Adding extra storage to a Mac Mini

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Adding extra storage to a Mac Mini

It is time my much loved iMac (2011) is updated. 11 years of faithful service from a great and reliable machine. I am going to purchase a basic Mac Mini 8GB and 256SSD.

I already have a Western Digital "My Passport" for Mac 1TB external Drive where I keep my back ups.

I intend to use the Mac Mini for general home use and for a desktop flight simulator (XPlane 11/12).

My questions are ( to protect clogging the Mac Mini SSD) - will using the WD drive for the flight sim programme affect performance speed greatly ? I assume ""yes but is it possible to gauge by how much?

Would I be better getting a larger SSD (either external or onboard)?

Thanks for any guidance.

Just checked my storage on my iMac shows 349 GB available of 499GB!!

Posted on Oct 18, 2022 4:17 AM

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Answer 1

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HWTech

Level 9

69,656 points

Oct 18, 2022 7:14 AM in response to WullyT

Make sure the XPlane software is compatible with the Mac Mini you plan to purchase. XPlane can be quite demanding on a computer. I doubt 8GB of RAM is going to be enough. Plus keep in mind you will be using Rosetta to run XPlane which may impact performance to some extent. Is the Apple Silicon GPU even going to be compatible with XPlane? Unless the XPlane Recommended System Requirements specify an M1 Mac, I would be hesitant to assume it will work properly. You definitely want to make sure you meet or exceed the Recommended System Requirements. You definitely want to see more from the system requirements than something like 2017+ Mac or macOS 10.15+ since M1 Macs may never have been considered. You definitely would want to find out the experience of other XPlane players running it on an M1 Mini. Games are very particular about the hardware of the computer.

Whether a WD MyPassport drive will be sufficient depends on what USB protocol it supports and the speed of the SSD as well. You definitely want to have a USB3.1+ drive.

Update: Checked the Steam page for the XPlane 12 Recommended System Requirements and 16GB of RAM is listed. Apple Silicon CPU & GPU are also listed so the game should work on an M1 Mac Mini. You never want to play a game on a computer which only meets the Minimum System Requirements since the experience will be disappointing. Always meet or exceed the Recommended requirements.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2014780/XPlane_12/

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