Mac Mini 2012 - What to expect

[lamerica80]

Even cooler are the people who anonymously mock struggling writers in message boards.

He had it coming. First he calls the previous poster an idiot, then boasts about his wealth, then goes into an insane rant about dated technology that only a 40+ would do (thus actually kinda proving the point of the previous poster), then - not quite satisfied yet - dedicates some time to lecturing the poster on english grammar.

I LOL at that guy!

(or girl).

I predict he/she will reply by stating that hes not struggling at all but actually quite successful - just wait.

 

[lannisters4life]

You are an insulting idiot. I have hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting in the bank, doing nothing. I could have any Mac product I want -- and I do; I have one of everything -- but I CHOSE to retire my Pro in favour of a MacBook Air because I'm a writer who needs something lightweight. Oh, and because I'm not stupid enough to think that an optical drive is a particularly useful tool in 2012 with all the wireless, bluetooth, and cloud capabilities going on. DVDs? Really? People still use those? I haven't touched a cord or a disc in six years, except to plug in a charger. I can't even remember the last time I used a DVD or a flash drive. Why? Because the Air revolutionized the way mobile people work in a substantially digital age. I can carry a MacBook Air and an iPad and do more with less weight on my shoulder than that of one bulky Pro. Just because it's not useful to you, does't mean it's not a blessing for somebody else. Realize that some people use their machines for more than just browsing and music and movies. Some of us are professionals. Yeah. That's right. I'm not some broke-ass student who has ONE machine to my name, using my solitary laptop to play my decades-old DVDs. I have an iMac for when I need to work at a desk... I have a Mini and several AppleTVs for my media centres... I have a MacBook Air for working on the go... and I have an iPad for reviewing and editing instead of maintaining piles and piles of paperwork. See, I can afford a tool for every purpose. Why would my Air need to be anything more or less than what it is? It suits a very specific purpose for me and I love it. It does everything my Pro did without the weight and the useless drives. I write successful scripts for TV and film, I copy files, I stream music and video, I edit music and video, I browse the internet, I buy and sell real estate... what exactly is it lacking when it's clearly helping me to be so successful?

I seem to recall a lot of people calling the iPad useless when it was first announced. Those same people went out and bought one months later. But if you want to start slinging mud... learn proper English before you insult people. It's "you're right" not "your right", as "you're" is a conjunction of "you" and "are"; "they're doing" not "there doing"; and "THESE are the specs of the current MacBook Airs" not "THIS is the specs of the current air's". Really. If you're speaking in plurals, it's not a possessive. The MacBook Air doesn't own anything. You sound like someone who can't afford the luxury of solid state and cloud storage, so you make fun of people who aren't confined to cords like your decades-old ghetto arse. Kinda like people who were anti-cell phone when cell phones first came out. Next time, try to be helpful without the derogatory commentary.

How embarrassing to be someone who would write this.

 

[philipma1957]

He had it coming. First he calls the previous poster an idiot, then boasts about his wealth, then goes into an insane rant about dated technology that only a 40+ would do (thus actually kinda proving the point of the previous poster), then - not quite satisfied yet - dedicates some time to lecturing the poster on english grammar.

I LOL at that guy!

(or girl).

I predict he/she will reply by stating that hes not struggling at all but actually quite successful - just wait.

Hey cut me some slack I am 55 and I on cutting edge with a lot of tech.

Don't go after 40+ old people as a group that is behind in tech,
lots of them really helped build all the new tech you are using today.


Of course lots of us are far behind the tech of today.

 

[lamerica80]

Hey cut me some slack I am 55 and I on cutting edge with a lot of tech.

Don't go after 40+ old people as a group that is behind in tech,
lots of them really helped build all the new tech you are using today.


Of course lots of us are far behind the tech of today.

Sorry, i did not mean to insult a group of people! I was trying to make a point that the guy totally over-compensated in his techrant as in "look at me, i got this down, im still in the game!!!".

