2012 Mac Mini Upgrade in 2024 - NOTHING Went Wrong But It's A Finicky JOB..

Рет қаралды 10,245

2 ай бұрын

Upgrading an 2012 Mac Mini that was running slower than a tortoise with a broken leg.
I hope this video helps as it was utterly painful to make!
Along with a large bucket of patience you will need..
240gb Kingston SSD Drive - amzn.to/4cBewI2
16gb Ram - amzn.to/3xl0wlB
Torx bit set - www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BJDWT94...
#macminiupgrade
Thanks for watching!
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Пікірлер: 105

@realmattjc 29 күн бұрын

Wow!, thanks to every one of you that has taken time to watch this video, comment, like and even subscribe. I honestly didn't expect it to do so well. Finding time to make these videos is really hard as I also work on client video productions and KZfaq channels as well as @midlifemini whilst keeping a full-time job and family time. I really tried to make this video a bit more special, as I intend to do with future uploads. Thanks again you guys! You have me heading towards 500 Subscribers! AMAZING! 😃

@realmattjc 28 күн бұрын

@@chey8625 not exactly meant that way. I meant as in it ended up being a hard video to make whilst also doing the job.

@KayakingVince 21 күн бұрын

@@realmattjc I wouldn't pay much heed. Looked an annoying job to me. Torx screws, daft SSD adapters, fiddly dis/reasssembly. Makes me glad I don't have a mac.

@realmattjc 21 күн бұрын

@@KayakingVince it was fiddly but worth it.

@realmattjc 14 күн бұрын

@@chey8625 your obviously a very miserable person that wants others to fail in life to make yourself feel better.

@realmattjc 14 күн бұрын

@@rodriguer1 I’m not sure to be honest. Might be best to speak to you school about it first. 🙏

@RichFletcher 2 ай бұрын

You had my sub at “I’m a bit of a geek”.

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

Haha thank you. Asking for subs was an oversight on this video. They do say ‘don’t ask, don’t get’ so thanks for taking the time to watch and indeed subscribe

@RichFletcher 2 ай бұрын

How monumentally screwed would Apple be if you could still do this with modern hardware.

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

@@RichFletcher Very. Possibly why they have gone down the route they have. Cunning move Apple 🤣🤣

@jerrykovis5417 12 күн бұрын

might seem trivial, but really appreciate your music choice. my Mac Mini is already upgraded, but still enjoyed watching this.

@realmattjc 12 күн бұрын

Not at all. Thanks for watching 🙏

@ozrob76 11 күн бұрын

Love your Mum looking in- I imagined her saying: "Ten times? What you like...."

@realmattjc 11 күн бұрын

Yeah it’s quite funny. She came is as thought I was talking to her, not a camera lol

@mattevans7884 Ай бұрын

I've done a few of these. The first one is always a pain in the butt. SSD and RAM are always what I do when keeping these machines running. I've put an SSD in a 2002 iMac and that boots in 13 secs now.....

@realmattjc Ай бұрын

Makes such difference doesn’t it.

@richarddcrossley Ай бұрын

There are good reasons for removing the connectors but you were careful so fair play. I found slotting a credit card into the plastic in between the drive bays helps you get the drive into the right groves. Since you have done this it would be well worth looking into installing Monterey using open core legacy patcher as that will allow your dad to use the Mac mini for a lot longer. We are finally getting to the point where a lot of applications won’t work on Mojave (my favourite os) or Catalina. I still run Mojave on a few older macs for a variety of reasons. 2012 Mac mini works great on open core 😊

@realmattjc Ай бұрын

I’ll certainly consider using the patch and see how it goes. The reassuring thing being there is an option to extend the life of the machine. All things considered it’s not bad for a 12 year old Mac 👍

@goinginzane Ай бұрын

Lovely video! Impeccably shot and great overview of the procees required for a RAM+SSD upgrade. Keep it up like this and you'll have a mountain of subs in no time, well done!

@realmattjc Ай бұрын

Super thanks for the feedback. It was a challenging video to put together but I’m quite happy with how it turned out 🙏

@noeljohnson690 Ай бұрын

Thank you. I'm just waiting for my cheap(ish) 2012 MacMini impulse buy to arrive and this has helped a lot.

