I7 mini vs entry 2012 iMac

I have a 2011 15" MBP with a Crucial M4 SSD that I am looking to move to another family member and replace with a desktop machine.
In looking at the options, am I correct in thinking that getting the $799 i7 MacMini, installing the Crucial SSD drive I already have, and getting 3rd party memory and a decent monitor (all of which will cost me about $1100 since I already have the SSD drive) will give me better performance than getting the entry level 21.5" iMac? The computer is used for basic office applications, web browsing, etc.

bogert wrote:
The only issue is that replacing the stock Mini drive with the SSD apparently voids the warranty. That is an issue, I suppose. OWC has a device that allows you to add an SSD without removing the stock drive, but that apparently voids AppleCare for the drive.
Not necessarily. Check this link. I believe the only warranty issue with DIY drive replacement or addition is IF the machine becomes damaged during the replacement/addition.
Again, I added my SSD to my 2012 Mac Mini i5 which came with the stock 500GB HDD and I'm not the least bit worried about warranty issues.
Snippett from link:
The only drawback to using OWC's kit is that servicing the Mac yourself may void your warranty if you damage your system in the process, so be sure you understand these risks before doing the procedure. If you decide to proceed and upgrade your system, then do be sure to thoroughly review OWC's how-to videos and also review other instructions such as those from iFixIt to understand exactly how the system is disassembled and reassembled before you start.

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I have a late 2012 iMac and a late 2009 mac mini. I want to know if I can take the 8 GB of ram from the iMac and install it in my mac mini.

I have a late 2012 iMac and a late 2009 mac mini. I want to know if I can take the 8 GB of ram from the iMac and install it in my mac mini.
According to Cruicial my mac mini could use:
Module Size: 8GB Kit (4GBx2)
Package: 204-pin SODIMM
Feature: DDR3 PC3-8500
Specs: DDR3 PC3-8500 • CL=7 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1066 • 1.35V • 512Meg x 64
Also According to Cruical my iMac uses:
Module Size: 8GB Kit (4GBx2)
Package: 204-pin SODIMM
Feature: DDR3 PC3-12800
Specs: DDR3 PC3-12800 • CL=11 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1600 • 1.35V
I want to increase the ram in both computers.
So, can I put the iMac ram in my mac mini and then I'd only have to buy ram for my iMac? Naturally the ulitmate test will be when I actually install it, but having an expectation of success or failure will allow me to plan on what to spend money on.
Thanks,
Bear

Thanks for the responses. I probably wont even try as my priority is Ram for the mac mini. 2 is not enough. 8 for my imac is okay for now.
Somewhere I thought I'd heard that faster Ram would simply clock at the lower speed. It seems that I am incorrect.
Thanks,
Bear

I have 2012 iMac with 4 GB RAM. Every time I'm importing vedeo using MiniDV HDV Sony camera, FCP X is importing normally, with 2.5 GB of RAM free. Then, after 10 or 15 min of importing, FCP is frozen, and free RAM is close to zero. What happens?

I have 2012 iMac with 4 GB RAM. When I turn FCP X, I usually have 2.5 RAM free and the program works normally when I edit. The issue is importing video. I use a Sony HDV camera to import from miniDV tapes, and Apple says Sony HDVs are supported. Yet every time I'm importing, it works normally for 10-15 min, then the amount of free RAM quickly (yet gradually) is reduced to almost zero (I used Memory Clean to dicover it) and then FCP X got frozen and I need to force quit it and start all over again, to work for another 15 min. Horrible! What is it?

Are using 10.0.7 (the latest version)?
Memory problems seem to have been alleviated with 10.0.6 and 10.0.7.
Please post the screenshots of Activity Monitor, as Tom asked. This will at least let us see if it is FCP X itself gobbling a lot of RAM or if you are suffering from the problem of OS X not releasing "Inactive Memory" in a timely manner - an issue that has been there for a long time :-(
You didn't mention whether you have the 27" or 21.5" iMac. Unfortunately, in the 21.5" adding RAM is a big hassle. But if you have the 27", then seriously consider upping the RAM. It is quite inexpensive, from the likes of Crucial or other reputable third parties.

