You should know apple's track record by now...they won't update the processor, it will be another 2 years. They would rather make you spend more money on a laptop or desktop. You are only fooling yourself if you think apple will upgrade the processor to displace the iMac or desktop, not going to happen. This is a different category for them!!!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Macmini 2020: buy or wait?
- Thread starter hanske68
- Start date
-
- Tags
- macmini
- Sort by reaction score
Yes the mini is a niche computer so it gets updated less frequently than their more popular models. It's still currently a very capable machine for it's intended use.
The Mac mini is not a complete computer. You connect you own monitor, keyboard, and mouse. It is not a Mactini.
Hopefully sooner rather than later, I could have the same dilemma, buy a new Mac Mini or wait.
Having recently returned to the land of my birth after several years abroad, life is somewhat itinerant, thus a MacBook Air is my mainstay for now. No fan of laptops, I look forward to the day I can settle somewhere, and set up a Mac Mini on a desk again. When that time comes a new Mini would be a preferable option to unpacking the 2009 Mini that ran on my desk, mostly 24/7 for 10 years.
With the recent update to the 2018 Mac Mini, now starting out with a 256 GB SSD, it is priced a little more attractively. However, price and specs still seem more "pro" oriented, compared to what was available off the shelf for the average Joe in earlier generations.
A teacher by profession, and an amateur photographer (occasionally providing material for websites and the local newspaper), I am more average Joe than pro. I don't require great performance.
I do however desire a decent amount of on board storage on a desktop to keep records, documents I have created, material I use from elsewhere (quite a bit to supplement textbooks available in digital form now), and my photos. I also have a library of music, as well as audio for teaching materials.
Just as revisions of the MacBook range have provided a better range of specs to suit a wider range of needs and budgets, I would hope the same for a new Mac Mini, which would make the decision a no brainer.....
Having recently returned to the land of my birth after several years abroad, life is somewhat itinerant, thus a MacBook Air is my mainstay for now. No fan of laptops, I look forward to the day I can settle somewhere, and set up a Mac Mini on a desk again. When that time comes a new Mini would be a preferable option to unpacking the 2009 Mini that ran on my desk, mostly 24/7 for 10 years.
With the recent update to the 2018 Mac Mini, now starting out with a 256 GB SSD, it is priced a little more attractively. However, price and specs still seem more "pro" oriented, compared to what was available off the shelf for the average Joe in earlier generations.
A teacher by profession, and an amateur photographer (occasionally providing material for websites and the local newspaper), I am more average Joe than pro. I don't require great performance.
I do however desire a decent amount of on board storage on a desktop to keep records, documents I have created, material I use from elsewhere (quite a bit to supplement textbooks available in digital form now), and my photos. I also have a library of music, as well as audio for teaching materials.
Just as revisions of the MacBook range have provided a better range of specs to suit a wider range of needs and budgets, I would hope the same for a new Mac Mini, which would make the decision a no brainer.....
The Mac Mini seems to be on a 4 year upgrade cycle, so I wouldn’t expect a new one until 2022.
It would be nice to get 10th gen CPUs as they now all have hyperthreading and much improved onboard graphics.
I’m likely going to build my own PC (maybe hackintosh) based on the 6 core/12 thread 10th gen i5. Or I’ll get an iMac, which will likely have an option including that CPU.
It would be nice to get 10th gen CPUs as they now all have hyperthreading and much improved onboard graphics.
I’m likely going to build my own PC (maybe hackintosh) based on the 6 core/12 thread 10th gen i5. Or I’ll get an iMac, which will likely have an option including that CPU.
I assume this WwDC will provide some direction regard using ARM chips in Macs. if they want to use in macmini, we can see a lost cost model release sometime in 1st half of 2021.
I just got a “2020” aka 2018 this week.
My 2012 with quad core i7 256gb ssd 16gb ram still runs great, other than the weekly - daily issue with displayport where wake from sleep isn’t working right ... requiring any of 3 random tricks up to a forced shut down to get back to work. Got tired of it, and I wasn’t going to buy another 34” screen.
The spec bump typically means one should not expect any other change in 6-12-18 months. It could be erratic ( I got burned with the last updates before they went to intel ) but update cycles are rather slow these days.
Could have grabbed the core i7 with basic 256 ssd, or even gone i7 with 512 ssd, but since I am not doing any crazy computations or rendering, I went with the core i5 and 512 ssd. Speed specs seem quite okay for it. I will be upgrading the ram some time this week, and probably should be good for another 8 years
Crossing fingers.
I still have my first mac mini with cinema display running 10.6.8. Love it as my cd ripper & jukebox music station. The old colorful OS is so easy on the eyes
My 2012 with quad core i7 256gb ssd 16gb ram still runs great, other than the weekly - daily issue with displayport where wake from sleep isn’t working right ... requiring any of 3 random tricks up to a forced shut down to get back to work. Got tired of it, and I wasn’t going to buy another 34” screen.
The spec bump typically means one should not expect any other change in 6-12-18 months. It could be erratic ( I got burned with the last updates before they went to intel ) but update cycles are rather slow these days.
