[RENDER] Mac mini for 2014

[haravikk]

Few, if anyone, will want to give up ports (most of which are being used already) just to say their computer is round.

How many people really use all of their ports? I don't doubt that most people here will use more than average, but I have two Mac Minis in my house for my family, and each uses:

• USB 2 of 4: Backup drive + wired keyboard (with built-in hub)
• HDMI: Monitor
• Audio Out: Speakers
• Ethernet: Wired network

That leaves Thunderbolt and Firewire unused on both, and the SD card slot is such a pain in the ass to get at that I don't use it (I use the one on my iMac instead). Don't use the line in either.

Also, it seems quite doubtful at the moment that Apple will remove Ethernet from a desktop computer. So far there's been no indication they will do this.

There's no indication they wouldn't either, all I'm saying is that they could; the machine does have Thunderbolt after all, which means an Ethernet adapter is easy to add. The Ethernet port is bigger than a Thunderbolt port after all, plus with Thunderbolt you can add more than just a wired network, if you prefer.

While I personally use my wired network for nearly all of my desktops, I know plenty of people that are happy to just use wireless networks instead, and for people with lower performance requirements it's not a bad option.

All I'm saying is that Ethernet isn't a requirement, and neither is four USB ports really, and if Apple thinks they can come up with a great new design by dropping some ports then I'm pretty sure they'll do it. FireWire is doomed regardless, and the SD card is really just a novelty feature as it's not easy for most people to use.

It's not really important though; I showed in my horrible mock-up that you can actually compress the current set of ports considerably, which should be enough for a round profile, and definitely enough if they drop some more.

 

[corvus32]

The Mini is 7.7" x 7.7" x 1.4" for a couple of reasons.

It's a good compromise based on its internal components and all the uses it must serve.

The design houses two 2.5" hard drives, provides adequate cooling under load, places all ports neatly on the back, fits in a 1U server rack, yet still functions great as a desktop computer.

If the 2.5" drives were replaced with flash storage that would allow a smaller design volume wise, but they still need to maintain either 1U or 2U rack height. There's also width to consider because you would want to maximize how many can fit into a server rack while keeping all ports on the rear. It needs to look great for consumers too.

As for losing the Ethernet port, I doubt that will happen. Some of the Mini's most influential customers are companies using them in data centers.

 

[hudson1]

How many people really use all of their ports? I don't doubt that most people here will use more than average, but I have two Mac Minis in my house for my family, and each uses:

• USB 2 of 4: Backup drive + wired keyboard (with built-in hub)
• HDMI: Monitor
• Audio Out: Speakers
• Ethernet: Wired network

That leaves Thunderbolt and Firewire unused on both, and the SD card slot is such a pain in the ass to get at that I don't use it (I use the one on my iMac instead). Don't use the line in either.


There's no indication they wouldn't either, all I'm saying is that they could; the machine does have Thunderbolt after all, which means an Ethernet adapter is easy to add. The Ethernet port is bigger than a Thunderbolt port after all, plus with Thunderbolt you can add more than just a wired network, if you prefer.

While I personally use my wired network for nearly all of my desktops, I know plenty of people that are happy to just use wireless networks instead, and for people with lower performance requirements it's not a bad option.

All I'm saying is that Ethernet isn't a requirement, and neither is four USB ports really, and if Apple thinks they can come up with a great new design by dropping some ports then I'm pretty sure they'll do it. FireWire is doomed regardless, and the SD card is really just a novelty feature as it's not easy for most people to use.

It's not really important though; I showed in my horrible mock-up that you can actually compress the current set of ports considerably, which should be enough for a round profile, and definitely enough if they drop some more.

Well, I think the fact they haven't dropped Ethernet from the iMac and nMP are indications they aren't dropping it from desktops. As listed in the post following yours, Ethernet is relied upon by most if not all of those companies using a lot of minis in back-office installations.

 

[NewbieCanada]

Whatever it contains on the inside, the last thing they want to do is make their $600 computer look like their $3000-10000 computer.

 

[gpat]

Whatever it contains on the inside, the last thing they want to do is make their $600 computer look like their $3000-10000 computer.

I disagree. It could work, because the target audience is so much different.
To me, releasing a Mac Mini with Pro design = lots of sales to design lovers.
And Pros are going to stick with Mac Pros anyways.

 

[umbilical]

I was expect than the new macpro looks like tha ACTUAL mac mini (just more high maybe...) but same design than the actual perfect mac mini design... I dont like that new macpro design and I dont want see the new macmini looks like the new macpro.

 

[somethingelsefl]

When I see it like this, I think the reason why Apple added circles (with iOS 7) and rounded corners (with the Mac Pro) to their design language becomes more apparent: an iWatch.

