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There is T2 chip, even if it wasn’t soldered what would you have done? Plug it and work with two controllers toghether? Shut down the T2?

I mean we could have a discussion about the relevancy of T2, I guess it would have been nice for Apple to give us the choice, those caring about T2, if there is no other way to do it, go soldered. There could have been a m.2 slot for those that wanted to add an additional SSD, or use 3rd party one, with the caveat that it wouldn't have the security features. I'd bet a vast majority wouldn't need that feature.

Being geared for Pros now, the Mac Mini could have had an additional slot, heck make the Mac Mini 0.5" wider or taller if needed.

Personally I think T2 makes more sense for a mobile product, but for a desktop, unless it's in a business or education, if it's for personal use it seems pretty useless to me.
 
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I mean we could have a discussion about the relevancy of T2, I guess it would have been nice for Apple to give us the choice, those caring about T2, if there is no other way to do it, go soldered. There could have been a m.2 slot for those that wanted to add an additional SSD, or use 3rd party one, with the caveat that it wouldn't have the security features. I'd bet a vast majority wouldn't need that feature.

Being geared for Pros now, the Mac Mini could have had an additional slot, heck make the Mac Mini 0.5" wider or taller if needed.

Personally I think T2 makes more sense for a mobile product, but with a desktop, unless it's in a business or education, if it's for personal use it seems pretty useless to me.

Going OT here but I think T2 it’s a platform they are going to expand in terms of functionality, future iterations will probably do more than encoding/decondi real time encryptions and safe features. They won’t drop the intel cpu anytime soon but it doesn’t mean that they cannot start introducing proprietary hardware solution, maybe will see some dedicated machine learning chip.

I can understand that you don’t need a T2 or that you would like more flexibility but this is not what Apple does and we all know that so I have nothing to add on this front.
 
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I'm pretty sure that HP doesn't have an internal power supply, so complaining about the added footprint of a slim m.2 enclosure versus a power brick seems like a weird hill to die on.

The power supply is at other end of the power cord and I'll never see it so I does
not add to the desktop foot print at all. It can sit right next to the one for my
Samsung monitor which is behind my file cabinet and completely out of view.
[doublepost=1542591291][/doublepost]
Tim Cook wants Apple to be the first two trillion dollar company by the end of 2019.

Tim Cook is not Steve Jobs. Tim Cook is all about the money.
 
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The power supply is at other end of the power cord and I'll never see it so I does
not add to the desktop foot print at all. It can sit right next to the one for my
Samsung monitor which is behind my file cabinet and completely out of view.
[doublepost=1542591291][/doublepost]

You are 100% correct

And you can just set an external hard drive on top of the mini and it will take up virtually no more of a footprint either. I just do not fathom your issue with understanding that the price you quoted makes no sense because you aren't comparing equivalent flash storage. And why you would want a two-generations old machine with worse graphics and processor that isn't actually price competitive with the new mini unless you go hog wild with BTO configs.
 
[And you can just set an external hard drive on top of the mini and it will take up virtually no more of a footprint either.

That is not elegant looking at all and who wants extra cables and extra devices if you can just have
all your SSD space inside the mini or slice case? I guess that is my opinion but I doubt more people
would prefer your solution of adding additional external hard drives. I can see using a temporary transfer
drive to take files between computers but not as a permanent show piece on my desk.

I just do not fathom your issue with understanding that the price you quoted makes no sense because you aren't comparing equivalent flash storage.

So you actually think soldered-in Toshiba SSD that cost twice as much is better than using a socketed
M.2 Samsung SSD that is probably just as fast in normal use and offers a 5 year warranty vs Apple's
1 year warranty. I can't make sense of your logic either. If the M.2 SSD fails you can swap it out
but with the Mini you lose the SSD, motherboard, and CPU. Losing all 3 is preferable? And where's the
head-to-head benchmarks that prove Samsung SSD is slower?

