Does gimping the Mac Mini increase sales of iMac?

[d5aqoëp]

S

Are u running Sierra on that? I've been contemplating a hackintosh. But more along the $682 mini-hack that's been published.

Yes. Sierra 10.12.4. Just the only problem with it is it does not support HDMI 2.0 4K @60Hz. But that is Sierra limitation.
You have to use Display Port 1.2 for 4K @ 60Hz

 

[shaunp]

I'd say yes, but that is only part of it. The other part is Apple's complete lack of offerings in the mid-range non-all-in-one machines. Apple used to offer some Towers that were affordable and priced so regular folks could buy them. The last Mac Pro was ridiculously overpriced, especially when you consider it's lack of upgradeability. Apple needs to offer something for people who don't like the iMac, people who value accessibility (to things like RAM and the hard drive, etc) and upgradeability. People who want to choose their own monitor.

Indeed because these people would for the most part never be iMac customers, they would just look elsewhere.

 

[MysticCow]

I'd say yes, but that is only part of it. The other part is Apple's complete lack of offerings in the mid-range non-all-in-one machines. Apple used to offer some Towers that were affordable and priced so regular folks could buy them. The last Mac Pro was ridiculously overpriced, especially when you consider it's lack of upgradeability. Apple needs to offer something for people who don't like the iMac, people who value accessibility (to things like RAM and the hard drive, etc) and upgradeability. People who want to choose their own monitor.

Every time it was an abject failure also.

First time was the old Performa Line, which indirectly led to Apple nearly going under. It was at a time when Apple simply had so much junk going on that they couldn't tell left from right.

Then came the G4 Cube. It was beautiful. It was halfway upgradeable. However, it was a failure in the marketplace.

The times Apple releases a quadrant approach (

) are the times that Apple messes up.

 

[dogslobber]

Do you think that Apple's strategy of intentionally gimping the Mac Mini actually pushes customers to buy higher priced iMacs & MacBooks instead?

Or does all it do is piss people off, yet they begrudgingly buy the watered down Mac Mini anyway?

I think I read somewhere the most popular Mini is the mid-range and very few low end minis are really sold. The mid ones does encroach into iMac territory, but the 21.5" retina iMac has the sMe problem that it almost overlaps the 27" retina iMac.

 

[EightyTwenty]

Exactly.
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I think this is almost true. It was meant for people to switch into the Mac ecosystem, but it's only fairly recently that the machines were dumbed down.

"Dumbed down" is fine with me. It's "gimped" that I have a problem with.

Give me 8gb of RAM and SSD as a base configuration and I don't care what CPU they use.

The current entry-level mini isn't even suitable for browsing Facebook.

 

[jpietrzak8]

Give me 8gb of RAM and SSD as a base configuration and I don't care what CPU they use.

The current entry-level mini isn't even suitable for browsing Facebook.

I think I could find uses for such a configuration. Say, a router box, or an iTunes server.

I've said this before, but the problem is not that Apple is choosing the wrong configuration for their base machine. The problem is that Apple is forcing a configuration upon you. If Apple would provide the freedom for the end-user to customize their machine according to their needs (like pretty much every other manufacturer in existence does), there wouldn't be such a problem of mismatch between any given user's needs and the machine's abilities...

 

[ActionableMango]

It can take a full length GPU like 1080/1070/1060 and still be small. Well, it will not be mac mini small but very much manageable.

Is it quiet and does it run cool?

 

[krause734]

The current Apple computer lineup is a joke. Mac OS is great but it isn't worth running ancient overpriced hardware.

 

[cynics]

Gimping? Dumbing down?

Did I miss something? There is NO product. Sure Apple sells a Mini, as does eBay, Amazon, LetGo, etc....

I think its a safe bet the Mini in a SFF case will never perform quite as well as the iMac (not that there is much more room in that, be curious to see exact volumes, quick someone fill their iMac with water!). But it still has the capacity to be a very good machine even if its not as powerful as a high end 27" iMac.

Two things,

One, the fastest 2014 Mac Mini is computationally faster then the slowest 2016 (newest) 21" iMac. That doesn't mean much but its something to think about when saying the Mini is gimped/dumb down because that is relative.

Secondly keep in mind, even now the latest NUC with its i7-7567U is dual core with hyperthreading and isn't really real world noticeably faster compared to the 2012 Mac Minis quad core i7-3720QM. It offers A LOT more beside raw compute power though (better graphics, better hardware codec, less power consumption, lower TDP, MUCH better instruction set extensions, faster RAM support, etc etc) and in the end those things could make it perform a specific task faster but its not something to get massively excited about with feeling its the "Mini Killer".

I have a Linux box with a dual core Sandy Bridge (with hyper threading) and it can do everything my iMac can do. Only when encoding videos can a see real world differences. If you need more power then it just might not be the product for you unfortunately.

Honestly IMO the competition while MUCH better than they were, still isn't difficult for Apple to be at least on par with. Maybe even surpass. Honestly I don't see how they couldn't be "at least on par with" with modern parts available unless they do something incredibly stupid aaahheemmm 5400 RPM HDD (Thank god Intel doesn't make single core AMIRITE?! lol) ..... And the NUC isn't exactly cheap either. The barebones model SEEMS cheap but once you add RAM and SSD its competitive with the imaginary new Mini. And even though the NUC can be expensive its good value for its size, you won't be able to build something the same size as cheaply...if at all. Maybe close but you'll need to compromise a bit and because of that you'd be better off ditching mitx builds entirely and making something faster.

HOWEVER the 2016 iMac vs NUC vs NO Mini....yeah, thats far passed gimping or dumbing down. People aren't buying the iMac because of a gimped or dumb down Mini, if anything they are buying an iMac or NUC because there isn't a Mini at all (assuming they know better). BTW for all I'm concerned after 2 years I feel Apple no longer makes a Mini, like if your local car dealership only sold 2014 models. They are "unused" not "new" IMO anyway.

EDIT : BTW I'm factoring in size as added value when talking about the NUC. I'm also considering a SFF HTPC type PC without dedicated graphics the Minis competition. I guess that is just my subjective opinion on the Minis competition. NUC, ThinkCentre, etc... I understand their are fairly small form factor PC's with dedicated graphics, I just feel thats a slightly different product category that Apple just doesn't have an answer for (like a mid tower).
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One can actually make a small mini-ITX based system
This case Thermaltake Core V1 goes a long way

It can take a full length GPU like 1080/1070/1060 and still be small. Well, it will not be mac mini small but very much manageable.
Since Nvidia has released Pascal drivers for mac, I have got everything working in the above case just that I prefer the black version of it.

1. CPU: Intel i5 6500
2. Motherboard: MSI Z170 Pro Gaming ac Mini-ITX
3. Case: Thermaltake Core V1 (Black)
4. PSU: Thermaltake 650W
5. RAM: 2 x 8GB DDR 4 3000 Mhz RAM
6. BCM94352Z NGFF M.2 WiFi WLAN Bluetooth 4.0 (Remove and replace with this one on motherboard)
7. GPU: Zotac GTX 1060
8. Corsair Hydro H70 CPU liquid cooler. (Optional)
9. SSD: Samsung 850 EVO

I have everything working from Handoff, Continuity, Airdrop to iMessage, etc.

Do you have any other threads about this? To be honest it looks amazing, I'd be curious to learn more.