I fancy giving a Mac a try because my current Windows PC is starting to slow down (Although since having this thought a week or so ago it does seem to have sorted itself out a bit).

I don’t use a computer all that much, mostly just internet browsing and playing around with photos.

We use iPhones & iPads so are well invested in Apple.

I don’t want to spend much and see I can get a Late 2014 Max Mini with an SSD for between £150 – £200.

Are they still a decent option these days or will it need painfully slow and put me off an Apple computer for ever more?

Not slow… still got a much older one with an SSD in it as my server and family computer. There are other problems with running older machines… but speed not really an issue.

I just got rid of my late 2013 MacBook Pro. To be honest it was still working great but the main issue was compatibility with upgrades. I think after Big Sur came in it didn’t work fully and I was advised to stick with earlier operating systems. This eventually started causing problems despite the fact the the computer itself was still great.
So yes I’d say likely the computer could still work very well but operating systems and programs may not all be compatible.
Aldo if something goes wrong you may struggle to find anywhere that can fix it. Older than 6-7 years are considered ‘legacy’ models and parts are no longer kept.

My dad still uses an old 2009 iMac of mine. Just for browsing, emails, etc.

If you want to just try a Mac then the OS really hasn’t moved on a lot in terms of the way it works.

For light photos use and internet browsing, yeah, so long as it has an SSD in it you’ll probably be fine. For serious stuff (music / video editing, hefty photoshop) it might struggle these days. But it sounds like that’s not what you want it for anyway, so for that money I’d give it a whirl.

I’m currently using an early MacBook Air with 4GB RAM, and dual 1.4ghz i5 and running BigSur fine it’s alright for what I use it for such as the internet, youtube, and very light photo editing. But I don’t think it is too far off before it’s gonna have to be replaced. But while it’s still going I’ll keep using it.

I just got rid of my late 2013 MacBook Pro. To be honest it was still working great but the main issue was compatibility with upgrades. I think after Big Sur came in it didn’t work fully and I was advised to stick with earlier operating systems.

I’m typing this on a mid 2012 MacBook Pro running Catalina which is as far as it will go. No problems other than getting slow due I think to the spinny HDD. I’ve thought about sticking in an SSD but can’t decide whether to do that or just buy a new MacBook. I’ve had 10 years out of this one.

I would say for a tryout that Mini would be fine but agree with sticking in an SSD.

Wife is still using one, it’s only “slow” when she keeps 50 million browser tabs open. Fine for photos etc as long as you don’t expect blazing instant edits of huge raw files.

SSD makes the biggest difference IMO, that age takes two drives so have a SSD for OS/apps/temp and a bigger HD for photos etc. Or to be honest SSD is a lot cheaper now so just bung it all on SSD if you can.

Depending on spec, it will be absolutely fine, or properly slow…

I’ve got a 2013 Mac Mini with the quad core 2.3GHz i7, an SSD and maxed out at 16GB of RAM sat in a cupboard surplus to requirements that I really should get around to selling, it’s properly quick still though! But that is as high a spec as those machines can go though…

Aldo if something goes wrong you may struggle to find anywhere that can fix it. Older than 6-7 years are considered ‘legacy’ models and parts are no longer kept.

Not too much of a worry as Mac Mini’s are super easy to work on, and ebay is clogged up with 2nd hand parts for them usually… Not that too much goes wrong on them to be honest.

IIRC they aren’t supported by the next version of the OS, but will get security updates for a while. Should give you a decent taste of MacOS without costing too much money.

The main consideration is probably support life – It looks like Monterey will work on a 2014 mini, but Ventura (the latest release) will not, so you’ve probably got a couple of years of security updates to go before it becomes unmaintained.

It will still work beyond that, just without the benefit of security fixes…

I have a 2912 MacBook Pro from work which I just updated to Monterrey. It’s not offering me the latest one though, so maybe that’s it.

Still fine to use, as is my 2011 PC to be fair.

I wouldn’t, personally. My 2015 MacBook Pro (i5) is feeling sluggish and the i7 version I had at work was also getting slow. That has been upgraded to an M1 Pro which is just amazingly quick.

I wouldn’t suggest you spring for one of those as they are £££, but I would suggest you spend a bit more and get the i5 2018 Mac Mini. I also have one of these and it’s still super fast. The main difference between the 2014 and 2018 is that the 2014 is only dual core, whereas the 2018 is hex core. The way the OS is written nowadays, it really takes advantage of the extra processors and keeps everything zippy.
My Mac Mini has 32GB RAM, but I think 16 would still be adequate.

Edit: another, possibly better, option is a refurbished M1 Mac Mini. Again, 16GB RAM recommended. This would be a good computer for a decade:
https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/G12N1B/A/Refurbished-Mac-mini-Apple-M1-Chip-with-8%E2%80%91Core-CPU-and-8%E2%80%91Core-GPU?fnode=806c49565f317d029bbf25802727ebcfcdaf96507961b5a7cbea260043c0e68387a5677eca35f4eaefd5524367915fbd9352445f2817fecc4ae2ffd5d816956c4cc91d1250e7b289fd113c2e9c5a29a6

I’m a bit mixed with my thoughts on the Mac right now.

I have just bought a £30 office PC for Zwift, stuck 8gb ram and an SSD in it. Great little machine and prompted me to stick an SSD in my 2012 Mac mini, which I bought new and put 16gb ram in.

The Mac is fine, and hardrive definitely speeds it up. But I can’t help thinking that its well overpriced next to the pc.

The Mac is fine, and hardrive definitely speeds it up. But I can’t help thinking that its well overpriced next to the pc.

