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Aluminum 'Unibody' Mac mini Q&A

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Published November 14, 2014

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How fast are the 'Late 2014' Aluminum 'Unibody' Mac mini models compared to each other and to the 'Late 2012' models replaced?

Please note that the 'Late 2012' and 'Late 2014' Mac mini models have been discontinued. However, this Q&A is up-to-date and can be quite helpful for anyone buying or selling one of these systems on the used market.

In the official press release for the 'Late 2014' Mac mini models -- the Mac mini 'Core i5' 1.4, 'Core i5' 2.6, 'Core i5' 2.8, and 'Core i7' 3.0 -- Apple mentions 'performance' twice, but both times in terms of graphics performance.

Specifically, Apple states that the 'Late 2014' Mac mini provides 'new levels of graphics performance' and more concretely declares that 'new integrated Intel HD Graphics 5000 and Intel Iris Graphics deliver up to 90 percent faster graphics performance than the previous generation.'

With any company's marketing department choosing to focus on graphics performance rather than overall performance, it is a safe assumption that overall performance is not as impressive.

Likewise, with even a cursory review of a comparison of the 'Late 2014' Mac mini models to the 'Late 2012' Mac mini models replaced, it is clear that the the newer line has a more advanced architecture and more modern graphics, but many models have not only slower clockspeeds than their predecessors, but also half the number of processor cores.

Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (Mid-2014 Mac mini and Apple Thunderbolt Display)

Obviously, on multicore tasks, models with half the number of cores will not perform as well, but just how much slower requires objective benchmarks. Likewise, comparing the performance of these Mac mini models in single core tasks and the performance of the 'Late 2014' models to each other requires objective benchmarks, too.

General Performance Overview

For a solid overview of the performance difference between the 'Late 2014' Mac mini line and earlier Mac mini models, EveryMac.com's own Ultimate Mac Comparison makes it quick to compare side-by-side 32-bit and 64-bit Geekbench benchmark averages with all other G3 and later Macs for thousands of possible performance comparisons.

Compared to one another, the performance results of the 'Late 2014' Mac mini models are inline with the clockspeed differences:

As demonstrated above, the entry-level Mac mini 'Core i5' 1.4 model is substantially slower overall than the two other stock models as well as the BTO/CTO 'Core i7' option. However, as the entry-level model costs 29% less than the mid-range Mac mini 'Core i5' 2.6, but is only 12% to 19% slower overall, it may be an acceptable option for those who place more importance on money than speed, even though the mere 4 GB of soldered RAM will shorten the usable life of the computer.

Likewise, as the BTO/CTO Mac mini 'Core i7' 3.0 is only 2% to 4% faster than the high-end stock Mac mini 'Core i5' 2.8, but costs 20% more, it does not represent a particularly good value.

Compared to the 'Late 2012' Mac mini models, the 'Late 2014' Mac mini models are between 1% and 9% faster in single core tasks but between 5% and 43% slower in multicore tasks:

Obviously, whether or not the 'Late 2014' Mac mini line provides a mediocre speed boost or a significant speed drop depends on whether or not you use apps that can take advantage of the Quad Core processors in the 'Late 2012' line -- like high-end video editing applications -- but it is clear that the overall performance of the 'Late 2014' line is underwhelming.

Third-Party Graphics Test Results

The blogosphere provided very little detailed coverage of the 'Late 2014' Mac mini, no doubt because it is not a particularly interesting system compared to its predecessor.

However, ArsTechnica did review the 'Late 2014' Mac mini, and most notably, shared some third-party graphics test results:

The HD 5000 improves on the HD 4000 by about 50 percent in the GFXBench T-Rex test and about 25 percent faster in the Cinebench R15 GPU test. The Iris 5100 further improves those numbers, beating the HD 4000 by 98 percent in the T-Rex test and about 45 percent in the Cinebench test. Scores in the heavier GFXBench Manhattan test improve as well, though by a much smaller margin -- obviously the amount you stand to gain will vary from game to game and task to task.

Although none of these Mac mini models have impressive graphics, these test results are inline with Apple's official 'up to 90% faster graphics' estimate.

