Hi all.
I'm thinking of getting a used mini to have something to see how a Mac would work for me. Late 2018 can supposedly run 15. I see a lot with 8 GB ram. I assume that wouldn't be great for 15. Is it simple enough to get older Mac OS versions?
Also, do they need a monitor to run?
I could wait and get anew mini I guess, but ultimately if I switch, I think I'd want a laptop. But I feel like if I'm spending laptop money, I'd better know the switch is going to work for me, you know? I'm also looking at Intel because even M1s are in the $400 range. At that point I may as well just buy a new one. I might end up doing that.
I see one late 2018 mini with 32 GB and 128 GB SSD on
Amazon, and a *lot*of them with 8GB. Big things I need to check,recording, I assume I can do this with Garage Band and upgrade to anything fancier, Logic, Ableton Live, if I switch for real.
Running Windows in a VM, an M-series would be better for this but I'm told it can be done, and I assume all the Intel
emulation stuff would work in a VM so NVDA and such will run.
The other big thing, and this is why I'm considering used, is just using a Mac. Not just Voiceover, but say I use Apple Mail instead of Thunderbird. How am I getting stuff from my ISP remotely into local copies so I can save backups of it,
e.g. software registrations? How do I back up that mail, and
access it from the backup?
I'm not looking for direct answers to those questions necessarily, I'm just saying, this is the kind of stuff I have to figure out, not just how it works, but is it something I'm going to be able to deal with long term? Things will just work differently from what I'm used to on Windows. I'm only planning to run the Windows VM for some games and a few other things I might not be able to get on Mac.
So this is also why I'm trying to find something cheaper than a new Mini, if I can. If it doesn't work out, it would be less of a loss. Yeah, I could get a new mini when they come out and resell it, but I've usually had pretty bad luck trying to sell things.
Comments
No Intel!
Unless you don't care about running future versions of macOS, do! not! buy! an! Intel! Mac! I can't stress this enough! Sequoia is more than likely the last Intel version, so you'll have to find another OS to replace it if you want to continue using the machine long-term.
I assumed so, yes.
The whole point is that if I care about running future versions of Mac OS, I will buy a new Mac on which to run them. If I can get away with 8 GB and 15 or installing an older version, 13 minimum, it's about a third of the price of a new mini and a sixth the price of a new Air. The one with 32 GB is about half a new Mini and a quarter of an Air, roughly speaking.
200-300 bucks, if it doesn't end up working out, is a lot better to lose than $600-$1300. If you get into even refurbished M1 Minis, you're looking at about $450 minimum. May as well just buy a new Mini at that point. But as I think I mentioned, I don't
necessarily want a mini, I'd probably go for some sort of MacBook.
So the question is, would it work to give me a good idea of what using a Mac and Voiceover is like, or would there be issues?