Making a 2012 Mac mini usable in 2022

I recently got a hold of a 2012 Mac Mini. In this video we are going to go over how I made this old computer usable even in 2022. I upgraded the ram and the storage. I will be using it as a media computer for my living room to do family Zoom calls and watch movies.
Video I followed for upgrading:
• How to Upgrade/Replace...
Part used for upgrading (affiliate links):
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Memory 8 GB Kit
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240GB SSD
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Torx Screwdriver Set
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Other gear used in this video:
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Elgato Cam Link 4k
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👉 You can support this channel here: www.buymeacoffee.com/everyday...
0:00 Intro
1:54 2012 Mac Mini Specs
3:40 The Installation
5:08 The Results
7:22 Ending

[@ChareleanorK]

Hi, I am in my 80s and have a Mac Mini 2012. Before I watched your video, I did buy an SSD and cloned the Mac Mini. I am using it attached to the USB port and YES it works as fast as when I purchased it. It was horribly slow before the SSD. I did not buy more RAM. I was concerned I could not get it back together so using the SSD plugged into the USB port is perfect. I have had it working through an older TV and now purchased an Acer Monitor. I do not have the correct cables so now much look for the proper one to use. Thanks for the good Video though it goes very fast.

[@digitalmandave]

I purchased the same model/specs as you have in your video for relatively cheap one year ago that included a VESA/wall/desktop mount. I upgraded it to 16 GB ram, added a dual drive setup with 128 SSD and 2TB internal hard drive. Since I had the machine taken apart for the upgrades, I also replaced the thermal paste on the CPU as well. Runs like a dream, I use it for mostly media tasks watching streaming video or my own video files (the firewire port comes in handy if you want to capture old video tape footage from legacy video tape style camcorders and transfer to digital) and The 2TB drive contains all my files to be used as a file server including my music collection for use as a jukebox and to sync with my other Apple devices. Beyond the initial setup, you can forgo a keyboard and mouse and just use Screen sharing from another Mac to remotely control it. Considering it's age the 2012 mac mini's are still great (upgradable) machines that can be had for a low price if you shop around on the used market.

[@BrianJones-wk8cx]

As others have noted, Open Core Legacy Patcher is a godsend for these older Macs. I have a 2009 Mac Mini with a spinning hard drive that I upgraded to Big Sur and 8 GB of RAM, and it runs surprisingly well. It gets bogged down if you start adding a slew of background services like Dropbox and such, but I’ve repurposed it as a media server and it works flawlessly. I even use Rclone to mount my unlimited Google Drive with my media so that the local machine contains only the OS and essentials, and while videos usually take a few seconds to buffer, it’s a small price to pay for a machine over 10 years old still rocking and rolling. I was going to upgrade to an SSD, but honestly at this point, I’ll just wait until the drive dies as I just don’t need it.

[@JSVegaIII]

Still using my 2012 Quad i7!! Upgraded immediately with SSD in 2012 and it’s been rock solid ever since :-)

[@EverydayTechTV]

Nice. especially if you have the i7 version, it’s great to see you can extend the life of it even more.

[@JonathanLamontagne]

im looking to buy one, with the i7 and ssd and 16g ram upgraded. can you work the adobe suite easy on it?

[@JSVegaIII]

@@JonathanLamontagne I didn't use Adobe as I was using it for music and internet. I now have the M1 mac mini and would recommend that too

[@lostsoul3154]

Great!! My first Mac was a 2012 and it lasted just over 6 years and the HD went out. I now have a 2019, purchased 3.5 years ago.

[@RealStuntPanda]

I've got a Mac Mini (Late 2012) with the 2.3Ghz Quad-Core i7 and I freaking love it. I upgraded my RAM to 16GB and my drive to a 1TB SSD. This thing rocks as an HTPC and I use it to run Docker containers like Pi-Hole and for some retro gaming DosBox. I'll also run some VirtualBox images when I'm testing stuff and this thing runs like a champ.

[@tubularap]

4:59 - The random elevator music surely deserves a like, as the whole video does. I'm about to do the same to my 2012 mini. Thanks for showing the steps, and the good outcome.

[@foretjules344]

I have the same configuration from 10 years now, and I use it to work, video editing and animation production

[@michaelwells7348]

I did it to a 2012 Mac mini, the last one that you could easily upgrade, Im a novice & it worked beautifully. My first thought was to keep the HD and mate it to the SSD, but for my needs I just replaced the HD with a new SSD. That was several years ago now - and I still can’t justify getting anything newer !!