 

[NewbieCanada]

I disagree. It could work, because the target audience is so much different.
To me, releasing a Mac Mini with Pro design = lots of sales to design lovers.
And Pros are going to stick with Mac Pros anyways.

"lots of sales" and Mac Mini don't belong in the same sentence. But if those sales did happen, it would just cannibalize sales of the far more profitable iMacs.

I'm well aware the target audience is different. And that's the point. Looking around here, there are a fair number of us who don't NEED a Mac Pro, but want one, in large part because of the ultra cool design. A cheap-ass knock-off of it destroys that appeal.

 

[Michael CM1]

I like the effort, but using the Mac Pro design doesn't make any sense on the mini. The Pro is round because it has logic boards standing upright and ventilation in the center, basically making a triangle with a cylindrical candy shell.

All your design does is put some extra space around the Mac Mini of today to make it look the same as the Pro. If a redesign happened, it would likely invoke being taller just like the Pro and the AirPort Extreme.

 

[haravikk]

Well, I think the fact they haven't dropped Ethernet from the iMac and nMP are indications they aren't dropping it from desktops.

And it was dropped from the Macbook Air for design/form-factor reasons; the iMac and Mac Pro both have plenty of room for ethernet, but if Apple goes smaller with a redesigned Mac Mini (and I'd wager they will) then may* have to make the same sacrifice on the Mac Mini that they did with the Air.

As listed in the post following yours, Ethernet is relied upon by most if not all of those companies using a lot of minis in back-office installations.

And as I also stated; losing an Ethernet port isn't the same thing as losing Ethernet, Thunderbolt ports are a bit more compact, meaning they make a lot of sense on smaller machines, they're also at least as fast as Ethernet, and can be used to connect peripherals, and even seemingly to handle networking directly if you want that. All I'm saying is that even if there were room for Ethernet, then that's not to say Apple wouldn't prefer to swap it for a second Thunderbolt port if it comes down to it.

Besides which, it doesn't really matter to Apple how some people are using their Mac Minis, just look at the new Mac Pro; plenty of people use current Mac Pros loaded with drives and PCIe cards, and you can be sure that that use case was rejected in the new Mac Pro's design in favour of something different.


*Anyway, you're focusing on the wrong thing; all I said is that it is possible, but it's just as possible Apple will find room for Ethernet and not have to change that at all, I even provided a picture of just how little space you really need in order to pack all (except Firewire) existing ports onto the Mac Mini.

I'd be absolutely fine with Ethernet remaining, I'm just saying that if it came to a choice between keeping Ethernet or getting a second Thunderbolt port then I'd pick the latter as that can easily accommodate Ethernet anyway; it's for that reason that Ethernet is no longer strictly necessary on the Mac Mini, especially if a new form factor may not have room, if it does then great, I'm just pointing out that it may not, or may not have to.

 

[hudson1]

And it was dropped from the Macbook Air for design/form-factor reasons; the iMac and Mac Pro both have plenty of room for ethernet, but if Apple goes smaller with a redesigned Mac Mini (and I'd wager they will) then may* have to make the same sacrifice on the Mac Mini that they did with the Air.


And as I also stated; losing an Ethernet port isn't the same thing as losing Ethernet, Thunderbolt ports are a bit more compact, meaning they make a lot of sense on smaller machines, they're also at least as fast as Ethernet, and can be used to connect peripherals, and even seemingly to handle networking directly if you want that. All I'm saying is that even if there were room for Ethernet, then that's not to say Apple wouldn't prefer to swap it for a second Thunderbolt port if it comes down to it.

Besides which, it doesn't really matter to Apple how some people are using their Mac Minis, just look at the new Mac Pro; plenty of people use current Mac Pros loaded with drives and PCIe cards, and you can be sure that that use case was rejected in the new Mac Pro's design in favour of something different.


*Anyway, you're focusing on the wrong thing; all I said is that it is possible, but it's just as possible Apple will find room for Ethernet and not have to change that at all, I even provided a picture of just how little space you really need in order to pack all (except Firewire) existing ports onto the Mac Mini.

I'd be absolutely fine with Ethernet remaining, I'm just saying that if it came to a choice between keeping Ethernet or getting a second Thunderbolt port then I'd pick the latter as that can easily accommodate Ethernet anyway; it's for that reason that Ethernet is no longer strictly necessary on the Mac Mini, especially if a new form factor may not have room, if it does then great, I'm just pointing out that it may not, or may not have to.

There's a fundamental difference between the MBA and the mini -- one's intended to not be used with wires while the other is. So that the MBA comes without an Ethernet port is consistent with it's intended use as the ultimate portable (untethered) laptop.

The TB adapter approach likely will never fly with high volume server users, IMHO. Removing the port tells them that Apple really doesn't care about providing a computer designed for what they need. Besides, has anyone verified there's zero performance and reliability degradation using the adapter?

