In that case I can see them beefing up the rating of the power supply - likely they'll have been measuring the heat production in the power supply and now know how much heat they will be able to develop to stay within certain limits.
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Mac mini 2013/2014 refresh.
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In that case I can see them beefing up the rating of the power supply - likely they'll have been measuring the heat production in the power supply and now know how much heat they will be able to develop to stay within certain limits.
Often it comes down to the individual setup.
For example with a bus-powered external device you can easily push temperatures significantly. On my base rMBP i can get a delta of about 15-20°C by simply watching TV on a tuner box connected via a Thunderbolt-to-Firewire adapter.
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Does this also apply to Firewire connections via a Thunderbolt adapter (compared to a "native" Firewire connection)?
IMHO the Airport Extreme design is fugly as hell! Though I'm not sure it's cost-related, as plastic would be even cheaper still (and allow for a better radio transmission besides). Also the production cost of those laser-welded iMac housings are most probably beyond good or bad, so decision criteria for Apple can't be cost (alone).
Without having anything to back this up, I'm guessing it will be announced somewhere in November, along with the new Mac Pro. I'm thinking November, just because the Mac Pro comes this year, and December is too far away and October seems a bit to close the iPhone presentation...
I intended on purchasing a server for commercial use. I have decided to wait until the latest refresh to see what become available. If I don't like what I see I'll try get a refurb.
I have read that the 1TB 5,4K drives (for server it's dual) can perform equally to some of the best 7.2K drives on the market.
However I'd like to see what kind of spec upgrade if any the server gets and if anything washes down to the standard drive offering.
I wonder has it crossed the design teams minds to include a small reserver battery into the server chassis. Since it is a low powered machine based on macbook components would it not make sense to include a small battery pack somewhere in that roomy enclosure for emergency shut down, a built in UPC that last 5/15 minutes, powering only the mac-mini server.
That would be an exceptional feature from a server point of view and entirely doable I would have though.
For the record I will be taking a 2008 MacPro off 365/24/7 service once I get this mini server.
I have read that the 1TB 5,4K drives (for server it's dual) can perform equally to some of the best 7.2K drives on the market.
However I'd like to see what kind of spec upgrade if any the server gets and if anything washes down to the standard drive offering.
I wonder has it crossed the design teams minds to include a small reserver battery into the server chassis. Since it is a low powered machine based on macbook components would it not make sense to include a small battery pack somewhere in that roomy enclosure for emergency shut down, a built in UPC that last 5/15 minutes, powering only the mac-mini server.
That would be an exceptional feature from a server point of view and entirely doable I would have though.
For the record I will be taking a 2008 MacPro off 365/24/7 service once I get this mini server.
For certain applications that could be handy, but typically people need more than just a single device to shut down or remain online in the event of power failure or power fluctuations.
For example, I have my mac mini, monitor, dsl modem, airport extreme, and raspberry pi attached to a UPS.
Trust me. Their headline will be "the biggest and the smallest Mac ever" (big in the sense of fast).
I wouldn't say that. The Mac Pro came out in 2006 and got redesigned this year. The last redesign for the mini was out in 2010.
I would say that was more a "revision". It got flatter, and that was it!
Now that there's no need to accommodate an optical drive, a new Mac Mini can be any shape.
Would be nice, but probably the iris pro will be used in the macbook pro only to differentiate the lines. (13'' iris pro only, 15'' iris pro and discrete gpu).
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Don't know what you plan to do with this configuration, but the mini doesn't seem the better fit for a so heavy setup. Why not an iMac 27 plus one thunderbolt Display and HDMI adapter? The iMac has more powerful CPU and discrete GPU that would help a lot with a 3 screen configuration.
I would say that. 8 years is an eternity, but that is a Pro product. The mini on the other hand is a consumer level product and all Apple consumer level products get redesigned in no more than 4 years time. Just look at the history.
The mini is due for hardware redesign. If not this year, then no later than next.
Edit: Actually, I'm not 100% right about that. I just realized the Mac mini was originally released in 2005 and then redesigned in 2010, which was 5 years time. However, that's the only moment where I can think that a consumer Mac has taken longer than 3-4 years, so it's a possibility (albeit a small one IMO) that a redesign could take as long as 2015. It is still more common that a redesign occurs every 3-4 years. Of course the mini could always be an exception to this trend. It does sell less than a Mac Pro after all.
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Prior to 2010, it was not completely aluminum.
I don't think that's possible. Other companies that have notebooks with discrete cards in them use MQ processors and not the soon to be released (at the time of this posting) HQ processors. This could possibly be due to the BGA1364 packaging which I can't explain that well so I will throw it over to Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_grid_array
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also, no USB3.1 but maybe PCIe flash storage, graphics HD5000 series, yes....
timeframe along with updated iMac? yes...in late Oct. 2013 or early Nov. 2013.....otherwise? Mar. 2014 including TB2......
( I can tell the future for free....less money more taxes....!!!)
also, no USB3.1 but maybe PCIe flash storage, graphics HD5000 series, yes....
timeframe along with updated iMac? yes...in late Oct. 2013 or early Nov. 2013.....otherwise? Mar. 2014 including TB2......
Not too sure about the PCIe storage, just because theyve traditionally supported two SATA drives. I suppose they could make it one PCIe and one SATA. Would they still be able to Fusionize them?
Apple will follow the most cheaper commercial solution if update happens in late Oct. 2013. That means nothing new in storage area..... I bet only processor+graphics and Wi-Fi AC ...and sleep happy with a "new" Mac mini!
As I mentioned before - my guess is on a redesign.