[@TedBrown88]

Patrick, thank you very much for this video! I recently bought a 2023 Mac mini M2 Pro with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD to replace my old faithful Late 2012 Mac mini with 500GB HDD (upgraded to 16GB RAM and 240GB SSD in 2018, just as you did). My old Mac mini is stashed in the closet, but now you gave me this great idea to repurpose it as a "living room Mac". Also in the closet is an old Logitech BT iPad keyboard and HP BT mouse which can be paired with my old Mac mini, and its built-in IR receiver can be paired with my old Apple TV remote (3rd gen). P.S. As you recommended in another video, I expanded my 2023 Mac mini M2 Pro storage by using a Minisopuru hub with an Intel 670p 2TB SSD!

[@bjtwuk]

I have the same 2012 Mac mini that you have, but I put in a bracket that enabled me to install two internal drives. I have a 1TB SSD and a 750GB hard drive inside the Mac mini along with 16GB of RAM. I have an Apple bluetooth rechargeable keyboard, a Microsoft bluetooth mouse, a 27-inch LG 1080p monitor, a no-name 1080p webcam and Creative stereo computer speakers with subwoofer. It's a very usable computer for what I need. Oh, and with OpenCore Legacy Patcher, I was able to install MacOS Monterey 12.5.1. I'm very happy with my 10 year old Mac mini and have no need to spend close to $1000 on a current Mac mini or iMac computer. I'm really grateful for the developers who created OpenCore Legacy Patcher so that I can run the latest Apple OS, even if Apple won't support it.

[@-xYz--nk1gm]

now even install the latest osx ventura system and you will be even happier :)

[@marito4444]

I´m still using since I bought it in January 2013. As soon as i bought it I upgrade to 16 gb RAM and add a dual drive setup with a OWC 120 gb. It´s a monster and never let me down!

[@miket.220]

I have this exact Mini. I installed 16gb of ram, a 250gb ssd. I installed Linux Mint 21.2 on it. Works flawlessly out of the box and runs, I think, a little better than Catalina did.

[@dragonballjiujitsu]

I still love these old minis. I have two that I have maxed out. I also like turning them into Linux boxes for people. 240gb SSD boot drive and the 1TB secondary platter drive. 16 GB of RAM. I'll install Zorin OS and make the secondary drive two partitions one for data backup and the other time shift and set them both to auto backup each day. These thing last forever and this system is damn near foolproof.

[@dragonballjiujitsu]

@Bartdoggers Tech It runs great. I've had zero issues. Just make sure you install the wifi drivers and its good to go.

[@alexweighell4827]

I had already upgraded the RAM to 16GB - very easy. I just swapped the HD for a 1TB SSD and installed Windows 10 via bootcamp. Now it's a new PC for my mum! It's very quick now and great as a home computer (Mac or PC).

[@BeeteeTan]

I have the i7 model. Upgraded to 16GB RAM and Placed a 512GB SSD. You can buy a cradle so you can place the old HDD as a secondary hard drive. 2022 and it's still great for working from home.

[@lazerbeam3928]

I had OWC add a 1TB SSD (as a fusion drive) to my 2012 Mac Mini several years ago. I have 8 Gb of RAM as well. I used it as a media server up until a year ago when I went to 75" Samsung TV. While it does work as a media server with this TV, there are some scaling issues that I just couldn't overcome. I finally bit the bullet and purchased a M1 Macbook Air to replace the Mini. Initially I had some scaling issue with it as well but was able to correct the problems. I purchased an inexpensive hub to make up for the port losses on the Air and now I couldn't be happier. One of these days I'm going to revisit the Mini and see if I can do something with it.

[@Xanduur]

We still have a 2012 and 2014 Mac minis and use them every day for light tasks. We both have our operating systems on external SSDs no need to take the system apart.

[@user-bk2fo7ny9s]

Did the same upgrade but added dual boot Ubuntu Linux for better performance and security, very impressed with the result

[@sinisterritesofxano-humair68]

These things are just great. I'm using a fully upgraded one with an SSD and it's rock solid -- runs about as well as any other modern PC for daily tasks. If you're not gaming or doing something super resource intensive they're good machines. I use mine for work as well as other things like casual web browsing and the occassional video editing -- never lets me down. Even performs better than my old HP Probook 440 G5 with the i3 that was in there (I believe the 2.3ghz i7 that is in these scores higher than those on benchmarks.) Really solid, of course they're not going to give you top of the line fast as you can get performance in 2022, but for a little productivity machine you really can't go wrong. That being said, with the price of a fully upgraded one, I'd personally bite the bullet and spend $200 extra for a 2020 M1 if I were shopping right now -- As they can be find readily on eBay for $399 and some change right now.

