2018 Mac mini reviews

Hardware
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Reviews of the new Mac mini are out.

Marco Arment has a nice review of a specced up model

We didn’t know until now whether the iMac Pro’s greatness was a fluke. But now we have another data point: the last two desktops out of Apple have been incredible. After this, I have faith that they’re going to do the new Mac Pro justice when it finally ships next year.

The new Mac Mini is a great update, out of nowhere, to a product we thought would never be updated again.

Jason Snell got the base model as a review unit:

This new Mac mini is exactly what it needs to be. Today the Mac mini is about flexibility and filling niches. This update allows it to span a wide range from basic server needs all the way up to high-end applications that require a great deal of processor power, fast storage, ultra-fast networking, and even beyond (via Thunderbolt 3).

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Have you seen any commentary on Mac Mini 2018 for use as a Plex Server? I hear a lot of people use Synology for Plex servers but I worry it would be too much of a learning curve. I feel like I would be better off with a Mac Mini.

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I use two 2012 i7 quad cores (2.6GHz, 16GB RAM) for Plex servers and I don’t really run into many issues - unless one is trying to transcode multiple 1080p streams. You’ll find most Synology units to be too underpowered to do much serious transcoding (and not all can utilize hardware transcoding) so any 2018 Mac Mini should be fine - just get what your budget can stretch to!
I run two for Plex and the ease of being able to VNC in and administer in a familiar and flexible GUI is great.

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Thank you. I was thinking a Mac Mini is the way to go, just because I would be familiar with the interface.

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I just bought a 6 core Mac Mini and an using it with Plex with over 600 movies. Everything works perfectly. I am very pleased with the Mac Mini.

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Yesterday my new Mac Mini 2018 i7 16 Gb RAM 1Tb SSD arrived… I’ll update here once I have some experience with it. I’m upgrading from a 2011 Mac Mini i5, so a big difference in performance…

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I’ve got a 2012 Mac mini that’s been gathering dust for 18 months. Now you guys have be considering setting up a Plex server!

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Now had a few days with my Mac Mini 2018. Very easy install across from my old one and very nice; much faster but virtually no difference from High Sierra to Mojave. I bought an Apple Mouse and I’m not sure about it yet. The new Apple keyboard is better, not least that I now have a numeric keypad. The best thing I did was to upgrade my screens. I bought two Dell 24 inch Ultrasharp screens and they are so much better. So overall much better…

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Definitely do it - the 2012 model is great for Plex (assuming it’s the quad-core model, but that’s not essential)!