Additional storage is easy enough to provide externally and still get substantial performance via USB 3 and Thunderbolt. A 500 GB 5400 RPM drive is actually still ~very~ fast and both OS X and Windows 7+ have been optimized well enough to load from these things quickly. 16 GB RAM is great but with Apple RAM costs, the smarter move is to stick with the base configuration now and just consider a new machine altogether in a few years when 16 GB RAM is more than just a nice luxury.ĭon't be to enticed by the storage situation.
You'll be fine with the i5s since dual core is your only option. I'm also not overly impressed by the dual-core i7 in name only CPUs. The fusion drives are nice but not $300 nice and that CPU bump is not substantial enough to merit the extra pocket money. IMO the 1.4 ghz and 2.6 ghz models both at base specs are the only two Minis really worth considering right now. The $499 model is an ok entry-level machine that will serve adequately for managing iOS devices and doing basic desktop work (web browsing, office work) but it will show its age much faster and will not do very well running high performance apps. The processor and RAM bumps are ~HUGE~ and will give you a much better computer. If you have the money, definitely go for the $699 model.