 

[philipma1957]

Sorry, i did not mean to insult a group of people! I was trying to make a point that the guy totally over-compensated in his techrant as in "look at me, i got this down, im still in the game!!!".

Thank you for the mea culpa.

I do agree that the guy was quick to write a lot of nasty stuff.

 

[purtsak]

is there coming a mac mini this year

 

[nfilg]

I hope apple will introduce a mac mini Ivy Bridge (silent release)!

Right now I have a Apple wireless keyboard and a trackpad. First I thought of buying an Imac if apple comes up with new version until December but now I'd rather spend less and buy a mac mini and wait for Haswell in 2013.

If tthey not introduce the mini ivy bridge by the end of the year.
What is your opinion on the 4 current mac minis I5s and I7 quad?
Use Photoshop CS5 Graphics / fireworks / Premiere / AfterEffects (simple compositions), Programming simple text editor
I already have a ssd 256.

Thank you!

 

[Poki]

I hope apple will introduce a mac mini Ivy Bridge (silent release)!

Right now I have a Apple wireless keyboard and a trackpad. First I thought of buying an Imac if apple comes up with new version until December but now I'd rather spend less and buy a mac mini and wait for Haswell in 2013.

If tthey not introduce the mini ivy bridge by the end of the year.
What is your opinion on the 4 current mac minis I5s and I7 quad?
Use Photoshop CS5 Graphics / fireworks / Premiere / AfterEffects (simple compositions), Programming simple text editor
I already have a ssd 256.

Thank you!

Do yourself something good and get a quad-core. Yeah, a Sandy Bridge dual core could easily handle all you do, but just not as fast as you may want, and not for as long as a 4C will.

 

[nfilg]

thanks Poki! I will wait until mid October, if apple doesn´t release a new mac mini I will get the current sandy quad core. Apple store is down HEre come the Ivy mini. I wish...

 

[purtsak]

Can I copy my OS on my Mac mini to a USB flash drive and then install an SSD and then install the OS from the USB?

If yes, how do I do it. Really need a tutorial.


Thanks

Marie

 

[Poki]

Can I copy my OS on my Mac mini to a USB flash drive and then install an SSD and then install the OS from the USB?

If yes, how do I do it. Really need a tutorial.


Thanks

Marie

If you want to copy the whole OS, use carbon copy and then copy it back to the SSD. If you just want your data, simply use time machine to save everything, reinstall the OS via WiFi or disc (if you have an older Mini) and then choose "restore from backup" - probably the easier way.

 

[hipnetic]

A macbook air is garbage if you are not a mobile user.

Define "mobile."

I have a 13" Macbook Air (2011). I rarely take it out of the house. I take it out of the house so infrequently that weight is a non-issue for me when traveling.

What *is* important to me, however, is "lap weight." Call me crazy, but I actually use this laptop on my lap. Most of the time, in fact. I work out of my home and move from room to room. Most of the time, I use it on my lap. I may very well come to regret my usage habits at some point, if I start to develop back problems from using my laptop 10+ hours a day on the couch, bed, etc., but for now, that's how I like to use it. I honestly can't imagine forcing myself to sit at a desk 8+ hours a day. We have a perfectly fine home office (my wife likes to work out of it on days that she works from home). For me, even when it's available, I have little desire to work out of that room.

Also, I partially attribute the Macbook Pro (non-retina)'s added weight/size as being largely wasted on that DVD drive that I have absolutely no use for. At least with the Pro Retina, they got rid of that and saved some size/weight as a result.

I will admit that if the Pro Retina was available at the time I got my Air, it would have probably been the one I wanted, primarily for the added screen size/resolution, just as I opted for the 13" Air over the 11" in order to get more resolution. The other "Pro" features (e.g., faster CPU) are currently unnecessary for my needs. I'm a programmer, but focus these days on SQL and development that is conducted on a remote machine, so I'm rarely taxing my Air's CPU. I do want to get into iOS development, but I have trouble believing that the 13" Air (2011)'s CPU would not be more than sufficient for that.