And why you would want a two-generations old machine with worse graphics and processor that isn't actually price competitive with the new mini unless you go hog wild with BTO configs.

Not sure if you read my posts but that 4-core I7 processor benches very close to the Mini's i5
for the single core tests. The I7 has 4 cores and hyperthreads to 8 cores. I would never use
more than 8 cores. The 630 and 530 GPUs are both pretty bad for gaming and reviews suggest
they are about equally as bad. You can chase synthetic numbers that show all 6 cores yield a high
number but that isn't a reasonable approximation for everyday use. There a lots of advantages to
the HP Slice but I'd be wasting my time repeating them all if you hadn't even taken the time to
read them when I posted them in earlier emails.

There may be other alternatives besides the HP Slice that can offer better cost, nicer features, and
better expandability than the Mac Mini. I'd be open to those as well.
 
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And you can just set an external hard drive on top of the mini and it will take up virtually no more of a footprint either. I just do not fathom your issue with understanding that the price you quoted makes no sense because you aren't comparing equivalent flash storage. And why you would want a two-generations old machine with worse graphics and processor that isn't actually price competitive with the new mini unless you go hog wild with BTO configs.
Dude I got a dell optiplex with the i7 8700t cpu and 1 stick of 16 gb ram.

It came with windows 10 pro
A 128gb m.2 ssd
Along with a mouse and a keyboard.

My cost 603 after all discount.

Best of all a three year warranty.

I added a spare 16gb stick of ram
I added a 512gb ssd sata.

I spent under 700.

That ram I got on sale last year before ram jumped up my cost was 75 for a 16gb stick

So I paid 775. My m2 is removable but it is the same Toshiba the i3 mini uses.

So my down side is my i7 8700t is slower then the Apple 8700b.

But if I buy a 128gb Mac min 800 go for i7 upgrade 300 that is 1100 move to 32gb ram 500 so now I am at 1600 add an external 500 gb ssd t3 about 200 add mouse add keyboard 100 and 1900 vs 603

Mini wins on ram 32gb of 2666 I have 32gb of 2400
Mini wins on cpu 8700b is a bit quicker then 8700t

Same 128gb m2 but I can pull mine
And the ssd would be equal but mine would be internal at 83 mini would be external at 200

Warranty mine is three years
Mini is one.

Prices 775 mine
1900 mini

Add 100 for AppleCare 2000 mini.

Since I did ram upgrade I could say pulling ram from mini selling for 50 and buying ram for 300 means ram is not 500 more it is 250 more.

So my gear is still 775
Apple is 1750.

Oh I grabbed a 28 inch acer 4K with discounts and coupons for 180

So I am under 960 for an i7 with 628gb in ssd 32gb ram and an i7 8700t

I would be at 1750+180 = 1930 for that i7 mini with a 4k.

A thousand more for very close to the same setup.

I will get a new mini on a refurbished buy in Jan
 
Dude I got a dell optiplex with the i7 8700t cpu and 1 stick of 16 gb ram.

Dude,

You should turn that 8700t into a dual boot and create a hackintosh partition.
Then you will have MacOS to use as well. It would be interesting to see how
geekbench4 turns out. You might beat a 2018 I5 mini for 1/2 the price.
 
Dude I got a dell optiplex with the i7 8700t cpu and 1 stick of 16 gb ram.

It came with windows 10 pro
A 128gb m.2 ssd
Along with a mouse and a keyboard.

My cost 603 after all discount.

Best of all a three year warranty.

I added a spare 16gb stick of ram
I added a 512gb ssd sata.

I spent under 700.

That ram I got on sale last year before ram jumped up my cost was 75 for a 16gb stick

So I paid 775. My m2 is removable but it is the same Toshiba the i3 mini uses.

So my down side is my i7 8700t is slower then the Apple 8700b.