Late 2012 iMac Freezes every few days

My iMac has been in the Apple Store for a week with the Geniuses and they came back saying they couldn't find anything so putting this out to this community in the hope someone else can help. Here are the details.
Model: 21.5 inch Late-2012 iMac
RAM: 8Gb
Processor: 2.9Ghz Intel Core i5
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 512 MB
Hard Drive: 1.12 Tb Fusion (653Gb free)
OS: 10.8.4
Software: Fairly vanilla with no MS or Adobe Apps. No system extensions or hacks installed.
Symptom: Every few days or so the iMac locks up. Certain running applications will still work but many common ones such as Pages, Aperture, App Store & TextEdit will hang when trying to open. Force Quitting them doesn't affect them. When I try to shut down the computer it goes to the grey screen and stays there. Eventually the power needs to be turned off to reboot it. This has been doing this for the last several months.
Solutions Tried:
- Fixed permissions
- Reset PRAM
- Re-install OS X
I can't replicate the crash but today it happened again. At around 3:50pm I went to the iMac and noticed that Pages wouldn't load. Force quitting the App didn't do anything. Aperture was not responding so force quit that. Still wouldn't re-open. Mail was working fine and I was able to send a test message. Safari worked fine. Launched System Preferences ok but could not launch TextEdit or App Store. Calendar opened and closed fine. Attempted to restart the Mac but got the grey screen and after 5 minutes of waiting turned the computer off & relaunched it.
Here is a snapshot of some Console entries:
5/09/13 2:27:41.316 PM coreaudiod[122]: Enabled automatic stack shots because audio IO is inactive
5/09/13 2:28:16.449 PM coreaudiod[122]: Disabled automatic stack shots because audio IO is active
5/09/13 2:28:17.262 PM coreaudiod[122]: Enabled automatic stack shots because audio IO is inactive
5/09/13 2:28:50.579 PM com.apple.usbmuxd[68]: _heartbeat_failed heartbeat detected detach for device 0xdf3-10.0.1.10:0!
5/09/13 2:37:54.690 PM com.apple.usbmuxd[68]: _heartbeat_failed heartbeat detected detach for device 0xdfc-10.0.1.10:0!
5/09/13 2:42:04.656 PM lsboxd[209]: @AE relay 61657674:6f646f63
5/09/13 2:47:21.156 PM com.apple.usbmuxd[68]: _heartbeat_failed heartbeat detected detach for device 0xe05-10.0.1.11:0!
5/09/13 4:03:23.428 PM com.apple.launchd[1]: *** launchd[1] has started up. ***
5/09/13 4:03:23.428 PM com.apple.launchd[1]: *** Shutdown logging is enabled. ***
5/09/13 4:03:24.934 PM com.apple.launchd[1]: (com.apple.automountd) Unknown key for boolean: NSSupportsSuddenTermination
5/09/13 4:03:26.157 PM airportd[30]: _processDLILEvent: en1 attached (down)
5/09/13 4:03:26.342 PM UserEventAgent[11]: Captive: [HandleNetworkInformationChanged:2435] nwi_state_copy returned NULL
5/09/13 4:03:26.609 PM fseventsd[39]: event logs in /.fseventsd out of sync with volume. destroying old logs. (419745 5 419906)
5/09/13 4:03:26.612 PM fseventsd[39]: log dir: /.fseventsd getting new uuid: A3689432-84D2-4FB0-8C25-0352BC004F8B
5/09/13 4:03:26.666 PM mDNSResponder[40]: mDNSResponder mDNSResponder-379.38.1 (Apr 25 2013 19:19:56) starting OSXVers 12
Notice that the last Console entry was at 2:47pm (in red) and then nothing. I went to use the computer at 3:50pm and did several actions on it. Plugged in iPad, opened iTunes. Copied a file from the iPad to the desktop. Prior to that it hadn't been used for several hours. The shutdown that I selected does not appear in the log (although it only managed to go to the grey screen rather than complete a full shut down).
Appreciate any clues at all here. This is very frustrating and has been going on for far too long.
TIA. Jordan

Back up all data immediately as your boot drive may be failing.
If you have more than one user account, these instructions must be carried out as an administrator.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
syslog -k Sender kernel -k Message CReq 'Channel t|GPU D|I/O|Previous Sh' | tail | open -ef
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
The command may take a noticeable amount of time to run. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear.
A TextEdit window will open with the output of the command. If the command produced no output, the window will be empty. Post the contents of the TextEdit window (not the Terminal window), if any — the text, please, not a screenshot. The title of the window doesn't matter, and you don't need to post that.

