Sticking one USB-C on the front will simplify the spacing in the rear.
Also what about the 3.5mm audio jack that every Mac still seems to have. Perhaps on the front or the side?
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My BASIC render of the new Mini
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Also what about the 3.5mm audio jack that every Mac still seems to have. Perhaps on the front or the side?
i put it on the back but honestly, 3.5mm jack is close to being dead as well. Look how popular are all the wireless headphones. I have wireless and wired and guess what I use more?
I think people underestimate how much things change overtime. iPhone 7 showed us that after initial 'uproar' things work out really well. Imagine iPhone 16 having the audio jack back in. Not many people would use it although some would welcome it.
Same will be here with the mini, we will adjust and eventually those that complain know will be fine.
if ethernet port is not in the unit but is instead in the power box then thats fine too. Those that need it will have the option and those that don't will simply enjoy the freed space for something else.
Right now I use ethernet port on my MBP through an USB-C hub adapter and I'm ok with that but with wifi getting better and better I may go back to wifi only. Will see.
If its on the powerbrick then I'll just get that instead as all cables are hidden under my table anyway.
I still think though that the ethernet will stay. If AppleTV has it then its very likely that the Mini will have it although i would really prefer the port to be on the power brick sized similar to the MBP ones with just added feature
Right now I use ethernet port on my MBP through an USB-C hub adapter and I'm ok with that but with wifi getting better and better I may go back to wifi only. Will see.
If its on the powerbrick then I'll just get that instead as all cables are hidden under my table anyway.
I still think though that the ethernet will stay. If AppleTV has it then its very likely that the Mini will have it although i would really prefer the port to be on the power brick sized similar to the MBP ones with just added feature
I think you should flip the top and bottom as I have made mention elsewhere of such a layout using something of a passive daughterboar or extension. Perhaps skip the reader slot entirely. Just USB4/TB, HDMI, 3.5 audio. HDMI and audio on top and 4 USB/TB on the bottom. The extra space might be use for part of cooling or antennae (6e or 7)
I do hope there isn't a thermal bottleneck in this new NUC sized Mac Mini.
£749 M4
£999 M4 Pro - more likely over £1k
Probably going to vary depending on how you use it. My M1 mini stays on 24x7 at about 60-100% CPU load and yet it's barely warm to touch.
A mini that's less than half the size would most likely be significantly warmer or even hot to touch. Not sure I'd want that.
I think it will be fine. These base M chips go in iPads. The iPad Pro M4 is fine and in-fact it’s cooler than the M2 iPad Pro thanks to added graphene thermal sheets but the M4 iPad is thinner.
The M4 mini will be taller than the current mini and much thicker than an iPad and M4 is based on the TSMC N3E node so it’s likely more efficient at MT workloads as well.
The fact that it will be taller is almost a confirmation of active cooling. What else would require that space?
This change in size will revolutionise how we use Mac Mini. Yes I’m being sarcastic. I actually prefer the flat design of the current model. Don’t like the boxy design. Btw have users complained about Mini’s size or why they decided to make it smaller?
Don’t get me wrong the render is nice and I appreciate your work. Just commenting Apple’s possible new design.
Don’t get me wrong the render is nice and I appreciate your work. Just commenting Apple’s possible new design.
Here is a revised design. The extra TB4 ports on the front are for the M4 Pro model. Also I added a cooling vent which is in the current mac mini.
IF it happens to have an SD slot like the Mac Studio,
Attachments
The volume of the currently available 11" M4 iPad Pro is fairly comparable to the ATV and the iPad includes a screen and battery that take up the vast majority of the volume, so I don't see why a smaller mini would be at all difficult to make. The number and arrangement of ports seems like it would be the main driver for a new mini.
That looks cool. I think the grills will be smaller though and there will only be one port in the front but who knows.
Cutting the total number and variety of ports for the budget-tier Mac down to a bare minimum, giving a few more to the mid-tier, and the most to the high-end-tier, is also a very effective way to push more consumer to spend more.
It also happens to be an approach that Apple has to most Mac specs, only giving the most expensive Macs all the features and specs the consumer wants, and less and less as one descends the price/value ladder, all the way down to the entry-level configuration.
Who buys a computer based on the number of ports when you can always get adapters?
I never bought a computer based on that and don't know anyone who did.
I always buy computer with these criteria in mind:
-is the cpu fast enough for my needs?
-is the gpu fast enough for my needs?
-is the ram enough?
-whats the storage I need vs what I can add?
I can't see anyone passing on a 'perfect' product just because its missing one port that you can add with an adapter. And if there is such person I would love to meet that person in life and have a conversation with that person.
:-D :-D :-D
I never bought a computer based on that and don't know anyone who did.
I always buy computer with these criteria in mind:
-is the cpu fast enough for my needs?
-is the gpu fast enough for my needs?
-is the ram enough?
-whats the storage I need vs what I can add?
I can't see anyone passing on a 'perfect' product just because its missing one port that you can add with an adapter. And if there is such person I would love to meet that person in life and have a conversation with that person.
:-D :-D :-D
Well, Apple ties the specs, power, number ports, etc., etc., to the price and size of the Mac. So it doesn't matter if someone is that obsessed with the number of ports or if it doesn't matter to them. They aren't getting a high number of ports unless they go with the more expensive option.
Like, you can't get a 2 USB-C + USB-A Mac mini with an M2 Max or M2 Ultra. Nor will you be getting a Mac mini M2 Pro with 64GB or 128GB RAM.
You talk about this like you have a choice with Apple to pick and chose what you need. That's just not the case.
Good for you that you're happy fitting your needs into exactly what Apple wants to sell you. Or just living the "dongle life". But that's not every single person (having data or power go through a dongle is not the same as running it directly through a native port).
I'm not here to discuss if it's good or bad. It doesn't matter because it's just a fact that you can't mix and match with Apple.
It’s not just the number of ports but also about bandwidth.
The current MmPro has 4x40Gbps including 3 monitors.
Only Thunderbolt 5 will change things so less ports isn’t a problem.
So any less may not work for a prosumer media setup.
A hobbyist doesn’t need a Mac Studio.
The current MmPro has 4x40Gbps including 3 monitors.
Only Thunderbolt 5 will change things so less ports isn’t a problem.
So any less may not work for a prosumer media setup.
A hobbyist doesn’t need a Mac Studio.
I agree with your logic if the criteria is as you say. Recall long ago, Minis were put in dozens vertically in rackmount shelves as servers and such. Apple will *tell us* what we need and which system to get. I don't like that approach but it certainly validates your point about a hobbyist.
I had an M1 Mini, at first I really loved it but alas, it was the one and only Mac I regretted buying. The reason was that the memory was capped too low. I was forced* to jump up to the Studio. Everything else about the Mini was fine for my needs. I still am a huge fan of the Mini and wary of this new model supposedly with the altered footprint (smaller). I am now deeply entrenched in the Studio world moving forward. I admit the Studio to me is just the "pro" version of the Mini in most respects.
Yes! Oh please! They had better go for USB-C charging to free up tons of space. It’ll probably just have 4 USB-C connectors, but it’d be great if it had HDMI and A ports too.
Oh my, I just realized what this would mean! I hadn’t thought about this! The front ports would really be handy (I’m a bit tired of trying to blindly connect my USBs to the back of the mini).
This is the best mock-up/concept/render I’ve seen so far. Like a scaled down Mac Studio. However, I don’t think it will come with an SD card reader. Everything else, I think it’s spot-on!
I get it, however with desktops vs laptops, Apple seems to hold on to ports a bit longer. The Mac Studio has two USB-A ports for example.