But if I buy a 128gb Mac min 800 go for i7 upgrade 300 that is 1100 move to 32gb ram 500 so now I am at 1600 add an external 500 gb ssd t3 about 200 add mouse add keyboard 100 and 1900 vs 603

Mini wins on ram 32gb of 2666 I have 32gb of 2400
Mini wins on cpu 8700b is a bit quicker then 8700t

Same 128gb m2 but I can pull mine
And the ssd would be equal but mine would be internal at 83 mini would be external at 200

Warranty mine is three years
Mini is one.

Prices 775 mine
1900 mini

Add 100 for AppleCare 2000 mini.

Since I did ram upgrade I could say pulling ram from mini selling for 50 and buying ram for 300 means ram is not 500 more it is 250 more.

So my gear is still 775
Apple is 1750.

Oh I grabbed a 28 inch acer 4K with discounts and coupons for 180

So I am under 960 for an i7 with 628gb in ssd 32gb ram and an i7 8700t

I would be at 1750+180 = 1930 for that i7 mini with a 4k.

A thousand more for very close to the same setup.

I will get a new mini on a refurbished buy in Jan
Dude... you got a good deal! Speccing that system now looks like a smidge over $1100 (OptiPlex 5060), about $200 less than the equivalent mini (i7/16/128 for $1299). Though as you say, the mini will be faster. Interestingly, Dell charges anywhere from $257 to $327 to upgrade the 128 GB SSD to the 512 GB. Apple charges $400, so yeah, a bit more, but nowhere near the difference many people are trying to imply. It sounds like you got a good deal on your Dell. If those are common, then you may have a point, but that deal is not available to a normal person right now.

We all know that there is an Apple Tax. I think we all agree it feels like it is growing. I also think that the two systems put forward here actually show the tax is not as bad as we think. The systems put forward are either generations older or just slower/lesser overall. Show me a machine that actually competes with the mini for size, speed, and connectivity. I am sure they exist. I am also sure they are more likely to be within a couple hundred dollars.
 
Apple SSD Prices:

If we look at the I3 as a base and upgrade from 128GB to 256GB the cost is $200.
If we assume apple builds $200 into the price of the 128GB (since 128 to 256 costs $200)

We see this:

128GB Apple=$200 --- Samsung (No 970 Pro Or EVO in this size)
256GB Apple=$400 --- Samsung 970 EVO = $87 on Amazon (apple is 460% more)
512GB Apple=$600 --- Samsung 970 PRO = $225 on Amazon (apple is 267% more)
1TB Apple=$1000 --- Samsung 970 PRO = $378 on Amazon (apple is 265% more)
2TB Apple=$1800 --- Samsung 970 PRO = $548 on Amazon (apple is 328% more)

I would bet the 970 PRO outperforms the apple Toshiba SSD.

And no tax when you buy from Amazon so 2TB from apple adds $117 tax in my state
which makes apple even more expensive at 350% more expensive than the 970 PRO.

Still think apple prices for upgrades are anything less than all-out theft ?
 
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Dude... you got a good deal! Speccing that system now looks like a smidge over $1100 (OptiPlex 5060), about $200 less than the equivalent mini (i7/16/128 for $1299). Though as you say, the mini will be faster. Interestingly, Dell charges anywhere from $257 to $327 to upgrade the 128 GB SSD to the 512 GB. Apple charges $400, so yeah, a bit more, but nowhere near the difference many people are trying to imply. It sounds like you got a good deal on your Dell. If those are common, then you may have a point, but that deal is not available to a normal person right now.

We all know that there is an Apple Tax. I think we all agree it feels like it is growing. I also think that the two systems put forward here actually show the tax is not as bad as we think. The systems put forward are either generations older or just slower/lesser overall. Show me a machine that actually competes with the mini for size, speed, and connectivity. I am sure they exist. I am also sure they are more likely to be within a couple hundred dollars.
Yeah yeah this was a dell.outlet refurb they come they go. I think they pushed a lot of them out the door a week before they dropped the mini. It was like 670 with a 11% coupon and mr rebates gave me 8% off that. So it was pretty much a no brained to get it.
 