@realmattjc Ай бұрын

Good luck with it 👍

@Siktah 2 ай бұрын

I love when youtube actually shows me something interesting and its a low sub channel that has good production quality. You got my sub mate.

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

thank you so much @siktah 🙏

@cyanplaty 11 күн бұрын

Your content is amazing!

@realmattjc 11 күн бұрын

Thank you 🙏

@SandsOfArrakis 2 ай бұрын

This so reminds me of my own 2014 Mac Mini (2,6 GHz i5 dual core CPU, 8 GB RAM and a 1 tb hard drive). I've ended up buying a 250 gb Samsung SSD and a USB enclosure to connect the SSD to one of the Mini's USB ports. I've kept the internal 1 tb hard drive for data storage. From a very slow hog it became a pretty quick computer. An SSD is the best thing you can do to upgrade the old guys and give them a new lease on life.

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

Good shout on using an external drive. I never thought about that on my old 2014! You’re very right. SSD is the way to go 👍

@TradingToFreedom 2 ай бұрын

Wow! Loved this video. subscribed

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

Thank you so much 🙏

@cripplermaximus 13 күн бұрын

My late 2012 Mac Mini is my podcasting machine. 2.5Ghz, 16GB RAM, 250 SSD.

@realmattjc 13 күн бұрын

Perfect for that my friend

@GetOffMyTech 25 күн бұрын

Great channel 💯

@realmattjc 25 күн бұрын

Thank you so much 🙏

@jnxmck 2 ай бұрын

About a year ago I made the exact same suggestion to my dad who, like yours, was struggling with the speed of his Mac Mini. He put an SSD in it and all of a sudden the complaints are gone.

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

Makes the world of difference doesn’t it. Thanks for commenting 🙏

@LungeloShandu 23 күн бұрын

Great video. 🇿🇦

@realmattjc 23 күн бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it

@monicaschwartz5339 Ай бұрын

I have one from 2011 and is still working nicely. I made few upgrades like SSD and 16gb ram.

@realmattjc Ай бұрын

Great to hear 🤙

@Brommes Ай бұрын

good job :P

@realmattjc Ай бұрын

Thank you 🙏

@songsan807 Ай бұрын

When I first upgrade the SSD on a 2011 and 2012 Mac Mini, screwing the SSD back on was a pain. I found that if I fold a long piece of plain paper a few times and stick it under the SSD to hold it up, it make it easier to screw in the SSD. After that I can pull the paper out and tighten the screws.

@realmattjc Ай бұрын

Yes that part was a right pain!

@ghostyaksha152 16 күн бұрын

will it work with adobe or any illustrator software and video editing in this device

@realmattjc 16 күн бұрын

Good question. You might need to run a patch update to allow a later OS but I couldn’t say for sure. Others in these comments have mentioned running a patch but I’ve never done it so couldn’t quote on that.

@buckeye43210 Ай бұрын

Ha! I just ordered the exact same components earlier today (before watching your video). Plan on using my 2012 Mac Mini as a Proxmox hypervisor to run virtual machines.

@realmattjc Ай бұрын

Hey there. Good luck with the upgrade. It certainly makes a big difference :-)

@buckeye43210 Ай бұрын

@@realmattjc is it possible to upgrade the i5 cpu to and i7 cpu?

@realmattjc Ай бұрын

@@buckeye43210 good question. I’m not sure on that one as I think the cpu is integrated into the main board. I’d be inclined to say not.

@buckeye43210 Ай бұрын

I just ordered a second 2012 refurbished Mac Mini :-)

@reverse7390 25 күн бұрын

@@buckeye43210I hope so because that would be great 😂

@ronny332 2 ай бұрын

Up and running in my basement, 10+ years until today. No issues, everything is fine. Never had any speed problems. Last update in 2015 (added the two SSDs for about 900 Euro each). Mac mini. Late 2012, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core Intel Core i7, 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3, 2x 1TB WD SATA SSD, Sonoma 14.4 Replacing the harddrives was so easy back in the day, the same for the RAM. Would be nice if Apple ever would go back to these behaviors. BTW: your speed improvements are just related to the SSD. After about 2016 none of the Mac OS X versions was optimized for magnetic drives. Just the huge amount of short read accesses kill any usable performance of the sad device.