2012 iMac as external monitor

Hi, got 2012 imac that I want to use as a external monitor from my PC with has displayport out.
From research I see that to use it via HDMI or DVI you have to make sure you get an expensive bi-directional cable, but all the cables I can see are just called mini-displayport to displayport, where as I want to go from displayport to mini-displayport.
Do I need to a different cable or are mini-displayport to displayport cables bi-directional?
Cheers

Hi, I don't think you can do it...
Mid 2011s & up need Thunderbolt cable...
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3775

Using 2009 iMac as second display for 2012 iMac

I am using my 2009 iMac as a second display using a mini display plugged into the 2012 iMac Thunderbolt port. When I plug it in, it works fine, but if I need to restart my 2012 iMac, it won't recognize the second display on reboot.
How do I make my 2012 iMac automatically recognize the second display? The only way I seem to make it work is by unplugging the cable, and then plugging it back in. When I do, it immediately recognizes the second display.

Thank you. Here's where my confusion comes in
"iMac (Mid 2011) and later: target Display Mode does not work with Mini DisplayPort cable"
Symptoms
When you attempt to connect an iMac (21.5-inch or 27-inch, Mid 2011) and later to another computer with a Mini DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort cable, the screen of the target iMac will not become an external display when you press Command-F2 to activate Target Display Mode.
Resolution
iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) and iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) and later computers support Target Display Mode via Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt cable (2 m) when the source is another Thunderbolt-equipped computer.
iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) computers do not support Target Display Mode via Mini DisplayPort cables.

Late 2012 imac bootcamp error"Non system disk, press any key to reboot"

Hey all,
I'm having all sorts of issues with getting windows 7 installed through bootcamp. I have the late 2012 imac 27 inch fusion i7 16 gigs of ram 680gtx. I downloaded the latest bootcamp drivers to my usb after i re-formated it. Partitioned the drive 200 gig windows 700 gigs mac. It restarts and then i get this error screen, "non-system disk.(see photo below) Press any key to reboot." which of course is unresponsive. I hard reset with the Option held into boot back into mac. I'm using Windows 7 64 bit. Please, any help would be appreciated. I have a unopened copy of Bioshock Infinite waiting for me

The Macs with a built-in Optical drive use the Windows DVD, because that is what BC tells it to be set to. The USB is not made bootable on such machines.
The exceptions to this rule are (from Boot Camp 5.1: Frequently asked questions)
Can I use a downloaded (ISO) version of Windows with Boot Camp?
MacBook Air (Mid 2011 and later), MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 and later, including Retina models), Mac mini (Mid 2011 and later), and iMac (Late 2012) can install downloaded (ISO) versions of Windows 7 and 8.

Issue with Fusion drive (Late 2012 iMac)

I have a late 2009 iMac that has been backed up with Time Machine. I recently picked up a late 2012 iMac with the 1TB Fusion drive. When I first plugged in my Time Machine drive, I was asked if I'd like to transfer my files over. I did, and everything was working fine. I was using about 800GB of my 1.12TB Fusion Drive.
I recently decided to add a new partition to the Macintosh HD in order to put Windows on it. I did this through the Disk Utility. I noticed that it was taking an inordinately long time to create this partition. Finally, I realized that the Disk Utility was locked up. I was forced to reboot to fix it.
I went back and tried again and I got an error stating that the drive had errors and I couldn't make a new partition. So I attempted to "repair disk". That gave me an error "Error: This disk needs to be repaired using the Recovery HD. Restart your computer, holding down the Command key and the R key until you see the Apple logo. When the OS X Utilities window appears, choose Disk Utility."
So I rebooted into recovery. Recovery was absolutely no help either. It couldn't repair the drive, even though it had me erase all the data. So I downloaded 10.8.2 on my Mac Mini and made a boot disk out of my Thunderbolt drive. I booted into OS X and tried again to repair, thinking it would work since the Fusion was no longer the boot drive. No such luck. I then booted back into recovery and had recovery download and install a fresh version of 10.8.2. 2+ hours into the download/install, I get an error that says "OS X couldn't be installed because the disk Macintosh HD is damaged and can't be repaired."
Ok, so as a final attempt, I had recovery use my time machine to start over. That worked, kinda. It now shows my Fusion drive as being completely filled in Disk Utility (49KB remains, only about 800 or so was used before), and Finder shows the Fusion drive as being 860GB capacity with 837GB used. I still can't repair the disk. And now my Time Machine acts like I'm working on an entirely new computer and says there's not enough room on the drive unless I format my Time Machine drive and start over.
Yeah, TL;DR, but does anybody have any idea how I can get this issue resolved? I wonder if doing the TM restore from my 2009 iMac may have introduced the non-Fusion version of Disk Utilities that doesn't know how to fix my issue.