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So after going through the purchase decision process, I have to admit that I may have been wrong in my defending of Apple here. While I agree that some of the machines presented here are not direct replacements for a Mac mini, I think there is a point made that the mini and its upgrades are overpriced to the point of no longer being reasonable. As I assessed my own situation and options, I couldn't help but feel that the premium for macOS was just no longer reasonable. Two quick examples to illustrate my point. These are not Mac mini nor iMac replacements, but rather an idea of what your money will get you in a PC.

I have a self-built i3-8100/8GB/500GB SSD/RX580 that ran me around $700. A similarly spec'd mini with eGPU would be in the neighborhood of $1600.

Best Buy is selling an hp OMEN with i7-8700/16GB/2TB HDD/256GB SSD/Nvidia RTX 2080 for $1499. A mini with i7/16/256 is $1409 on the EDU store. That video card will be in the neighborhood of $800 for just the card, then you need an enclosure.

While these do not offer the form factor and elegance of a mini or iMac, I think you do have to seriously think about the premium you are paying for Apple products these days. I used to be ok with the Apple Tax when it was a couple hundred dollars, but it has ballooned much higher while reducing repairability and upgradability. I just can no longer justify it.
 
Apple SSD Prices:

If we look at the I3 as a base and upgrade from 128GB to 256GB the cost is $200.
If we assume apple builds $200 into the price of the 128GB (since 128 to 256 costs $200)

We see this:

128GB Apple=$200 --- Samsung (No 970 Pro Or EVO in this size)
256GB Apple=$400 --- Samsung 970 EVO = $87 on Amazon (apple is 460% more)
512GB Apple=$600 --- Samsung 970 PRO = $225 on Amazon (apple is 267% more)
1TB Apple=$1000 --- Samsung 970 PRO = $378 on Amazon (apple is 265% more)
2TB Apple=$1800 --- Samsung 970 PRO = $548 on Amazon (apple is 328% more)

I would bet the 970 PRO outperforms the apple Toshiba SSD.

And no tax when you buy from Amazon so 2TB from apple adds $117 tax in my state
which makes apple even more expensive at 350% more expensive than the 970 PRO.

Still think apple prices for upgrades are anything less than all-out theft ?
This not quite correct.

Apple actually charges $800 per TB for SSD storage.
The $200 charge from 128 to 256 is an anomaly, and is $100 more expensive than it should be compared to all the other upgrades.
One could argue that the i3 Mac mini is $100 underpriced, or that the i5 mini is $100 overpriced depending on your point of view.

Regardless, the best 'deal' - if you can live with a small boot drive only - is to upgrade the i3 mini to an i7 and then add your own RAM and use an external fast or slow HD or SSD for you user folder and files. You will save a tonne of cash this way and get a very fast system (if you chose an external TB3 SSD like the Samsung X5).
 
So after going through the purchase decision process, I have to admit that I may have been wrong in my defending of Apple here. While I agree that some of the machines presented here are not direct replacements for a Mac mini, I think there is a point made that the mini and its upgrades are overpriced to the point of no longer being reasonable. As I assessed my own situation and options, I couldn't help but feel that the premium for macOS was just no longer reasonable. Two quick examples to illustrate my point. These are not Mac mini nor iMac replacements, but rather an idea of what your money will get you in a PC.

I have a self-built i3-8100/8GB/500GB SSD/RX580 that ran me around $700. A similarly spec'd mini with eGPU would be in the neighborhood of $1600.

Best Buy is selling an hp OMEN with i7-8700/16GB/2TB HDD/256GB SSD/Nvidia RTX 2080 for $1499. A mini with i7/16/256 is $1409 on the EDU store. That video card will be in the neighborhood of $800 for just the card, then you need an enclosure.

