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The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

Serban said:
so no rumours about an update for mac mini? you think guys there is any chances that apple will remove the mac mini for good?
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Anything is possible. Apple has certainly not been making a lot of effort to sell Minis, and with their attention mostly fixed on the iPhone & iPad these days, they may not want to bother with so many desktop models any more. I could see them trying to push a very low-end iMac as the new entry point to the Mac desktop world. (At which point, I suppose, I'll be leaving the Mac world for good...)
 
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Serban said:
I mean apple will have in near future only iphone ipad apple watch?
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Well, the iPhone is where Apple is really making most of its money. It'd probably be an even more profitable company (at least in percentage terms) if that were its only product. The iPad is probably good too, although it seems like it isn't as hot a product today as it was a few years ago. (I dunno about the watch, it doesn't really seem to be taking off.)

The iPhone has to reach a saturation point at some time, though; so, hopefully, Apple will find the time and interest to take a more serious look at its computing products. But today's Apple is really driven by finding the "next big thing", so it may be that they will just give up on older products that have just an average return on investment, rather than an astounding return on investment...
 
Serban said:
so no rumours about an update for mac mini? you think guys there is any chances that apple will remove the mac mini for good?
Click to expand...

People have been suggesting the same for years, but why would Apple remove a good seller from their line up. They are being too cynical. The Mac Mini is among the top 20 best selling desktop computers on Amazon.

Rest assured, the new Mac Mini is almost certainly coming…… I wonder if this thread reaches a million views before it happens. A bit over 70,000 to go!
 
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jpietrzak8 said:
Well, the iPhone is where Apple is really making most of its money. It'd probably be an even more profitable company (at least in percentage terms) if that were its only product. The iPad is probably good too, although it seems like it isn't as hot a product today as it was a few years ago. (I dunno about the watch, it doesn't really seem to be taking off.)

The iPhone has to reach a saturation point at some time, though; so, hopefully, Apple will find the time and interest to take a more serious look at its computing products. But today's Apple is really driven by finding the "next big thing", so it may be that they will just give up on older products that have just an average return on investment, rather than an astounding return on investment...
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Apple must have a huge profit margin on things like new Mac Pro's with three-year-old technology inside. The older the design, the more they make on a sale. Presumably there is thought given to the crossover point, where it would be better to sell more devices with new technology and lower initial profit margins than to stick with the old stuff and reap the profits even if sales are lower than they would be with new upgrades. With the mini, apparently we are not there yet. Dumbing down the entry level model, as has been done with the iMac and the Mini, for example, is another good way to up the profit margin. I don't think Apple will drop the Mini now, but we may not like the upgrade cycle or the upgrades when they finally come.
 
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DesertSurfer said:
Apple must have a huge profit margin on things like new Mac Pro's with three-year-old technology inside. The older the design, the more they make on a sale. Presumably there is thought given to the crossover point, where it would be better to sell more devices with new technology and lower initial profit margins than to stick with the old stuff and reap the profits even if sales are lower than they would be with new upgrades. With the mini, apparently we are not there yet. Dumbing down the entry level model, as has been done with the iMac and the Mini, for example, is another good way to up the profit margin. I don't think Apple will drop the Mini now, but we may not like the upgrade cycle or the upgrades when they finally come.
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The next Mini will likely be at best an incremental update. If anything Apple doesn't have OMG leaps in specs. It won't get much more than a processor bump along with better integrated graphics due to an architecture upgrade and likely the same RAM and drive configurations. Unlikely to see a form factor change.

So all this waiting and you'll have a 10% better than 2014 Mini in 2016. And the universal response will be, "we waited two years for this?!?"

Prepare to be underwhelmed.
 
I think that just for TB3 / USB-C is worth the waiting. Everything else will be welcome, specially the GPU bump.

But more important we could / should see the prices of the upgrades updated to 2016 prices instead of 2014 prices.
 
AirdanMR said:
I think that just for TB3 / USB-C is worth the waiting. Everything else will be welcome, specially the GPU bump.

But more important we could / should see the prices of the upgrades updated to 2016 prices instead of 2014 prices.
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Agreed!

Just come out already with 2 TB Ports for Dual Monitor.
Wanna buy rMB + Mini.
 
I thought the Mac Mini had repositioned itself as an affordable coding rig for iPhone developers, who aren't otherwise tied into to OSX and won't shell out for an iMac or a Mac Pro. Apple needs those onboard to keep its cash cow iDevice ecosystem ticking over.
 
