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Some things are a given. USB3 is a given. Since they are supporting it in the ivy bridge spec on the other macs, you will see it in the mini. There's no reason not to support it as removing that support won't even cut construction costs by a few dollars. The same goes with gpu upgrades. On the low end Ivy has a different gpu this year. The discrete option would just migrate to something from a current generation.


boy i should really find a way to wait then :eek: i sold my macbook yesterday since it was the first decent offer i received in months of having it on sale and it was a fair deal. At the moment im just borrowing what ever computer is available at home and not being used, lol, so you can see the dilemma i find myself in!

i mean i have been getting emails from best buy and future shop having there imacs on sale and usually stuff does start to go on sale to make way for new releases in the mac world... or should i say so called sales where you get $50 off on a $1300 computer :p
 
Why is the 2010 model popular?

Its a last mini to have optical drive,useful for people who use it as htpc and have large dvd collection.

Also you can natively run Snow Leopard,Lion and ML on it.

Personally I dont think that theyre that great (core2duo were ancient in 2010 already) but many people like them.
 
Why is the 2010 model popular?

They were popular used as you could still watch dvds on them, and they still ran SL without any issue. It's not to say this argument applies to every purchaser. Note how the prior Apple TV remains popular due to potential to jailbreak it.

boy i should really find a way to wait then :eek: i sold my macbook yesterday since it was the first decent offer i received in months of having it on sale and it was a fair deal. At the moment im just borrowing what ever computer is available at home and not being used, lol, so you can see the dilemma i find myself in!

i mean i have been getting emails from best buy and future shop having there imacs on sale and usually stuff does start to go on sale to make way for new releases in the mac world... or should i say so called sales where you get $50 off on a $1300 computer :p

I never sell one of mine until I have a replacement. Obviously when the new ones come out offers will naturally drop. I hope one comes out soon so you're not stuck with the iphone as your only device.
 
Its a last mini to have optical drive,useful for people who use it as htpc and have large dvd collection.

Also you can natively run Snow Leopard,Lion and ML on it.

Personally I dont think that theyre that great (core2duo were ancient in 2010 already) but many people like them.

They were popular used as you could still watch dvds on them, and they still ran SL without any issue. It's not to say this argument applies to every purchaser. Note how the prior Apple TV remains popular due to potential to jailbreak it.



I never sell one of mine until I have a replacement. Obviously when the new ones come out offers will naturally drop. I hope one comes out soon so you're not stuck with the iphone as your only device.

Built in DVD drives. If all you are doing is HTPC stuff, then the processor speed really doesn't matter and the GPU is more than plenty.

Why is the 2010 model popular?

not only the dvd player but the player does cd's. I am a bit older then some on this site 55 and have a 5000 cd collection.

I have hi end stereo and hi end htpc gear.

2010 mac mini with an ssd + a good dac means good sound.



I have modded a lot of minis 8gb ram added a dac and a 2 bay synology nas 4tb .


this setup will store 3000 + cds with true sound in apple lossless not mp3 crap.

The cd /dvd allows easy archiving of cd's. you can even leave the oem hdd in the machine. Once you used the dvd to store the cds to your nas. you can store the cd's and not damage them.

last I looked I can't import itunes in apple lossless .

Now I have not bothered to even look at an itunes song since 2008 but last time I looked the best I can import in is 256 bits. my music is all on lossless around 800-1100 bits.

so if you have a lot of old cd's a 2010 mac mini looks good to many users.

I can sell them on ebay for 630 to 675 with a 1 year warranty and 8gb ram.

Sounds expensive but if you have thousands of cd's worth much more it is a bargain.

You have a neat clean look and can get remarkable quality sound .

There is still a click of people that want better sound and apple does not give it to them via iTunes downloads.

The 2010 mini with an external dac can do this.
 
