Thunderbolt (DP, by relation), can be passively adapted to about any single TDMS based signal (HDMI and SL-DVI) easily and cheaply (normally, just the cost of a cable to do so).
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Next mac mini
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Thunderbolt (DP, by relation), can be passively adapted to about any single TDMS based signal (HDMI and SL-DVI) easily and cheaply (normally, just the cost of a cable to do so).
Actually, Apple has been known to do some very questionable things. Off the top of my head is the removal of the FW port on the MBP a few years back, having just 1 USB on the original Air, no Ethernet port on the current Air, etc. So, I can definitely see Apple eliminating the HDMI port for a TB port, which they are hell-bent on jamming down our throats. In fact, this is why I bought this year's Mini instead of waiting as I expect them to eliminate the HDMI port. Sorry, adapters are inconvenient.
If Ivy Bridge will yield more thermally efficient mobile-quad-cores, then the expectation of an Ivy Bridge CPU alongside a discrete GPU in the next Mac mini is not unreasonable. However, I'd say that they'll still only have the Intel IGP (which for Ivy Bridge will be the Intel HD 4000, which, thankfully unlike the HD 3000, is better than any IGP used by Apple in the past, be it by NVIDIA or Intel) on the lowest end model and on the server model as to "keep the cost down". Though if they reverted to the Mid 2010 generation's single-model strategy, then they would probably just have one model with a discrete GPU. Either way, I'd say that Quad-Cores standard down the line makes perfect sense unless Apple wants a cheaper sub-600 mini, which could be a cool thing too.
Yes, that is true. But does that even make sense for Apple to do?
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Yes they have. But to remove the one part of the machine that helps people switch to mac in the first place from windows doesn't make any sense. And Apple does not have a history of doing that. Removal of a FW port is not the same thing.
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Not to mention the OEM CPU's are much cheaper. And can be configured to their needs. They can order a OEM CPU with a 45W ceiling and configure it to a 35W processor. The TDP of the ivy bridge processors is configurable. Which makes it harder to pinpoint what they will use and what they will not use.
I doubt they're going to remove the HDMI port. Without it, the Mini will lose a lot of appeal.
Besides, how would they explain having another TB port? The TB port on my current Macbook hasn't seen any action at all! There's simply no TB accessories for your everyday consumer to take advantage of.
HDMI makes more sense.
That was not technically a Pro but the first (and only) aluminium MacBook.
Edit: Oops you're right, the 15" and 17" Pros of that generation also lacked FireWire.
Ethernet on the air I can understand though, the enclosure would have to be significantly thicker to feature it.
It certainly does make sense. Sort of like removing the FireWire from MacBook Pros or not offering back-lit keyboard on last generations Airs. Oh, no! I'm sorry. That's doesn't make any sense. Apple still did it though. At least they realized their stupid mistakes and corrected them in the next generation's machines.
As for TB ports. You see, in Apple's eyes, TB is like poop that doesn't stink. So, two is better than one. By the way, I sold my first newborn son to buy a TB cable today, so I don't thinks its total garbage. But, it's sort of like letting the poor starving masses eat cake when excellent, cheap sandwiches (USB 3.0) have been available for many months.
yes intel now lists that the quad is 35 tdp in dec it was not confirmed only suggested.
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i7/Intel-Core i7-3612QM Mobile processor.html
it may work out it will have the intel 4000 graphics chip on board as an igu this will be good for many I have read it is a 60 percent improvement over the 3000. this alone would be a vast improvement.
Like I said it isn't the same thing. You are looking at this from just your perspective only. But to remove the one part of the machine that helps people switch to mac in the first place from windows doesn't make any sense.
The main reason the Mac Mini exists is to be a translation machine for windows users to switch to a Mac. I don't think apple is going to expect them to buy a TBD and use Thunderbolt. The Mac Mini is a bring your own keyboard and mouse and monitor machine.
Not having a HDMI port will defeat the reason the Mac Mini exists in the first place. Before the HDMI port it had a DVI port and mini DVI port both easy to hook up to any monitor. Another common port on most monitors. Same as HDMI.
And Apple does not have a history of doing that. Removal of a FW port is not the same thing.
