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Haswell Mac mini to have 25% better Intel HD graphics

Lil Chillbil

Lil Chillbil

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 30, 2012
1,335
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California
From what i'm seeing, the mac minis big selling point on apples page right now is its intel hd graphics for gaming. And the new haswell chips are expected to be more efficent which means cooler running. And have a much better upgraded version of intel hd graphics.
 
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Lil Chillbil said:
From what i'm seeing, the mac minis big selling point on apples page right now is its intel hd graphics for gaming. And the new haswell chips are expected to be more efficent which means a smaller powerbrick. And have a much better upgraded version of intel hd graphics.
Click to expand...
The Mac mini doesn't use a powerbrick as it has a built in power supply.
 
kurzz said:
Only 25%? I thought those GPUs were like 100% (double) or more over the HD4000?

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6926/intel-iris-iris-pro-graphics-haswell-gt3gt3e-gets-a-brand

Double the performance for 50% of the power sounds like a vast improvement to me.
Click to expand...

the 4000 was supposed to be 25 to 50 % better then the 3000. It started out with bad errors a screen flicker that took a month or so to fix. Then the crushed white problem took until feb of this year to fix. Now I would say the 4000 is better then the 3000.

Based on Apple and Macmini graphics past history this will be a disappointment need patches and maybe 4 months after it comes out be 25% better then the 4000.

Since 2006 at least 3 different minis came out with defective graphic drivers that need patches. So those waiting for the Haswell stand a very good chance of waiting until 2014 for corrected graphics on it.
 
Lil Chillbil said:
When did this happen? sorry The last time I owned a mac mini it was a g4 :p


edited
Click to expand...

I want to say 2010.


kurzz said:
Only 25%? I thought those GPUs were like 100% (double) or more over the HD4000?

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6926/intel-iris-iris-pro-graphics-haswell-gt3gt3e-gets-a-brand

Double the performance for 50% of the power sounds like a vast improvement to me.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't believe everything you read. First there are several versions, and we don't know which will make it into the Mini. Beyond that 50% of the power draw isn't happening. The power management is supposedly much more aggressive with Haswell. Peak power draw isn't supposed to be much lower.

philipma1957 said:
the 4000 was supposed to be 25 to 50 % better then the 3000. It started out with bad errors a screen flicker that took a month or so to fix. Then the crushed white problem took until feb of this year to fix. Now I would say the 4000 is better then the 3000.

Based on Apple and Macmini graphics past history this will be a disappointment need patches and maybe 4 months after it comes out be 25% better then the 4000.

Since 2006 at least 3 different minis came out with defective graphic drivers that need patches. So those waiting for the Haswell stand a very good chance of waiting until 2014 for corrected graphics on it.
Click to expand...

Sadly intel
 
You can probably achieve 20% of the 25% by just updating the graphics drivers. Or Apple can not upgrade the drivers, and make it seem like the new 4200 is soooooo much better than the 4000. It's not, the big difference is the much lower power requirements for the (roughly) same performance.
 
philipma1957 said:
Yeah I started with the mini in 2006 which was the first year of Intel and minis.

The nvidia chipset had a lot of issues with 10.6 snow. blackouts and flicker.

the 4000 had issues. I want to say so did the 9400 but that was a while back
Click to expand...

Huh it chopped my post earlier. I was saying sadly intel graphics have been subject to a number of driver bugs at launch. Outside of those they're actually good enough for a lot of things. I was unaware of those NVidia problems.
 
I'm in the market for a Mac Mini. I'm really hoping for a smaller, more modern form factor as the only reason Mac Minis were made that size was to accommodate an optical drive which aren't even in them any more. The size of the Intel NUC is what they should aim towards but admittedly, the NUC has an external power brick. Maybe a return of the cube form factor but tiny!
 
