Apple - Mac mini - Intel Core i5 (1.4GHz) - 4GB Memory - 500GB Hard Drive - White

After nine years, it was time to replace our home computer. I took my wife to Best Buy to look at the options, and we were unimpressed with all the new Windows 8.1 desktops. We didn't want a big clunky desktop or a touchscreen-type, all-in-one computer. After looking at the Macs, we were impressed, but the prices were high. This Mac Mini being the cheapest way to get into a new Mac, we did it and have been very impressed. It's been an easy transition for me and my wife, and it's faster than the specs would seem to indicate it should be.

i needed an inexpensive apple desktop at home. i don't need anything powerful. i have a PC with X99 hexacore desktop and a 2016 macbook pro. i just need a daily driver at home that's not windows. this macmini is a bare minimum with a slow hard drive, non-upgradeable 4GB ram, and 1.4GHz i5 dual core haswell CPU. so if you can accept those specs in 2017, then you're good as gold. the CPU is 1.4GHz but it does turbo up to 2.7GHz. but it is dual core. i will be doing some photoshop editing and some iMovie video editing. i will be doing some podcast recording as well. nothing too serious. i will be doing some web development with homebrew, phpstorm, and mysql. it should handle it. i was able to develop using a 2015 macbook retina - although that has twice the ram but a less capable CPU. besides, between haswell and skylake, the "improvements" are not significant to the average user... power consumption? sure but it's a mac mini. no battery life and it's always plugged in. more powerful? then why look at the mac mini? the 4GB ram is soldered and cannot be upgraded. but macOS and 4GB of ram is running well. i did see some lag with Mail app downloading emails for the first time, installing an app, and chrome running 4 tabs. i just closed everything but Mail and let it finish synchronizing and went on my business afterwards. it's not a speed demon, don't get me wrong. again, for the average person, it's good enough. don't go too crazy with multi-tasking. the CPU is capable but you could use up your ram quick. finally, the best you can do to improve the performance is the hard drive. it's not too bad i guess. read and write is around 105MB/s. but you can purchase a 2.5" USB3 enclosure and add a SSD. i had a samsung 830 256GB lying around. i got 326MB/s write and 340MB/s read. it tripled the performance and i didn't need to open up the mac mini. just hold down apple, option, R during boot up and it will connect to the internet. then you format the drive and install macOS from the internet. i used double-sided heavy duty tape to keep the enclosure affixed on the computer. you can open it up and replace the hard drive, but i've seen videos... no thanks. i was able to get the open box for $355. i had a $40 gift card as well. good price and condition. i wish apple would allow macOS to be installed on PC hardware (legally and with support).

Overall looks Great! Performance, with the included 5400RPM Hard Drive it was so sluggish, there was no way this thing could perform reasonably for what I needed it for. I am currently schooling for IOS Development and the drive was just to slow. I installed an 500GB SSD the same day and it sped this little guy right up. It's a great little machine now, it won't be editing massive photos, or editing 4k video or even 1080 easily but it's an awesome little machine.

Easy to configure and set up, works great with all systems both hardwired and wireless.

They sold me Leica This was a great option for a small ci outer

My in-laws' computer finally died and I talked them into going Mac. This was an affordable option to get them into a Mac and still do all the things they need (email, internet, etc). Setup was a breeze and the transition from PC to Mac is going smoothly. Great purchase!

I purchased the Mac Mini because, after having an iPad and iPhone for several years, I wanted to get into the Mac world after my previous desktop died. For less than $500, which is by far the least expensive Mac out there, I was able to accomplish that. It come with just the computer and a power cord, which wasn't a problem for me since I already had a mouse, monitor, and keyboard left over from my other computer. So far it does everything I need and it runs smoothly. I'd read in other reviews that it can be a little sluggish but I haven't really seen that (though I admit, I haven't pushed it too hard yet). I've been using it to take an online course and it's been fine with multi-tasking. I also do web-surfing and word processing and haven't had any issues. Overall I would recommend the Mac Mini for anyone who is looking to get into the Mac world but doesn't want to shell out a couple grand for one of the higher end Macs (especially if you already have other hardware, like a monitor and keyboard that you can use with it). It's not fancy but it gets the job done.

Got the mac mini for my parents, does everything that they need it to do, when they need it to do it. No annoying viruses or pop ups that drive older people crazy! Another great apple product