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The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

kazmac said:
I agree with your 2c. :) If Apple rebrands the Mini into the Macintosh and bolsters the internals a bit, great. The colors angle, sure, I can see that too. Given the red Mac pro and various colored iPhones, iPads, colorful Macs make sense.

Tomorrow (!) does seem to point in being a Mac event and should the Mini be replaced by the Macintosh (or xMac), I'm okay with that.
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I don't see the Mini being replaced because of its price point but the addition of a Macintosh desktop with desktop components in the Pro cases in a distinguishing color would be a welcome addition to fill the gap.
 
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Crosscreek said:
I don't see the Mini being replaced because of its price point but the addition of a Macintosh desktop with desktop components in the Pro cases in a distinguishing color would be a welcome addition to fill the gap.
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That's a good point about prices Crosscreek. The entry level iMac and Macbook Airs are still more expensive than a Mini. If the Macintosh desktop is announced, I'll definitely order that, if not, then I look forward to being a Mac Mini owner. They are great machines.
 
Crosscreek said:
I don't see the Mini being replaced because of its price point but the addition of a Macintosh desktop with desktop components in the Pro cases in a distinguishing color would be a welcome addition to fill the gap.
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Yeah, we can all dream ... :rolleyes: Anyway, will wait and see, if they will surprise me.
 
iFitzgerald said:
Minis had discrete GPUs in the past and they sold well.
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Yes, but that was when integrated GPUs were inadequate for a significant portion of Mac mini buyers. Such is not the case today, which is why current (2012) Mac mini models do not include discrete GPUs. For anything introduced in the future (including tomorrow), it would make even less sense to include a discrete GPU than in 2012 when Apple didn't include one.

iFitzgerald said:
Apple could make low end models with integrated graphics and a high end model with discrete graphics just like LachlanH suggested.
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Apple could do many nonsensical things, like putting a discrete GPU in a Mac mini, but they won't.

iFitzgerald said:
A Mac Pro is a PROfessional workstation and quite the overkill (specs and price) for most of people.
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Discrete GPUs are quite the overkill (specs and price) for about 99% of potential Mac mini buyers.
 
Crosscreek said:
Yeh, it is a dream that only exist in the parallel universe and Apple could never keep that sort of secret without a leak.
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Its a good dream... :) Also, I don't recall there being any leaks before the nMP was announced.

If its not in production yet, it can't leak from the asian supply chain.
 
mcarling said:
Yes, but that was when integrated GPUs were inadequate for a significant portion of Mac mini buyers. Such is not the case today, which is why current (2012) Mac mini models do not include discrete GPUs. For anything introduced in the future (including tomorrow), it would make even less sense to include a discrete GPU than in 2012 when Apple didn't include one.


Apple could do many nonsensical things, like putting a discrete GPU in a Mac mini, but they won't.


Discrete GPUs are quite the overkill (specs and price) for about 99% of potential Mac mini buyers.
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lots more of us then 1% can use better graphics then any intel cpu has.

How much more then lots? My guess is 10% of us and growing as 4k tv's are going to be common in 2 years or so.
 
DanCorleone said:
Problem is Windows 8 is a disaster. I have it on my laptop. So, if they won't sell it with Windows 7, I advise you "no sale".
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I hear you, and I've heard no end to the bad aspects of Windows 8. Apparently, this device ships with a modified GUI riding on Win 8.1, so that you could do most console related tasks without even using a keyboard or mouse.

And if I really, really hate Windows 8, I have a licensed copy of Windows 7 I am bootcamping right now, I could just transfer the license over to the Alpha. :)
 
philipma1957 said:
lots more of us then 1% can use better graphics then any intel cpu has.

How much more then lots? My guess is 10% of us and growing as 4k tv's are going to be common in 2 years or so.
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I would believe 10% of MacRumors readers, but not more than about 1% of overall consumers. Whatever the percentage of consumers requiring discrete graphics is, it's not growing. Intel integrated graphics are improving much faster than any other part of the CPU and much faster than discrete GPUs. Killing the discrete GPU is a strategic priority for Intel and they are dedicating most of the growth in number of transistors with each Tick to the GPU, at the expense of increasing number of cores, cache sizes, etc.
 
mcarling said:
Yes, but that was when integrated GPUs were inadequate for a significant portion of Mac mini buyers. Such is not the case today, which is why current (2012) Mac mini models do not include discrete GPUs. For anything introduced in the future (including tomorrow), it would make even less sense to include a discrete GPU than in 2012 when Apple didn't include one.
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The 2011 model had a low end with the integrated Intel HD 3000 and a high end with an AMD HD 6630M. So a low end with an IGPU for the basic user (if they had, they already thought it was enough for the basic user then) and high end with a DGPU for people wanting more power.

mcarling said:
Apple could do many nonsensical things, like putting a discrete GPU in a Mac mini, but they won't.
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I don't know why it would be nonsensical...A dedicated GPU would increase potential buyers, getting those who might want a bit more power but consider the Mac Pro an overkill and don't want the screen on the iMac: people wanting to drive 4K decently, moderate gamers, people wanting to do some vlog related video editing (a growing trend), etc.

mcarling said:
Discrete GPUs are quite the overkill (specs and price) for about 99% of potential Mac mini buyers..
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A Mac Mini doesn't have to be exclusive to basic users and even to those they can have a low end model (with IGPU). There can be a higher end model (with DGPU) for people wanting what basically is a "headless iMac" and I don't have much doubt that it would sell very nicely aka more than 1% of Mini buyers...
 
