How fast is the Mac mini “Core Solo/Core Duo” compared to the Mac mini G4?
Please note that all systems mentioned in this Q&A have been discontinued. The Mac mini “Core Solo/Core Duo” models were replaced by the Mac mini “Core 2 Duo” line. In a balanced review that should be read in its entirety, the always faithful MacWorld compared the Mac mini “Core Solo” 1.5 and the Mac mini “Core Duo” 1.66 to the Mac mini G4/1.25 and Mac mini G4/1.42 that each replaced. Regarding the “real-world” speed of the Intel-based systems compared to their PowerPC-based predecessors, the author states that: Our standard rendering test, using the Universal Cinema 4D XL application, was nearly twice as fast on the Core Duo model as on the Core Solo mini, and even the Solo shaved 91 seconds off the time it took the [Mac mini G4] 1.42 GHz to perform the test–a speed boost of almost 34 percent. The Core Duo performed equally well in our iMovie filtering and iTunes encoding tests, whereas the Core Solo model clocked speeds in-between or worse than the previous minis in those tests. App
