Post #2729575

2026-03-17 17:47 UTC

I read your article and it was interesting. I didn’t know the RAM on the 2014 MacMinis wasn’t upgradeable. Thanks for letting me know. Also what did you mean by don’t bother with the hotter i7 version as I saw a lot of them for quite cheap? Are they bad or just too powerful for what I’d do? As for the Broadcom module, I’ve done it on my 2012 upgraded MacBook Pro and it was easy in Fedora. Don’t know about other distros though..

Replies (2)

@djdarren@piefed.social 2026-03-17 17:59

The RAM *is* upgradable on the 2018 mini, though the storage isn't. The ability to upgrade the RAM is a big part of why those ones have kept their value. I actually use a 2014 mini as my general purpose home server. The interesting thing about that model is that they were offered with a Fusion drive: so basically, some have a small SSD for installing the OS on, with a larger spinning HDD for everything else. If you do pick one up and it doesn't have the adapter for an M.2 drive, you can buy them on eBay for less than £10. So mine now has a 250GB M.2 SSD and a 1TB SATA SSD. When I installed Debian, I put /root on the M.2 and /home on the SATA, which works perfectly. The OS can have as much space as it needs without eating into the space my stuff needs. And I have an external 1Tb HDD connected too. But yeah, as mentioned elsewhere, the wifi can be a pain on those Macs. Personally, I didn't bother with it as it's hooked up with Gigabit ethernet anyway. edit to add: Mine is an 8GB model and I honestly haven't found myself wishing it had more (for what I use mine, that is). Mine runs Jellyfin, Navidrome, Mealie (a recipes app), pihole, and Booklore, and doesn't give me any trouble.

Open ##2729576
@doodoo_wizard@lemmy.ml 2026-03-17 21:41

For what you’re suggesting using it for there isn’t much point in paying for the faster hotter chip. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to decode 4k if you end up going that route with the 2014.

Open ##2729577