Why are we having this discussion in a Mac Mini forum, anyway?

 

[philipma1957]

Define "mobile."

I have a 13" Macbook Air (2011). I rarely take it out of the house. I take it out of the house so infrequently that weight is a non-issue for me when traveling.

What *is* important to me, however, is "lap weight." Call me crazy, but I actually use this laptop on my lap. Most of the time, in fact. I work out of my home and move from room to room. Most of the time, I use it on my lap. I may very well come to regret my usage habits at some point, if I start to develop back problems from using my laptop 10+ hours a day on the couch, bed, etc., but for now, that's how I like to use it. I honestly can't imagine forcing myself to sit at a desk 8+ hours a day. We have a perfectly fine home office (my wife likes to work out of it on days that she works from home). For me, even when it's available, I have little desire to work out of that room.

Also, I partially attribute the Macbook Pro (non-retina)'s added weight/size as being largely wasted on that DVD drive that I have absolutely no use for. At least with the Pro Retina, they got rid of that and saved some size/weight as a result.

I will admit that if the Pro Retina was available at the time I got my Air, it would have probably been the one I wanted, primarily for the added screen size/resolution, just as I opted for the 13" Air over the 11" in order to get more resolution. The other "Pro" features (e.g., faster CPU) are currently unnecessary for my needs. I'm a programmer, but focus these days on SQL and development that is conducted on a remote machine, so I'm rarely taxing my Air's CPU. I do want to get into iOS development, but I have trouble believing that the 13" Air (2011)'s CPU would not be more than sufficient for that.

Why are we having this discussion in a Mac Mini forum, anyway?

First please don't quote me out of context.


Second in your case the machine will work for you. You would meet the mobile definition.



Third I have no idea why this is in a mac mini forum , but here is a guess f'''ing apple has not built a new desktop for many many many months.


Fourth this is just the entire pc's world's realization that a monster desktop will make less money then p.o.s toys.

Hence no new iMac, Macmini or mac pro!


Fifth Intel has a release on the haswell and it goes to show smaller is the new big thing.


http://forwardthinking.pcmag.com/no...swell-the-next-22nm-chip-to-offer-2x-graphics


This type of thinking means smaller gear that kind of works think "rental" vs owning.


The cloud is a renting concept. Macmini (plug in your pc) plus a pegasus r6 is an owning concept.

It is obvious that smaller is winning. (or the flavor of the month)

 

[damir00]

The plain reality is that, for most people, most of the time, computing power has caught up and passed computing needs. The impetus for rapid change is no longer there.

 

[HoopjeEllende]

alright, no Mac Mini update
But if you always look over your shoulder, than you don't see what is in front of you. So, what is the next possible date? Is Apple presenting a financial report or something in October?
I have brought newspapers for 2 years to buy my first mac and i don't want to pay for old hardware.... But I need it now! When Apple? When? please...

 

[Mojo1]

...then goes into an insane rant about dated technology that only a 40+ would do...

Hey, no ageism please!

Not all geezers are techno-phobes. I'm 58 going on 18. I do Mac consulting on the side...

I helped my late neighbor buy and set-up his first iMac, a cute little G3. During the next seven years he upgraded two times, winding up with a 24" Intel iMac. He used his Mac every day for myriad things and he never had to call me to help with a major problem in all that time. I estimate that I spent less than eight hours total helping him and most of it was getting him started with the G3. (At my suggestion he read David Pogue's "Missing Manual" and got a lot out of it...)

My friend was a truck driver for 45 years and had never even used a typewriter prior to getting his first Mac. He looked like a good ol' boy but he was very intelligent, tilted toward progressive thinking and he was a life-long learner who was open to new ideas. When he died a few years ago at 77 his G3 and G5 iMacs were still going strong, getting daily use by his kids and grandkids; the Intel was inherited by his son.

Kindly remember that old or young, we are all in this together.

