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The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

Mago said:
F. Y. I. Zotac now has the C series Nano 100% fanless with upto i5 dual core and Intel 4200 graphics; FANLESS you read it? Name Zotac idiots again.

I've checked the ei750 and en760 both performance oriented and aren't noisy, actually seem on much lower noise level on common tasks than current Mac mini, while on gaming not so loud ( Mac mini can't reach its performance level yet) , I'm not a zotac representative to favor but it's the true right now Zotac can give some lessons to Apple on mini pc.

I'll love Apple to aquire Zotac (or they staff) and rely on they the design and update of the new Mac minis.
Click to expand...

Well, I was kind of speaking of i7's and Iris Pro 5200. Those are loud, no matter who makes them. Because Broadwell is not here yet. Maybe that will help. Fanless is good, but I know of no fanless i7's. Except maybe Streacom. And they say those run pretty hot. I do not like heat. I do not like noise.

I think Apple may have something up its sleeve. I feel the same way about the iphone 6. More will be revealed from the womb of time.
 
Cape Dave said:
Well, I was kind of speaking of i7's and Iris Pro 5200. Those are loud, no matter who makes them. Because Broadwell is not here yet. Maybe that will help. Fanless is good, but I know of no fanless i7's. Except maybe Streacom. And they say those run pretty hot.m I do not like heat. I do not like noise.

I think Apple may have something up its sleeve. I feel the same way about the iphone 6. More will be revealed from the womb of time.
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Years ago I saw custom PC rigs on 120w cpu fanless, of course the cpu cooler was about the size of a half Mac Pro.

Whatever I hope Apple has something very good, as they did when updated the Mac Pro surprising everybody for good
 
ABC5S said:
Nope Serban..

Need ports unlike the Apple TV with only 4 connections, and you cannot include all the ports that are on the Mini that we like, and keep nearly as small as the Apple TV. No way

MacMini...

4/5 USB 3.0 ports
HDMI
Power cord connector
Lightning port
Headphone/stereo speaker connector
Cooling Fan
SSD card
Monitor connection
Ethernet connection

No way can any new form factor like the Apple TV. New Mini if there is a new form factor will be very close to the current model if not larger. Like the newest AirPort Extreme is larger than the older model. ;)
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This is funny...

"I need to assert my narrative as an absolute, let me stuff this list with unnecessary items to make it seem so."

There's no Apple computer with 5 USB ports, no computer with Lightning and cooling fan/SSD are not ports. Take those away and it sounds awfully similar to the NUC:

intel-nuc-io-645x428.jpg


And of course the NUC is much smaller than a Mini, practically Apple TV size:

blogger-image--137637235.jpg


Every single product Apple makes over the last few years has gotten smaller/thinner/less power hungry, the only exception being the Airport Extreme (and if I recall correctly that was for the purposes of antenna orientation). Its highly unlikely the Mini (if it's not discontinued of course) would go against the trend of smaller/thinner/less power hungry.

Of course to move towards the NUC size wise it'd have to use U series processors like the Air and entry iMac. The HD5000 has proven to be more than adequate and, while only dual core, U series processors turbo boost very aggressively and for day to day tasks handle quite a bit. Even gaming on Intel iGPUs has become quite popular (HD4000 is the most popular on Steam).

That said, power users and users of the server specific model would be marginalized in this scenario and I think Apple would be ok with that - it is their cheapest computer after all. With Broadwell it'll be even less of an issue and Skylake-U with GT3e graphics will be a real powerhouse.

--------

On a sidenote, I'm curious as to how the current Air's hardware would perform as a server. I'd love to see some tests comparing an i7 MBA (which benchmarks faster than a 2.3 Ghz i7 Mini in single core operation and the SSD read/write would crush the Mini) and the server model.
 
"There's no Apple computer with 5 USB ports, no computer with Lightning and cooling fan/SSD are not ports. Take those away and it sounds awfully similar to the NUC:"

-----------------

1. Correct, but I would like 5 USB ports not 4 as is today. More the better

2. My mistake with lightning. I meant "thunderbolt" Cooling for the heat generated by a better GPU/CPU unless they go fanless.

3. SSD, and Fan for the inside that will need room, which the Apple TV does not have.

4. Slot for the SD card.

With these, the mini would need to be about as large as the current, and who is to say Apple will not make one with the current size or slightly larger with a new form factor, not smaller that could take away from those above? Not everything Apple makes in the future has to be smaller IE: iPhone 6, & Airport Extreme

I cannot see Apple making it too much smaller to accommodate the above. Just a guess, and we shall see perhaps later this year or next
 
I posted this at nMP thread, I consider pertinent here to.

Myths:

* Xeon based Mac mini or Mac mini Server, will not happen neither now (next 1-2 keynotes) neither mid term unless Intel rebranded all its cpu s as Xeon.

* ARM bases Mac, with the exception of OSX Server no ARM setup rival on Intel on user experience, neither consider to rebuild and optimize apps for an cpu with different endians.

Plausible:

* New Mac mini only with mobile cpu: it's an industry tendency go to soldered mobile cpu on mini pc, look at zotac.

* Fanless new Mac mini, of a complete redesign it's done it's very possible and will be very appreciated, also could happen having two different Mac mini, one with <20w TDP fanless, and another on 65W TDP with fan cooler and more powerful cpu.

* Discrete GPU on mac mini, if Apple goes on very low TDP cpu may offer a dGPU version as on the very successful Zotac en760, this case forget powerful 4c8t i7 cpu,as much a 2c i7 would be offered, this combination it's also more powerful than i7-iris Pro and cheaper.

* X99/i7 Haswell-E/gaming GPU: based Mac Pro, of course this is my speculation, but besides being cheaper could sell as hot bread as fills the gap among mini and iMac and the Mac Pro.

