- #Apple a1347 mac mini review 2010 how to#
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True, there’s no suggestion such steps would deliver someone a computer that is on the cutting edge of today’s technology, but Apple fans would say the record of eight-year-old PCs being as easy to upgrade and as long-lasting is far more limited. For example, it’s common to see Minis from 2010 that shipped with 4GB of RAM or Minis from 2012 with 8GB of RAM – yet, a 2010 can upgrade to 8GB, and the 2012 to 16GB.Īs a result, many people in recent years have found they could buy a used Mac Mini from as far back as 2010 and that it will hold its own with a Mac from 2020 in numerous tasks.
What makes the Mini special is its capacity to effectively utilize upgrades introduced into it well beyond its base model. Is an Upgrade Really Worthwhile?Īt the outset, it’s useful to provide a quick overview surrounding why the Mini is so fantastic from a DIY-upgrade perspective.
#Apple a1347 mac mini review 2010 how to#
Let’s see which Mac Mini models are easy to upgrade, as well as the general process for how to do it in the 2010-2012 range. Minis are also popular for the speed and ease in which many of the versions can be easily upgraded in their RAM and hard drive capacity. The rear of the mini is also home to four USB ports (one fewer than the old model), a Mini DisplayPort, a FireWire 800 connection, and mic and headphone jacks.Mini users love them for the versatility they offer in terms of easily adding components. In another first, Apple's supplied an SD memory card reader, mounted at the rear, which makes it slightly more convenient to transfer media to or from external devices such as a digital camera. It will come in particularly handy for those who download movies via iTunes, or enjoy watching on-demand television services, such as iPlayer.
#Apple a1347 mac mini review 2010 1080p#
This lets users connect the device to an external display, such as a 1080p television, without the use of unsightly dongles. According to Apple, this makes the new mini's graphics performance twice as fast as that of its predecessor. Apple has a point - this GPU lets the mini play 3D games, whereas the integrated Intel graphics processing unit in the previous model was pretty much useless for anything more demanding than watching BBC iPlayer or high-definition YouTube videos.Īpple's supplied the mini with an HDMI video-output port for the first time. The most significant inclusion this time around is an Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics card. If you want storage beyond the 500GB maximum provided by Apple, your best bet may be to purchase an external USB or FireWire 800 hard drive. Getting access to the hard drive, for example, requires the removal of several screws. Sadly, other components, such as the hard drive and CPU, are more cunningly hidden away in the heart of the machine. This means you'll enjoy ludicrously quick access to the mini's memory, which you can swap out in a matter of seconds. Place your thumbs in its handy thumb-shaped grooves, twist the disc in an anti-clockwise direction, and it'll pop open, exposing the machine's inner components. The underside has a plastic, disc-shaped central panel, which resembles the rotating platter from a record deck.
#Apple a1347 mac mini review 2010 Bluetooth#
The mini also has Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi support.Īll the faces of the mini are made of solid aluminium except one. You can choose between a 320GB SATA hard drive or a 500GB unit.
The mini has 2GB of 1,066MHz DDR3 memory as standard, spread across two 1GB modules, and it's upgradeable to a maximum of 8GB for a whopping £400. You can quickly swap out the mini's memory by removing the plastic panel on the computer's underside Sadly, Apple hasn't bothered supplying any Core i-series CPUs (we'll probably have to wait until the next refresh for that), but it does provide a choice of 2.4GHz or 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs, both of which offer performance on a par with mid- to high-end laptops. The mini's internal components have been spruced up, too. The extra width and depth has given Apple room to mount the power supply inside the chassis, which adds considerably to the sleekness of the overall package.
#Apple a1347 mac mini review 2010 tv#
As a result, it's closer in design to the Apple TV than previous minis. It's wider and longer than its predecessor (197 by 197mm, as opposed to 165 by 165mm), but it's significantly flatter - just 36mm tall, compared to 51mm previously. The technique, first used on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, gives the mini a classy, contemporary aesthetic that few small-form-factor PCs can match. It's the first mini to use Apple's much-vaunted unibody construction method, whereby the entire chassis is hewn from a solid chunk of aluminium. The mini has always been a looker, but the latest version is a supermodel.