----------

The plain reality is that, for most people, most of the time, computing power has caught up and passed computing needs. The impetus for rapid change is no longer there.

Agreed! Unfortunately, a lot of people are well-trained consumers who spend money they don't have on things that they don't really need...

 

[jibber-jabber]

Now that the new 2012 Mini is generally expected to be released this Wednesday, has anyone seen legit-sounding info on whether there will still be a discrete GPU option build, and if so, which GPU package Apple will be using?

I'm currently using a 2010 (Core 2 Duo/GeForce 320M) and 2011 (i5/Radeon 6630M) with very similar specs (8Gb RAM and SSDs both), and while it's very hard to tell them apart in regular Mac use, the Radeon version does smoke the older model when running Windows games, and can do so at much higher frame rates and resolutions. And since they're both TV-connected Minis, that's important.

So which GPU will Apple use? Any historical interpolating possible?

(PS: Anyone who brags about "hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting in the bank, doing nothing" is sort of hilarious, considering how foolish it is to leave that amount of money sitting doing nothing in the bank... pretty much the worst possible way to treat it, income and tax-wise. So be easy on the poor guy: he clearly doesn't even understand how money works.)

 

[HurryKayne]

Now that the new 2012 Mini is generally expected to be released this Wednesday, has anyone seen legit-sounding info on whether there will still be a discrete GPU option build, and if so, which GPU package Apple will be using?
......

So which GPU will Apple use?

Cards?
625m
640m
645m
650m
till (in the best case ..fantastic)a 670mx,
but honestly i think we will see something between 625m and 645m
http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_family.html
Then i hope see a non server quadcore with the IvyBridge 3612Qm or 3632Qm
launched only on last August
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i7-3632QM-Notebook-Processor.80049.0.html
I hope to see this :
Mini L dual 625m
Mini H dual 645m /Bto 36/12-32Qm Quad
Mini Server 3632Qm
But i realize we will see this:
Mini L dual 625m
Mini H dual 640/5m
Mini Server Quad Core

 

[philipma1957]

Cards?
625m
640m
645m
650m
till (in the best case ..fantastic)a 670mx,
but honestly i think we will see something between 625m and 645m
http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_family.html
Then i hope see a non server quadcore with the IvyBridge 3612Qm or 3632Qm
launched only on last August
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i7-3632QM-Notebook-Processor.80049.0.html
I hope to see this :
Mini L dual 625m
Mini H dual 645m /Bto 36/12-32Qm Quad
Mini Server 3632Qm
But i realize we will see this:
Mini L dual 625m
Mini H dual 640/5m
Mini Server Quad Core

they will have the hd 4000 graphics in the low end and the quad core.


the gpu model you would hope for a 650m (no way) maybe a 640m.


I just hope the case stays the same size and they don't shrink it.

 

[Poki]

I don't know how often I said this, but here we go again ...

They won't use a 625M. It isn't much faster than a HD4000 and uses just as much power as a 640M (ca. 32W). Then again, their current graphics card uses only about 15W of power, so their only option may be a GT 640M LE (18W). Or they go the 645M route (about 37W). Whatever they choose, it won't be a 625M or a 650M - both are terrible options for the Mini.

If they find a way to get the extra 14W of energy in the Mini, they're going to use the 640M with GDDR5 memory (hopefully 1 GB ...), otherwise they have to use the GT 640M LE (still faster than the 625M).

As for CPUs, the low end will without doubt have a Dual-Core i5 chip with probably 2,5 GHz. The high end option will feature a Quad-Core chip, so it's either the i7-3612qm or the i7-3632qm, both use 35W of power just as the dual core chips in the current Minis. In an imho unlikely case they could choose to offer the quad-core model only as a BTO option, but I don't think so as they couldn't advertise it as aggressively as if it is standard.

The server model probably stays with a i7-3610/3615qm and the HD4000. As for SSDs - they're probably gonna be still an BTO option, although a cheaper one.