Could have grabbed the core i7 with basic 256 ssd, or even gone i7 with 512 ssd, but since I am not doing any crazy computations or rendering, I went with the core i5 and 512 ssd. Speed specs seem quite okay for it. I will be upgrading the ram some time this week, and probably should be good for another 8 years
Crossing fingers. I still have my first mac mini with cinema display running 10.6.8. Love it as my cd ripper & jukebox music station. The old colorful OS is so easy on the eyes
Last edited:
Yes, or it could never happen. Maybe they just put an ARM processor on the Macbook (reborn) and the Macbook Air. Maybe...(insert another option)
Steve Jobs’ vision of the mini, a machine that increased Mac mindshare among hobbyists, is dead. Today’s mini is a product that Apple intentionally crippled in terms of graphics performance and other dumb design choices preclude most user upgrades. Out in the real world Raspberry Pis are the “minis” for a new generation of hobbyists.
Why does Tim Cook continue this farce?
Why does Tim Cook continue this farce?
This is nonsense, the Mac mini is perfect for anyone who doesn't want an all in one or a laptop. It's perfect for anyone who has a windows PC with all of the peripherals and wants a cheap way to switch to Mac. It's perfect for anyone who wants to upgrade their components individually and not all at once. Hint: Those cases are what it has always been and that was Jobs' vision for what it should be.
Maybe it doesn't fit your specific needs or wants but that doesn't mean it doesn't work for plenty of other people.
Right now you can order a Mac mini with the same performance as a 27" iMac (minus the graphics) for £850 less than the iMac. How is that a farce? Is giving people more options a farce now? The Mac mini is exactly what it has always been and the truth is that most people don't care about the graphics, as evidenced by the millions upon millions of MacBook Airs and 13" MacBook Pros that are sold each year. The Mac mini is serving exactly who Apple wants it to serve; people who want a cheap Mac desktop and people who want a more modular Mac desktop.
I have been waiting to see what happens with the mini too, while the spec bump in storage was nice its what it should have been in 2018. (128GB on a 750$ PC? Really? Its not nearly enough for me. I need at least 2TB so I would have to get a external SSD and on a mini that seems like an ok compromise.
In your like-for-like comparison...
- the iMac's graphics are worth say £150ish as a PCI card
- an LG 27" 5120x2880 ultrafine is £1180
…so, the iMac is £500 better value than the Mac Mini, like for like, BUT I'm being forced into a display that I neither need nor want.
If I want to improve the Mac Mini's graphics capabilities, I have to spend c.£300 on a bloody box that is larger than the computer into which to put a PCI card turning a £150 card into a £450 card.
Whichever route I take, I'm being penalised. It is totally nonsensical.
As a developer on MacOS and Windows with 3x 32" 4k displays I'd love to hear the sensible/best value approach to update my CMP. Dropping £2.5k for no significant increase in performance is crazy.
I don't need a new Macmini as such, but I do need more disk space. I bought mine only a couple of weeks before the 'upgrade' which is very frustrating as I could have had a bigger disk for the same price
I do have an external USB SSD that plugs into it but it's unsatisfactory as it keeps ejecting itself and I lose connection to the VM I have on it. All very frustrating.
I do have an external USB SSD that plugs into it but it's unsatisfactory as it keeps ejecting itself and I lose connection to the VM I have on it. All very frustrating.
I agree that his goal was to increase Mac mindshare, but don't really think it was targeted at "hobbyists". And I disagree that this vision is "dead". Aside from the underwhelming graphics, the 2018 Mini looks like a worthy upgrade to me: 6-core processors and 64gb RAM are certainly more than I expected (I actually thought the 2014 was the end of the line).
Boy, this sure reminds me how much I miss Steve... 😪
How are you being penalized??
The mini is a consumer system that you are trying to use beyond its design specifications.
If the solution is to use an eGPU ... to run three monitors instead of two, then that should be a no-brainer.
Then the Mac mini isn't for you. You conveniently didn't quote the first half of my post where I explicitly say that the Mac mini is for people who already have a display and peripherals. The Mac mini is a customisable Mac, it's a pick and choose Mac. If you want an LG ultra fine and a graphics card it's obvious that you are not the target market for a Mac mini. I don't know why you would be trying to turn the Mac mini into an iMac Pro/Mac Pro hybrid because that's terrible value for money.
As I said above, the Mac mini is for people who have the screen they want, the keyboard they want and the mouse they want. It's for people who don't want or care about dedicated graphics or for people who want better dedicated graphics than what is offered in the regular iMac, maybe even for people who don't want dedicated graphics right now but might want the option in the future. It's an incredibly niche product that you're comparing to one size fits all products like the iMac, which is a disingenuous way of looking at it.
I intentionally left out the first half of your post as I did not think it was relevant to the point being made. I am a person that already has a display and peripherals. Please re-read my post. I DON'T want an LG ultra fine. The point is that an iMac is better value like-for-like if you want the 5120x2880 display. You were pointing out an £850 price differential. That is a good arbitrage if you want that display. I don't so I am being penalised for not wanting that display by having to overpay for the graphics capability via an eGPU (which is another box that I don't want). Adding a box to add one card is crazy. You're looking at my point upside down.
