Should I sell my Mac Mini?

[Jeikobu]

I have a late 2012 Mac Mini. It’s only on El Capitan and it moves slower than a grandpa slug. I asked about if I could get it running well again a long time ago in this thread, and while I’d have to review it again and see if I’ve tried every suggestion, so far nothing I’m doing is working. I’m just kind of fed up with it all, and I’m honestly wondering if I should just see if I could sell it and put that money towards a new and better computer. It’s concerning if I can’t even get it to run well on a very outdated OS. Do you think it would be worth trying to sell it? I’m still having trouble finding out what it’s going for, although this thread seems to shed some light.

[Cornucopia]

If you hadn't already, you could beef those up w more RAM (8, possibly 16GB) and a replacement SSD as storage (e.g. 256GB). That should also be able to get you up to Mojave or Catalina, if you are lucky*. It would still be sluggish compared to new models, but would be acceptable for routine apps (browser, email, office, mild arts).

If you need zippier performance, best to bite the bullet & move on.
Not sure what you can get for them.


*sometimes upgrades work, sometimes not. Sometimes it works for a while and then a minor update will brick it. Have had all 3 happen to my late2012 macminis here on campus.

Note that BigSur is NOT compatible with those models, so you have no further upgrade path.


Scott

[Rain26]

If it gives you more headache, I say sell it and invest in a newer one but before you do check your budget and how much you could get from selling your device