They always have been, their selling point is that you get the OS updates for free unlike Windows.

Oh, wait…

Being serious though, they are overpriced but when you control the hardware you control the optimisation. There is a method to the madness but you have to accept that optimisation comes at a cost.

I fancy giving a Mac a try because my current Windows PC is starting to slow down

It probably just needs a clean up. First, vacuum any dust out of the cooling fans. Back up all your data and make sure you have the installation media and serial numbers etc for all your apps. Do a fresh install of Windows, reinstall your apps, and it should be as good as new.

Battery life may be an issue if that matters. Our 2013 MacBook works fine except the battery life isn’t too great any more.

Cheers, I’ll keep an eye out for a very cheap one then just to have a play. I don’t do anything very taxing on a computer these days so it doesn’t have to be anything special.

I’m a convert to SSD so anything I get would have to have one.

Still fine to use, as is my 2011 PC to be fair.

Yeah so is mine (apart from its recent brief slowdown). I’ll probably wait until it dies unless I come across one someone is practically giving away. I think it only cost me about £140 maybe 4 years ago.

another, possibly better, option is a refurbished M1 Mac Mini. Again, 16GB RAM recommended. This would be a good computer for a decade:

I was looking at spending about £150… that’s quite a lot more. But yes point taken about them being a bit slow these days, but maybe not slow for what is use it for.

Battery life may be an issue if that matters

No battery in a Mac mini 🙂

The Mac is fine, and hardrive definitely speeds it up. But I can’t help thinking that its well overpriced next to the pc.

My thought has always been that they’re overpriced for the home user unless you’re going to be using them for music, video or photo editing?

Until Christmas I was producing 3 newspapers on a 2012 Mac Mini with a 500GB SSD and 2TB HDD.
Only really changed as it wouldn’t run new Creative Cloud.

How often are you using the Windows PC?

If you aren’t booting it very often it could be that when you go to use it, it is running slowly as it is doing a load of Windows updates?
You might find that booting it once a week, even if you aren’t using it will allow it to download & install updates – or set-up a schedule for doing updates.

I have a MacMini 2012, that I bought s/h a couple of years ago as a stop-gap until Apple released the new M1 iMac. It came with an SSD, and I bought a little kit online to fit a second SSD. 2.3GHz i7, 16Gb. It still works fine, it’s just that the OS and apps can’t be updated any longer. I occasionally fix other people’s Macs, so having a ‘legacy’ machine is very handy. I connect via ethernet, and the only real issue is that the screen resolution on my iMac’s display is a lot higher of course, so the desktop displays as a smallish box on the screen. But it’s enough to be able to do basic tasks. It has the full suite of older, pre subscription Adobe apps, so can serve as a backup if needed.

Go for it; it’ll be far better than any Windows PC, and you’ll suddenly become better looking, more virile, cooler etc etc… 😉

OpenCore Legacy Patcher can be used (at your own risk, but it should be fine 😃) to update older hardware to Monterey or even the new Ventura (for 2012 or newer machines, they’re working on support for older ones!)

Not something I’ve tried myself yet but will give it a go at some point as have a couple of older Minis kicking around (a mate has done it successfully though!)

I have a 2015 iMac so a bit more powerful than a Mac Mini. It’s running BigSur – that’s as far as it’ll go and I only use it for Zwift and a bit of browsing. It still seems pretty quick really and the screen is great for Zwift – can run it on max everything.

Also have my original non SSD 2012 or 13 iMac and it’s pretty much dead, Rebuilt it from scratch but still very slow. Can’t really be bogged to put an SSD in it so shall be wiping it and donating it to local charity.

It probably just needs a clean up. First, vacuum any dust out of the cooling fans. Back up all your data and make sure you have the installation media and serial numbers etc for all your apps. Do a fresh install of Windows, reinstall your apps, and it should be as good as new.

This.

Computer hardware – whether PC or Mac – doesn’t slow down with age. Rather, demands on it increase. Newer software is often written with the expectation that the destination will be of a higher spec, and users install stuff over time which cumulatively saps resources. And as Hols says, if it’s full of dust and pubes then it may start throttling performance to keep heat down.

If you want to try a Mac then great. If you can get one for £150 I’d be tempted myself. But a clean Windows install and (assuming it doesn’t already have one) an SSD would likely be a better investment than an eight-year old full system of any flavour.

For £150 it will be fine. I use a 2012 MBP i7 running Catalina with a 256GB SSD and 16GB memory. It’s not slow, is a joy to type on and has one of those spinney silver disc playing things. It’s a bit of a heft to carry (2kg), but I like it. It’s the W123 E class Mercedes estate of laptops.

My Mac Mini developed an issue a couple of years ago, and I couldn’t justify paying someone to sort t out; the Apple place in Bath I bought it from had gone out of business, and it’s too old for the Apple Store to bother with – it’s a 2010 model, with a second HDD on place of the optical drive. I’ve asked a former work colleague if he could have a look at it, he used to do all of the computer installation and software debugging, as well as training me on Photoshop and other stuff, so if anyone can sort it, he can. If necessary, I’ll get a couple of SSD’s installed, just so I’ve got access to all my old iTunes music files – there are things there that I can only put back onto my phone by syncing with the computer.

Battery life may be an issue if that matters. Our 2013 MacBook works fine except the battery life isn’t too great any more.

I replaced the one in my Air a couple of years ago. £40 for a battery on Amazon a quick watch of a youtube how-to guide and within 10 minutes it was fitted. It was so simple to do and it’s been fine since.