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They may still use the dual for the mid level non server model. The dual i7 ivy bridge is base 2.9 with turbo up to 3.6.
That chip should be faster though. And it should allow the intel 4000 GPU to be used with a 7000 series ATI GPU.
Should be one powerful machine.
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Yeah, I might just wait it out and see what Apple comes up with. I really have no immediate need for a Mini anyway.
I already have my Windows 7 desktop (more power than I will ever need), and my Macbook Pro.
Worst case scenario I'll just go with an iMac as buying a Mini would make one want to buy a Thunderbolt Display to take advantage of it.
I already have my Windows 7 desktop (more power than I will ever need), and my Macbook Pro.
Worst case scenario I'll just go with an iMac as buying a Mini would make one want to buy a Thunderbolt Display to take advantage of it.
I want what I want...
I've had to bring my work laptop home a few times and have really enjoyed having the internet on the couch (with a screen bigger than my 3GS).
Since ATV doesn't have a native browser (and is limited to Netflix), I'm leaning toward the Mac Mini with a wireless keyboard and Trackpad.
Basically, all I really want to do is to listen to music, surf the internet and watch HD movies on my 41" LCD and 5.1 HTS. No gaming, here.
Guess I'll see what the 2012 model offers.
My question is, for my purposes, would the 2011 model work exceptionally well?
I've had to bring my work laptop home a few times and have really enjoyed having the internet on the couch (with a screen bigger than my 3GS).
Since ATV doesn't have a native browser (and is limited to Netflix), I'm leaning toward the Mac Mini with a wireless keyboard and Trackpad.
Basically, all I really want to do is to listen to music, surf the internet and watch HD movies on my 41" LCD and 5.1 HTS. No gaming, here.
Guess I'll see what the 2012 model offers.
My question is, for my purposes, would the 2011 model work exceptionally well?
Even 06+ mini's will handle what you want.. but I'd recommend a 09+ if you want to stream/play 1080p content. I have no issues here with XBMC, Plex on my 09 server with 1080p output via hdmi
Righteous. Thanks for you input!
Like with the iPhone 5, I'm going to see what the 2012 Mini offers. If there aren't any "must-have" features, I'll probably go with the prior, discounted models.
Cheers!
Anyone have any idea's what the next mini will look like? I'm really hoping on a Core i3,i5,i7 option instead of the Core 2 Duo. I would like to get one as a 2nd mac but don't want to deal with the Duo. A bigger hdd would be nice too but I'm sure that's a given. Any upcoming Apple Media events?
Really , I mean REALLY?
Did I log on to an old thread?
The latest 2011 Mac minis come with i5s or i7 processors, a slight redesign (no CD drive), and thunderbolt.
So with that said where is this all going??
Im either lost or I missed the announcement of the minis down grade, the last Core 2 Duo mini ended in 2010.
Yes, the post you responded to was from 1 year and 2 days ago.
I'm in this thread wondering about the next Mini. I have a two-year-old Hackintosh with a Core i7-860 processor. It's been doing great and even runs Lion. I just want something a bit smaller and, well, official Apple hardware. I have owned MANY Macs over the years (more than I can count even if I remove my shoes), and this was my first Hackintosh.
I wonder if Apple will change the form factor of the next Mini to be a little more Mini-Tower-ish? It could benefit Apple to allow for 1 or 2 PCI-E card slots, just so they can have BTO options for video. If anyone can make an attractive Mini-Tower, it would be Apple.
I'd love to see a mini tower like the old photo of Steve in his home office, you can see the scaled down mac pro prototype on his desk. It's awesome, I'd love to have an actual apple machine that style and size. I'll going to dig up the photo..
Sure would be nice. And while they are at it bring back the ability to have an internal optical drive.
Do you really use the optical drive that much? Currently, I'm in the process of ripping all my DVDs to MP4 files. Previous to that, I haven't used my optical drive for anything. Even OS installs are done using USB drives.
That being said, having the flexibility of having an optical drive if the user wants it would be nice. Maybe it could be made modular? Think Legos, but with a computer?
