Mac mini (Late 2014) slow on Monterey with external drives

Hello

I have a Mac mini from late 2014

I upgarded it in Monterey which is the last version available for it but it's impossible to use !!

Ive try launching it on an external lacie 4tb disk , and then an 256GB USB key but it's still way too slow

Would you have any idea for me on how to still use it ?

I have a MacBook Pro from 2022, but I just want to use this Mac mini for word, safari, YouTube etc...

thanks in advance

chris

(SPECS :

1,4Ghz intel core i5

4gb 1600 Mhz DDR3

Intel HD graphics 5000 1536 MB

and 512 Gb of internal storage)

Posted on Jul 5, 2026 8:14 AM

Top-ranking reply

Servant of Cats

Level 8

47,943 points

Posted on Jul 5, 2026 12:18 PM

Chris_0607 wrote:

Ive try launching it on an external lacie 4tb disk , and then an 256GB USB key but it's still way too slow

I'm guessing that when you say you have 512 GB of storage, you're referring to a 500 GB, 5400 rpm mechanical hard drive, rather than to 512 GB of flash storage.

Things might run faster if you started up off an external USB 3.0 SSD – rather than a slow mechanical hard drive (the LaCie 4 TB drive) or a USB flash drive (they typically use cheap, low-end flash memory and are both slower, and less durable, than a good SSD). Unfortunately SSDs are expensive right now ("thanks", AI companies!), and that's not the only problem.

Your Mac mini had only 4 GB of RAM. That RAM is soldered in and there is no way to add more. Had you bought one of the variants with 8 GB or 16 GB of RAM, you might be in a better position to run Monterey quickly.

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16 replies

Old Toad

Level 10

218,040 points

Jul 7, 2026 11:30 AM in response to Old Toad

Old Toad wrote:

According to Geekbench the new M4's CPU is 4 to 8 times faster than than the Intel i5.

And with the SSD it'll be even faster.

Mac mini (Late 2014) slow on Monterey with external drives