I bought this refurb as a replacement for a file server that had given up the ghost after 12 years. I had been using a Windows (consumer level) machine as a basic file server in my home. It (and Windows) had slowly become problematic over the years.
My wife and I have both converted to MacOS (MacBook Pro laptops), so I thought a MacOS-based machine would make sense.
I was looking for an inexpensive MacOS machine (of any type) to do the job. I run my file server "headless" (no monitor, keyboard, or mouse....just a network cable connecting it to my home network).
This 2014 model of MacMini is too old to update to Ventura, but it did update to Monterey just fine. It's a little slow in terms of interacting with it. But, that is not a problem as I only interact with it very occasionally. It delivers up (and stores) files--in its role as a file server--very quickly (faster than the Windows file server that it replaced). It sits there silently in my home office, working exactly as desired.
It came with a 1TB hard drive internally. I bought a low cost 2TB external hard drive separately. My strategy is:
* If a laptop dies, but I keep my files on the file server, I just have to replace the laptop and reinstall apps, and I'm good to go
* if the MacMini dies, I have to only replace the MacMini, and plug the external hard drive (with my actual files on it) into the replacement MacMini, and I'm back in action
* if the external hard drive dies, I have a cloud-based backup service that I can afford (with unlimited backup storage) that I can restore everything from, and I'm back in business.
Would absolutely do this again if/when the need arises.
If I were in the market for a MacMini to actually interact with (as my own operating machine) I'd still consider a refurb from this company, but might spring for a newer model that is faster and can update to Ventura.
| Processor | 2.6 GHz core_i5 |
|---|---|
| RAM | 8 GB LPDDR3 |
| Hard Drive | 1 TB SSD |
| Graphics coprocessor | Intel Iris Graphics |
| Chipset brand | Intel |
| Card description | Integrated |
| Graphics Memory Size | 256 |
| Wireless Standard | 802.11ab |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 2 |
| Brand | Apple |
| Series | Mac Mini |
| Item model number | MGEN2LLA-B-I526-8-H1000 |
| Hardware Platform | Mac |
| Operating System | Mac OS X |
| Product Dimensions | 19.56 x 3.56 x 19.56 cm; 1.36 kg |
| Item dimensions L x W x H | 19.6 x 3.6 x 19.6 Centimetres |
| Colour | Thunder Bolt |
| Processor Brand | Intel |
| Number of Processors | 2 |
| Memory Type | DDR3 SDRAM |
| Flash memory size | 8 TB |
| Hard Disk Interface | ATA |
| Hard drive rotational speed | 7200 |
