything I need in advance. What I need to know is if the fusion drive is an SSD blade (based on you it’s not) and whether it’s in the upper or lower drive bay so I can buy the disk adapter with the correct drive ribbon. Info is hard to find on the web about the 2012 w/fusion drive (with images) so it’s a little hard to figure out. If you know it, please give me a heads up. Thanks.

(yes, fusion drive on 2014 Minis is a combination of PCIe blade + SATA HDD)
I never heard about PCIe to SATA converters for Macs. What you could do is attaching a SinTech adapter on the PCIe port so it will accept NVMe blades. This way you could buy a larger NVMe drive than your original PCIe blade... or you could remove the original HDD and install a SATA SSD on its place.

 

[Dr_Charles_Forbin]

Hi - thread update. I'm just going to pull the HDD and drop in the SSD 2012 Mac Mini under APFS/Catalina ... which I know I have to break the fusion volume under APFS and lose the disk data - you can't just clone - you have to replace and restore from backup. Any use in hanging onto the fusion SSD drive and re-creating the vol as a fusion drive or just having 1 SSD? Opinions welcome. TIA - Jim.

 

[Ungibbed]

Got a 2012 Mini here and did the memory upgrade and really wish I had more storage, I have the Apple shipping 256GB SSD.

Just how music of a challenge is it to upgrade the internal drive? Saw the guide on ifixit, of course it looks easy. I did follow an older guide on replacing the HDD on a late model PBG4 which was quite the rabbits hole, how will a SSD upgrade on a Mini compare?

 

[Dr_Charles_Forbin]

Got a 2012 Mini here and did the memory upgrade and really wish I had more storage, I have the Apple shipping 256GB SSD.

Just how music of a challenge is it to upgrade the internal drive? Saw the guide on ifixit, of course it looks easy. I did follow an older guide on replacing the HDD on a late model PBG4 which was quite the rabbits hole, how will a SSD upgrade on a Mini compare?

It’s really not that bad once you‘ve done it already. I was apprehensive about upgrading the drive in my 2014 mini but it is really simple. Weirdest thing is pulling out the logic board with that U shaped tool and remembring to rotate the AC connection to pull the power supply. The drive ribbons are kind of different too if you’re used to a conventional SATA drive cable. But it’s straightforward. The other ”gotcha” too.., when they talk about upper and lower drive bays... remember you’re working from the bottom so the lower bay is on top. From what i gleaned .. on some models you don't even need to pull the logic board which is a big plus. The other potential PITA isn’t hardware at all... many mini’s come with a fusion drive so so you have to “break” the fusion drive which wipes out the data and you need to reinstall the OS and restore from time machine..not just the usual clone process. I’ll let you know how that works out .., that’s my Christmas Day job at my in-laws.