Reality:

* Updated Mac Pro at last delivering sensitive performance improvement over 5.1 Mac Pro.

* Retina (4k/5k) Thunderbolt Display a mandatory offering delayed at Mac stores since the release of the Mac Pro.

* Updated iMac (maybe upto 4k/5k resolution and latest nVidia gpu) another long awaiting products with slave market, only intrigued about the fate of the 21" iMac will move to 3k resolution?

---------------- 0 - - - - - - - - - -

More, as *plausible*, an ARM based OSX server may happen at any time in the mid term, maybe an appliance similar to the time capsule extreme without router plus 2/4/5 3.5“ hdd, and running a headless version of OSX server.
 
Quick Poll:

So what does everyone really think (not desperately hope)?
A - The Mini will finally get a Haswell update and be released this year
B - The Mini will not be updated until Broadwell and get released, say, this time next year
C - What we've got now is as good as the Mini is going to get.
 
cheesy mac said:
quick poll:

So what does everyone really think (not desperately hope)?
A - the mini will finally get a haswell update and be released this year
b - the mini will not be updated until broadwell and get released, say, this time next year
c - what we've got now is as good as the mini is going to get.
Click to expand...

a
 
Cheesy Mac said:
Quick Poll:

So what does everyone really think (not desperately hope)?
A - The Mini will finally get a Haswell update and be released this year
B - The Mini will not be updated until Broadwell and get released, say, this time next year
C - What we've got now is as good as the Mini is going to get.
Click to expand...

I'd say B. If they were going to jump on the Haswell train with the Mac mini, they would have already done so.
 
Cheesy Mac said:
Quick Poll:

So what does everyone really think (not desperately hope)?
A - The Mini will finally get a Haswell update and be released this year
B - The Mini will not be updated until Broadwell and get released, say, this time next year
C - What we've got now is as good as the Mini is going to get.
Click to expand...

I think the haswell lineup was the one that was very energy efficient, hopefully A
 
Cheesy Mac said:
Quick Poll:

So what does everyone really think (not desperately hope)?
A - The Mini will finally get a Haswell update and be released this year
B - The Mini will not be updated until Broadwell and get released, say, this time next year
C - What we've got now is as good as the Mini is going to get.
Click to expand...

C

Because the next version will have soldered ram and proprietary SSD card.
 
If no new mini or a completely screwed up new mini, my plan B is an Intel NUC (newest model in 2015) and Win 9.

I would miss a few things about OSX and would need to really weigh my options at that time. I have grown to like OSX, something I never thought would happen.

I could just as well decide to keep my current mini 512 SSD and 16GB i7 for as long as it would hold up, and even buy another for spare parts.
 
I don't think the next mini will yoffer a low power processor a la MacBook Air... Don't forget that the mini slots in as apples "server" alternative... The Xserve is long gone and the nmpro isn't really a server candidate...

So I think we can count on at least one decent processing performance config, and if you think about it, it would be easier to keep the entry model on the same architecture for design purposes... Ie: it would cost more to offer two vastly different mini chassis profiles...

It remains possible that we will see a significant redesign, but i think we can remain confident that there will be a new mini offered that is at least as capable as the current i7... And a base model that is also no slouch.
 
Cheesy Mac said:
Quick Poll:

So what does everyone really think (not desperately hope)?
A - The Mini will finally get a Haswell update and be released this year
B - The Mini will not be updated until Broadwell and get released, say, this time next year
C - What we've got now is as good as the Mini is going to get.
Click to expand...
A with minor chasis review , since B means a very short lived mini due Skylane on Q3'15 really means a big change (ddr4, higher performance gpu, lower TDP, etc).
 
ABC5S said:
I cannot see Apple making it too much smaller to accommodate the above. Just a guess, and we shall see perhaps later this year or next
Click to expand...

I hear what you're saying, IMO its just looking less and less likely.

--------

A bit of speculation regarding the Mid-2014 Mini reference in Apple's support pages:

Perhaps that was scheduled to be added to the site much in advance of the day we all saw it, say 6 months ago or so, when Broadwell timelines were still on track for this year. When it was officially delayed someone forgot to remove it and so it went up as was originally planned.

Since the delay became official, and since the new Mini is possibly redesigned contingent upon Broadwell, its been pushed off until the processors become available. Judging by the newly leaked NUC roadmap:

nucfuture.jpg


It might be Q1 2015 when we see it, or Late 2014 if Apple gets U series processors early.

Keep in mind the Broadwell NUCs were originally supposed to be released in September/October, which would have lined up with potential summer 2014 Mini release.
 
If they even updated only the gpu i'm sure it would sell way better. I think they are either creating a new product in place of the mini or they will end it.
 
Why do you think Skylane will arrive on time?

Mago said:
A with minor chasis review , since B means a very short lived mini due Skylane on Q3'15 really means a big change (ddr4, higher performance gpu, lower TDP, etc).
Click to expand...

Intel is unpredictable.

Edit - "Skylake".
 
iFitzgerald said:
If Apple took the current Mini and replaced that outdated HD4000 with an Iris Pro, that alone would be enough for me to buy one.
Click to expand...

The reference model is the 13-inch rMBP for me, it has non-pro Iris Graphics and I think that's the best we can hope for in the next Mini.. Even just that would be a nice improvement over the current HD 4000.
 
crsh1976 said:
The reference model is the 13-inch rMBP for me, it has non-pro Iris Graphics and I think that's the best we can hope for in the next Mini.. Even just that would be a nice improvement over the current HD 4000.
Click to expand...

I hope you are half right :p
A non-pro Iris chip on the low end Mini and an Iris Pro on the high end, or at least as a BTO option for an "higher high end" Mini :D
 
German store currently down...

Edit: Don't mind - it's back up w/o new mini...
 
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