Maybe I'm the blind one but I still don't see the point of de-contenting/crippling a computer just to make it round.

 

[mvmanolov]

short and round = wasted space (apple doesn't like wasted space)
Skinny and tall = difficulty with attaching it behind tv or under tv ....

current design will be sticking around for a while yet.. And i bet they'll skip has well altogether and go to a broad well refries.... mark me words

 

[Maxedonia]

I wouldn't be surprised if the only difference in the design will be the color, to match with the new Mac Pro. It makes sense for all the future Mac products to share the same style since they share the peripherals.

Or Apple might be planning to release Pro versions of their Thunderbolt displays and other peripherals to match with the new Mac Pro.

 

[Crosscreek]

short and round = wasted space (apple doesn't like wasted space)
Skinny and tall = difficulty with attaching it behind tv or under tv ....

current design will be sticking around for a while yet.. And i bet they'll skip has well altogether and go to a broad well refries.... mark me words

Broadwell is at least a year away according to the latest intel I have seen. Haswell
will see another refresh in 2014. That is a long time between mini refresh.

 

[boechat]

First a trash bin, now an ashtray.

Apple is amazing

 

[Virginaustralia]

And the mirror which you call display is just awful. I've already enough mirrors.

Umm, thats probably a lot better than what you could do, and its the Apple Cinema display which already exists and its nothing like a mirror. I do these things too and it takes a lot of work so next time think before you go commenting like that

 

[mvmanolov]

Broadwell is at least a year away according to the latest intel I have seen. Haswell
will see another refresh in 2014. That is a long time between mini refresh.

i agree... yet here we are 6 months since apple first put Haswell chips in their products and yet no mini still....

 

[gpat]

"lots of sales" and Mac Mini don't belong in the same sentence. But if those sales did happen, it would just cannibalize sales of the far more profitable iMacs.

I'm well aware the target audience is different. And that's the point. Looking around here, there are a fair number of us who don't NEED a Mac Pro, but want one, in large part because of the ultra cool design. A cheap-ass knock-off of it destroys that appeal.

That wouldn't be a cheap knock-off, just something with the same design that has a reasonable price for home applications, and is plenty fast as well.
Worrying about cannibalization is detrimental to the company. They demonstrated it over and over again. Just sell lots of profitable stuff and it's OK. And it is really easy to prevent the Mini to cannibalize either the iMac or Mac Pro.

 

[haravikk]

There's a fundamental difference between the MBA and the mini -- one's intended to not be used with wires while the other is.

If that's true then why does the Mac Mini have WiFi? Other than a power cable and a monitor cable, neither of which I see going anywhere anytime soon, you don't need any other cables with your Mac Mini. Obviously it'd be silly to just get rid of them completely as people will still want printers, backup drives etc., though you can get wireless versions of those these days too.

Removing the port tells them that Apple really doesn't care about providing a computer designed for what they need. Besides, has anyone verified there's zero performance and reliability degradation using the adapter?

With a Thunderbolt adapter you can get 10gigabit ethernet, which serious server users should be considering anyway. For gigabit speeds it should be more than fast enough, Thunderbolt is after all (almost) like adding a PCI card for the feature(s) you need; keeping a comparatively large, inflexible Ethernet port for only those users that use wired networks and refuse to use an adapter is going to be a tough sell if Apple wants to make a device smaller.

There's also the possibility of using Thunderbolt itself for networking now, using an appropriate switch to connect Mac Minis with an adapter on that switching to traditional ethernet, giving you potentially 20gbps speeds for all Thunderbolt networked devices. Obviously that's future possibility as I'm not aware of any Thunderbolt networking devices yet, but it works when connecting two machines directly so it's definitely possible.

Maybe I'm the blind one but I still don't see the point of de-contenting/crippling a computer just to make it round.

And again I say that it may not not be necessary; all I'm saying is that it's a possibility. I'll also say again that I've shown in my image that you can fit the current Mac Mini ports (swapping Firewire for a second Thunderbolt port) into a small enough profile that it may not be a problem at all.

All I'm saying is that if Apple do need to make a sacrifice for the sake of form factor then Ethernet is one of several possibilities; the others are less USB ports, a single dual-purpose audio port or sticking with a single Thunderbolt port. However, I don't see Apple sticking to a single Thunderbolt port and also keeping Ethernet, I believe they'd much rather swap Ethernet for Thunderbolt in that case, as it's more useful for more people, and easy to get an adapter or hub to suit your wired network needs.

Again though; if Apple is redesigning the Mac Mini (which seems likely IMO) then they're certain to go for something even smaller in some way, even if it's still generally square that may still mean ports being lost, either way I expect the change to be more than just dropping FireWire.