IMHO Apple should develop an external GPU device as Razer has done and this would solve the problem with people that want more GPU power for MacBooks and the Mini. It also would offer the problem of heat dissipation and an avenue into VR for the future.

I think we will see more and more of other PC manufacturers doing this in the future and allow people that do not want a big towers setting around and allow the portability of their laptops.

The Razer is priced at $499 without GPU so could can automatically add 30% for Apple Tax. lol
[doublepost=1458219234][/doublepost]
AirdanMR said:
That thing is smaller than the Mac Mini and fits a quad core.

Hopefully Apple will take note!
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It will be interesting to see reliability on this and what benches this gets. NUCs this year have been having BIOS problems so hopefully Intel has worked the bugs out.

Update: found this on about Intel Skull Canyon and it looks like the Razer external GPU can be used with it.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3045...nuc-the-most-powerful-game-ready-mini-pc.html
 
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And don't forget about rMBP13 users, some of them will want one eGPU too even if it's a closed mobile eGPU.

The problem is iMac... I don't see Apple giving us this option unless they stop offering dGPU on it. That way they not only can charge more $ to the iMac users, but take more cash from Mac Mini, rMB and rMBP13 users.
 
The Mac Mini doesn't have an external power brick irc - does this NUC? So some difference in space used there. From the Mac Mini iFixit teardown there does seem to be some space above/below where the HD/SSD is at the front? Maybe in part for the air movement as the fan is on the bottom? Whether they'd make it smaller I don't know - the NUC seems to have more grill venting on the sides.

Mac Mini - affordable at the starting price with lowest end CPU & a 5400 rpm hard drive currently, but a nice Mac Mini with high end Iris Pro CPU & 500GB SSD might be $1,500 if anything like current line up.

And that's excluding any potential eGPU. So basically things may have got more expensive to the tune of an external chassis+ GPU if you want Mac gaming/ make the Mac the fastest it can be. Wouldn't a nMP would make a neat eGPU chassis? (The Razer Core is certified with the Skull Canyon NUC - $500 for be chassis then $$ for the card ) http://www.pcper.com/news/Graphics-...-Enclosure-Pricing-and-Availability-Announced)
 
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Contemplating buying one but knowing my luck, there will be no announcement on Monday. I'll get one and then in September the refresh will come....! :(
 
t0mat0 said:
The Mac Mini doesn't have an external power brick irc - does this NUC? So some difference in space used there. From the Mac Mini iFixit teardown there does seem to be some space above/below where the HD/SSD is at the front? Maybe in part for the air movement as the fan is on the bottom? Whether they'd make it smaller I don't know - the NUC seems to have more grill venting on the sides.

Mac Mini - affordable at the starting price with lowest end CPU & a 5400 rpm hard drive currently, but a nice Mac Mini with high end Iris Pro CPU & 500GB SSD might be $1,500 if anything like current line up.

And that's excluding any potential eGPU. So basically things may have got more expensive to the tune of an external chassis+ GPU if you want Mac gaming/ make the Mac the fastest it can be. Wouldn't a nMP would make a neat eGPU chassis? (The Razer Core is certified with the Skull Canyon NUC - $500 for be chassis then $$ for the card ) http://www.pcper.com/news/Graphics-...-Enclosure-Pricing-and-Availability-Announced)
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Based on what I see Apple doing in general, they could turn the mini into a more consumer oriented device, eliminate all of the ports, providing only two USB-C ports, which would save Apple a lot of money per unit. Then, if a customer needed Ethernet, or legacy ports, or anything more than a monitor and the internal drive, they'd buy a port replicator, or hub, and the applicable adapter.

Essentially a Retina MacBook without the display, keyboard, and mouse, with a really attractive entry level price point.
 
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Mac 128 said:
Based on what I see Apple doing in general, they could turn the mini into a more consumer oriented device, eliminate all of the ports, providing only two USB-C ports, which would save Apple a lot of money per unit. Then, if a customer needed Ethernet, or legacy ports, or anything more than a monitor and the internal drive, they'd buy a port replicator, or hub, and the applicable adapter.

Essentially a Retina MacBook without the display, keyboard, and mouse, with a really attractive entry level price point.
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Hasn't really thought of it that way. Yes - like the MacBooks - TB3 could let them get rid of a lot of ports vs keep them around for convenience. Would offering Ethernet, USB out of the box be more of a factor for the Mac Mini?