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DanCorleone said:
Problem is Windows 8 is a disaster. I have it on my laptop. So, if they won't sell it with Windows 7, I advise you "no sale".
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You've heard the one about a good worker not blaming his tools I take it? Absolutely nothing wrong with W8.1, AKA W9, probably the most stable Windows platform to date.

W10 will not be that much different and is likely to be the last major release of Windows. MS are now reported to be very happy with Windows and future releases are likely to simply be incremental.

I am more than content with W9 and use it as an alternative to OS X on a regular basis.

Now if we are talking about a disasterous OS let's talk about iOS 8. :eek:
 
Amazon.com have removed 1 model and the other is estimated shipping in 1 to 2 months, they did the same with the Macbook Pro's, I'm certain a new model is coming.

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evil_santa said:
They are listed on Amazon UK as #5 in the best selling Desktops, above the iMac at #8, so someone must be still buying them! :eek:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Seller...428651031/ref=zg_bs_nav_computers_1_computers
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True, but all of those are fulfilled and not sold directly by amazon, from the past amazon stop selling Apple products directly a few weeks/days before the release. :D
 
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StraightSix said:
It's been way too long for an uneventful event? :confused:
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iPad Air2...yeh, i'll buy it cause my iPad2 won't run IOS8.

iMac ...meh, don't want one.

Yosemite ... more of the same, just flatter.

Apple Pay ...yawn.

Mac Mini....probably not.

New Macintosh....no rumors.

No Broadwell chips means non event. Yawn again and I hope I'm wrong.
 
iFitzgerald said:
The 2011 model had a low end with the integrated Intel HD 3000 and a high end with an AMD HD 6630M. So a low end with an IGPU for the basic user (if they had, they already thought it was enough for the basic user then) and high end with a DGPU for people wanting more power.
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It is also something they do currently with the 15" rMBP.
 
Re the 'what percentage of buyers want a dedicated GPU' debate, it's impossible to make a guess when we've no idea *why* people buy minis. There are domestic/commercial headless users, there are those who want to run a mini and a non-Apple computer through one monitor, there are those who for various reasons dislike iMacs, there are the impoverished and the cheapskates...

I've just looked at the nMP on the Apple website and the two models are simply starting points. With the configuration options you can turn the $2999 model into the $3999 for the very reasonable price of $1000 :winkysmiley:

It would be nice if the mini (and the iMac) had the same configuration possibilities, eg a discrete GPU option being available regardless of CPU.
 
mojolicious said:
Re the 'what percentage of buyers want a dedicated GPU' debate, it's impossible to make a guess when we've no idea *why* people buy minis. There are domestic/commercial headless users, there are those who want to run a mini and a non-Apple computer through one monitor, there are those who for various reasons dislike iMacs, there are the impoverished and the cheapskates...

I've just looked at the nMP on the Apple website and the two models are simply starting points. With the configuration options you can turn the $2999 model into the $3999 for the very reasonable price of $1000 :winkysmiley:

It would be nice if the mini (and the iMac) had the same configuration possibilities, eg a discrete GPU option being available regardless of CPU.
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First of all, we have no idea how many people would buy a Mini with decent desktop CPU, good design, PCi-Ex Storage, and a decent dGPU.

For those, who don't need dGPU are base iMacs right now. With Iris Pro and HD5000.
 
If Apple doesn't release a new Mac Mini or a new Mac tomorrow, I'll be building a pc.

I'm starting to sour on the Apple desktops. They still make great notebooks, but their desktops are getting a bit too pricey and constrained.
 
koyoot said:
For those, who don't need dGPU are base iMacs right now. With Iris Pro and HD5000.
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Yep, but the Intel graphics options are absolutely tied to the slowest CPUs, and if you want the fastest available CPUs you *have* to go 27". Why can't I buy (should I want to) a middling CPU with a GTX 775M in a 21.5" case, for example? I demand à la carte computer options.
 
I want a simple Mac desktop
no toy all in one glass mirror as iMac
no spaceship as Mac pro
A Simple MAC. inside with updated hardware, at least Haswell.

Enough with mac mini. But MAC with colorful apple.
with the possibility to choose ram, hd, and video card.

Or Bye Apple.
 
mcarling said:
I would believe 10% of MacRumors readers, but not more than about 1% of overall consumers. Whatever the percentage of consumers requiring discrete graphics is, it's not growing. Intel integrated graphics are improving much faster than any other part of the CPU and much faster than discrete GPUs. Killing the discrete GPU is a strategic priority for Intel and they are dedicating most of the growth in number of transistors with each Tick to the GPU, at the expense of increasing number of cores, cache sizes, etc.
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I would agree completely if 4k tv was not becoming bigger. The intel's do not run 4k tv well. But I do agree that intel has improved the graphic's side a lot. If you watch 1080p content via streaming intel's integrated graphics are pretty good.
 
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