I think the current sizing is fine especially given I have the 2009 with external power brick and whilst not ideal I find the size of the machine fine. It would be nice if it were available in black as mine lives under / next to the tv.
 
bradz_id said:
I'm in the market for a Mac Mini. I'm really hoping for a smaller, more modern form factor as the only reason Mac Minis were made that size was to accommodate an optical drive which aren't even in them any more. The size of the Intel NUC is what they should aim towards but admittedly, the NUC has an external power brick. Maybe a return of the cube form factor but tiny!
Click to expand...

The mac mini is pretty much the best small form factor computer available. It's about as modern as it gets. The size allows it to accommodate 2 hard drives and an internal psu. How much more modern do you want? The argument that its size was dictated by optical media was thrown out the window back in 2010 when the entire mini was substantially wider than an optical drive needed to be.

Its form factor is not dictated by optical media.
 
But how is that shape good unless you want to stack them in a server farm? I just can't think of a single reason.

Current form factor started with:

- A core 2 duo which required significantly more motherboard space
- Separate dedicated video
- An internal 2.5" hdd - Nowadays a single NGFF SSD is considerably smaller
- An optical drive - not needed now

I think a 3.5" cube would be ideal and easily achievable, even with an inbuilt PSU.
 
Omnius said:
The mac mini is pretty much the best small form factor computer available. It's about as modern as it gets. The size allows it to accommodate 2 hard drives and an internal psu. How much more modern do you want? The argument that its size was dictated by optical media was thrown out the window back in 2010 when the entire mini was substantially wider than an optical drive needed to be.

Its form factor is not dictated by optical media.
Click to expand...

I'm also wondering if next Haswell will have or not Thundebolt 2 inside..or will it remain a Mac Pro exclusive?
I mean i heard TB2 could come also on next late 2013 Mac BooK Pro ..maybe because Broadwell seems shifted from 2014 to 2015...:rolleyes:
just rumors i know..so i'm just trying to understand..
even because i fear the Mac Pro entry level to be really expensive and without any replaceable Gpu inside...and i don't need a mini with steroids..also because i have already an Imac 27 so...:cool:
 
bradz_id said:
But how is that shape good unless you want to stack them in a server farm? I just can't think of a single reason.

Current form factor started with:

- A core 2 duo which required significantly more motherboard space
- Separate dedicated video
- An internal 2.5" hdd - Nowadays a single NGFF SSD is considerably smaller
- An optical drive - not needed now

I think a 3.5" cube would be ideal and easily achievable, even with an inbuilt PSU.
Click to expand...

I believe when the mini was last redesigned, Apple adopted the footprint of the Airport Extreme.
 
bradz_id said:
Current form factor started with:

- A core 2 duo which required significantly more motherboard space
- Separate dedicated video
- An internal 2.5" hdd - Nowadays a single NGFF SSD is considerably smaller
- An optical drive - not needed now

I think a 3.5" cube would be ideal and easily achievable, even with an inbuilt PSU.
Click to expand...

This is interesting. I'm not sure the mini is due for a new design, but given the move away from optical drives in 2011, the move toward PCI-E based SSD storage (m.2, formerly known as Next Gen Form Factor or NGFF) it may be significantly smaller in both size and power consumption. There is already a great deal of unused space in the minis.

But a new form factor may not happen until 2014 given cost (the mini is the low-cost entry mac) and 2.5mm hard drives and SSDs should remain cheaper than the m.2 (or custom Apple-connector) PCI-E based SSDs. Having said that, the iMac is already using the smaller blade SSD.
 
Edge said:
This is interesting. I'm not sure the mini is due for a new design, but given the move away from optical drives in 2011, the move toward PCI-E based SSD storage (m.2, formerly known as Next Gen Form Factor or NGFF) it may be significantly smaller in both size and power consumption. There is already a great deal of unused space in the minis.

But a new form factor may not happen until 2014 given cost (the mini is the low-cost entry mac) and 2.5mm hard drives and SSDs should remain cheaper than the m.2 (or custom Apple-connector) PCI-E based SSDs. Having said that, the iMac is already using the smaller blade SSD.
Click to expand...

building up would be worse for heat flow in the mini. One of the advantages to its current design is that the heat just has to go up to its largest heat sink (the largest surface of its exterior.
 
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