Yes I have AppleCare.
Before that I've now made a bootable disk and tried to repair the internal drive, but this was not possible.
I have a Time Machine backup, but excluded some temporary folders.
Is there a way to access these folders in case they aren't in a damaged area?
Maybe using "Target Disk mode"?
I've never done this before.
This Mac has no FireWire, but we have an adaptor for Thunderbolt to FireWire - could I connect an older Mac with FireWire using this adaptor for Target Disk Mode?
Many thanks.

Has anyone seen the new 2012 iMac in any Apple stores yet?

I was told by an Apple store employee that they would have the new 2012 iMac's in the Apple stores with-in a few days of their launch announcement, back in late October .... here it is late November and the new 2012 iMac's are not yet in the Apple store, for display purposes, here in Rochester, NY.
Last night I was again at the Apple store here in Rochester, and asking about the new iMacs. one of the employees now says they "may be out in December" some time.
I'm very disapponted as a loyal Mac user for over twenty years (and even as an Apple investor). that Apple is announcing the launch of these new products, and then taking months for these products to show up for sale.
I'm starting to think that it won't be until late January that I can actually be able to purchase one of the new 2012 21.5" iMacs ..... i've been waiting years to get a new "antiglare" iMac.
Has any one actually seen one of the new 21.5" 2012 iMacs in one of their local Apple stores, on display yet?

UPDATE: Dec. 6, 2012
I was just over at the local Apple store loking at the new 21.5" iMac, and to be honest, I wasn't all that impressed. I have been waiting for over a year to upgrade my Mac, and had high expectations for the new 2012 iMac's .... but seeing and playing with one in the store .... the new one's may not be for me.
Most of all I wanted to believe all the talk about 75% less reflections in the new iMac display, but while in the Apple store, I saw no real difference over the previous model ... and if so, it was more like 25% less reflections. Nothing that dramatic, certainly not like the "anti-glare" screens available in the 2011 MacBook Pro. Basically, my understanding is that the new 2012 iMac's use the SAME DISPLAY as the previous iMac models did. It's the LG "LM215WF3" display, same as those in the 2009-2011 iMac displays. The only difference in the 2012 display, is that they took out the small space between the outer glass and the actual screen surface to get the overall display thinner. It still has the basic "glossy glass" cover screen.
The other disappointment was the extremely poor audio sound from the new iMac's built-in speakers. They just sounded so "tinny", even when playing with multiple iTunes "equalizer" settings. Again, disappointing.
Looks like I'll have to research the possibility of buying a Mini-Mac and an older Apple 20" cinema display off eBay. Or pick up a late model 2011 iMac and get the Rad-Tech "anti-glare" screen film for the display (Ugh!).
Being a graphic designer and art director in profession, I just can't understand why Apple has abandoned the "professional" market for these glossy displays in it's iMac line .... or at least STILL hasn't given us an option for a true "anti-glare" display.
Is it just me, or are my observations on the new 2012 iMac being seen the same by others as well?

Can someone please tell me if the late Dec. 2012 iMac comes with mountain lion or something different? thanks

Can someone please tell me if the late Dec. 2012 imac comes with mountain lion or something diffrent? thanks.

AppleMenu > AboutThisMac ...
Mine is 10.6.8 (SnowLeoaprd)
10.7.x is Lion
10.8.x is Mountain Lion

Will the new 2012 iMac support 2 hard drives (HDD and SSD) like the 2011 iMac?

Will the new 2012 iMac support 2 hard drives (HDD and SSD) like the 2011 iMac?