I never sell one of mine until I have a replacement. Obviously when the new ones come out offers will naturally drop. I hope one comes out soon so you're not stuck with the iphone as your only device.

i never do either! this is the first time i have done this. I figured the macbook pro i just sold would be a pretty tough sell so i put up an advert and it took me about little over a month to sell it. I was expecting it to take longer and since the guy who bought it was the first person to make any sorts of a decent offer I said this chance may not come around again so i sold it.

And because of that here I am, lol, computer less and trying to figure out whether to just get the current one or wait.

The biggest benefits I see from the next mac mini are a cooler running machine, usb 3.0 and a better graphics card on the base model. Im planning on putting in my own 16gb of ram and a ssd regardless.
 
Got sick of waiting

I just swapped my heavily used 2011 MacBook 11" Air with 1 month warranty left for a 2011 Mac Mini Server [used twice] with 6 months of warranty left, now all I need is a Thunderbolt to USB 3 adapter [If anybody ever brings one out] then I'm set. Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge isn't a major upgrade, now I can hold out for the 2013 model....Mmm Haswell goodness.....
 
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Anxiously awaiting...

I've been following this thread for a while. I'll be getting my Mac Mini soon. Probably Mid September.

That being said, I have an OCZ Vertex 4 128GB SSD that I'll be wiping clean and using as the boos drive in the mini. I also have 16GB of RAM on order for it as well.

I was wondering if you guys think it'll be worth waiting later than September to order the Mini. I don't want to buy a "new" computer using 1.4 year old hardware.

I've had my eye on the 2.7Ghz Dual Core i7 model (which will cost $899) but I'm also interested in the server model, with it being a Quad Core processor and including 2 HDDs. What I'll be doing is normal functions (web browsing, video streaming with netflix and HBO Go), Adobe Master Suite CS6, Cinema 4D Studio, and a few other apps. No gaming will be done. What would you recommend for what I need it for?
 
I think that Minis and portable Macs are better off without the optical drive.

If anything is going to break it's the "Superdrive."
 
With the iPad Mini & iPhone 5 in September/October, and then the rumours of a iTV and Retina MacBook Pro 13", I've got a feeling the Mac Mini won't be getting an update until 2013...
 
With the iPad Mini & iPhone 5 in September/October, and then the rumours of a iTV and Retina MacBook Pro 13", I've got a feeling the Mac Mini won't be getting an update until 2013...

I agree, current mini is too fresh for a change.
 
The current mini is not 'too fresh'. It's using older components now. Apple are using newer components in other machines they sell, and the mini still needs an update IMO.
Personally I think a silent update with Ivy Bridge, HD4000 and USB3 is the way t go. The current design is fine.
 
Why are 2012 Minis late?

Just my $0.02, feel free to shoot it full of holes...

We know 2012 iMacs have screen lamination issues and are expected late Sept/early Oct.
2012 Thunderbolt display is likely to be practically identical to iMac screen so they likely have the same issues with it as well.
2011 Thunderbolt display has USB 2.0, old thunderbolt controller and lower res than rMBP

For anyone buying into the "ecosystem" story it would be bad to get 2011 Thunderbolt display + 2012 Mini. In other words maybe the display being late affects Mini's schedule.
 
Out of interest I rung my local Apple Store this morning to see if they had any of the £699 2.5GHz i5 6630M model with the £80 upgrade to the 2.7GHz i7. They didn't. I've had success buying upgraded models there before (my MacBook Air), but the bloke said they only had the three standard configurations of Mac Mini in and to order online for the configured to order options.

He also said "and actually we're pretty low on stock of the £699 2.5GHz i5 6630M model".

Whether of-course that means theres a new one about to come out, or they don't get their weekly delivery until Monday, I don't know... but IIRC low stock is one of the things the rumour mill likes to run on!
 
well, i hope GT 650M will be introduced in the next mini so that it provide also some minimal gaming action (looking at game needs from the actual games HD4000 is not enoght!).
 
Just my $0.02, feel free to shoot it full of holes...