[optical drive____]
[expansion slots__]
[cpu/power supply]
All connected via Thunderbolt connectors on the top (and bottom) of each "block"? You purchase each module as you need it. If you want the low-profile Mini, just buy the CPU/power supply module. Need slots? Add the expansion slots module. Need an optical drive? Add the optical drive module. Need MORE expansion slots? Add another expansion slot module!
Thunderbolt passes PCI-E, so this should be feasible... Hey Tim! What do you think?
I'm pretty sure that "mini tower" actually turned out to be a mock up of the original G5 tower. Notice the slots for expansion aren't big enough to actually be an expansion slot and there isn't anything plugged into it or anywhere to plug anything into it for that matter. This has been discussed repeatedly on these forums. The other thought is that it is nothing more than an external hard drive case, but again there is maybe one place to plug anything into (at the very bottom), but that would only be enough for the power, where would you plug in the firewire/usb cord?
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This was my thought for the next Mac Pro. Start out with 1 Processor "block" w/ memory. Then you buy a Video Card "block". Later you want to add another Processor? No problem, buy another "block". Hard drives? 1? 2? 4? Buy your block.
Obviously that would take a heck of a lot of engineering as you are completely redesigning the way computers would work and how the parts intercommunicate, but it would be interesting. I don't think we will see this for a few years (if ever).
I'm contemplating doing the roughly same thing but with Mac Mini servers for a rendering farm. Instead of thunderbolt, they will use more traditional ethernet and of course each will be a full computer (i.e. memory, cpu, hard drive) rather than just a "piece"...
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Do you really use the optical drive that much? Currently, I'm in the process of ripping all my DVDs to MP4 files. Previous to that, I haven't used my optical drive for anything. Even OS installs are done using USB drives.
That being said, having the flexibility of having an optical drive if the user wants it would be nice. Maybe it could be made modular? Think Legos, but with a computer?
[optical drive____]
[expansion slots__]
[cpu/power supply]
All connected via Thunderbolt connectors on the top (and bottom) of each "block"? You purchase each module as you need it. If you want the low-profile Mini, just buy the CPU/power supply module. Need slots? Add the expansion slots module. Need an optical drive? Add the optical drive module. Need MORE expansion slots? Add another expansion slot module!
Thunderbolt passes PCI-E, so this should be feasible... Hey Tim! What do you think?
This was my thought for the next Mac Pro. Start out with 1 Processor "block" w/ memory. Then you buy a Video Card "block". Later you want to add another Processor? No problem, buy another "block". Hard drives? 1? 2? 4? Buy your block.
Obviously that would take a heck of a lot of engineering as you are completely redesigning the way computers would work and how the parts intercommunicate, but it would be interesting. I don't think we will see this for a few years (if ever).
I'm contemplating doing the roughly same thing but with Mac Mini servers for a rendering farm. Instead of thunderbolt, they will use more traditional ethernet and of course each will be a full computer (i.e. memory, cpu, hard drive) rather than just a "piece"...
Precisely. ALL the opticals are good for any more are for DVD rips. I'd just rip using my old Mac and then use the Mini for the other 99% of computing. Another 3 years and optical drives are almost completely useless. Everything will be on thumb drives or through download.
I'm planning on a mini purchase in summer (the next upgrade) and I'll just format the drive from my current Mac's Time Machine, so all the software goes over that way.
Do you really use the optical drive that much? Currently, I'm in the process of ripping all my DVDs to MP4 files. Previous to that, I haven't used my optical drive for anything. Even OS installs are done using USB drives.
That being said, having the flexibility of having an optical drive if the user wants it would be nice. Maybe it could be made modular? Think Legos, but with a computer?
[optical drive____]
[expansion slots__]
[cpu/power supply]
All connected via Thunderbolt connectors on the top (and bottom) of each "block"? You purchase each module as you need it. If you want the low-profile Mini, just buy the CPU/power supply module. Need slots? Add the expansion slots module. Need an optical drive? Add the optical drive module. Need MORE expansion slots? Add another expansion slot module!
Thunderbolt passes PCI-E, so this should be feasible... Hey Tim! What do you think?