[@rambo4war]

I have kept my 2012 as part of my home entertainment for over 5 years when I “retired” it, did the ssd and ram. Once browser support stops I’ll recycle it. Can still do 100% of what I need it for, the only thing I can’t enjoy fully is iTunes….but, I’ve never downloaded or streamed movies via iTunes (at least on my TV)

[@richardathome65]

When I bought my 2012 Mac Mini, the first thing I did was upgrade the RAM, which I maxed out to 16 GB (I've heard of people adding more RAM, and if that is feasible, I'd definitely consider it). Over the years, I did slow down, particularly during boot up and whenever I launched a programme for the first time after booting. Last year, I finally upgraded the HDD to SDD and the difference was amazing! It was like a new computer in many ways. With the HDD, booting could take minutes; I used to switch on, go away, and do something else while I waited for it to get ready. Launching a programme such as Word or email would again take minutes. After the SSD switch, it takes less than a minute to boot, and programmes launch instantly. It's an excellent machine considering its age, and I use it for InDesign, Photoshop, word processing, etc. I'm under no illusion that newer computers would be much faster, but I am not having any difficulty running the programmes I need (I don't play games any more, so that is not an issue for me, but I'm sure they would perform absolutely horrendously if I tried, so wouldn't recommend this as any kind of gaming machine). I use it practically every day still and have no desire to get rid of it.

[@aymanibrahim9736]

Same here, 2012 i7 Mac mini, upgraded to 16 GB RAM after I bought it in 2012, she problems you mention with HDD. only reason I did not change out yet, is that it became a challenge for me to wait for this to fail, it's connected to a TV and running on 24/7, I only restart when updating so probably once a month, I wrote and deleted tens and tens of Terra Bytes on this HDD, possibly hundreds, and it is somehow still going. Besides downloading and HD streaming tons of movies and shows, I used it (and still do) for Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro (4k as well) , Pixelmator Photo editing, indie and little above indie Level gaming and emulation, up to PS2 and some Nintendo WII stuff it runs everything great up to 720p. I updated it with OCLP, and installed Big Sur, and running great, some slowness you mentioned, but does not bother me much since I am almost always playing guitar while using the computer, once it dies, I am gonna install an SSD, update it to Ventura and get at least 3-4 more years out of it, and even then, I'll use it as a server, or use it as a retro gaming/ media machine, after owning this computer, I honestly have no idea why apple is releasing yearly hardware, and why people "upgrade" every year, My next computer will probably be a M4 or M5 Mac mini in 2025, which should last until 2040, and if I get the M5 Ultra Mac studio in 2025, then I will gift it to my unborn kid on his 18th birthday in 2055, just in time for me to install the M77 MacPelvis.

[@soerenbode]

Hi there! I'm thinking of upgrading this Mac Mini to be used as a little photoshop/lightroom workstation. Nothing fancy, just the basics. Does your Mini work well with Adobe Creative Cloud? As far as I learned this Mini can run up to Catalina - that works fine for Adobe? Or what might be the prefered OS? Any input might be handy ;) Thx in advance

[@GasttMartinez]

@@soerenbode same question here !

[@seanbrown8920]

Need help: I have one of these with i7 processor and 8GB of ram. I had used a Samsung tvs for years as a monitor, but I recently tried connecting it to a new monitor and it won’t display. Any suggestions?

[@GoldCaesar]

My 2012 mac mini won't let me upgrade the OS past 10.8, how did you get to 10.15?

[@lorenticalendar]

I´m still using 3 Mac mini late 2014. But I´m having all sort of port issues. First, the Ethernet port stopped working and I successfully replaced it with a USB 10/100 LAN device. But now, the other Mac Mini ports seem to be failing randomly. For example, mi keyboard suddenly stops working or my HDMI monitor does not work properly (suddenly begins to turn on and off). Could the Mac Mini be having some king of electric problem? Thank you!

