Two changes in the new Mac Mini are the elimination of the Magsafe connection, and the addition of HDMI. Could this be an indication that the expected new ACDs will not have Magsafe output connections, and that they will incorporate HDMI inputs? Given the cable length capabilities of HDMI, this would allow for VESA wall, or pole mounting of the 27" ACD without worrying about video cable length restrictions. Also, PCs with HDMI would then be able to connect to ACDs without expensive adapters. More sales and $$$ for Apple. Just a thought.
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New Mini and possible new ACDs
- Thread starter drambuie
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Erm.... No Mac minis have ever had the Magsafe connection. So that's not a change. And since the mini still has Displayport, there's no obvious indication that there will be any updated ACDs in terms of ports. Actually, I was surprised that the mini didn't come with a magsafe port on the back, since it would have been awesome to be able to connect the ACD to it.
I agree, but I also read an opinion on another forum that made sense to me: magsafe is designed to be tripped. 99.9% of the time tripping the cable is fine because if the computer had been plugged into power, it most likely has enough charge to last a minute while you finish what you're doing an plug it back in. Mac Mini has no battery, so if it was tripped it would be automatic unsafe shutdown. It makes sense that they would use something with a little more force holding it in.
I wasn't aware that the previous Mini didn't have Magsafe. I just assumed, that since it was paired by Apple with the 24" ACD, it would use all the 24" ACD's connections. Re the HDMI, I was referring to a possible 27" or larger ACD, that naturally would be farther away from the user, or VESA mounted. HDMI would remove video cable length restrictions for out of sight cable management, and could include audio for a single cable solution if the ACD included speakers.
Potentially this is true, but there's also the side of the argument (my side!) that states that this is Apple. They are more than capable of making a mag-safe port with a "clip" of some sort to hold it in slightly more firmly or REALLY firmly. It would have been gorgeous to have the ACD on a desk with the mini attached so cleanly. One can dream, no?
Currently the 24" ACD gets audio purely from USB. The ACD's displayport connector doesn't carry audio, for whatever reason (Apple is so proprietary with their non-proprietary hardware sometimes). Yes, you can get longer HDMI cables etc, but you can also use a displayport -> HDMI cable adapter anyway, so it's not so much of an issue. HDMI is inferior to displayport anyway in terms of bandwidth/resolution, so I'd much rather have displayport -> displayport connectivity in all my devices. Time will tell if that happens, though.
Just buy a Mini-DP extender:
You CAN'T use an HDMI cable with any ACD, current (ACD 24") or next (ACD 27" 2560x1440).
A simple "displayport -> HDMI cable adapter" would be of no use, you would need a pricey (150$) ACTIVE adapter from Atlona to convert from HDMI to MiniDP near the far display.
Just extend your Mini-DP cable.
And hope that next ACD will get sound from Mini-DP, so you don't have to extend the USB cable too. (but then you lose the USB hub function of the display)
You CAN'T use an HDMI cable with any ACD, current (ACD 24") or next (ACD 27" 2560x1440).
A simple "displayport -> HDMI cable adapter" would be of no use, you would need a pricey (150$) ACTIVE adapter from Atlona to convert from HDMI to MiniDP near the far display.
Just extend your Mini-DP cable.
And hope that next ACD will get sound from Mini-DP, so you don't have to extend the USB cable too. (but then you lose the USB hub function of the display)
Just buy a Mini-DP extender:
You CAN'T use an HDMI cable with any ACD, current (ACD 24") or next (ACD 27" 2560x1440).
There's no such thing as "displayport -> HDMI cable adapter", you would need a pricey (150$) ACTIVE adapter from Atlona or Kanex.
Just extend your Mini-DP cable.
Yeah, d'oh. That's what I meant.
The minis have never had a MagSafe connector, so no on that.
Secondly, if Apple did release a 27" ACD, it would likely be at least 2560 by 1440 pixels, making the new Mac Mini's HDMI port's maximum resolution of 1920-by-1200 incompatible. Displayport is really where it's at for the
future of computing.
Secondly, if Apple did release a 27" ACD, it would likely be at least 2560 by 1440 pixels, making the new Mac Mini's HDMI port's maximum resolution of 1920-by-1200 incompatible. Displayport is really where it's at for the
future of computing.