That would work for me. Some of us like Apple not just for how it works but for how it looks. Third party external devices that don't match ruins all that work Apple puts into design.
I remember a story from a couple of years ago. NASA was doing a study to check how many meteor impacts might have taken place on the moon in recent years. It was going to compare new pictures with old pictures that were stored on old media. Turned out NASA couldn't retrieve the pictures because they no longer owned any of the readers. Luckily there was one in a museum that they were able to get hold of to read the old media.
They could supply a miniDisplayPort/Thunderbolt to HDMI adapter and then suddenly two or even three Thunderbolt ports (instead of the one HDMI and one Thunderbolt we have today) becomes a fantastic idea.
Not to nitpick, but there has never been a 15" nor a 17" MacBook Pro that has lacked FireWire, unless we're talking specifically about FireWire 400, which hasn't been on a MacBook Pro in three years.
Um...ports? Like...a lot of them...? (Not to mention dual Gigabit Ethernet; one on the mini, one on the monitor) FaceTime HD Camera built-in...? Plus, it's a nice quality display...? Those aren't bad reasons right there, assuming you have the one grand to spend on it.
My recommendation is to check out Apple's refurbished models (assuming you don't have a burning desire to customize the crap out of it) as they end up being cheaper than academic discounts, especially if there's a newer generation that just came out. Fantastic deal, fyi.
+1, though if there's any Mac that I'm okay with not having an internal optical drive to, it's the Mac mini as my external motorized-tray-load LG optical drive is more than twice as fast and easily several times more reliable than what Apple would've used instead. As for things like the iMac or the MacBook Pro, a lack of an optical drive would seriously piss me off
Do you really use the optical drive that much? Currently, I'm in the process of ripping all my DVDs to MP4 files. Previous to that, I haven't used my optical drive for anything. Even OS installs are done using USB drives.
That being said, having the flexibility of having an optical drive if the user wants it would be nice. Maybe it could be made modular? Think Legos, but with a computer?
[optical drive____]
[expansion slots__]
[cpu/power supply]
All connected via Thunderbolt connectors on the top (and bottom) of each "block"? You purchase each module as you need it. If you want the low-profile Mini, just buy the CPU/power supply module. Need slots? Add the expansion slots module. Need an optical drive? Add the optical drive module. Need MORE expansion slots? Add another expansion slot module!
Thunderbolt passes PCI-E, so this should be feasible... Hey Tim! What do you think?
No.
Actually, I find that I'm heavily dependent on an optical. For one, do a ton of DVD burning. For another, I've found that VMware doesn't play nice with OSes unless I've imaged or installed them from a locally attached optical drive, and I'm using VMware on an increased basis. Plus I do find the occasional CD/DVD to rip more often than you'd think and Remote Disc isn't exactly ideal for any of these tasks. So, yeah, lack of an internal ODD is super inconvenient. That being said, on a Mac mini, it's absolutely fine as there's little to that machine that isn't set up to be modular (like the keyboard, speakers, mouse, and display) and an external optical drive will be thousands of times more fast and more reliable than the Apple supplied one would ever be.
But on a MacBook Pro, I'd go postal without one. I'd be fine without one on an iMac for the same reason I'd be fine without one on a Mac mini, but I get the feeling an external ODD would defeat the All-in-one philosophy that Jony Ive is so nuts about.
I hope they add a 1TB drive option with 750GB base-drive. The lack of 1TB is a nuisance for anyone with an elongated and rich history to their prime drives. After 20 years of Apple, the data on my drive is over 750GB from music and documents (I already keep all video of any sort on a separate drive).
Not so sure about that, since the modular now includes the "barely used" optical drive. Use of opticals will wane drastically in the next 3 years. DVDs are still the major use, but with the rise of thumb drive media coming on soon, those opticals are getting old. They are also the last mechanical piece of the computer, and should be quickly put to sleep if a better solution can be found.
Not so sure about that, since the modular now includes the "barely used" optical drive. Use of opticals will wane drastically in the next 3 years. DVDs are still the major use, but with the rise of thumb drive media coming on soon, those opticals are getting old. They are also the last mechanical piece of the computer, and should be quickly put to sleep if a better solution can be found.