[@KeithHutchinsonYT]

Hi, I was in the process of changing the drive in my 2014 Mac Mini and I had to unclip a small connector on the edge of the motherboard slightly to the right of centre, I lifted it incorrectly and I broke it..aagh! what is that connection.....Pls let me know what it is and what I must do to fix it? Will i have to replace the whole multi-cable? Many thx. Keith

[@johnd1216]

I have a new Mac M1 Mini. Could I use my old 2012 Mac Mini as a sort of dock? I'd like to use the disk reader and ports on the 2012. If not, can you recommend another product?

[@bobdguggliemo685]

After I install the RAM and SSD, how do I format my 2012 MAC MINI ? Thanx for your help to this point, Bob D'G

[@thismaineliving]

Thanks for the video. One suggestion for future videos is try to keep the intro and background info like under 30 second and then jump into the content. Looking forward to seeing more in the future

[@EverydayTechTV]

Thanks for the suggestion. Yeah, this was done over a year ago. I've significantly shorten the intros.

[@tigerhill2893]

I have late 2011 Mac mini , the specs seem to be the same , can I do the recommended upgrade ?

[@RichIdaho]

I have a 2012 Mac mini SERVER and I would like to upgrade it to use as plain old living room computer for zoom calls just like you describe. Can I install a version of Mac OS over this server OS and if so which OS can I use? How do I install it?

[@jeremyshearer]

I need help. My 2010 mini Mac is stuck on apple I cloud and password saying it’s incorrect even tho it’s not

[@menajemh]

Upgraded ram and put 2 x 500gb ssd , installed Linux mint and I’m a happy camper. Great computer and NAS server for my home

[@PlayStefan_misc]

I bought the 2.3 GHz Quad Core Version with the i7 of it and put in 16 GB of RAM and also a SSD in 2015. Since than it was my main editing rig till I replaced it with a Trashcan Mac Pro and later on with a M1 mini. Especially the SSD Upgrade makes a huge difference.

[@EverydayTechTV]

For sure... the SSD is where the main bottleneck is.

[@neondabo]

Hi. Great video. So I did this same thing to my 2012 Mac Mini SSD with 500GB and 16 GB ram. I also went ahead and installed OS Ventura (Another Video).. That was 2 weeks ago and everything is still running lightning fast. I loaded the latest Logic Pro on it and it still runs great. There is one issue. If I try to bring audio in with my audio in-outbox it just won't work. Logic recognizes it. It allows me to select it as audio-in but it won't record. I'm thinking it's because of the old USB ports on this 2012 Mac? Could it be that they are not strong enough? What might be a workaround? Thanks

[@carbon60unit]

re 6:33 - It's hardly a _great_ keyboard, but the Logitech K600 is a *really* handy living room wireless keyboard because it includes a modest trackpad, and so can easily be moved around and used from your lap or the arm of a couch, a coffee table or bed! It can select between 3 devices which can be Win, Mac, Android or IOS. It also includes a Logitech Unifying Receiver which can be used to connect to non-BT devices (like my LG smart tv) and older devices which don't provide the necessary BT support, like Spouse's old MBP. Currently have it talking to Spouse's iPhone, MBP and our 2012 Mini hooked up to the TV in the family room. Documentation was abysmal when I got mine, hope they've improved, but there's plenty of help in their forums and probably other sites.

[@NicksStuff]

Here's another use for it: it should be able to run Home Assistant

[@EverydayTechTV]

Yup... I had it running Home Assistant for a while before returning it back to my mom for her to use.

[@andreymusienko9290]

Good evening. If the fundamental difference between i5 and i7? Thanks

[@tigerhill2893]

can I install windows on this and will it run faster as one people are saying , thanks

[@Ufitlinda]

How can I install windows 11 on the Mac Mini 2012?

[@franciscocarneiro181]

Hi! Thank you for this video. I am going to buy one Mac mini 2012 because it has a firewire port that I need to connect to a Weiss firewire interface. I want to drive audiophile apps like Tidal, Spotify, etc. So, my question : what tablette should I use to drive those apps and surf in the web ? Can you please suggest some device ? Thank you ! Francisco

[@user-zf2ss2kc3e]

Hi, may a connect second 8TB SSD HD for music server (ROKU, Audirvana)?

[@jessicat2519]

I can see that you have Catalina on it, how did you get that on it?

[@viorelnegoita]

Did you enable TRIM on the SSD?

[@ALEXVIDEOS73]

Maximum capacity of Double SSD’s , please ?