Performance Summary

Ultimately, Apple's claim that the 'Late 2014' Mac mini line offers 'new levels of graphics performance' is reasonable, but with a marginal performance increase in single core tasks and a massive performance drop in multicore tasks compared to their predecessors, it is difficult to get excited about the overall performance of these models.

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Please refer to the Ultimate Mac Comparison feature to dynamically compare the Geekbench performance of any Mac mini model to any other G3 or later Mac.

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An eGPU can give your Mac additional graphics performance for professional apps, 3D gaming, VR content creation, and more.

eGPUs are supported by any Thunderbolt 3-equipped Mac¹ running macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 or later. Learn how to update the software on your Mac.

An eGPU lets you do all this on your Mac:

• Accelerate apps that use Metal, OpenGL, and OpenCL
• Connect additional external monitors and displays
• Use virtual reality headsets plugged into the eGPU
• Charge your MacBook Pro while using the eGPU
• Use an eGPU with your MacBook Pro while its built-in display is closed
• Connect an eGPU while a user is logged in
• Connect more than one eGPU using the multiple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports on your Mac²
• Use the menu bar item to safely disconnect the eGPU
• View the activity levels of built-in and external GPUs (Open Activity Monitor, then choose Window > GPU History.)

eGPU support in apps

eGPU support in macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 and later is designed to accelerate Metal, OpenGL, and OpenCL apps that benefit from a powerful eGPU. Not all apps support eGPU acceleration; check with the app's developer to learn more.³

In general, an eGPU can accelerate performance in these types of apps:

• Pro apps designed to utilize multiple GPUs
• 3D games, when an external monitor is attached directly to the eGPU
• VR apps, when the VR headset is attached directly to the eGPU
• Pro apps and 3D games that accelerate the built-in display of iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro (This capability must be enabled by the app's developer.)

You can configure applications to use an eGPU with one of the following methods.

Use the Prefer External GPU option

Starting with macOS Mojave 10.14, you can turn on Prefer External GPU in a specific app's Get Info panel in the Finder. This option lets the eGPU accelerate apps on any display connected to the Mac—including displays built in to iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro:

1. Quit the app if it's open.
2. Select the app in the Finder. Most apps are in your Applications folder. If you open the app from an alias or launcher, Control-click the app's icon and choose Show Original from the pop-up menu. Then select the original app.
3. Press Command-I to show the app's info window.
4. Select the checkbox next to Prefer External GPU.
   
5. Open the app to use it with the eGPU.

You won't see this option if an eGPU isn't connected, if your Mac isn't running macOS Mojave or later, or if the app self-manages its GPU selection. Some apps, such as Final Cut Pro, directly choose which graphics processors are used and will ignore the Prefer External GPU checkbox.

Set an external eGPU-connected display as the primary display

If you have an external display connected to your eGPU, you can choose it as the primary display for all apps. Since apps default to the GPU associated with the primary display, this option works with a variety of apps:

1. Quit any open apps that you want the eGPU to accelerate on the primary display.
2. Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences. Select Displays, then select the Arrangement tab.
3. Drag the white menu bar to the box that represents the display that's attached to the eGPU.
4. Open the apps that you want to use with the eGPU.

If you disconnect the eGPU, your Mac defaults back to the internal graphics processors that drives the built-in display. When the eGPU is re-attached, it automatically sets the external display as the primary display.

About macOS GPU drivers

Mac hardware and GPU software drivers have always been deeply integrated into the system. This design fuels the visually rich and graphical macOS experience as well as many deeper platform compute and graphics features. These include accelerating the user interface, providing support for advanced display features, rendering 3D graphics for pro software and games, processing photos and videos, driving powerful GPU compute features, and accelerating machine learning tasks. This deep integration also enables optimal battery life while providing for greater system performance and stability.

Apple develops, integrates, and supports macOS GPU drivers to ensure there are consistent GPU capabilities across all Mac products, including rich APIs like Metal, Core Animation, Core Image, and Core ML. In order to deliver the best possible customer experience, GPU drivers need to be engineered, integrated, tested, and delivered with each version of macOS. Aftermarket GPU drivers delivered by third parties are not compatible with macOS.

The GPU drivers delivered with macOS are also designed to enable a high quality, high performance experience when using an eGPU, as described in the list of recommended eGPU chassis and graphics card configurations below. Because of this deep system integration, only graphics cards that use the same GPU architecture as those built into Mac products are supported in macOS.

