Hackintosh vs Mac mini vs iMac

Forums › Mac OS › Hackintosh vs Mac mini vs iMac

1 | 2

MikeB4

MikeB4
18775 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 12766

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#2521542 12-Jul-2020 19:11

Handle9:

It's a combination of something to do and being cheap. I can afford to buy another Mac but don't see the point if new hardware is coming. Saying that the first version of Apple Silicon is guaranteed to be a colossal screw up so maybe gen 2 will be better.

Until we go back to somewhat normal work conditions using a desktop Hackintosh is fine.

Yeah jumping into the freshly brewed Apple silicon wont be for the faint hearted.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

bendud

324 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 98

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2527304 22-Jul-2020 17:15

The leaked benchmarks from the devkit Minis running A12 chips from a couple of iPad Pro releases ago are fascinating.

Running 4 of the 8 cores of a 2 year old chip using x86 benchmarking software via Rosetta, the ARM box is about equivalent to the current base model MBA and faster than the ARM MS Surface Pro model running the native app.

I think this bodes well for the release ARM versions (somewhere around A14 probably). Improved battery life and thermal efficiency should be a given.

From the Antarctic Riviera

Handle9

11925 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9676

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2528366 24-Jul-2020 18:34

MikeB4:

Like with Linux individual mileage always varies. A few years back I would have reveled in it but now I like to just turn on, log in and get on with it. I will be interesting to hear how it all goes for you.

The wifi/bluetooth card turned up the other day. I had a bit of mucking around with finding the right kexts to get it going but now it is rock solid.

I also updated in place to 10.15.6 which went flawlessly. Opencore is a nice solution, it hasn't got all the nice UI that clover has but once you find your way around it it seems very good. The documentation is also excellent which helps.

Handle9

11925 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9676

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2758810 12-Aug-2021 03:53

I buckled this week and ended up getting an m1 Mac mini.

The hackintosh was getting to be a hassle and with the move to apple silicon it didn't make sense to carry on.

The Mac mini is great. I haven't heard the fan yet. It's been a week.

MikeB4

MikeB4
18775 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 12766

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#2758837 12-Aug-2021 08:17

My iMac is starting to oddly struggle especially with 365 applications and in particular Excel. I have done all the pram resets etc without improvement. Time to replace and I am tossing up replacing with either the 24" iMac or the M1 Mac Mini

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

Shapenz

518 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 70

#2758849 12-Aug-2021 08:51

Mini with a nice monitor would by my vote - Unless they bring a iMac out with a faster chip I don't really see the point of a 1st gen Apple Silicon iMac..... although they are pretty.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

MikeB4

MikeB4
18775 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 12766

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#2758938 12-Aug-2021 10:22

Shapenz:

Mini with a nice monitor would by my vote - Unless they bring a iMac out with a faster chip I don't really see the point of a 1st gen Apple Silicon iMac..... although they are pretty.

I like the look of this monitor https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MONLGL32785/LG-UltraGear-27GL850-B-27-QHD-Monitor-Nano-IPS-256

Except for the entry level iMac that has one less graphics core the Mini has the same internals. The Mini does offer more IO. I like a very clear desk and a clear desk fanatic and iMacs offer the opportunity to achieve that. However I have the need for a Windows machine for our business and currently resurrected my Surface Laptop 3 for that.

I have been considering the LG monitor mentioned above and docking the Surface to one of those and using a Mac mini. That option will require extras on my desk and more cabling to deal with yuck. It's a quandary that's for sure.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

Handle9

11925 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9676

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2759053 12-Aug-2021 14:10

MikeB4:
Shapenz:

Mini with a nice monitor would by my vote - Unless they bring a iMac out with a faster chip I don't really see the point of a 1st gen Apple Silicon iMac..... although they are pretty.

I like the look of this monitor https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MONLGL32785/LG-UltraGear-27GL850-B-27-QHD-Monitor-Nano-IPS-256

Except for the entry level iMac that has one less graphics core the Mini has the same internals. The Mini does offer more IO. I like a very clear desk and a clear desk fanatic and iMacs offer the opportunity to achieve that. However I have the need for a Windows machine for our business and currently resurrected my Surface Laptop 3 for that.

I have been considering the LG monitor mentioned above and docking the Surface to one of those and using a Mac mini. That option will require extras on my desk and more cabling to deal with yuck. It's a quandary that's for sure.

You don't really have more IO on the mini. You have 2 thunderbolt ports, 2 USB C and an ethernet port on the iMac vs HDMI (vs the included screen in the iMac), 2 thunderbolt, 2 USB A and ethernet on the mini.

I bought the mini as I already had monitors. If I was starting from scratch the iMac is quite a reasonably priced machine considering the very high quality monitor.

I also bought this hub. It wasn't cheap but it has an m.2 slot for an extra SSD as well as a more reasonable amount of IO. It looks very nice on the desk and appears to work very well.

https://www.amazon.ae/dp/B097CJMY9M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_i_5VYC61NM2QAH671HG4E7?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

JaseNZ

2576 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1489

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2759064 12-Aug-2021 14:40

I have a 8700k with a RX 580 that I run as a hackintosh , Running latest opencore 7.2 and Monterey beta.

Things are a lot easier now days than what they used to be to run them.

I am however though going to buy the next revision of the mac mini with the M1 chip.

Cost for one now I think is pretty reasonable and its the avenue they are heading down.

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding : Ice cream man , Ice cream man

1 | 2