[@andrewlu9856]

how did you update the os for download new app

[@ponenock802]

Hey Bro, I have a Mac mini Late 2014, 2.6GHz dual-core i5 8GB RAM 1TB HDD 5400 Rpm. It has Soldered RAM so, can't Upgrade it but, It can support NVMe SSD. So, after Upgrading, Mac mini Late 2014 2.6GHz dual-core i5 8GB RAM 500 GB NVMe SSD and a 1TB HDD 5400 Rpm. Can this Upgraded Spec run old versions of Premier pro and Photoshop decently like I know I can't expect it to run Smoothly but can it manage?

[@t1maone]

Dota 2 , cs go low settings , adobe premiere pro , photoshop, will works for her?8 gb ram

[@gergemall]

Great job

[@GasttMartinez]

Hello. It runas Photoshop and lightroom ?

[@kerryyeroyan8212]

Thats was an interesting video. I have two Mini’s a 2014 model and a 2023 model. I just ran into an issue with the 2014, along with it being slower than molasses up hill in Jan, somehow the password to log in will not take any longer. IDK.. there were some screens pulled up, that had a foreign language on it. Wondered if one of my kids we’re playing with it. I was going to go down and buy another new one; I didn’t even think to “upgrade” it! Anyone have any recommendations for parts I should purchase and from where?

[@Ni1996Ki]

I found a maxed out 2012 mac mini for 200€. Is it worth it? Would be my firstmac and im not going to spend more money just to have the same experience as trying ios

[@carlosek]

I never used Mac before. I found one at a pawn shop for 80$. I just want to use it was a dedicated emulator. Are Mac good with emulator

[@jwmurrayjr]

Thanks for the video. I've upgraded both my Windows and Linux desktops with the same Kingston SSDs. Night and day for sure. I think those PCs are from 2006 and still very usable. I'm thinking about giving a Mac Mini a go. Maybe a 2015 version.

[@MFEeee]

I’ve got two Mac minis from 2015. I bought an i5 at first. And bough an i7 soon after. Upgraded to a maxed out max pro 2013. I gave my daughters the Mac mini’s. They’re both still going strong

[@arendsjustin]

I have a Mac mini 2012 i7 with 240gb ssd and 16gb ram and it works well as a Web surfer and what my school needs

[@arxaaron]

Thanks for showing the usefulness of legacy tech computers and the value of doing small upgrades to keep them out of landfills and slow the forced upgrade cycle. I've have several very functional but older Mac systems that I use regularly without difficulty. They range in age from 2010 to 2015, updated to the highest 10 dot OSX version they can support, plateaued at Mohave since Catalina breaks some valuable 32 bit softwares. I figure they'll be good for at least another 5 years as I finish migrating entirely to Linux, and I expect Linux installs will keep the old hardware useful for even longer.

[@EverydayTechTV]

Nice! Especially as different Linux machines, I can see them being useful. I've been doing a lot of Raspberry Pi projects, but there's no reason why these old Mac mini can't do the same or better jobs with some of the projects.

[@arxaaron]

@@EverydayTechTV Big thumbs up on the rPi projects. A couple of them on the bench myself. Wanted to add that I repurposed a 2012 Mac mini and revived an old laptop with Linux for use as the hybrid Zoom system at our Atlanta Quaker meetings. Almost zero expense to reuse the gear we had on hand.

[@arxaaron]

@@EverydayTechTV Totally with you on rPi projects as well. Spring of 2020 I did install of 20 of them for a contract job and I have several projects going for artist friends. Using other small computers with Linus as well until rPi units aren't in the unobtanium zone. 🙂

[@kbyethx]

Thanks for the video! I just got one of these from a recycler with 8GB memory for $50CAD. I was surprised how usable mine is even with the 5200rpm drive. I think that 8GB is a key here too. I’ll probably still add an SSD later. We’ll see.

[@EverydayTechTV]

It’ll feel like night and day with the SSD.

[@peggypeters91]

Have inherited a Mac mini that I am not sure how old it is. If I could take a pix of back of it to send to you then you could tell me if it is of any value to anyone

[@TheUnofficialMaker]

gonna try this on my iMac 27!

[@OMINOUSREDdotcom]

I was looking for a video about converting a MacMini to a Linux Server and found this video. Very informative. Thanks for putting this together. I am actually thinking about relocating to Boston for IT Work.

[@katynewt]

It would've been nice if you had launched apps before the upgrades to see the difference.

[@geofferydeanjackson9244]

I still use my i5 Mac mini for multi track audio recording and mixing. It's 10 years old, but it's not crap by any means.