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

If only. I doubt they ever will. They want to sell new machines 🤣🤣

@ronny332 2 ай бұрын

@@realmattjc Really sad. Of cause the Mac mini in my basement is in his has years, caused by the x86 CPU. But it worked so long, so stable. It is at least one reason why I still think Apple makes really good hardware.

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

@@ronny332 agreed. I love them 👍

@derecwilsom4546 Ай бұрын

how did you get sonoma on there? I'm sure my 2012 mac mini told me a couple of osx versions ago that it was not supported.

@realmattjc Ай бұрын

@@derecwilsom4546 I believe you have to run a patch but not tried that myself and tbh I don’t think it’s needed for my parents computer.

@Memnoch9299 Ай бұрын

I've got 2 of these and one already has 16gb of RAM and an SSD running Ubuntu. I am going to check the other one but I think it has a mechanical hard drive so that has to go. I wish these had a CPU socket so we could upgrade that as well without soldering or replacing the logic board etc. But for it's age it's not bad once you do the memory and SSD upgrade. I'd like to get a 2018 intel i& based Mac but in my area in Texas they are around $300-$400 USD.

@Memnoch9299 Ай бұрын

I subbed as well. Thanks for the video!

@realmattjc Ай бұрын

That’s awesome. Thank you 🙏

@ZaberfangX 2 ай бұрын

I was thinking of getting this one to install Linux, I switch over to hp EliteDesk mini as I got a good deal on it. It's a big jump of speed putting in a SSD in it on that mac mini.

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

Massive jump. It’s gone from majorly frustrating to use to the performance of a new machine. Opens rapid and no hanging around.

@SandsOfArrakis 2 ай бұрын

I'm running the latest Linux Mint on my 2014 Mac Mini. From a USB connected SSD. The internal hard drive is used for my user account and file storage. Works like a charm. It's running my music server, but it is also hooked up to my living room's LCD TV. So I can also use it to surf the Internet from my couch using Chrome.

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

@@SandsOfArrakis easy surfing my friend 🤙

@ZaberfangX 2 ай бұрын

@@SandsOfArrakis yeah can be turn in to a Linux server too.

@rbe3908 Ай бұрын

I'm running a 2012 mac mini i7, 16gb RAM, 500gb ssd, 1tb ssd. Running Linux 22.04 LTS for over a year. Every thing works, much quicker than macos. Very nice rig.

@bryans8656 2 ай бұрын

I like upgrading old Macs because they still have their uses, like with your father's Mac mini. It's a common misconception that adding RAM makes a computer faster because it improves multitasking and minimizes the potential for disk swapping (which does aid performance to a point). But otherwise, more RAM does not make a computer faster, it's the swap from platter drive to SSD that makes the big difference, as you discovered.

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

Yes I was always aware it would be the SSD that made the difference but figured the RAM might be worth doing too. Either way it’s night and day difference now so all good. I think you’re right. They still definitely have their uses. Thanks for watching 🙏

@bryans8656 2 ай бұрын

@@realmattjc Yep, that RAM was worth upgrading too, I would have done the same thing.

@Agnoletta 19 күн бұрын

Adding RAM allows you to run programs at all. But the SSD is the speed boost.

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

Do not go and buy a new Mac. Your old bag of nails might still have some life left in it yet!

@user-qf6kb4vl6d 2 ай бұрын

please dont say that. Who wants to use a 12 year old processor and integrated graphics with new ram and storage if they cant get the full use put of it. 1200 mega hertz *example* original ram replaced with 3000 megahertz ram. what if the board does not support it?

@user-qf6kb4vl6d 2 ай бұрын

nice video though was nice to watch

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

@@user-qf6kb4vl6d thank you for watching and you are quite right. It depends on what you need I guess. My parents didn’t need anything super fast however it was horrendously slow before the upgrade.