 

[HurryKayne]

they will have the hd 4000 graphics in the low end and the quad core.


the gpu model you would hope for a 650m (no way) maybe a 640m.


I just hope the case stays the same size and they don't shrink it.

What i hope is a quad core with a 670mx....not the 650 m ,and this is totally no way i know that.
What i see its a dual core with a 640 m.
What i fear is a dual with just Hd4000 or 625m ( i know i know..)
If only we could have a quad with a 640m....

 

[HurryKayne]

I don't know how often I said this, but here we go again ...

They won't use a 625M. It isn't much faster than a HD4000 and uses just as much power as a 640M (ca. 32W). Then again, their current graphics card uses only about 15W of power, so their only option may be a GT 640M LE (18W). Or they go the 645M route (about 37W). Whatever they choose, it won't be a 625M or a 650M - both are terrible options for the Mini.

If they find a way to get the extra 14W of energy in the Mini, they're going to use the 640M with GDDR5 memory (hopefully 1 GB ...), otherwise they have to use the GT 640M LE (still faster than the 625M).

As for CPUs, the low end will without doubt have a Dual-Core i5 chip with probably 2,5 GHz. The high end option will feature a Quad-Core chip, so it's either the i7-3612qm or the i7-3632qm, both use 35W of power just as the dual core chips in the current Minis. In an imho unlikely case they could choose to offer the quad-core model only as a BTO option, but I don't think so as they couldn't advertise it as aggressively as if it is standard.

The server model probably stays with a i7-3610/3615qm and the HD4000. As for SSDs - they're probably gonna be still an BTO option, although a cheaper one.

To be clear i'm not thinking in a 625m...this is what i fear and you got me
with 640/45 m plus 3612/32 qm as Bto
ps.
Its quite obvious what you say about 625m..its logical,even if this doesn't mean we know what Apple is gonna show us..we don't know nothing,but you seem so sure about 625m..so what about you....?..pd.just joking..only 2 day left

 

[Poki]

To be clear i'm not thinking in a 625m...this is what i fear and you got me
with 640/45 m plus 3612/32 qm as Bto
ps.
Its quite obvious what you say about 625m..its logical,even if this doesn't mean we know what Apple is gonna show us..we don't know nothing,but you seem so sure about 625m..so what about you....?..pd.just joking..only 2 day left

Yep, the 640M and a i7-3612qm is exactly what I want, too! Just hope they 'want' to make the Mini powerful, because technically there's no reason against it.

 

[HurryKayne]

Yep, the 640M and a i7-3612qm is exactly what I want, too! Just hope they 'want' to make the Mini powerful, because technically there's no reason against it.

The only reason could be..protecting other lines,
such as the MacBookPro and the Imac,
this could explain the lack of Gpu in 13 inch retina MbPro
(as rumored),to protect the Classic 15 MbPro with the 650 m with 512Mb,
and the retina15 from the classic as well ,actually if you Bto to 1G..it becomes really expensive and this lead you to buy the retina15 instead.
Now we have just to wait and see if the 640m will stick to mini,and the 650-670/75mx-680 m to the Imac..lets cross the fingers,two days left,left hope Apple won't disappoint us.

 

[Poki]

The only reason could be..protecting other lines,
such as the MacBookPro and the Imac,
this could explain the lack of Gpu in 13 inch retina MbPro
(as rumored),to protect the Classic 15 MbPro with the 650 m with 512Mb,
and the retina15 from the classic as well ,actually if you Bto to 1G..it becomes really expensive and this lead you to buy the retina15 instead.
Now we have just to wait and see if the 640m will stick to mini,and the 650-670/75mx-680 m to the Imac..lets cross the fingers,two days left,left hope Apple won't disappoint us.

Well, the iMac still has considerably more graphics power, and as the MacBook is there for portability, and the iMac is a All-In-One, I don't think cannibalization is a big factor here. But yeah, nobody knows what Apple thinks ...