[@jbbucio7022]

What year is it? And have you done any upgrade to it? I’m planning on buying one exclusively for using Logic Pro

[@geofferydeanjackson9244]

@@jbbucio7022 Late 2012 i5 dual core, 16GB RAM (Kingston SuperX, 1600 MHZ)), Samsung 860 SSD (500 GB). That's it. Just max it out with the fastest RAM possible and a decent SSD. The interface will be up to you to determine what you need for the Mac Mini to interface with the mixing board if you go that route.

[@jbbucio7022]

@@geofferydeanjackson9244 Cool, thanks

[@grahamsmith5780]

I have built a few computers (years ago). I upgraded my 2012 Mac mini to 16MB and I moved the hard drive to the second slot and put my new SSD to the first slot (so if the whim ever took me I can backup to the mechanical hard drive). Well it transformed the Mac mini, very useable computer, boots up so quickly compared with my windows computer, so quiet too! I have to say the upgrade was quite fiddly and the instructions I found on line were not 100% correct requiring me to back step and play around until it all went back together again. I only paid £160 pounds for the Mac mini, but I kind of over cooked the upgrade by putting a half Terabyte SSD in (and upgraded to 16Mega bytes) kind of left me thinking for another £300 I could have bought a brand new M1 Mac mini!

[@MFEeee]

You’ll benefit from native booting versus a virtual machine. You’re also getting a maxed out mac mini versus an entry model m1

[@Matt2010]

If I ever were to get similar. I would with whatever base of hardware it is, instead of os x. Would prefer Linux mint or xfce Ubuntu. The latter can be trickier especially on ppc version of macs.

[@percybehrana123]

Hi how can you get 2580 *1080 resolution on the Mac mini 2012 model. I have it connected to a LG monitor with max resolution of 2580 *1080 and at the moment I am only able to use it upto full HD

[@EverydayTechTV]

I believe that's a limitation of the HDMI port. You probably need to get a Mini Display Port / Thunderbolt to HDMI adapter to fix the issue.

[@Capbob1952]

Hi, Patrick. Were you able to upgrade this mini to be able to use Monterey? My 2012 mini is still working hard but it is reminding me that I need to get another. I want to hold out for the anticipated mini release this fall. I do a lot of video so I really want that m2 chip. I can upgrade only to 10.15.7 and it is becoming increasingly incompatible with some of the apps I use regularly. Can have changes made inexpensively to my mini? Should I consider getting a newer used mini? What are your thoughts?

[@-xYz--nk1gm]

yes, i am using the latest osx ventura 13.1 on my mac mini 2012. same on macbook from 2014 even though apple says they are not supported. Opencore patcher, thats what you need

[@DacMan777]

I still use my 2012 i7 16GB Ram Dual 500GB SSD with matching external 2TB Hub as a Mac Server. My main machine is a M1 Mac Mini.

[@purocangrinag]

Did anyone else get a folder pop up with a question mark in the middle of the screen ?

[@Faithaven]

Question looking at doing this too with my same mac. How do you get your files from 5400 hard drive to new hard drive? How do you install the operating system? Isn’t SSD blank ?!

[@EverydayTechTV]

Good question. There are two ways off the top of my head that I can think of. Some macs have a recovery mode built in where it will download the OS via the internet. The way I did it was that I cloned my old HDD to the new SSD externally using a USB adapter. You can use a free Mac program called SuperDuper.

[@peteb.8120]

Considering putting Chrome FlexOS on MacMini 2012 as Apple no longer support software on late 2012 Mac Mini - any thoughts?

[@EverydayTechTV]

I personally haven't tried it but it definitely won't hurt. Worst case scenario, you can always restore Mac OS back later.

[@Nikotine76]

I did this and went upto 500 gb sad and 16 gb ram. I purchased a new M1 mini and had to bring it back because I saw no difference. The only thing is I can’t up date it anymore and some of the programs I tried using would not work but other than that this thing is a speed demon. I want to get the M2 but I don’t see me spending the extra money.

[@amartinez3192]

Very good info . Thanks for taking the time. Would like to buy a 2012 Mac mini as well , but would like to know what are the cons on not getting more IOS updates. What is affected? Just want to use for normal Microsoft office usage, internet some audio recording. What is the actual impact whit the updates. Can this 2012 be connected by Wifi ? Thansk for your help

[@EverydayTechTV]

Thanks for stopping by. The main cons for not getting more updates to MacOS is really just some more added features that the OS might offer. This doesn't sound like it will affect your use case. It should work well with normal Microsoft usages and even audio recording. It does have Wifi. The only other con I can see is that at some point you won't get anymore security updates.