@chandlerbing7570 Ай бұрын

While I agree with the idea of keeping devices out of the landfill, this Mac is near end of life. It will only get a few more months of updates leaving it vulnerable to malware and app support issues. While it sounds annoying, I recommend putting a Linux distro on it that resembles MacOS just enough for a sense of familiarity and will keep this thing around longer.

@realmattjc Ай бұрын

@@chandlerbing7570 I will certainly keep that in mind. Thank you.

@talos86 29 күн бұрын

Oof... thats a really bad decision on the SSD. Those Kingston A400s have a really high failure rate. The Phison S11 controller have the tendency to brick itself.

@realmattjc 29 күн бұрын

Thanks for the heads up. 👍

@XGreenThumb 2 ай бұрын

Still great devices but a little bit expensive. A 2012 is 150-200€ over here, but a used m1 mac mini goes for just 300-400€

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

Won’t lie. I’d go for the M1. That’s what I use for editing. Thanks for the comment. 🙏

@cmorche 7 сағат бұрын

@@realmattjc I upgraded my parents 2012 Mac Mini nearly exactly the same, with 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD (to avoid multiple external drives for photos). When the M1 MBA was released, I upgraded them to the M1 MBA when it was released, but it stays docked 24/7 and I've thought about migrating them to a used M1 Mac Mini and taking the laptop as a backup for myself.

@realmattjc 4 сағат бұрын

@@cmorche good to have options. I myself just have a 2021 M1 MBP as my main editing machine and a 2012 MBP for DJ software which I fear hasn’t much life left in it.

@JohnPMiller 2 ай бұрын

I have a 2010 Mini and a 2020 Mini. The 2020 Mini is faster.😉 The 2010 Mini still works after all these years, and it has a SuperDrive.

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for commenting. It’s as the old saying goes, ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it’. I just sold my m1 Mac mini to get a MacBook Pro as the need was more for remote working. That said my parents Mini was slow as anything. Doing this has given it a new lease of life so it was worth the pain 🤣

@ewaldradavich7307 Ай бұрын

I have a 2008 I mac which will become a large paper weight in a few years or sooner since I can't upgrade new software. I really hate this. I wish I could put new parts in it like buying an old car & rebuilding the motor. A profound bummer

@realmattjc Ай бұрын

Umm not sure what to say on the old iMacs. I fear you might be right about it being a paper weight. It was one of my own concerns when thinking about buying one. Who knows, there might be a way.

@ewaldradavich7307 Ай бұрын

@@realmattjc . After reading that there's really no way I was thinking in this day of mini pcs I would think an ingenious person could swap out parts one from another. Plus Apples prices are ins a ne for their upgrades on new computers. I believe they could make things easier but they want u to spend ur money.

@realmattjc Ай бұрын

@@ewaldradavich7307 afraid so! 😞

@smile768 2 ай бұрын

Apple were (and still are) very mean with ram and SSD provisioning. This has a new lease of life. The future 10 years from now 8GB ram and tiny ssd M3 users will not be so lucky.

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

Very true. I had the 2014 some time back and I’m not sure you could upgrade those

@SandsOfArrakis 2 ай бұрын

Same with my 2014 Mac Mini. RAM is soldered to the mainboard. The 2012 version was the last Mini that was fully upgradable (RAM and storage).

@event-zero Ай бұрын

Just put linux on it and it will fly

@realmattjc Ай бұрын

If it were mine I’d give it a go.

@Witya 2 ай бұрын

it still runs an outdated version of MacOS, without recent security patches. it's only good for web browsing using Chrome or Firefox, because Safari is not patched.

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

Indeed. I have also installed Chrome but good point made 👍

@SteveAaron 2 ай бұрын

@@realmattjc You should get OCLP and install a more modern OS like Ventura or Sonoma. They run great on these machines.

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

@@SteveAaron funnily enough I was thinking about that. Correct me wrong but it’s some sort of patch?

@superjamesworld 2 ай бұрын

@@realmattjcyeah OCLP will patch Sonoma to run on the older hardware. I use my 2012 i7 Mac Mini every day with Sonoma after putting in a Samsung 850 SSD beside the 1TB HDD.

@realmattjc 2 ай бұрын

@@superjamesworld nice one. I’ll get on that. Thank you 🙏