Advice on Mac Specs

Coffee Lounge
#21

I run multiple macs, and have been running then for 2 decades now starting out from an LC3. I currently have a mac mini i7 2012 which is still upgradable to 16gb ram which I have done as well as installed the server ribbon cable to support a second hard disk from OWC, so I could run the main OS on an SSD and retain the second drive for storage.
When I purchased the mac I almost threw it out the window a couple times because it was just so slow and laggy, after the SSD upgrade it is honestly one of my better macs. The 2014 model can still upgrade the hard drive but the ram is soldered on the board.

I then have a 2012 and 2014 macbook pro, both i7 and both run very well and are both upgradable without soldered components.

I have the 2011 imac too, the fatter one where you could still pull it apart without cracking the screen.

All the above have ssd drives as a must and all run perfectly day in and out without any issues and no antivirus packages since purchase. Obviously I dont believe every second email asking to open the attachment because I inherited a couple billion, but I download torrents and stuff and never had a virus.

Then I have a couple windows desktops which I use for accounts and stuff like that.

Personal opinion between mac and pc hardware, not a massive difference, mac os vs windows though is like a Ferrari vs a dung beetle, I have tested this many times with multiple benchmark applications using the exact same pc hardware with win 7 8 or 10 and then installing as a hackintosh and running the exact same benchmarks, it amazes me how the exact same hardware performes at almost 3 times the speed in some tests just from the operating system.

Iā€™m sure this will offend some people, and if you love windows, Iā€™m sorry, maybe I just dont know how to use it properly or something.

#22

OK guys, thank for the advice

Going back to my very first statement

I have now learned I need Metal APi support and you all love your Macs

Still no idea on specs other than you may need to get it right first time as a lot of kit has soldered RAM and therefore cant be upgraded if you need more memory.
Still no idea on processor and RAM requiremts

On a windows platform i would normally for for core i7 + 8GB ram min, preferably 16GB

Still no idea of spec for this requirement, basically to increase my understanding of the Mac platform, be better able to support customers who use a mac and perhaps some iPad/iPhone app development via Wappler at some stage.
So at moment, in summary, core i5 8Gb mac mini is looking best for my budget, struggling to find i7ā€™s at the right price. I assume 8BG ram is needed,. Must run Mojave so late 2012 models or newer

#23

Sounds fine to me Brian, my imac is an i5 with 8gb ram and it runs Wappler on major without trouble on the ssd drive.

#24

Thanks Paul, i guess thatā€™s what i needed to know, I can stop stressing about finding a decently priced core i7 or memory upgradability which makes the job easy, sub Ā£300 pound purchase by the looks of it

#25

This looks like a good option?

Late 2012 Apple Mac Mini i5 2.5GHz, 8GB RAM, 240GB SSD + 500GB HDD, macOS Mojave Ā£279.99

#26

Yes, i think that sounds like a winning machine to be honest, plus considering it already has 2 drives in it means it was either purchased as the server version, or had the second ribbon cable already installed for you which is a difficult find.
Personally i would do it. Also a very decent price in my opinion.

#27

@Dave also runs multiple macs so just checking as maybe he has an old one laying around at a decent price, however, its a very slim chance as i think he always has the absolute top of the line Macs.

#28

Sorry Paul, no Macs here! I looked at purchasing a Macbook Pro but after using a friends for a few hours canā€™t say I was overly impressed, especially for the cost of them. Also the way it kept throttling during mild workloads was unbearable. Iā€™ve since had a play around on one or two others including a top of the line unit and that was even worse. Not a fan here mate :wink:

EDIT - Iā€™m an Asus man!

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#29

Lol, hahaha, i thought you were a fellow mac man, oh well, was worth a try. :joy:

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#30

Mac Mini of above spec ordered (but more excited about my new i7 windows laptop which arrives today.)
Company say it natively runs Mojave, no hacks and will also run newly released Catalina
I love end of year company spends, lots of toys

#31

Yes, two Asus based i7 systems sitting on the desks of myself and my wife. Old Asus laptop (circa 2005) upgraded to Win 10 still in occasional use

Great kit

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#32

I got my daughter the ASUS ZenBook and I will admit, with that particular piece of hardware i was very pleasantly surprised, runs really well without doing anything additional.
Out of interest what Windows laptop are you getting that can run Mac too, i want one.

#33

No, Laptop is new toy, donā€™t really need one but if i donā€™t spend the money i pay 20% corporation tax on profit so itā€™s like buying with 20% discount.
Mac mini is for mac learning, again just a toy really.
No doubt new laptop could make an interesting hackintosh but i am not going down that road, but maybe my old Lenovo i5/ 8gb (which i hate, WiFi and touch screen issues) could be a fun hackintosh project :grinning:

#34

Looks like a winner to me. RAM and storage are upgradeable. You can probably get 4/5 years out of it.

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#35

Congratulations on becoming a modern computer user! Youā€™ll now be able to loan your antique windows computer to a museum or maybe a carnival and sell tickets to children who will look in wonder at the oddity known as windows computing. :slight_smile:

I havenā€™t looked much at the mobile app development in Wappler as of yet, but are you looking to develop a native app for iPad/iPhone?

#36

Lol, never going to happen Scott, Windows and Android for me, i will never worship the shiny Apple God.

To be honest at this stage regarding apps, no specific plans, just want to play

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#37

I look forward to seeing your results on the mobile side of things, Iā€™m interested in developing mobile as well, but just havenā€™t had time to look much into it as of yet.

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#38

We have successfully deployed our first Mobile App to a HUGE team of Cleaners. Developed in Wappler and deployed to Android tablets locked to this single Application. It is the first season we have had no complaints from the Cleaners as they love the simplicity and the fact itā€™s always available at the click of an Icon. Reminds me will put together Part III of my Mobile App Tutorialā€¦ Will get around to it this week! Essentially it is very simple, aside from some Manifest tweaks to allow for cross site based access rules, all depending on where your parent DBā€™s are located, these need to be specifiedā€¦ More on that when I publish Part III though!

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#39

would be interesting to know what were the top 5 challenges there in that native app ! :face_with_monocle:

#40

Wow, well done Dave, I am still having issues with mobile apps and wappler.
Going to try on my new laptop in case its a system setup issue and dare I say it, the mac mini I have ordered.
Then I will know if it is me or the system setup.
Was hoping to get everything working for next series of webinars (I hope to re-start soon) but for the moment i am having to look at different topics for them.

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