[@amartinez3192]

@@EverydayTechTV thanks so much for your prompt and detailed respond . Will get one of this !!!

[@waynegrundy6272]

What would have been really clever is to use OpenCore to install Big Sur on it!

[@joepisciottajr]

If you're reading the comments in 2023, I am using a tricked out 2012 Mac Mini still for home use. I have a massive Apple ecosystem so if I need to do anything powerful (CPU heavy) I use my MacBook Pro. I did bascially the same, its an i7 unit which I installed a 500G SSD with Big Sur and 16G of RAM. I paired it with two 27 inch thunderbolt Apple Studio displays from 2011 (2560x1440). I have to say, even though these items are 10+ years old, it a solid performer that looks fantastic.

[@Jaang29]

hello , thank you for the video , can you use 3 monitors with these specs ? thank you , and hola from Miami , FL

[@EverydayTechTV]

Not out of the box. Out of the box it only supports two displays using the HDMI and Thunderbolt / Display port. The only way I know to get more than 2 monitors is using DisplayLink, which uses software and compatible USB dongles. I wouldn't recommend going that route with these old Macs.

[@Jaang29]

@@EverydayTechTV thank you for the guidance, saludos

[@dell177]

Just be aware the hard disks that shipped with these 2012 mac mini's were about as fast as a 1.44MB floppy on my 1998 win95 machine - dog slow. Replacing the spinning drive with an SSD does give it a huge boost in performance.

[@EverydayTechTV]

The HD to SSD upgrade is probably the biggest upgrade you can make.

[@KINGZZPVP_YT]

Me who was using a Mac Mini of this exact same generation to game up until early 2020:

[@mikewilsher1005]

I have been running my i5 mac mini 2012 (500GB SSD and 16 GB RAM) since I bought it in 2012 - It is still very very useful as a destop, but I use it as a backup machine for my ipads and iPhones over WIFI using iMazing, it was my Plex a couple of years ago but I mover that function to a VM - Anyway Apple still pushes updates out, typically security and safari updates. Presently it is running Catalina 10.15.7 but it is soon to become an Open SUSE machine.

[@EverydayTechTV]

Very nice! Wow... I like the iMazing idea. Probably one of my favorite apps. I forgot that you can do it over Wifi as well. I've been thinking about turning it into a VM machine, but plans have changed... since it's a useful machine again, I'm returning it back to my mom. :-)

[@-xYz--nk1gm]

I'm using the latest osx ventura 13.1 on my mac mini 2012. same on macbook from 2014 even though apple says they are not supported

[@mikewilsher1005]

@@-xYz--nk1gm I recently went OpenCore and Ventura as well!!

[@mikewilsher1005]

@@EverydayTechTV I recently moved iMazing over to my Mac Pro 2013, but yeah it is a great tool.

[@IPULCOLUMBIA]

I hoy mine for $50.00 i7 2.6 maxed it with 16 and 2TB SSD! I LOVE IT…got a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display-everything for about $200 AND ITS A WORK HORSE!!

[@theNorthernDogStar]

Best elevator music ever.

[@EverydayTechTV]

Thank you thank you. 😂

[@lizethayon7016]

Thank you for all the great tips! I bought the Mac Mini late 2012 and upgraded to 16GB RAM and bought same SSD as you but with 480gb. When I turned it on, a folder with a question mark flashing appeared. I checked that everything was connected correctly and just to make sure I put the original HDD back on and it was working fine(but really slow). So I think it's something to do with the new SSD, help? TYIA :)

[@EverydayTechTV]

Did you do any formatting of the new drive? If there’s a way you can connect the new SSD as an external drive and format it, I believe that would be the best bet. Also, make sure your connections are good as far as cables are concerned. I had a loose cable when I put it together the first time.

[@lizethayon7016]

@@EverydayTechTV oooops no I actually didn't try that. I will try that next, thank you for the fast response!

[@zafarfaisal7848]

Hey man! Last night I went to update my Mac mini 2012 with a new safari and one more thing! But in the process the screen went black and never came back! Any tips of getting it back? 🤔

[@EverydayTechTV]

oh boy... not sure. Looks like something might not be compatible. I hate to say it, but you might need to restore the OS. What OS did you install on there?