 

[hipnetic]

The OP's design is pretty, and I wouldn't put it past Ive to throw utility out the window and redesign it just because he's in love with his Mac Pro design. I also don't disagree with the OP about whether ethernet is technically *needed* since you can add it via Thunderbolt (and, BTW, you can also do gigabit ethernet via USB 3.0).

That said, I don't think it would be a *smart* decision to do a redesign like this. As another person pointed out, the new Mac Pro design, while likely more about design than utility, *does* accomplish the necessary utility of cooling by way of the "hollow" center. If the OP's Mac Mini design did the same, there would not be enough room around the perimeter for everything. If the center wasn't hollow, then it would all just be about the outer design. Overall, it would introduce more limitations for what? A more consistent design ethos with the Mac Pro? Again, I wouldn't be shocked to see something like that from Ive, but I still doubt it.

Remember, too, that the Mini is not aggressively marketed by Apple. IMO, it's more likely that they drop the line altogether, than it is that they would invest a good amount of R&D on this product (again, they can't leverage the Mac Pro design, because the hollow center is not feasible here). If they *do* keep the Mac Mini around, they'll most likely do it because there's still enough demand from server farms who use them for dumber purposes where a Mac Pro is overkill, and where the rack-mountable aspect is desirable. Hopefully they also appreciate the fact that there's an enthusiastic hacker community who uses these for HTPC purposes. If so, they won't drop ethernet or HDMI or the IR port.

They like to tout their green-ness, so going with the lower-powered Intel chips will allow them to squeeze out a few more pennies of monthly electricity savings, and allow for an uptick in graphics performance. 802.11ac will also be an easy upgrade and will be useful for home users who may want to use this in a room which is far from their router and where running ethernet cable is a chore (but, again, I see nothing to gain from dropping ethernet since they really shouldn't do anything drastically different with the case design).

One thing that would be nice to see would be for them to make it *easier* to get to and replace the hard drive, and maybe even add in easy support for adding a dedicated graphics card (though I wouldn't hold my breath for that last one). Making the HD more easily accessible would be a feature that some of their more influential customers (server farms) may have pressed them on.

 

[hudson1]

The OP's design is pretty, and I wouldn't put it past Ive to throw utility out the window and redesign it just because he's in love with his Mac Pro design. I also don't disagree with the OP about whether ethernet is technically *needed* since you can add it via Thunderbolt (and, BTW, you can also do gigabit ethernet via USB 3.0).

That said, I don't think it would be a *smart* decision to do a redesign like this. As another person pointed out, the new Mac Pro design, while likely more about design than utility, *does* accomplish the necessary utility of cooling by way of the "hollow" center. If the OP's Mac Mini design did the same, there would not be enough room around the perimeter for everything. If the center wasn't hollow, then it would all just be about the outer design. Overall, it would introduce more limitations for what? A more consistent design ethos with the Mac Pro? Again, I wouldn't be shocked to see something like that from Ive, but I still doubt it.

Remember, too, that the Mini is not aggressively marketed by Apple. IMO, it's more likely that they drop the line altogether, than it is that they would invest a good amount of R&D on this product (again, they can't leverage the Mac Pro design, because the hollow center is not feasible here). If they *do* keep the Mac Mini around, they'll most likely do it because there's still enough demand from server farms who use them for dumber purposes where a Mac Pro is overkill, and where the rack-mountable aspect is desirable. Hopefully they also appreciate the fact that there's an enthusiastic hacker community who uses these for HTPC purposes. If so, they won't drop ethernet or HDMI or the IR port.

They like to tout their green-ness, so going with the lower-powered Intel chips will allow them to squeeze out a few more pennies of monthly electricity savings, and allow for an uptick in graphics performance. 802.11ac will also be an easy upgrade and will be useful for home users who may want to use this in a room which is far from their router and where running ethernet cable is a chore (but, again, I see nothing to gain from dropping ethernet since they really shouldn't do anything drastically different with the case design).

One thing that would be nice to see would be for them to make it *easier* to get to and replace the hard drive, and maybe even add in easy support for adding a dedicated graphics card (though I wouldn't hold my breath for that last one). Making the HD more easily accessible would be a feature that some of their more influential customers (server farms) may have pressed them on.

Good post. In some ways, the mini has clandestinely replaced the Mac Xserve of years ago while still being highly useful as a home/office desktop. Will Apple intentionally try to keep the mini as a functional successor to the Xserve should they do a redesign?

 

[animatedude]

can someone make a render of a smaller Mac mini of the current one,please?

 

[ElectronGuru]

I knew there was reason I wanted to be a member of a forum where people could render their own stuff on a whim. Looks great!

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

Umm, thats probably a lot better than what you could do...

Yawn.

...Apple Cinema display

An outdated dinosaur.

I do these things too and it takes a lot of work...

No one forces you.