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I recently purchased a Mac mini (late 2014) and when setting it up it download the most recent Monterey OS, when I start up it takes forever to before I am able to use the computer and even after it is up and running it takes some time before it will load and application, should I be using Monterey?
Mac mini, macOS 12.3
You can replace the an HDD with an SSD. YOu can also add a PCle SSD to the 2014 Mini
You can replace the an HDD with an SSD. YOu can also add a PCle SSD to the 2014 Mini
Also, you can get an external USB3 connected SSD if you can't or won't go through the hassle of opening the mini.
SSD are rather inexpensive now, that any mac with at least USB3 should not be made to suffer from a slow 5400rpm hard drive.
The two main factors, as Lanny suggested, that make a mac slow are RAM and drive.
The rotating hard drives in these macs are horribly slow, but they can now be cheaply replaced with a decent SSD, and that will make a huge difference.
Unfortunately, I don't think the RAM in the 2014 model is upgradeable, so if you have only 4GB that is still a problem.
But if you have 8GB and a slow drive, put in an SSD and your mac will fly with Monterey.
Since you provided no specifics about your Late 2014 Mac mini, I would guess that you have a mechanical HD that is failing and/or you only have 4 GBs of RAM.
Personally, I have never found that newer versions of macOS to be slower than the prior ones.
And, I own a Late 2014 Mac mini with 16 GBs of RAM and a 1 TB SSD.
An NVMe SSD in enclosure should be faster than a 2.5" SSD. I ran my 2013 Mac Pro with external NVMe enclosure connected via a USB3 port on the Mac Pro. The performance was very good.
Luis Sequeira1 wrote:
Also, you can get an external USB3 connected SSD if you can't or won't go through the hassle of opening the mini.
SSD are rather inexpensive now, that any mac with at least USB3 should not be made to suffer from a slow 5400rpm hard drive.
lllaass wrote:
An NVMe SSD in enclosure should be faster than a 2.5" SSD. I ran my 2013 Mac Pro with external NVMe enclosure connected via a USB3 port on the Mac Pro. The performance was very good.
I agree, it is faster. But the USB3 connection will be the bottleneck, so this speed difference may not be so noticeable in an older machine. I have four NVMe SSD and they can only reach about half their potential speed on a 2014 MBP, because the USB bus is limited to about 500MBps; on my 2019 the same drive goes up to about 900MBps.
Considering the difference in cost, it may not be worth it in old mac; it certainly is in a new one.
As a previous test I ran High Sierra from a 2.5" SSD connected to my Mac Pro via USB3 port and and compared it with operating from an NVMe connected via USB3. Performance when from the NVMe drive was significantly faster.
lllaass wrote:
As a previous test I ran High Sierra from a 2.5" SSD connected to my Mac Pro via USB3 port and and compared it with operating from an NVMe connected via USB3. Performance when from the NVMe drive was significantly faster.
Thanks, it is always good to have real experience.
Best OS for Mac mini (late 2014)