I seem to remember some remark that there was (I think) by Tim Cooke a remark that "this fall there would be a lot of things happening" (or something along those lines) which can mean a lot of new products coming to the market. I've just watched the video by Guy Kawasaki about the 12 things he learned from Steve Jobs and I know that the board is wondering when the next "game changing product" is going to come along. With Lenovo have the "tiny" desktop which is not much different in size from the Mac mini and looking at that and that there will be some plasticky iPhone then my guess is that it is possible we may see a Mac mini sooner rather than later. But I am not counting on it - seen too many people waiting half a year or even more because they were expecting a refresh. Who knows it may go the same way as the Mac Pro and not get refreshed for years.....
Edit: From the Guy Kawasaki video I get the impression that SJ was very much against "competing on price" and wanted superior gear - I do not think he would have approved of a plastic iPhone.
There is no similar solution from any other vendor. Find another computer of the same form factor with similar specs. The design is only 3 years old.
Why would they push a redesign when they could easily hold off for two more years and not loose a single sale. People like the current design, they will keep pushing it until people loose interest (stop buying) or they develop a new design that provides incentives for people to buy the new design.
I don't want a smaller unit. It's already tiny compared to 99% of desktops on the market. Hell, it's smaller than many thin clients I have installed. Smaller means reduced potential for performance upgrades. When they are pulling ports, drives, and ram slots to save space, I question the reasoning. It's a desktop, something that can be tucked away and hidden very easily. They need to address performance prior to anything else. If a design refresh doesn't drastically improve performance, I don't want it.
Why would they push a redesign when they could easily hold off for two more years and not loose a single sale. People like the current design, they will keep pushing it until people loose interest (stop buying) or they develop a new design that provides incentives for people to buy the new design.
I don't want a smaller unit. It's already tiny compared to 99% of desktops on the market. Hell, it's smaller than many thin clients I have installed. Smaller means reduced potential for performance upgrades. When they are pulling ports, drives, and ram slots to save space, I question the reasoning. It's a desktop, something that can be tucked away and hidden very easily. They need to address performance prior to anything else. If a design refresh doesn't drastically improve performance, I don't want it.
I don't know what Intel has planned for release this Fall, but just looking at ark.intel.com reveals every mobile chip with HD 5000 or better graphics to be way out of the Mini's price range.
The current CPU in the base Mini shows up as $225, the new Haswell CPU in the base MBA with HD 5000 graphics is $342, so I just don't see there being enough margin for anything more than HD 4600 in a $599 Mac. That's still about 30% better than HD 4000.
With Mac sales slumping and the Mini being the lowest priced entry to OS X, I would focus more on lowering the next model's price from $599 to $499, which I would redesign. Let's face it, the move away from traditional DIMM slots and 2.5" hard drives is inevitable, and better performance always trickles down with each successor anyways.
The current CPU in the base Mini shows up as $225, the new Haswell CPU in the base MBA with HD 5000 graphics is $342, so I just don't see there being enough margin for anything more than HD 4600 in a $599 Mac. That's still about 30% better than HD 4000.
With Mac sales slumping and the Mini being the lowest priced entry to OS X, I would focus more on lowering the next model's price from $599 to $499, which I would redesign. Let's face it, the move away from traditional DIMM slots and 2.5" hard drives is inevitable, and better performance always trickles down with each successor anyways.
Your approach is financially correct but new MBA comes with Haswell processor + HD 5000 series graphics and Wi-Fi AC, why new Mini Mac to stay technologically behind? Your scenario is not attractive and many Apple competitors
will take advantage of this handicap...Your approach is financially correct but new MBA comes with Haswell processor + HD 5000 series graphics and Wi-Fi AC, why new Mini Mac to stay technologically behind? Your scenario is not attractive and many Apple competitors
Why would the next Mini not have a Haswell processor and AC wireless?
Who said it would stay technologically behind?
Why would the next Mini not have a Haswell processor and AC wireless?
Who said it would stay technologically behind?
you are talking about HD4600 graphics and my point is .....apart from new haswell processors, Wi-Fi ac ....also, graphics is going to be HD 5000 series like WBA. Otherwise, customers will be disappointed to see only HD4600 graphics in Mac mini....this is my clarification.
Most of i7 Haswell processors are combined with HD5000 graphics series...however, some i7 comes with HD4600 ....this is what I mean "technologically behind" than a MBA.....
Lenovo has something similarly sized ("tiny 72e" from memory and has an optical drive) as well as ASrock. So similar size / performance is around although not in large presence.
I do much prefer the current shape and hope it will be around a bit longer. Even bought today another base 2012 model, sufficient for my needs but I'll replace the HDD with a Toshiba SSD. This time I will not put the original drive in as a second HDD but will instead opt to put it in an external USB 3 enclosure.
Wholeheartedly agree but realize that goes against Apple's philosophy of items having built in obsolesce and being not maintainable by the user.
As I mentioned before - Guy Kawasaki's video showed the 12 things he learned from SJ and one item was never to compete on price. To manufacture the iPhone "cheaper" and with a plastic back and the TimeMachine and Apple TV going to plastic outer means that Apple's philosophy has subtly changed away from Steve Jobs.
I really hope that this trend does not carry on into other products because that would mean not much good for the future of the company. If it does carry on then that will mean more run-of-the-mill parts being used which is good for those who thinker with their equipment. Unfortunately in the latter case overall quality and uniqueness will suffer.
I am fearing that the money grabbers and accountants will only look at the "bottom line" and have not much long term vision in which case the previous paragraph will eventually come to fruition.