Mac mini info please

spark240

Im now leaning towards a Mac mini for recording with Presonus Studio 1, they seem to have all the right attributes but.....

There seems to be a tendency to go for the older 2011 / 2012 models and Im not quite sure why...maybe because they are more upgrade-able or the processors are apparently better then the new models.

Any clues?  

bingefeller

Will you wanting to upgrade it?  The older one was easier to upgrade because of easier access on the bottom.  The newer ones have their RAM soldered on and you need to decide when you buy it how much RAM you need and you are stuck with this.  

spark240

As long as I have at least 8G Ram Im not too fussed. 

kin

sorry if this is a stupid question as I'm not very tech minded.

I've had a lot of fun using the iPad for recording into garageband, but I have started to find it a bit limiting.

 So, I downloaded Auria on my ipad2 and am getting lots of low memory, too much cpu thingy messages, resetting it seems to have helped, I may need some extra power though.

I had been thinking of going for the iPad air 2, my question is, would the mac mini be a better bet?

 I don't need a pro set up just something that would allow me to build up lots of tracks and have more control and more powerful apps and plugins.

Axe_meister

The problem with the new max mini's
A) non upgradeable, both memory and very limited on disk.
Although the cheapest Mac mini is £100 less than the old cheapest Mac mini, the equivalent to the old one (4 core) is now £100 more.

For the Mac mini to be of any use in a few years time you should get the 4 core, 8 GB memory with either SSD or fusion drive. The 500GB spinning rust drive is as slow as hell.

spark240

That's the info I was after...thanks, I assume actual hard drive size is not important as I can use an external ?

Teetonetal

Yes - I have a 2012 i7 Mac Mini that I bought in Dec 2014:

Why

Comes with Mavericks (check your HW interfaces etc are combatible with Yosemite before upgrading .- mine aren't)

2012 i7 Ram is up-gradable to 16 GB 2014 versions are not. (ram is soldered to the board.)

2012 i7 is quad core, 2014 i7 is dual core. Quad is better for music

2012 mini takes a SSD or 2nd HDD if you really want - new one doesn't (to my knowledge

2012 was 50% off - new one isn't

2012 i7 isa actually a better performer for music than the 2014 i7. 

2012 still has firewire (was good for me)

Enough reasons?

spark240

Teetonetal said:

Yes - I have a 2012 i7 Mac Mini that I bought in Dec 2014:

Why

Comes with Mavericks (check your HW interfaces etc are combatible with Yosemite before upgrading .- mine aren't)

2012 i7 Ram is up-gradable to 16 GB 2014 versions are not. (ram is soldered to the board.)

2012 i7 is quad core, 2014 i7 is dual core. Quad is better for music

2012 mini takes a SSD or 2nd HDD if you really want - new one doesn't (to my knowledge

2012 was 50% off - new one isn't

2012 i7 isa actually a better performer for music than the 2014 i7. 

2012 still has firewire (was good for me)

Enough reasons?

Enough reasons.....I want one !