But then again, i was running some heavier apps than you. If i was to open chrome along or play a game like fifa 15 which requires 34gb on its own then the usage would spike. Learn how to remove or install memory into your mac mini computer. Speaking from having used lightroom on a 4gb macbook air for four years, 4gb will work decently well for light usage, particularly for image management and sortingculling tasks. My mac mini has 16gb of crucial ram in it at the moment. Still, i would recommend going for the highest possible ram you can afford to future proof your machine. The second was a dell xps 15 for the price of 15inch mbp with 8gb ram and 512gb hdd. Im hoping that this laptop will last at least 4 or 5 years of basic tasks. The first system we tested was a mid2011 imac with. How to upgrade the 2012 mac mini for use in 2020 imore. Dec 26, 2017 yes, i use a 5k imac with 8gb, i was expecting it to require an upgrade, but its actually fine. The mid and toptier minis come with 8gb of memory standard.
In this video i show how to upgrade the ram in a mac mini from 4 gb to 16 gb. When its time to choose a new macbook air, macbook pro, or mac mini, you need to know if 4gb of memory ram will be enough for you. Unless apple changes the mac os to something incompatible with current mbas, you should get a good ten years from yours. There was a 4 core mac mini in 2012, but the 2014 models were limited to 2 cores. Jan 07, 20 in this video i show how to upgrade the ram in a mac mini from 4 gb to 16 gb. The operating system uses a lot of ram and large kontakt instruments are ram hungry as well. In reply to balancedphoto2 mar 9, 2015 i have a 6yearold imac with 6gb of ram. I have a mid 2011 mba w only 2 gb of ram and the 1.
You do lose the 2 original 4gb ram though but what use will you have for that. Memory free delivery possible on eligible purchases. A year later, i upgraded my dell with 16gb ram and 512gb ssd because i wanted to run a sql server on it. According to reports, in the 1980s bill gates said that 640k ram should be enough for anyone. Unfortunately, two 32gb memory modules are still fairly rare, and quite expensive. Mar 04, 2015 most macs have two ram slots, each arriving filled, such that a 4gb mac will have two 2gb ram boards inside, and an 8gb mac will have two 4gb ram boards inside. Yes, i use a 5k imac with 8gb, i was expecting it to require an upgrade, but its actually fine. How do i speed up my 4gb ram, late 2012, apple community. This model is also an excellent example of durability, reliability, and connectivity. Since purchasing this new mac mini at best buy two weeks ago and upgrading from mountain lion to mavericks, ive experienced two unsettling events. Those who tell you to max out your ram are probably not living on your budget. Besides adding an ssd, the next best thing to do to give your old mac mini some additional legs for presentday computing is to add more ram.
Finally, you can boost the ram on a mac mini from before 2014 and. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or instore pickup. Bring your 2011 mac mini up to 2018 specs with a 16gb ram upgrade. Buy atech for apple 8gb kit 2x 4gb pc310600 33mhz mac mini imac mid 2011 mid 2010 late 2011 mc508lla a11 mc509lla mc510lla a12 mc978lla mc816lla a47 mc936lla memory ram. So the best you can do is grab a 16gb kit made up of a pair of 8gb sticks. Its one of the cheapest and most effective upgrades you can. Is 4gb ram enough to run mavericks on a m apple community. To find out, we ran tests, including our speedmark 8 benchmarking suite, on two computers equipped with three levels of ram. It does show physical memory 4gb and memory used about all of it, but id like to. The maximum ram i can put into it is 4gb of which 3 gb will be recognized by this model by using firmware efi upgrade. The site made it easy to identify exactly which product i needed 8gb ram x2, arrived in my mailbox 3 days later earlier than expected, and the instructional video helped me complete the install in no time like, 5 minutes. If you are looking for one of the best mac minis in good condition with a high end processor, youve found it.
However, if you also use your tablet as your primary pc, you should equip it with the ram youd need for any other. Heres a mac with just enough ram 8g a relatively little page out count 339mb and. A reasonably basic machine is adequate for software development these days. This will be my first mac used only for media purposes. The new 2014 entry level mac mini also has 4gb ram. And remember, the mini is not going to have the hispeed graphics. First was a macbook air with 4gb ram and 128gb ssd. If thats 4gb, then so be it, but it will shorten the expected useful life. I can get a cheapo 2014 mac mini with 4gb ram, and i was wondering how well it would fare. I wasnt good enough to do this, so i settled on removing each pin from. Mac mini models have different memory ram installation requirements.
