In a similar move last year, Apple updated the Mac Studio with mismatched M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips.
Article Link: Next Mac Mini Will Reportedly Have Mismatched M6 and M5 Pro Chips
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Next Mac Mini Will Reportedly Have Mismatched M6 and M5 Pro Chips
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In a similar move last year, Apple updated the Mac Studio with mismatched M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips.
Article Link: Next Mac Mini Will Reportedly Have Mismatched M6 and M5 Pro Chips
TokyoKiller
macrumors 6502
Why is it a mismatch? More like various configuration options.
RumorConsumer
macrumors 68000
Seems like kind of an odd decision for an entry-level Mac. Maybe it's inventory related
Steve would never…
…oh wait…
www.macrumors.com
Oops…
Also, another example of an email from Steve Jobs where he basically said, “we did it because we felt like it, just deal with it bro.” And then reverse that decision just a year later.
…oh wait…
Steve Jobs on 13-Inch MacBook Pro's Use of Intel Core 2 Duo Processors
Earlier today, Apple launched updated MacBook Pro models, moving its 15" and 17" models to Intel Core i5 and i7 processors utilizing integrated Intel graphics paired with NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M discrete graphics cards. The new 13" MacBook Pro, however, continues to utilize Intel Core 2 Duo...
www.macrumors.com
Also, another example of an email from Steve Jobs where he basically said, “we did it because we felt like it, just deal with it bro.” And then reverse that decision just a year later.
FoxyKaye
macrumors 68000
I really miss the days when a Mac desktop (and laptops to some degree) could be opened, tinkered with, and hardware upgraded by users.
I have a base M4 Mac mini with 24 GB of RAM. If they offered the M6 with 32GB of RAM, I might upgrade.
ikir
macrumors 68020
Mac mini and Mac Studio are very modular, also SSD flash module are changeable and you can find third party memory too.
pdaholic
macrumors 68020
Mac Mini isn’t that difficult to open and switch out the drive. Several YouTube videos on how to do it.
nikhsub1
macrumors 68030
I'm old enough to remember when Apple said that Android was fragmented.
Killerbob
macrumors 68010
Why do we listen to this idiot. Mark Gurman is rarely right, and most of his “predictions” are so vague that even when he is wrong (usually) he claims otherwise.
CWallace
macrumors G5
There will not be an M6 Pro or M6 Max SoC, only the base M6.
So the only upgrade option for the Pro SoC is M5. And since the M6 will be available, it makes more sense to give the mini the M6 instead of the M5.
I really miss the days when a Mac desktop could be bought...
Avenged110
macrumors 6502a
michelg1970
macrumors 6502
The question should be: "what are mismatched chips?" because I have no clue.
michelg1970
macrumors 6502
Yes but on the other hand, when something just works, is fast enough and has plenty (or sufficient) of storage then why bother? I still remember having to put the glass sheet back on the screen of the iMac I upgraded... I don't miss that day...
More like a confusing purchase experience for some. Does a M5 Pro make it better than a non-pro M6? Unless you're a Macrumors chip nerd you might not know which configuration to order without some guidance other than price. The mini is more in the non-pro space unlike the studio.
awshucks
macrumors 6502a
Don’t see how anyone could thumbs down this comment.
Black_Mage
Contributor
Being able to upgrade the Intel Macs was awesome. The problem is those 🤬 data centers made RAM and SSDs too expensive so it would cost too much to upgrade even if upgrading Apple Silicon Macs was an option.
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What has stopped that was the invention of LPDDR5 RAM.
The "LP" means low power, and they reduced the power by removing the big drivers from the interconnect pins. These LP chips can only push the data over a VERY short length of wire, and it can't be just any kind of wire. The complex impedance (the combined effect of resistance and inductance) of the wire must be carefully controlled along with its path length too. The socket and the long wires extending from it make it impossible.
Today's computers are built by robots using nearly microscopic parts. If it were otherwise, they would perform like 1990's computers.
Just like with cars. If you want good gas mileage and very low emissions, you need to make it complex enough that special training and tools are needed to do work on it.
Killerbob
macrumors 68010
I am not sure that was the reason, but rather the move to smaller, much more delicate IT hardware, making it more and more challenging to update and upgrade.
Laptops I can appreciate are difficult, if not impossible, to work in, and if you want tinker-friendly desktops, buy something else. I do not understand people who buy Apple hardware and then go and complain that they can't upgrade the RAM, the CPU, the disks, themselves... You know that before you buy.
But one could also argue that if you don’t know the difference between a regular M chip and a pro or max chip, it’s probably not the computer for you.
The percentage of users who are purchasing the high-end Mac desktops, and also who have absolutely no idea about Apple’s chip names and strategies and what they represent, is probably 0.0000000001% of customers.
Consider that Apple is rumored to sell around 10 million MacBook Neos this year, and yet they only sell about 600,000 Mac studios annually.
Even the Mac mini makes up less than 5% of annual Mac sales.
The people who are purchasing these machines know exactly what they are looking for.
Apple should let me upgrade the SoC chip in my Mini when I want to so that I don't need to throw the old Mini in the trash.
rezwits
macrumors 6502a
Because reduced parts and smaller footprint, and everything way more optimized, and a way cheaper price than 1999 is so much more appreciated, and we are talking about MacMini. If this was talk about a MacPro you would probably find more support...
