[iMore Question]

I'm usually the last to upgrade. I got into the mac world with a 2009 mac mini, 2.0 ghz dual core which I am typing on currently. I do dabble into video editing at times and was waiting for the new mac mini. Like many I was disappointed with the new specs. I have been shopping on ebay for the 2012 model but they are priced at a premium of $800 on up. Then I looked up 8 core 2.8ghz 2008 mac pros and they can be had for around $600. Would they be comparable in speed, real world, not geekscores. To make it more interesting I edit with Sony Vegas so it would run on bootcamp install and not on vmware. Thanks

[kch50428]

I'd go with the newer one... will receive OSX support longer than an older model.

[mikeo007]

The mini is going to be faster for normal consumer apps like Sony Vegas. In fact, not even sure what OS version the 2008 Mac Pro supports. You might not even be able to run some recent programs on it.

Might want to check the specs on the Mac Pro as well, I don't think they ever had a dual 2.8ghz option (the CPUs themselves were only quad core).

Either way, the 2012 mini is much more advanced in terms of CPU architecture, bus speed, etc. It will be faster in day-to-day use.

[tuxontodd]

Thanks for the response. I've been looking on ebay for awhile now. And I probably shouldn't hold my breath for a refurb from apple. I just brought it up because the geekbench score for an 8 core 2.8 ghz mac pro was very similar to the mac mini, and can be found for around 600 with the ram topped off. As far as support goes, I'm still on snow leopard! I can tolerate mavericks but Yosemite I had a hard problem with the new icons.

[tuxontodd]

Mac pro will support Yosemite. It does come with an 8 core, 2 quads. 2.8 and I believe 3.2/3.3 ghz. The geekbench score was comparable to the mini.

[ajl]

The Mac Pro supports Yosemite yes, but for future updates you're better off with the Mac Mini to be sure


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[tuxontodd]

Yeah but I'm old school. Like real old school in I walked five miles uphill in the snow both ways. Still on snow leopard. Mavericks/Yosemite gets me to 2020 easy. If I could find a i7 mini at a reasonable price, I'm on it.

[Algus]

Nothing wrong with being old school. I still run Mac OS 7 all the time. The last version of my favorite word processor, Corel WordPerfect, that ran on Macs is from back then. Being able to update your OS is a great thing though because it helps keep you current on security updates, etc. It isn't like Windows where you have to pay for each new major version. The updates are free and in some cases help clean out bugs from the older versions (although not at first usually LOL seems like they always need to fix a few things)

[tuxontodd]

Problem solved for the time being. I'll keep my eyes open for the mac mini but in the meantime, I have a 2006 Dell Precision 690. At the time the upgrade path was very limited. I never used it anymore and was just going to give it away. Ram went bad but Crucial backed up the warranty. Anyway it seems it is now upgradeable to an 8 core Xenon 5300 series. Doing the research the cost should be in the 100 dollar range or less.

[tuxontodd]

A late update. For about $30 I did upgrade to a dual quad core and then got Mavericks running on the Precision. Geekbench score comes in around 9700, which isn't too shabby for a 9 year old machine. Downside is it's also a portable heater. Still shopping/waiting for the '12 mac mini, they do come up refurbished from time to time but have to be quick on the buy button.