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My BASIC render of the new Mini
- Thread starter Gloor
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Because there’s plenty of space for those ports on the Mac Studio. Not the case for the new smaller mini.
It is possible to have more than one side of the Mini contain ports. I fully agree the Studio has by far the advantage with the additional real estate. I am not a fan of shrinking the Mini. If they are able to shrink it then they are able to take exactly the footprint it has now and do better with cooling and other features.
I love it! Thanks for sharing!Hey guys,
with all the talk about the new mini and me being at home this weekend I decided to dust off my 3D skills and do a basic version. Please be gentle as I'm not a modeller or lighter so the renders are fairly basic (+my machine is slow so the shading work was a pain).
On the left is the Mini I think we could see and on the right is the old mini. I didn't bother to model the ports on the old mini so thats why I've rotated it.
I've kept the ports physically accurate (down to a 1mm) so it should represent it quite well. The original Mini is physically accurate.
1x audio jack
4x thunderbolt ports
1x hdmi
1x ethernet
1x power
1x turn on button
Let me know what you think and lets see what Apple does
EDIT: added 2 better renders from UE. Unfortunately my computer can't handle better settings so it has artefacts but its better I think
View attachment 2405032 View attachment 2405034 View attachment 2405033 View attachment 2405083 View attachment 2405084 View attachment 2405312
Wow, that is horrible. It reminds me of when the Apple TV got taller, but at least that was a quick iteration that stretched its height out of need, and not a thoroughly thought out new design. If Apple is gonna do an all-new Mac mini, it better look much better than that.
To be fair, even your current Mac mini rendition is ugly, so maybe it's just an artist problem.
To be fair, even your current Mac mini rendition is ugly, so maybe it's just an artist problem.
Do better or stop criticising. I've stated my limitations.
Its not artists problem its you who are the problem!
Its not artists problem its you who are the problem!
A hefty passive heat sink on top would give it enough weight to stay put on the desk, and explain the additional height.
Could be. Depends if it’s aluminum, copper or grapheme. Copper would be the heaviest but also the most expensive.
Good efforts. It is fun to see what people think. I'd like to see Apple making it super minimal on "ports". It could be just 4 USB-C/Thunderbolt ports. No power, no audio, no ethernet, no HDMI and maybe even no power button. I also wouldn't think it will replace the Mac mini, it is going to be a new line and slot it in at $449/$499 for 8/256. The mini then would go up $100 to $699 and go to 12/512.
Perhaps a strategy is to just have USB and TB and call it a day. No need for a 3.5 audio as they want everyone on Bluetooth or to go digital output only for audio. While card reading is nice, it isn't a common denominator need so out it goes too. Just USB and TB so that keyboard/mice/trackpad, external devices and monitor(s) can be attached. HDMI is nice but again TB to HDMI or Displayport might be visited. Again, I prefer the size we have today of the Mini and simply exploit the foot print better - focus on ports and more efficient cooling and upping the base RAM as we enter into an AI age.
Didn't know about this product but clearly there are ways to make things smaller and still maintain ports. So Apple clearly has a lot of room to play with.
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It is possible indeed, although Apple would never use such a layout of ports that screams “I’m a mini-PC/NUC” miles away. Don’t get me wrong, usually they are very good machines, but Apple follows a certain design that prioritizes symmetry and aesthetics over versatilit.Didn't know about this product but clearly there are ways to make things smaller and still maintain ports. So Apple clearly has a lot of room to play with.
GEEKOM XT12 Pro | 12th Gen i9 Mini PC - Born for Creativity
Amplify craetivity with the new releasing GEEKOM XT12 Pro mini PC. 12th Gen Intel Core i9 processor, designed for video editing & 3D modeling.
However, I’d love them to implement a couple of USB-C ports in the front.
Not quite sure the architecture of the M boards could be done that way though it was be great if it could. Again, ports on one side and ports on the opposite side (back and front) is a good option. I don't think smaller adds anything unless maybe it is the size of the footprint that was previous to this one. I wonder how much a smaller Mini would overlap an aTV and potentially offer far more.Didn't know about this product but clearly there are ways to make things smaller and still maintain ports. So Apple clearly has a lot of room to play with.
GEEKOM XT12 Pro | 12th Gen i9 Mini PC - Born for Creativity
Amplify craetivity with the new releasing GEEKOM XT12 Pro mini PC. 12th Gen Intel Core i9 processor, designed for video editing & 3D modeling.
yeah, I know. Apple won’t do this madness. It was more to just illustrate that it’s possible so Apple has no excuse. They will make elegant solution and hopefully the right utility.
There are a variety NUC PC like this on the market. It is interesting to note this one and most (if not all) of the others use an external power brick. Although part of that might be thermal management since they use intel processors.Didn't know about this product but clearly there are ways to make things smaller and still maintain ports. So Apple clearly has a lot of room to play with.
GEEKOM XT12 Pro | 12th Gen i9 Mini PC - Born for Creativity
Amplify craetivity with the new releasing GEEKOM XT12 Pro mini PC. 12th Gen Intel Core i9 processor, designed for video editing & 3D modeling.
I would love to see at least 16GB/512 for base model at $599. It should include (2) Thunderbolt 5 ports, 2 USB-C charging ports, ethernet port, headphone jack, mag power adapter connector (similar to iMac). Monitors should be single 8K @ 120Hz/4k @ 240Hz or 2 Monitors 4k at 144Hz. Eliminate the HDMI input for Thunderbolt 5. Eliminate USB-A's for USB-C's.
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Beelink, Minisforum, Geekom will now have competition.
Thanks for that! I believe this will be part of Apple's big announcement with Mac in Oct!