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Speeding up iPhoto on a Mac Mini
Wednesday, September 12, 2007 / Hardware, Software
I have over 2000 photos in my IPhoto and growing every week (grandchildren). The mini is slowing down. I can add up to 2 gigs of RAM, I have the basic 512 (I think). Rather than add extra RAM, I am wondering about just getting an external drive to run IPhoto, as I don’t want to remove my pictures. Will this work?
Upgrading RAM will help your mini run faster with all those pictures. An external drive will only really help you if you are running low on hard drive space. RAM is only short-term storage space, and internal hard drives or external hard drives are for long term storage of files. When you open an application, it is temporarily taken from the hard drive and sent to RAM. RAM is were you actively work with things on a computer. Then the changes are written back to the hard drive. The bigger the files you are working with, the more RAM you will need to keep the same functional speed.
The RAM can be difficult to install into the Mac mini. You may want to have an authorized service center install the RAM for you.