While these do not offer the form factor and elegance of a mini or iMac, I think you do have to seriously think about the premium you are paying for Apple products these days. I used to be ok with the Apple Tax when it was a couple hundred dollars, but it has ballooned much higher while reducing repairability and upgradability. I just can no longer justify it.

Any reason you didn't consider an Intel NUC? If Apple hadn't updated the Mini, that's what I would've gone with.

I hear you on the Apple tax, but every time I run my Windows 10 VM, it's like...yeah, they've made a lot of progress, but I still prefer MacOS and all the Mac-only apps I use.
 
The HP Slice looks about 2 inches smaller in both horizontal directions.
I7 + 16GB + 512GB internal SSD looks cheaper. If there are any Hackintosh
people out there, do you think Mohave will work on this?

439877-1.png

You cant compare the slice to the mini. Night and day difference.
 
Some very smart people put a lot of time into developing Hackintosh.
Why? Because they were tired of getting ripped off.

People can see from my posting history that I was very excited about the
2018 Mini. I was agonizing over Ram/SSD options so I googled Mac Mini
reviews and ran into this review:

https://www.appleworld.today/blog/2...-the-mac-mini-with-the-hp-elite-slice-desktop

It has nothing to do with "smart people". It has to do with people who have the time and patience for tinkering.

I've done the hackintosh. I've compiled my own Linux desktop from source. Those days are long since in the past and now I just want something I don't have to fuss with.
 
Any reason you didn't consider an Intel NUC? If Apple hadn't updated the Mini, that's what I would've gone with.

I hear you on the Apple tax, but every time I run my Windows 10 VM, it's like...yeah, they've made a lot of progress, but I still prefer MacOS and all the Mac-only apps I use.

No reason. The NUC is a good machine. I just happened to have a PC I had built with my son and so I am putting a few more dollars into it. And I agree, I still prefer macOS. I just cannot justify the premium anymore. I know it has always been there, it just seems like the price gap is wider than ever and the performance/quality/feature gap is closed and perhaps going against Apple in some cases. I can't pay top dollar for 7th or 8th gen Intel PCs at this point when 9th gen are pretty much here. I can't pay 2x, 3x, 4x (one person mentioned $800/TB!), on storage no matter how fast it is.
 
Tim Cook wants Apple to be the first two trillion dollar company by the end of 2019.
Well... he had better tried actually selling stuff rather than just increase prices beyond sanity. He basically prescribed more of the drug that made the patient sick in the first place.

I'd assume TC is more likely to make Apple a 500 Bn company rather than a 2 Tn one
 
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Some very smart people put a lot of time into developing Hackintosh.
Why? Because they were tired of getting ripped off.

I absolutely loathe the absurd Apple prices nowadays, but do you realize OS X is a propietary system and as such, you're pretty much stealing it?

You don't want to pay for it (whatever Apple decides to charge, (their product, their prices)), but you still want use it anyway.
 
I absolutely loathe the absurd Apple prices nowadays, but do you realize OS X is a propietary system and as such, you're pretty much stealing it?

You don't want to pay for it (whatever Apple decides to charge, (their product, their prices)), but you still want use it anyway.


Slavery has been legal in many countries. Was it correct? Hell no.

Locking out a standard mobo from Apple os is legal . Is it correct? Well in my analogy not.

But you get the idea. Is a hackintosh simply fighting immoral slavery.?

My self I never built or owned a hackintosh not because of moral reasons. I just don’t want to fight to keep them running.

I can tell you as my eyes age both windows and Linux are better for me then Mac.

I will keep the four Mac mins I own the older MacBook Pro 17 inch and the iPad mini 3.

As they die I will continue to switch to Linux and windows.

I think I would have grabbed a new mini but the welded ssd has me annoyed.

I did not need a m2 nvme I would have liked to be able to drop a 2tb micron ssd in it. I can get them for 230. A i3 quad with 2tb ssd and 8gb ram would cost me about a thousand. And the t2 chip makes it worse. Oh well
 
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