We know 2012 iMacs have screen lamination issues and are expected late Sept/early Oct.

Lamination is not equal to "retina". It is questionable whether it is lamination or fused panel-glass construct also used in the retina display. That doesn't necessarily mean the pixel density is increasing. Just that the glass and LCD panel are fused together to make a thinner assembly.


2012 Thunderbolt display is likely to be practically identical to iMac screen so they likely have the same issues with it as well.

While likely Apple strongly wants to share LCD panel components between the two, users don't "have to" buy a Thunderbolt display with a Mini. In fact, if trying to control costs then probably don't. The dubious assumption here is that the Mini is one of the primary driver of TB display sales. The TB "display" is primarily a docking station; look at the dangling power cord if have any doubt. Mini don't really need a docking station. There are a huge number of quality display out there with DVI and Display port inputs that are several hundred dollars cheaper than the TB display. A very sizable number of buyers are going to get (or already have) one of those.

A mini + TB Display costs hundreds more than an iMac. For someone who fells extremely compelled to buy the whole Apple ecosystem it is substantially less expensive to just simply buy the iMac.


The more nature pairings with the TB Display are the two MBA models and perhaps the MBP 13" (and somewhat less so the 15" model). Those all release separate from the new updated TB Display. There is even less motivation to tightly couple the Mini to it.


2011 Thunderbolt display has USB 2.0, old thunderbolt controller and lower res than rMBP

No one is going to buy a rMBP as a "display" for a Mini. The thunderbolt controller difference is immaterial, same speed, same throughput. Since the TB Display is always plugged in the difference in power consumption doesn't matter and the size of the chip has no relevance in a 27" screen sized device. There are going to be other TB peripherals with the old controller too. Apple wasn't selling the old TB Display at a loss either.

Having USB 2.0 on a TB display isn't that bad if primarily going to plug in the keyboard, mouse, trackball/trackpad , etc. (i.e., all of the much slower peripherals ) into those slots freeing up the USB 3.0 sockets for "faster than USB 2.0 speeds" peripherals.

It is "nice to have" have more USB 3.0 sockets, but if plugging in a large number of USB 2.0 devices into the the docking station, then you are really not seeing any increased value there. There are some edge cases where perhaps dynamically plugging in some USB 3.0 device (e.g, newer, faster USB 3.0 flash thumb drive) that is "easier" to get to on the display. But that isn't a "show stopper" issue. It certainly isn't for the 2012 MBA and MBP 13" models.


A coupling to the iMac would be more strongly motivated by some component(s) they do share. For example, a shared discrete GPU option. Even that is somewhat strained because the Mini shares more parts with the MBP 13" .

Up until now it shared overlap with the 'classic' MBP 13". If the rMBP 13" rumors are true, then it may be the case that Apple is now coupling Mini component overlap to that new model. Hence, the Mini won't arrive until the rMBP 13" arrives. For example, the Mini could be picking up GPU, SSD options or other non screen components from that model.

The more likely though is that some other Mac family element is holding it up. Either the Mini is late because it was "lower priority" than the rMBP 13" model or somewhat more sensibly that they are waiting for 10.8.1 to crank volume production of the Mini. In the case of the former, resources were pulled from Mini development to expand the laptop line up. The mini will catch up later. In short, yet another example of Apple not being able to walk and chew gum at the same time.
 
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I went into an apple store the other day, asking if they expected any refreshes soon, and the guy said we are expecting iMac / Mini refresh in September will all the events planned.

Just thought I'd share this with you guys.
 
I think Apple's September back to school promotion ends on the 21st, I'm hoping well see new iMac's and Mini's shortly after that.
 
Of course the Mini is a low priority at Apple; the company has much bigger fish to fry...

I'd be willing to wager that September is going to see a Mini refresh. And I expect the new models to basically mirror the 13" MacBook Pro as they have in the past. That's good enough for me! :D

But I also know that Apple may disappoint me too... :(
 
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