Currently though they're marketing it on design as:
Many ports. Major possibilities.
Mac mini packs a lot of connectivity into a small space. You can daisy-chain up to six peripherals to a single Thunderbolt 2 port. Easily connect Mac mini to your HDTV. And a built-in SDXC card slot makes speedy work of transferring photos and videos from your digital cameras.
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So they're offering convenience of offering ports (vs not having a SDXC card slot for digital camera users or HDMI port for a monitor/TV). Having more ports is more consumer oriented I'd say as it lets consumers plug into what they have already.

They'd have more space with a smaller SD vs a HDD if they wanted to reduce space.
Didn't they swap out a FW port for an extra TB2 port?
 
t0mat0 said:
Hasn't really thought of it that way. Yes - like the MacBooks - TB3 could let them get rid of a lot of ports vs keep them around for convenience. Would offering Ethernet, USB out of the box be more of a factor for the Mac Mini?

Currently though they're marketing it on design as:


So they're offering convenience of offering ports (vs not having a SDXC card slot for digital camera users or HDMI port for a monitor/TV). Having more ports is more consumer oriented I'd say as it lets consumers plug into what they have already.

They'd have more space with a smaller SD vs a HDD if they wanted to reduce space.
Didn't they swap out a FW port for an extra TB2 port?
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I think that's the old way of marketing it. Aren't they trying to push wireless solutions, iCloud, AirDrop, and the like?

Wifi is the current consumer networking standard. As the iPhone camera improves, SD card slots become less important for the average Apple customer (even new DSLR cameras have wifi). Thunderbolt is rumored to become USB-C anyway. And why HDMI, isn't that what the TV is for? Use an AirPlay monitor instead. Audio inputs can be handled through USB-C as well. I can certainly see the legacy ports for business applications, but wouldn't Apple want those customers to step up to the Pro?

So the question really is this -- is the average mini customer using all these ports? If not, why keep them for the few customers who do? Apple seems to be on a serious upsell movement at the moment, so streamlining the mini, offering it for a lower price point but still making their margins, and selling adapters as needed (further increasing their margins), seems like something they would do.
 
From Apple's copy:

rMB
Just about anything you do with a notebook can now be done over the air
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vs
Mac Mini
Plenty of ports make it ready for anything.
As powerful as Thunderbolt 2 is, it’s just one of your options. If you have a third-party display, you can use the HDMI port to connect it. You can connect two displays to see more of your photos, films and documents at the same time. And a built-in SDXC card slot makes it easy to import those photos and videos from your digital camera."
Click to expand...

Just big enough to fit everything you want in a desktop
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Many ports. Major possibilities
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With great connectivity features like Thunderbolt 2 and support for HDTV, Mac mini makes the perfect centrepiece to any setup.
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Is the average mini customer using all these ports? I'd imagine Apple has some data on that. They're proactively pushing to highlight the benefits of these ports currently at least. Optical in, card reader, USB for external accessories like External HDD, HDMI for a monitor/HDTV...
 
t0mat0 said:
From Apple's copy:

rMB

vs
Mac Mini

Is the average mini customer using all these ports? I'd imagine Apple has some data on that. They're proactively pushing to highlight the benefits of these ports currently at least. Optical in, card reader, USB for external accessories like External HDD, HDMI for a monitor/HDTV...
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Right, but they've been actively eliminating all of these things from the rest of their product lines.

I'm just speculating. Only Apple knows and truly, and marketing all these ports is the only thing they've got currently with the mini.

But I can just as easily see them advertising the mini as the ultimate expandable desktop with USB-C -- "adding, and paying for, only what you need when you need it", and just like the rMB which similarly differs from the MB Pro (which also has been losing key ports), "the ultimate in convenient wireless connectivity -- why run wires when virtually everything can be done without them?"

I guess it all depends on who is buying it. Entry level customers who can't afford an iMac, or Pro, or budget conscious port hungry customers looking to run as close to a custom power setup as possible for a Mac? In the case of the former, an even less expensive port-less mini is ideal. In the latter, USB-C satisfies their desire to plug whatever they want into it, and then some -- and since the cost of the CPU is lower, easily affordable for the same price.
 
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t0mat0 said:
Is the average mini customer using all these ports? I'd imagine Apple has some data on that. They're proactively pushing to highlight the benefits of these ports currently at least. Optical in, card reader, USB for external accessories like External HDD, HDMI for a monitor/HDTV...
Click to expand...

I use them all and some times more with a hub.
 
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You know, I haven't thought about it in a while, but I just looked at the back of my Mini, and yes, every single port is filled (and I've got a USB hub, too). I think the only opening that doesn't have something in it right now is the card slot. (Oh, and the audio ports -- I'm using a USB sound card for that right now...)
 
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