At work i have a mac mini with 4gb of ram and ill run chrome alongside microsoft access and excel and it chews up almost all the memory. If you need help determining which mac mini you have, find out how to identify mac mini models. My mac mini late 2012 only had 4gb and i upgraded it to 16 gb because it was unbearably slow. Its one of the cheapest and most effective upgrades you can do, it takes less than five minutes and requires no tools. It may well be enough unless you discover that for what you do, you need more. I shop the internet for a macbook pro from time to time at least. Upgrading the ram in the 2018 mac mini isnt what i would call. Op doesnt need 8gb ram for a media server, honestly. The mini used to be userupgradeable, but thats no longer an option. Jul 02, 2016 a quick video showing the steps to upgrade the ram in a mac mini. Will 2018 be the year that it is finally given a refresh.
Theres also an argument to be made that the 2012 mac mini is better than the 2014 mac mini, if you get the right version of the 2012 one. Is a mac mini with 4gb of ram and 500gb storage good enough for. The 2012 mac mini uses 1600mhz ddr3 sodimm modules and can accept up to 16gb across two slots. Is a mac mini with 4gb of ram and 500gb storage good enough. Does anyone with more experience with mac confirms that a mac mini mgen2 with 1. It started out with 4 gb of ram and i upgrade it to 16 gb. Mac mini alas, the poor mac mini the neglected child of the mac line. Now, after 5 years, i have a chance to check a future proof myth. With fourthgeneration intel core processors, mac mini keeps up with computers twice its size. A fast compile speed is really only important for very large projects. Were offering this high end intel core computer at a competitive price for incredible quality. The site made it easy to identify exactly which product i needed 8gb ram x2, arrived in my mailbox 3 days later earlier than expected, and the instructional video helped me complete the install in.
The only apps that may need more ram are cad and video editing tools. Im still running os x which im planning to upgrade to snow leopard. Ive used a small acer i got for much less than an air with 8gb ram and a decent enough processor. Electronics free delivery possible on eligible purchases. Aug 14, 2018 bring your 2011 mac mini up to 2018 specs with a 16gb ram upgrade. It came with 4gb installed, and after several months of use, seems very fast. I have a mac mini late 2014, 4gb, with a physical hard drive, 1. Currently it has 2ghz core2duo processor, 500 gb hard disk and 2 gb ram. Will a mac mini 4gb ram run logic pro x a apple community. Apple mac mini mc270lla desktop, intel core duo processor 2. Atech for apple 8gb kit 2x 4gb pc310600 33mhz mac mini. Nov 20, 2018 the base mac mini comes with two 4gb memory modules for a total of 8gb of ram. I also want to upgrade the memory but im not sure how much. Upgrade or install memory in your mac mini apple support.
The amount of ram that should come preinstalled in your mac depends on what. See our definitive guide and chart to work out how much ram youll. So far, ive not had any issues doing the basic tasks you listed, but then, i dont play cds or dvds with it because i dont have an external contraption for playing them, and in any case, all my owned music is loaded on my 2016 mac mini. It is excruciatingly slow at times, but xcode is alright most of the time. I know 8gb isnt really enough i tend to run lots of apps at the same time, but with the speed of the ssd, how much of a performance issue is swapping a lot. Buy a macbook for development or a mac mini just to. It looks good but the main thing that concerns me is the ram it only has 4gb. When youre using processorintensive applications, turbo boost 2. The base mac mini comes with two 4gb memory modules for a total of 8gb of ram. A reasonably basic machine is adequate for software development.
Alas, the poor mac mini the neglected child of the mac line. If you go the vm route whether mac mini or macbook pro, my only advice is dont cheap out on ram. Still, 8gb is the better choice and i really wouldnt bother buying a 4gb if you can possibly get it in an 8gb configuration. A quick video showing the steps to upgrade the ram in a mac mini. Most important thing is, you can use the mac and do a lot with no problem. Xcode wont be all that fast to compile by comparison, but this is not a big deal for you. Were offering this high end intel core computer at a. Is a mac mini with 4gb of ram and 500gb storage good. To minimize the possibility of damage to the computer components due to static discharge, its important to wear an antistatic wrist strap while you work with your computers memory. To save some money, i plan on getting only 8gb of ram and a 1tb ssd.