Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New Mac Mini - where's the HDMI???

E

eljeffe

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 13, 2008
8
0
You would think with HDMI being the growing choice for connecting Macs and PCs to televisions and HD home theater setups, that Apple would have added HDMI to the Mac Mini.

Sure, I can run a DVI to HDMI and the toslink Digital Optical to a Receiver and then to the HD home theater setup, but what was Apple thinking by leaving the HDMI off the Mini?

Hell, even Dell units come with HDMI now. Apple missed the mark bigtime on this one.
 
eljeffe said:
You would think with HDMI being the growing choice for connecting Macs and PCs to televisions and HD home theater setups, that Apple would have added HDMI to the Mac Mini.

Sure, I can run a DVI to HDMI and the toslink Digital Optical to a Receiver and then to the HD home theater setup, but what was Apple thinking by leaving the HDMI off the Mini?

Hell, even Dell units come with HDMI now. Apple missed the mark bigtime on this one.
Click to expand...

Without Bluray they just don't care! :mad:

Cheers,
 
Tallest Skil said:
Not really. It's a computer, not a DVD player.
Click to expand...

True, but there are a few of us that like to use them for many different things and we're a bit tired of Apple ignoring some good options. Didn't stop me from buying one though. Can't wait for it to arrive!

Cheers,
 
hdmi is an a/v standard, dvi and display port are computer interfaces and have technical advantages over hdmi for use in computers.
 
speakerwizard said:
hdmi is an a/v standard, dvi and display port are computer interfaces and have technical advantages over hdmi for use in computers.
Click to expand...

Just curious, what are the advantages? My wife and I use HDMI on our respective Windows laptops and see no problems connecting to monitors and TVs.

Cheers,
 
eljeffe said:
You would think with HDMI being the growing choice for connecting Macs and PCs to televisions and HD home theater setups, that Apple would have added HDMI to the Mac Mini.

Sure, I can run a DVI to HDMI and the toslink Digital Optical to a Receiver and then to the HD home theater setup, but what was Apple thinking by leaving the HDMI off the Mini?

Hell, even Dell units come with HDMI now. Apple missed the mark bigtime on this one.
Click to expand...

I imagine it's because they want to continue to sell apple tv's.
 
where's the keyboard and mouse??

yeah it would be great if they included hdmi.

also, how come the mini's do not come with a keyboard and mouse?? outrageous.
 
Migsy said:
A DVI->HDMI adaptor costs less than £5 on ebay.

I don't see the problem here.
Click to expand...

No audio. Sure I can go buy a Gefen converter for $100, but it is so short-sighted by Apple to leave HDMI out of the Mini.

BTW, I have an AppleTV already. It's great to use as my streaming box that takes HDMI to the media room setup, and component video to the A/V matrix that serves the rest of the house. Movies in every room from one location.
 
eljeffe said:
No audio. Sure I can go buy a Gefen converter for $100, but it is so short-sighted by Apple to leave HDMI out of the Mini.

BTW, I have an AppleTV already. It's great to use as my streaming box that takes HDMI to the media room setup, and component video to the A/V matrix that serves the rest of the house. Movies in every room from one location.
Click to expand...

I don't understand why it is short sighted. The only thing HDMI audio can do that your optical can't is "True HD," a blue ray standard.

I guess I have never understood the whole one cable appeal. I send video to the display and audio to the receiver. Maybe I could see the appeal on laptops but even then, its still only one more cable.
 
Durandal549 said:
I don't understand why it is short sighted. The only thing HDMI audio can do that your optical can't is "True HD," a blue ray standard.

I guess I have never understood the whole one cable appeal. I send video to the display and audio to the receiver. Maybe I could see the appeal on laptops but even then, its still only one more cable.
Click to expand...

That assumes there is a receiver. We just hook to the HDTVs in the house and when we travel. Don't want to mess with even one more cable.

Cheers,
 
acurafan said:
yeah it would be great if they included hdmi.

also, how come the mini's do not come with a keyboard and mouse?? outrageous.
Click to expand...

Mini's were designed for switchers - people with Windows PCs who wanted to switch to Mac. You already have a Keyboard, mouse, and monitor in this case, so why should the mini have a keyboard? When I bought my first mini, I had a perfectly good 20 inch LCD, a great keyboard, and a mouse.
 
Seriously, grow up

I'm not trying to come across as a complete jerk, but come on people, it's a computer. Computers hook up to monitors. What connection do lcd monitors have??? DVI. Yes there are a FEW with hdmi, but really, when I go to best buy or other local retailers, they are almost all dvi without hdmi. It's Apple, they won't do it, at least for the time being. If you want hdmi, get an adapter or get an apple tv and please stop whining.
 
panzer06 said:
Just curious, what are the advantages? My wife and I use HDMI on our respective Windows laptops and see no problems connecting to monitors and TVs.
Click to expand...
HDMI has DRM bundled into the standard, leading to potential compatibility issues and a small, but nonetheless present, transmission overhead.
 
gkarris said:
Do people still use the dopey built in TV speakers??? :eek:

I use it on an old TV - for watching classic BW shows in Mono... :D

Minimum should be a separate output to a receiver and real speakers... :)
Click to expand...

Yes, tone deaf old folks like my wife and I still use the built in speakers on our 3 HDTVs. Of course my son has a full receiver setup and shakes his entire unit watching movies.

(real reason: wife doesn't like turning up volume, have to use CC to make sure I done miss anything. When she's not around, I crank up the built-in Samsung speakers and pretend I have a Home Theater.):(
 
drewyboy said:
I'm not trying to come across as a complete jerk, but come on people, it's a computer. Computers hook up to monitors. What connection do lcd monitors have??? DVI. Yes there are a FEW with hdmi, but really, when I go to best buy or other local retailers, they are almost all dvi without hdmi. It's Apple, they won't do it, at least for the time being. If you want hdmi, get an adapter or get an apple tv and please stop whining.
Click to expand...
The vast majority of nicer monitors that I have looked at lately all have hdmi, and most also have dvi (but not all).
 
After having my hopes up with the possibility that the MDP connector would in fact carry audio on the new Mac Mini, those hopes were dashed.

While the MDP specification does provide for audio support, and the MDP to HDMI adapters available would support audio if it were active, Apple in their 'finite' wisdom has decided not to support audio via MDP at this time.

Given the Mac Mini's perfect fit for handling most media room activities, I still find it amazing that Apple missed the boat with the update.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back