Hi Mac mini Owners!
I'm very excited about what Apple announced on October 30th. I'm about to join the Mac mini club! before I jump in with both feet though, I had a question. In years past, I remember people posting about how they had to trick their Mac minis to run smoothly without a monitor connected. We may have to wait for the new models to come out to know for sure, but is this still the case? I really like the specs of the new machines considering what I'm coming from, and am not excited about paying Apple's prices for their retina displays, so this would be the perfect solution for me sans monitor.
Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
Chelsea
Comments
Mac Mini
I don't know for sure, but I'd asume the new models are no different in that department. i think the operating system is constantly looking for a display regardless of what machine you're using. ou can either connect any old HDMI monitor to the Mini or buy one of the Fitheadless HDMI adapters. The adapter will trick the computer into believing there is a display connected.
My Experience
I can only speak anecdotally, but my Mac mini runs just fine without a display. It can be a little laggy at times, but that's a symptom of an outdated processor and mechanical hard drive—I had a monitor hooked up to it for a while, and didn't experience any difference in performance when I got rid of it. So based on my experience, I wouldn't expect you to have any difficulty with one of the new minis...which sound so, so nice (I'm not jealous, of course...)
Are There Still Complications with Running a Headless Mac mini?
As Chris posted above its going to be the software (OS) that looks for a connection to the monitor. Although I am sure there are hardware changes that were announced I can't honestly see them changing the OS to not recognize a monitor. Its the same thing with using non certified apple accessories. they aren't going to suddenly take that out of the IOS code.
Hmmm...
Is there anyone here running a current version of Mac OS on a Mini who is experiencing issues running without a monitor? Again, all I can share is my own experience, but if it's an OS issue, I can't understand why I would have no problems, but someone else would.
Mac mini
I own mac mini late 2012 and also have a fitheadless hdmi.
I'm sure that you'll get in trouble if you don't plug-in one of headless hdmi adaptors or monitor. It got better since maybe 10.10 yosemite but still getting a bit slower.
I highly recommend you to buy fitheadless adaptor.