Jan 11, 2019 My 2012 iMac is the best Mac I ever owned. Core i7, Fusion drive, GTX 680MX GPU which is still a good performing graphic card today (probably the best GPU ever put in an iMac). Apple MD388CT/A Mac mini, 2.6GHz Quad Core i7 'Late 2012' with 16GB DDR3, 1.0TB 5,400RPM HDD, 802.11a/b/g/n, macOS 10.12.x Sierra. Used, Very Good condition. Here are a few important qualities to consider when choosing a 3rd generation i7 Mac Mini over another generation or another model: Removable bottom panel: The 2012 Mac Mini i7 has a removable bottom panel that allows you to upgrade your RAM very easily and allows for the upgrading of other performance-related parts, such as the hard drive.
Mac Mini Vault stocks 3 model years of dedicated Mac minis that customers can rent on a monthly basis: 2012, 2014, and 2018.
Having 3 model years and 7 models to choose from can make picking the correct mini for your workload a little overwhelming, so we’re going to break down the different model years, models, and upgrade options to make that decision a little easier.
Note: We have many customers running VMware environments, so it is important to note that the 2018 Mac mini does not yet support ESXi. Currently, the best option for a Mac mini that supports ESXi is the 2012 Quad-Core i7 Mac mini or a Mac Pro.
| Model Year | Memory Upgradeable | Memory Speed | Hard Drive Upgradeable | macOS Compatibility | Alternative OS |
| 2012 | Yes (up to 16GB) | 1600MHz DDR3 | Yes – 2 bays | macOS 10.8+ | ESXi, Ubuntu, CentOS |
| 2014 | No | 1600MHz LPDDR3 | Yes – 1 bay (+PCIe slot) | macOS 10.10+ | ESXi, Ubuntu, CentOS |
| 2018 | Yes (up to 64GB) | 2666MHz DDR4 | No – 1 PCIe | macOS 10.14+ | macOS Only |
Tear Down Full Technical Specifications
The 2012 model year has two SATA drive bays that support spinning hard drive and SSD options. Memory is upgradeable to 16GB and both of our 2012 dedicated minis come with 16GB standard. This model year supports ESXi, Ubuntu, and CentOS.
| CPU | Geekbench 1-Core | Geekbench Multi-Core | Memory |
| 2.5GHz Dual-Core Intel i5 | 2946 | 5709 | 16GB |
| 2.3GHz Quad-Core Intel i7 | 3261 | 10800 | 16GB |
Tear Down Full Technical Specifications
The 2014 model year has a single SATA drive bay that supports spinning hard drive and SSD options. Memory maxes out at 16GB and is soldered onto the logic board so it cannot be upgraded. This model year supports ESXi, Ubuntu, and CentOS.
| CPU | Geekbench 1-Core | Geekbench Multi-Core | Memory |
| 1.4GHz Dual-Core Intel i5 | 3030 | 5425 | 4GB |
| 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel i7 | 3702 | 7050 | 16GB |
Tear Down Full Technical Specifications
The 2018 model year has a single PCIe SSD that is soldered onto the logic board so it cannot be upgraded. Memory is upgradeable to 64GB and all three of our 2018 dedicated minis come with 16GB standard. The i3 comes with a 256GB SSD, the i5 comes with a 512GB SSD, and the i7 has options for 1TB and 2TB SSDs.
| CPU | Geekbench 1-Core | Geekbench Multi-Core | Memory |
| 3.6GHz Quad-Core i3 | 4684 | 13985 | 16-64GB |
| 3.0GHz Hex-Core i5 | 5160 | 20358 | 16-64GB |
| 3.2GHz Hex-Core i7 | 5666 | 24329 | 16-64GB |
Hello,
I need to buy a new Mac and my max budget is $2000.
I'm reading a lot about the new mac mini i7 dual-core processors, which are a lot slower than the late 2012 models and also slower than the iMac i5 quad-core model: http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-4578U-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4570
I'm a programmer so I'll be using software like, photoshop, Xcode, VirtualBox, and some other related. I don't play games and I don't edit video, so from what I've read the new Intel Iris Graphics is enough. Am I right?
So I can choose from:
Change default program for file type macos.
Mac Mini - $1400 (and plug two 24 monitors getting near my $2000 budget)
Intel Core i7 Dual‑Core 3,0 GHz (Turbo Boost till 3,5 GHz)
16 GB SDRAM LPDDR3 at 1600 MHz
1TB Fusion Drive
Intel Iris Graphics
OR
iMac 27' - $2100 (for this price, a little over my budget, I can choose from 16GB RAM or Fusion Drive, both costs $200 more)
Intel Core i5 quad-core 3,2 GHz, Turbo Boost till 3,6 GHz
16 GB de SDRAM DDR3 at 1600 MHz - 2x 8 GB
1Tb Serial ATA 1 TB at 7200 rpm
NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M 1GB GDDR5
I'm more into the Mac Mini, because I can have two 24' monitors (not as good as the iMac monitor of course) and take advantage og both 16GB RAM and Fusion Drive.
In the other hand, iMac has a pretty good monitor and a better CPu (video card is also better but like I said I'm not into games and video editing).
Also iMac will probably see it's new model this year while the Mac Mini was launched recently.
Based on all this info, please help me choose which will fulfill my needs better, fundamenting your choice.
Thanks a lot!
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