# Mac Mini Experience



## hibhardwaj (Jan 7, 2019)

Hello,
I am planning to upgrade my computer with better RAM. I currently own a 2015 Macbook Pro with 8 GB of memory. I want to upgrade to atleast 32 GB ram within Apple’s ecosystem. 

Here are my questions:
1) Which machine does it make sense to look for-Mac mini vs. Macbook Pro given my budget is about 2,500. 
2) Is Mac mini a good sustainable option? Its name makes me little worried about its performance. 

Thanks in advance!
~Himanshu


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## KallumS (Jan 7, 2019)

I've heard good things about the Mac Mini. You'd have to go with the i7 variant if you want to future proof yourself somewhat. The RAM is user upgradeable so you can just buy the cheapest option and invest in 32gb at your convenience.

With that said, Apple is apparently working on a modular Mac Pro that will supposedly be released later on this year, so might be worth hanging on for that.


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## hibhardwaj (Jan 7, 2019)

KallumS said:


> I've heard good things about the Mac Mini. You'd have to go with the i7 variant if you want to future proof yourself somewhat. The RAM is user upgradeable so you can just buy the cheapest option and invest in 32gb at your convenience.
> 
> With that said, Apple is apparently working on a modular Mac Pro that will supposedly be released later on this year, so might be worth hanging on for that.



Thanks for your response. What you said makes sense about the configurable RAM. Do you know if the storage is expandable after the purchase or thats not an option later on.


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## TheSteven (Jan 7, 2019)

hibhardwaj said:


> Do you know if the storage is expandable after the purchase or thats not an option later on.



Depends on which MacMini you get.
2012 has room for 2 SATA harddrives, one or both can be SSD.
2014 Mini with a SSD (which would have been *the Apple non-SATA SSD*), there is space for a SATA SSD. There is only space for one SATA device.

There are various threads out there on the specifics. For example for the 2012:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/adding-second-hard-drive-to-mac-mini.1478282/


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## gsilbers (Jan 7, 2019)

hibhardwaj said:


> Thanks for your response. What you said makes sense about the configurable RAM. Do you know if the storage is expandable after the purchase or thats not an option later on.


hard drive is not expandable on the mac mini. only ram.


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## hibhardwaj (Jan 7, 2019)

TheSteven said:


> Depends on which MacMini you get.
> 2012 has room for 2 SATA harddrives, one or both can be SSD.
> 2014 Mini with a SSD (which would have been *the Apple non-SATA SSD*), there is space for a SATA SSD. There is only space for one SATA device.
> 
> ...


I am only looking at 2018 Mac Minis which received positive ratings for lot of reviewers.


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## KallumS (Jan 7, 2019)

hibhardwaj said:


> Thanks for your response. What you said makes sense about the configurable RAM. Do you know if the storage is expandable after the purchase or thats not an option later on.



Unfortunately it's not, you would have to use external hard drives, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of Mac "Mini" if you have half a dozen hard drives attached


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## hibhardwaj (Jan 7, 2019)

gsilbers said:


> hard drive is not expandable on the mac mini. only ram.


Thank you!


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## hibhardwaj (Jan 7, 2019)

KallumS said:


> Unfortunately it's not, you would have to use external hard drives, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of Mac "Mini" if you have half a dozen hard drives attached


Thanks buddy.


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## TheSteven (Jan 7, 2019)

With 2018 version the flash storage chips are soldered to the logic board so you're stuck with what you get.


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## ptram (Jan 7, 2019)

KallumS said:


> you would have to use external hard drives, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of Mac "Mini" if you have half a dozen hard drives attached


What about something like this?

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/external-drives/owc-ministack

(Not endorsing: I've never tried it.)


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## gpax (Jan 7, 2019)

KallumS said:


> Unfortunately it's not, you would have to use external hard drives, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of Mac "Mini" if you have half a dozen hard drives attached


To me, the point of all the I/O with the 2018 Mac Mini is precisely for some workflows that choose to bring in external options. 

In another thread, potential buyers began to envisage putting their entire arsenal of samples and software on the mini’s drive (I would never work this way), then everyone started calculating the upgrade math. 

I guess if you are a touring musician, or need the utmost mobility for production work, then yes, that is an option with the 2018 Mini for some. For me, it’s about bringing over my Black Magic dock with my SSDs, unplugging it from my 2015 iMac and into the new mini right away. 

In the end, it’s really the best fit for the job, and as you say elsewhere, where other options, including a pending Mac Pro, may be the better fit for some.


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