If you want dedicated graphics and an ultrafine display in 27", iMac is a sensible package.
If you want dedicated graphics and have your own display(s), there is no sensible/equivalent value in Apple's line up.
[automerge]1589125940[/automerge]
An eGPU is not a no brainer when it is not cost-comparable to the same capability within an iMac. Cookie18 pointed out that the price differential between like-for-like Mac + iMac is £850. The iMac's display is worth £1180. The graphics card is around £150. This makes the iMac a good deal. Adding the same graphics capability to a Mac Mini via eGPU costs in around £450 of the £850 differential and to what benefit? To not receive and pay for a display that I neither want or need? Crazy.
What is the machine in Apple's line up that meets my (not ridiculous) 'design specifications' of use my 3x 4k displays with dedicated graphics? £6k Mac Pro 7,1? I don't need the processing power or that level of expansion.
OS aside, Intel's forthcoming Ghost Canyon NUC looks brilliant, but, OS is not an aside.
Last edited:
My point was that for many niche use cases the Mac mini is a perfect fit for many people. You came in with your niche use case and used that to try and invalidate my argument.
So what? You’re upset that eGPU enclosures are expensive? Should Apple make a product for every possible use case? That would be a pretty confusing line up. You say you don’t need a Mac Pro yet your current computer is a Mac Pro. You say it isn’t a ridiculous request for a Mac with dedicated graphics to support 3 4K displays yet the only Macs which support more than two 4k displays are the iMac Pro, Mac Pro and 16" MacBook Pro, all pro level devices. Also all of which are magnitudes more expensive than a Mac Mini.
I’m sorry that Apple doesn’t make the exact computer for you and I’m sorry that you don’t want to buy an eGPU but none of your reasoning for what you want to do is the fault of Apple or, to bring it back around, the Mac Mini.
I was doing nothing to invalidate your argument. You've gone on the defensive twice now for no reason. My point is that the hardware arbitrage in the Apple line up sucks. If you have existing peripherals you are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Mac mini does support 3x 4k displays but the consensus is that the performance is pretty crappy.
Actually, the frustration comes from CMP users that have an ageing but cost-effective and capable machine due to its expandability.
I'm in a quite same situation as you. And I made a surprising decision....
For many years I had hoped that Apple would again maintain the MacMini as a low-cost, high-performance version. My MacMini (end of 2012, 2.6 GHz Quad-Core i7; Intel HD G 4000 1536MB) was available at a reasonable price at that time.
I also bought the Apple Cinema Display, which fits better to an Apple computer than any Samsung etc. in my opinion.
But:
But Apple didn't manage to make a nice 4K monitor.
Apple shipped the new MacMini without SD card slot (I don't like adapters).
Apple has only cheap basic versions, well equipped configurations are accordingly expensive.
Since I do a lot of video editing (4K on my MacMini is a patience work...) after decades I will now sadly say goodbye to the MacMini concept.
Now, what will I do?
The day Apple offers a 23-inch 4K iMac with a good desktop graphics card is the day of purchase. But only if 23-inch comes with a 4K version.
For many years I had hoped that Apple would again maintain the MacMini as a low-cost, high-performance version. My MacMini (end of 2012, 2.6 GHz Quad-Core i7; Intel HD G 4000 1536MB) was available at a reasonable price at that time.
I also bought the Apple Cinema Display, which fits better to an Apple computer than any Samsung etc. in my opinion.
But:
But Apple didn't manage to make a nice 4K monitor.
Apple shipped the new MacMini without SD card slot (I don't like adapters).
Apple has only cheap basic versions, well equipped configurations are accordingly expensive.
Since I do a lot of video editing (4K on my MacMini is a patience work...) after decades I will now sadly say goodbye to the MacMini concept.
Now, what will I do?
The day Apple offers a 23-inch 4K iMac with a good desktop graphics card is the day of purchase. But only if 23-inch comes with a 4K version.
What generation are your current MBP 13" and mini? The Apple specs. claims that it will support 2, but it would depend what applications you would be running at the time.
I saw a performance rating of the 10th gen 13" MBP and the gpu performance was very impressive over the previous gens, including the Intel GPU on the i9 16" MBP.
I have the almost loaded 16" and hindsight, if I were to do it again, I would go the 2020 Mac mini route and 2020 i5 MB Air for the portability. I would then add an eGPU for the heavy GPU needs at home (video and photo editing.) The cost would be about the same while path would give me more expandability. All built in GPUs will always be limited down the road on the Macs if you have heavy GPU other than for up to 2 - 4k displays. The higher end CPUs is not a major limiter for the Mini.
You want that imaginary ‘headless iMac’ which I’ve been reading about since 2001 and obviously will never appear. It’s not going to happen.. buy an iMac when it’s updated and add displays to it or spend the $$$ on a Mac Pro. I’ve done both in the past while everyone is waiting for a Mac mini pro or headless iMacs. Apple is not going to change.