I have a 2012 Mac Mini for work at home. And I work at the office on a top spec 27in iMac (I think 2014). When I started my new job with the brand new iMac I wiped the Mac Mini at the same time and installed an SSD (set up as a fusion drive).
Both Macs have fusion drives and 16GB RAM. The iMac has a better graphics card and better processor. But my experience is that the Mac Mini feels much faster.
Here's what I think the difference is...
The Mac Mini is still using Mac OS X 10.9.5 (Mavericks). The iMac is always updated to the most recent.
The Mac Mini uses Adobe CS6. The iMac uses Adobe CC.
I'm very careful not to install anything unnecessary on the Mac Mini.
I'm so happy with my Mac Mini. It's lightning fast and just stays that way, even two years later. If it died I would buy another secondhand one and do the same again.
In your situation I would do a fresh install of an older Mac OS X – something like Mavericks. Then just install the software you need and use. And if you can install an SSD then that makes a big difference as well.
I have a 2012 Mac Mini for work at home. And I work at the office on a top spec 27in iMac (I think 2014). When I started my new job with the brand new iMac I wiped the Mac Mini at the same time and installed an SSD (set up as a fusion drive).
Both Macs have fusion drives and 16GB RAM. The iMac has a better graphics card and better processor. But my experience is that the Mac Mini feels much faster.
Here's what I think the difference is...
I'm so happy with my Mac Mini. It's lightning fast and just stays that way, even two years later. If it died I would buy another secondhand one and do the same again.
In your situation I would do a fresh install of an older Mac OS X – something like Mavericks. Then just install the software you need and use. And if you can install an SSD then that makes a big difference as well.
I hope that helps.