State of the art, nine years ago.
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It was not even state of the art nine years ago.
However, I still use this model year Mac mini today as an HTPC, connected to my HDTV, for a full desktop streaming experience, DVR, and living room web browser. It has been incredibly flexible and reliable (long uptimes) for that purpose. And popular with others, kind of a classic model. Here are the reasons:
- Unlike the post-2014 Mac minis, this model has standard internal connectors for totally upgradeable RAM and internal drive. It takes what are now cheap SATA SSDs; I just put a 4TB SSD in mine. You can upgrade the RAM to 16GB for cheap now.
- Unlike current Mac minis, the 2012 model has space for a second internal 2.5" drive. This is because there was a server version with two internal drives. If you want to use the second drive bay you must order a Mac mini Data Doubler kit from macsales dot com, which will run you about $25.
DIY upgrade instructions are at ifixit dot com.
And now for the disadvantages:
- The OS in the 2012 model can be upgraded as far as macOS 10.15.7 Catalina. That is now one major upgrade back of the current macOS 11, so in about a year and a half it will no longer get security updates.
- The integrated graphics are quite weak by today’s standards.
- If you want it as an HTPC, it does not support 4K. The reason it works for me is I have not upgraded my TV and AV receiver for 4K yet. Also it is too old to have one of the Intel CPUs that is more efficient at H.264 video encoding, so it’s kind of slow for that.
- It has Thunderbolt 1, not the current Thunderbolt 3.
- If you want raw performance, the current M1 Mac mini will blow the doors off this old thing.
If it meets your modest needs, it’s a nice little workhorse. But is getting outdated very quickly now.
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