Supported eGPU configurations

It's important to use an eGPU with a recommended graphics card and Thunderbolt 3 chassis. If you use an eGPU to also charge your MacBook Pro, the eGPU's chassis needs to provide enough power to run the graphics card and charge the computer. Check with the manufacturer of the chassis to find out if it provides enough power for your MacBook Pro.

Recommended graphics cards, along with chassis that can power them sufficiently, are listed below.

Thunderbolt 3 all-in-one eGPU products

These products contain a powerful built-in GPU and supply sufficient power to charge your MacBook Pro.

Recommended Thunderbolt 3 all-in-one eGPUs:

• Blackmagic eGPU and Blackmagic eGPU Pro⁴
• Gigabyte RX 580 Gaming Box⁴
• Sonnet Radeon RX 570 eGFX Breakaway Puck
• Sonnet Radeon RX 560 eGFX Breakaway Puck⁵

AMD Radeon RX 470, RX 480, RX 570, RX 580, and Radeon Pro WX 7100

These graphics cards are based on the AMD Polaris architecture. Recommended graphics cards include the Sapphire Pulse series and the AMD WX series.

Recommended Thunderbolt 3 chassis for these graphics cards:

• OWC Mercury Helios FX⁴
• PowerColor Devil Box
• Sapphire Gear Box
• Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 350W
• Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 550W⁴
• Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 650W⁴
• Razer Core X⁴
• PowerColor Game Station⁴
• HP Omen⁴
• Akitio Node⁶

Apple Mac Mini Late 2014

AMD Radeon RX Vega 56

These graphics cards are based on the AMD Vega 56 architecture. Recommended graphics cards include the Sapphire Vega 56.

Recommended Thunderbolt 3 chassis for these graphics cards:

• OWC Mercury Helios FX⁴
• PowerColor Devil Box
• Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 550W⁴
• Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 650W⁴
• Razer Core X⁴
• PowerColor Game Station⁴

AMD Radeon RX Vega 64, Vega Frontier Edition Air, and Radeon Pro WX 9100

These graphics cards are based on the AMD Vega 64 architecture. Recommended graphics cards include the Sapphire Vega 64, AMD Frontier Edition air-cooled, and AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100.

Recommended Thunderbolt 3 chassis for these graphics cards:

• Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 650W⁴
• Razer Core X⁴

AMD Radeon RX 5700, 5700 XT, and 5700 XT 50th Anniversary

If you've installed macOS Catalina 10.15.1 or later, you can use these graphics cards that are based on the AMD Navi RDNA architecture. Recommended graphics cards include the AMD Radeon RX 5700, AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary.

Recommended Thunderbolt 3 chassis for these graphics cards:

• Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 650W⁴
• Razer Core X⁴

Learn more

• Learn how to choose your GPU in Final Cut Pro X 10.4.7 or later.
• To ensure the best eGPU performance, use the Thunderbolt 3 cable that came with your eGPU or an Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) cable. Also make sure that the cable is connected directly to a Thunderbolt 3 port on your Mac, not daisy-chained through another Thunderbolt device or hub.
• If you have questions about Thunderbolt 3 chassis or graphics cards, or about third-party app support and compatibility, contact the hardware or software provider.
• Software developers can learn more about programming their apps to take advantage of macOS eGPU support.

1. If you have a Mac mini (2018) with FileVault turned on, make sure to connect your primary display directly to Mac mini during startup. After you log in and see the macOS Desktop, you can unplug the display from Mac mini and connect it to your eGPU.

2. If you're using a 13-inch MacBook Pro from 2016 or 2017, always plug eGPUs and other high-performance devices into the left-hand ports for maximum data throughput.

3. macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 and later don't support eGPUs in Windows using Boot Camp or when your Mac is in macOS Recovery or installing system updates.

4. These chassis provide at least 85 watts of charging power, making them ideal for use with 15-inch MacBook Pro models.

Apple Mac Mini Malaysia

5. Playback of HDCP-protected content from iTunes and some streaming services is not supported on displays attached to Radeon 560-based eGPUs. You can play this content on the built-in display on MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iMac.

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6. If you use Akitio Node with a Mac notebook, you might need to connect your Mac to its power adapter to ensure proper charging.