Mac Mini

Mark has a 2012 iMac and a 2018 Mac Mini, along with a 2016 MacBook Pro and 12" iPad Pro. Can he hook up his Macbook Pro or his MacMini to his iMac and use the display? It can on a limited number of iMacs and is called Target Display Mode. IT requires a thunderbolt connection. Here's how - https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-an-imac-as-a-display-mh30822/mac. It may not work with Mark's model, but you can do it. Only for models mid 2011 to late 2014.

Richard wants to upgrade his Mac Mini to an iMac. What's the biggest bang for the buck, the 21.5" or the 27"? Leo says to get the larger screen if you can afford it. If not, why not just get a new Mac Mini? Richard always has a screen, mouse and keyboard. The Mini has been upgraded and is now a pretty compelling product. You can get a six-core i7 Mini with a nice SSD and RAM for less than that iMac. Or if you need the iMac, go with a six-core i5 and the Radeon Pro instead of the i7. It'll save you $200 that you can put into more RAM or the larger screen.

Beefteam has a Mac Mini and he wants to know if he should upgrade it by beefing up the RAM in his Mac Mini for better video performance or get an external GPU. It's also overheating. Blackmagic has an external GPU that is well ventilated and won't be subject to the heat from the processor. Adding RAM will not make the computer cooler, but the external GPU will. Check out the Sonnet EGPU Puck. She can get it at the Apple Store too.

Mike bought a used 2012 Mac Mini that he wants to turn into a media server. Will he be able to manage it locally, or does he have to do window sharing? Leo says that a Mac is kinda expensive for a media server, but it will do the job great with Apple's macOS Server software, which is $20 from the app store. He can also use PLEX for free. If he wants to access from the internet, he'll need to set up port forwarding. But if it's just from the network, it'll work as is. But there's a heat issue, so Leo says that he can use external hard drives to bring the heat down.

Jerry bought a new MacMini a few months ago, and after he shut it down, it never came back on.  Apple replaced the logic board, but when he returned it, his RAM capacity was cut in half. So he returned it to Apple. After a few weeks, he got an error and would restart. Now it just locks up. Leo suspects that Jerry has a "Lemon." He should take it into Apple, talk to the manager, and tell them you want a brand new one. Be direct, but pleasant. You catch more flies with sugar than honey. Use the term CRU - Complete Replacement Unit. 

Shane has a 2014 Trashcan Mac Pro and he's having trouble uploading his raw photo files. Would the new Mac Mini handle them, or should he bite the bullet and get the new cheesegrater this fall? Leo says that the new Mac Mini is a great computer and he can max it out for a great price. Leo also says that he will likely slow down the computer when he uses extra cores during rendering. So it's difficult to gauge the specs.

Jeff has reached the end of the line on his iMac since it won't work with updates anymore. So he's looking at buying a new Mac. Should he get an iMac or a Mac Mini? Leo says that he's a real fan of the new Mac Mini because it has a ton of connectors, including Thunderbolt 3, so he can run an external GPU if he wants. He can also upgrade the RAM. He can save some money and get his own screen, keyboard, and mouse.  He can also get a better webcam or connect a video camera to do streaming. 

Dave has a 2009 Mac Pro and he's thinking of replacing it with the new Mac Mini. Leo says it's getting close in specs, but you really need a XEON processor for higher-end video editing, and that means the Mac Pro. An iMac Pro is what other video editors are looking at now. That's what Leo would do instead of waiting for the modular Mac which will likely be as bad as the TrashCan MacPro.

Jerry is looking to get a new computer and wants to know if the new Mac Mini is good for occasional video editing and sound recording. Rich says that the Mac Mini was thought dead, but the new version has had a bump in specs. Pretty much any computer will work for editing basic video for the internet. But 4K video is going to require more power. For $800, the basic Mac Mini really isn't up to the task. Rich recommends maxing out the RAM and hard drive if the budget allows. But remember, that the Mac Mini also requires one to buy a monitor. keyboard, and mouse.

Dan has a 2011 iMac and wants to know if he should upgrade to an iMac Pro. Leo says that the 5K iMac is still a great computer, but he doesn't know if he would spend the money to get the Pro version. One thought is to go with the new Mac mini and get a big monitor for it. June will be WWDC, and Apple frequently announces new iMacs in June, or in the fall. So if he can wait a few months, he can find out. If he can't wait, then Leo suggests looking at the Mac mini.