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My Mac Mini (2014) is running slow

It says I have not Time Machine backup. Don't know how to fix that. Also, it says it have 5 32-bit apps but I don't know what those are. It reads they won't operate on Catalina, but I'm still in Mojave. Is itjust time to upgrade to a new computer?

one with more ram?


Mac mini, macOS 10.14

Posted on Nov 24, 2019 7:45 AM

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Posted on Nov 24, 2019 8:16 AM

It is easy to backup using Time Machine. see > Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

Having a Time Machine backup makes it simple and easy to recover from a hardware issue and/or move to a new Mac.


  1. That 2014 Mac Mini is an entry level model that has a slow Hard Drive and non-upgradable RAM.
  2. You are running MS Office, plus other third party apps and expecting way to much from a Mac Mini with those spec’s.
  3. You have installed CleanMyMac and Memory Cleaner. Both are not necessary and known to cause problem for macOS.
3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 24, 2019 8:16 AM in response to borglaw00

It is easy to backup using Time Machine. see > Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

Having a Time Machine backup makes it simple and easy to recover from a hardware issue and/or move to a new Mac.


  1. That 2014 Mac Mini is an entry level model that has a slow Hard Drive and non-upgradable RAM.
  2. You are running MS Office, plus other third party apps and expecting way to much from a Mac Mini with those spec’s.
  3. You have installed CleanMyMac and Memory Cleaner. Both are not necessary and known to cause problem for macOS.

Nov 24, 2019 10:46 AM in response to borglaw00

Sounds like a good plan.


If your looking at a 2018 Mac Mini’s, for sure go with more RAM and then the biggest SSD that your budget can endure. If your limited to a 256GB SSD, then you can always use an external drive to store your Photos, Music or Doc files on.


At this point say clear of anything Mac Mini or iMac with an HDD and you won’t be sorry.

Nov 24, 2019 9:46 AM in response to den.thed

So I think I need to upgrade, then. I'm thinking in terms or priority I should select based upon RAM, Hardrive and processor speed. For example, i was thinking I would put more funds into RAM (32GB) less into hard drive (maybe get a 256GB SSD, as opposed to say, a 1 or 2 TB) and then maybe a 3.0 four core instead of a 3.6 6 core machine. Is that a reasonable priority for a guy who is only really doing word processing, but has dual monitors with multiple apps running at once?

My Mac Mini (2014) is running slow

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