Barely two years ago I posted about getting a 2014 Mac Mini for some newer software (thank you TurboTax). It’s got 16gb with an i7 processor. In that time I’ve moved most of my client work over to it and now boot from an external SSD. I am running it headless from my (also old) laptop. It’s running Monterey which is as far as it can go which means I can’t use TT next year. Since my laptop is the main machine at this time, I’ve got two monitors hooked up to that (one being a ~2010 27" Cinema Display)
So I guess I am back to looking at Mini’s again. Or a new tax program which I’m not sure I have the patience to do. (self employed so it’s not that straight-forward)
I have priced out a 2018 i7, 16/500 <$500, which was discontinued in 2023 - how long do we think OS updates will be available for that? Because that’s apparently Intuit’s justification for updates.
I could also get an M1 or M2 Mini but could not afford to go over 8gb.
I know I can upgrade the RAM in a 2018 but I don’t think the M1/M2s are user upgradeable?
I should be able to plug in an external SSD to the M1/M2 for more storage?
Software I am using directly on the 2014 Mini:
ARC (which is also limited by OS)
Digital Photo Professional (Canon) should be upgradeable
DXO PureRAW 3 (hopefully upgradeable, it does run on Silicon)
Apple Mail
Microsoft Remote Desktop (also on the laptop, depends on where I need my screens)
MS Office 16, which I bought not that long ago and I don’t think they are easy to move anymore
TurboTax which will continually raise the bar
The smart thing for future-proofing would be to get the M1/M2 but I don’t know if 8gb will hinder me at all. I do all my raw photo processing on the Mini, yes it takes a bit but I just let it work while I do other things.
One more thing - I bought a refurbished Windows laptop 8 years ago, it has needed to be reformatted probably 4 times since, because it randomly refuses to boot with disk errors. I should really get Parallels running for Windows on a newer Mac and ditch the laptop. OWC offers a great deal on it with a new machine but I think it’s for a subscription? Is there a virtual option that is an outright purchase (VirtualBox sadly makes me pull my hair out). I use it for one client right now.
Thanks
Diane