Well, I'm not sure how anything can fit into a 5 mm depth, so I can see why they've removed the CD drive - there probably wouldn't be enough room for the laser, LOL. Can't imagine speakers, hard drive (of any flavor), logic board and so on and so forth. Fortunately, my iMac has Applecare through early 2015 so I'm set for a while; I may check out a Mini at that point - saw that it is configurable with a fusion drive, which would make it interesting for me.

Late 2009 imac as second display for new (late 2012) imac. How to?

I have a late 2009 imac 27 that I would like to use as a second display for my late 2012 imac 27. Has anybody connected them successfully? I am getting very mixed information on the topic.

Thank you. Here's where my confusion comes in
"iMac (Mid 2011) and later: target Display Mode does not work with Mini DisplayPort cable"
Symptoms
When you attempt to connect an iMac (21.5-inch or 27-inch, Mid 2011) and later to another computer with a Mini DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort cable, the screen of the target iMac will not become an external display when you press Command-F2 to activate Target Display Mode.
Resolution
iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) and iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) and later computers support Target Display Mode via Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt cable (2 m) when the source is another Thunderbolt-equipped computer.
iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) computers do not support Target Display Mode via Mini DisplayPort cables.

Late 2012 iMac has no firewire port my Canon HV10 camcorder has only firewire

My late 2012 iMac has no firewire port. My Canon HV10 Camcorder has mini HDV/DV Firewire output. Can anyone suggest an adaptor or any other fix

Hi Danua
I don't know if you saw this thread
Connecting a Canon HV30 camcorder vai a thunderbolt port to a new imac
This has worked for me but be careful about making sure that power is off on the camcorder at the times mentioned
Kevin

New 2012 iMacs display input from external source

Do the new 2012 imacs support input from external DisplayPort sources?

2012 iMacs can't be used as a monitor for Macs with Mini DisplayPort, but you can use a 27-inch iMac with Mini DisplayPort as a monitor for 2012 iMacs. See > http://support.apple.com/kb/PH4469

Late 2012 iMac / OS X 10.8.5 / Wifi Connectivity Problems

Hello all I am the latest to suffer this so annoying problem. Just today when I came home it's not connecting. I have a late 2012 iMac model - OS X 10.8.5
It's been working for past 2 months...my iPad Mini is working as normal with the wifi but my iMac and also my iPhone 5, both are not connecting to the wifi
I have tried many things from what I have read in threads nothing has worked
Can anyone advise please

Back up all data before making any changes.
Step 1
Take all the applicable steps in this support article.
Step 2
If you're running OS X 10.8.4 or later, run Wireless Diagnostics and take the remedial steps suggested in the summary that appears, if any. The program also generates a large file of information about your system, which would be used by Apple Engineering in case of a support incident. Don't post the contents here.
Step 3
If you're not using a wireless keyboard or trackpad, disable Bluetooth by selecting Turn Bluetooth Off from the menu with the Bluetooth icon. If you don't have that menu, open the Bluetooth preference pane in System Preferences and check the box marked Show Bluetooth in menu bar. Test. Continue if you find that Wi-Fi is faster with Bluetooth disabled.
From that same menu, select Open Bluetooth Preferences. If the box labeled Discoverable is checked, uncheck it. Click the Advanced button, and in the sheet that opens, uncheck the top three boxes, if any are checked. Click OK. Enable Bluetooth and test again.
If the application called "Bluetooth Setup Assistant" is running, quit it.
Step 4
This step will erase all your settings in the Network preference pane. Make a note of them before you begin, and recreate them afterwards. It may be helpful to take screenshots of the preference pane.
Triple-click the line below on this page to select it:
/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration
Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
Services ▹ Reveal
from the contextual menu.* A folder should open with an item named "SystemConfiguration" selected. Move the selected item to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator password.
*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select
Go ▹ Go to Folder...
from the menu bar, paste into the box that opens (command-V). You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.
Step 5
Reset the System Management Controller.
Step 6
Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service center.
Back up all data on the internal drive(s) before you hand over your computer to anyone. There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional — ask if you need guidance.
If privacy is a concern, erase the data partition(s) with the option to write zeros* (do this only if you have at least two complete, independent backups, and you know how to restore to an empty drive from any of them.) Don’t erase the recovery partition, if present.
Keeping your confidential data secure during hardware repair
*An SSD doesn't need to be zeroed.

I7 mini vs entry 2012 iMac

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