[@zafarfaisal7848]

@@EverydayTechTV thanks buddy! I had forced shut down last night ! And this afternoon when I turned it on after a while it loaded up! Phew! Am on macOS Catalina 10.15.7 😔

[@AFITgrad86]

My iTunes server is a 2011 i7 with 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM ... works great.

[@EverydayTechTV]

Very nice!

[@kaskas55]

Hi. What’s the control station under your monitor? Thanks

[@EverydayTechTV]

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. That is the Atem Mini Pro video switcher.

[@kaskas55]

@@EverydayTechTV thank you!

[@Xanduur]

I used that same OWC video.😅

[@erick09267554245]

I got mine for $100 i5/16gb/256gb, also sits in the living room, got it to replace my potato Apple TV

[@ihaa915]

I thought mac mini would’ve been as an additional power to imac. Not as a different computer.

[@tazulislam9956]

Can i use sketch in this mini?

[@EverydayTechTV]

I haven't tried but I can imagine it might struggle a bit because of an older processor and lack of a discrete GPU.

[@WWho-vn8yv]

Is there any upgrades in 2023? I just found one for $5 at my local thrift. Great video and thanks in advance if anyone sees this

[@EverydayTechTV]

Other than increasing the SSD size, there's not much other than that to upgrade in that model. Still, a great buy even in 2023 in my opinion.

[@give_me_my_nick_back]

Install windows and edge lol no irony, edge is pretty great and I switched to it on all the OSes I use but comes default with lots of adds, fortunatelly all can be disabled in settings. By far the fastest browser on old hardware

[@pepsicolazero]

You should have put the max 16gb ram is so cheap to buy

[@jpthegod]

You could have reset and erase the Drive data and format it and you could have had a new Mac mini with the latest software and more

[@EverydayTechTV]

The biggest bottleneck with the other Macs are the spinning hard drives. Putting in the SSD is the biggest upgrade by far.

[@williammarques7577]

You can go beyond that and patch the latest iOS version into it.

[@cgi2173]

You only installed 8gb of RAM? Why would you do that?

[@EverydayTechTV]

Good question... my intention for this upgrade was to make the Mac mini more of a living room computer, mainly used for Zoom calls and media playback. If I were going to use it for more things than that, I would have added the additional 16gb. This particular model supports a max of 16gb.

[@cottonbrad]

Like for the elevator music! 😆

[@Dorff_Meister]

I have an the i7 2012 Macbok Mini. It runs 16GB and an SSD - runs great. I recently upgraded it to Ventura. It works great.

[@emotionalintelligence776]

A SSD is mandatory and even a 500gb can be had for around $50US. Next take a moment and familiar yourself with OCLP and then install Ventura. Get 16gb of ram yes you know you're the type open 15 KZbin windows simultaneously, Lol. Even just using it as a media player it'll breeze through every task you throw at it. Now you're set for another 3 years with a secure OS no matter how you decide to use it.

[@jenniferw8963]

I have a Mac Mini M1 as well as my main computer. I was thinking it'd be fun to buy 2 x 2014 Mac Mini's (with ssd and to 16gb ram) and install windows 10 on one and linux on the other. Then stack all three up in the little mac mini pile :P

[@psyience3213]

I have a dumb tv and wanted an old refurbed computer to make it smart. I got a 2014 Mac mini 1. It was important to find one that had a 1tb ssd and 8gb ram. Ssd and 8gb ram minimum. Really today you kind of need 16

[@EverydayTechTV]

Yeah... this 2012 Mac mini in this video can support up to 16gb of ram and actually it doesn't cost that much more. In this particular situation and what I was planning to use it for, 8gb was sufficient.

[@psyience3213]

@@EverydayTechTV I'm liking mine so far. 8gb seems to be sufficient for what I need it for as well.

[@Frank-in-NY]

I have a Mac Mini Late 2012 as you have. I upgraded to 16GB Ram, and I had a spare Samsung EVO850 500GB SSD that I installed as well. Losing the Slow Hard Drive made a tremendous difference. I upgraded to Catalina, and I run Studio One Ver 6.5 DAW Recording software. I don't use a lot of Plugins I can do all I need to do with it. Best of all it's quiet, dead quiet. This is perfect for a Home Studio, no noisy fans to deal with, no problem keeping an open Mic. I'm amazed that a 13 year old product is still going along so well. In all fairness I have a 10 year old i5 PC, 16BG Ram, 1 TB SSD, Windows 10, that built myself. It my daily use machine. Good job on the upgrade, so don't toss those late 2012 Mac Mini's! 😀