Upgrade Path for a 2012 mini…

[kurtzie]

I have a Late 2012 mini running High Sierra (10.13.6).
It has 8 GB Ram and a 1 TB Fusion Drive.

I want to upgrade to Mojave and eventually Catalina.
My need aren't too intensive.
Web, email, iTunes, Photos, and a small amount of iMovie.

I am thinking of adding the a Data Doubler kit with a 1TB SSD.
OWC Link

Is this a good path forward? Or should i look for new iron?
I am not worried about software issues going to Catalina.
I just don't want to be too far behind in OS.

What does the forum think?

Thanks,

Steve

[Lew Zealand]

I'm using a 2012 Mini with OWC's Data Doubler Kit and a 750GB SSD so obviously I'm biased to say this is a good idea. You can still upgrade to 16GB in the future and 2 internal drive bays leaves expansion there, too. Have you disassembled a Unibody Mini before? It's pretty straightforward but all disassemblies are scary the first time.

IMO the only downside is the possibility of something failing soon as everything is 7-8 years old inside. That never stops me but your comfort level with old hardware may be different.

[jdc]

You need a new macpro =) :comp:

Its a great kick.

Too bad you cant just replace the flash drive part of the Fusion drive with a bigger faster flash drive and then separate the 2 drives.

[modelamac]

kurtzie,

I would support your upgrading that mini. You can add RAM and with OWC'S data doubler, put an SSD in where the Optical Drive use to be (It's empty space in your mini). You will still be limited to Mojave (or may Catalina), but that will get you another 3-4 years life out of that Mac. I just recently gave my upgraded 2012 mini to my daughter.

kurtzie wrote:
I have a Late 2012 mini running High Sierra (10.13.6).
It has 8 GB Ram and a 1 TB Fusion Drive.

I want to upgrade to Mojave and eventually Catalina.
My need aren't too intensive.
Web, email, iTunes, Photos, and a small amount of iMovie.

I am thinking of adding the a Data Doubler kit with a 1TB SSD.
OWC Link

Is this a good path forward? Or should i look for new iron?
I am not worried about software issues going to Catalina.
I just don't want to be too far behind in OS.

What does the forum think?

Thanks,

Steve

[hal]

IF you have a fusion drive in your mini, you can't use the OWC data doubler. Everything that datadoubler offers is already present in your mini. You already have two drives installed in your mini. It should be a 128GB SSD and a 1TB HDD. There is no more room for drives - one of those will have to go if you want to upgrade.

Since your needs are modest, I suspect that you could pull BOTH drives and replace with the 1TB SSD. If you want to ensure that you have extra space, remove the 128SSD and install the 1TB SSD.

This is a FINE Machine for your needs. Upgrading to 16GB of ram isn't a bad idea either - prices are about as low as they can get right now.

kurtzie wrote:
I have a Late 2012 mini running High Sierra (10.13.6).
It has 8 GB Ram and a 1 TB Fusion Drive.

I want to upgrade to Mojave and eventually Catalina.
My need aren't too intensive.
Web, email, iTunes, Photos, and a small amount of iMovie.

I am thinking of adding the a Data Doubler kit with a 1TB SSD.
OWC Link

Is this a good path forward? Or should i look for new iron?
I am not worried about software issues going to Catalina.
I just don't want to be too far behind in OS.

What does the forum think?

Thanks,

Steve

[Lew Zealand]

D'oh! hal's right, you already have the 2 drive bays full with all both parets of the Fusion drive installed, you will need to remove at least one of the drives (and thus break the Fusion setup) to install your new 1TB SSD. Might as well remove both and leave yourself a free drive bay for future expansion.

The best way to do this is to clone your Fusion setup to the new drive with the new drive connected via a USB-SATA cable. Then you can Option-boot to that drive to make sure the clone works well. I do that every time I clone, did it yesterday replacing a 1TB SSD with a 250GB one.

Yes, you read that right.

I needed it more somewhere else.

[jdc]

modelamac wrote:
kurtzie,

I would support your upgrading that mini. You can add RAM and with OWC'S data doubler, put an SSD in where the Optical Drive use to be (It's empty space in your mini).

No optical in a 2012 mini. Good riddance.

[Speedy]

jdc wrote: No optical in a 2012 mini. Good riddance.

Used the optical drive in my 2011 MBP today to show a movie (via a projector) to a class of 14 students.

[jdc]

Speedy wrote:
[quote=jdc]No optical in a 2012 mini. Good riddance.

Used the optical drive in my 2011 MBP today to show a movie (via a projector) to a class of 14 students.
Before or after you had to explain what a DVD was...

[space-time]

jdc wrote:
[quote=Speedy]
[quote=jdc]No optical in a 2012 mini. Good riddance.

Used the optical drive in my 2011 MBP today to show a movie (via a projector) to a class of 14 students.
Before or after you had to explain what a DVD was...
don't be silly.