Not really. We use 'Mac' and 'computer' interchangeably. Most people understand what is being said.
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The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming
- Thread starter GabrieleR
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Not really. We use 'Mac' and 'computer' interchangeably. Most people understand what is being said.
Yeah, should have said desktops. Mobiles will survive until ARM takes over.
Guess I could just say X86 platform.
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I always thought PC was the most apt term for all of it.. afterall, wouldn't an iPhone, iMac and Windows 10 based Dell be equally considered a "personal computer"? Never could figure out why we ended up labelled "PC" as a windows based device.
That would be because, back in the early 1980s, IBM entered the desktop computer market, and immediately dominated it. Not only was their device of higher build quality and greater flexibility than the competition, the hardware was built with mostly off-the-shelf components, and ran on Microsoft's Disk Operating System (branded PC DOS for IBM, but really no different from MS-DOS). So once the BIOS was reverse-engineered, cheap clone devices flooded the market, and all but killed all other competitors.
The official name of this device was the "IBM Personal Computer". And, therefore, every device made since that time that can run software made for that series of computers has been branded with the term "PC-compatible", or just "PC".
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By geeks I mean dilettantes whose life revolves around mucking around with computers, obsessing over specs, prices and other stuff, having to have the latest this and the fastest that, and upgrading to get what they desire.
As an average Joe, for my humble needs even a modestly specced Mac Mini is fine; less hassle to use than the Windows PCs in the office on campus.
From my point off view the base model 2014 Mac Mini would cost considerably less than what I am using now did, seven years ago. It would potentially perform better, but in use for me, my guess is that there would be little noticeable difference for most uses. However, given that I am doing more photography now I would be inclined to go for a slightly better specced model…… probably bringing the cost up to what I paid for my 2009 Mac Mini…… and a little less than the original Mac Mini I bought 11 years ago!
But that is speculation for now. There will almost certainly be another generation, or two, of Mac Mini before I almost certainly get a new one.
The 2014 Mini did offer improved connectivity and graphics, as well as a small improvement in performance for single core tasks. However, yes, there was a decline in performance for multicore tasks, which did matter to some. Sure, it was a disappointment to geeks and pundits whose expectations was greater, but that didn't stop it from being among the top 10 sellers for desktops on Amazon until relatively recently.
The new Mac Mini that is almost certainly coming will almost certainly be a disappointment to geeks.
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I'm pretty old school. My first Basic programing class was on an Apple 2 in 1979 so everything was PC until Jobs differentiated the Mac from a PC. Everything was DOS until the first Windows UIG came out. I have used about every OS that has existed.
Times certainly have changed with smartphones and tablets and the decline of the PC and Macs which most people no longer need.
Times have changed indeed, with the present and future of IT for average folks in the street being mobile. Tim Cook suggested the same recently, to the dismay of many.
That is almost certainly reflected in where Apple directs its resources; with proportionally less going to Macs. However, getting the best out of other iDevices is still best achieved with a Mac in the system, for now at least.
I think we are seeing a greater stratification of the market. More and more of our low-level needs can be served by tablets, chromebooks, and other mobile devices that really act as a modern terminal to distant CPUs and storage.
The need for traditional computers will remain but for more intensive [niche, development and high end] uses.
There's no excuse for letting Macs rot on the vine.
Not being left to rot, but changing in role.
Still, there are some of us who prefer life without the mobile devices, for whom a low level Mac Mini is ideal. When I leave my desk I'm off line…. sweeeeet.
Interest in the new Mac Mini that is almost certainly coming is running high….. When will the million views be reached?
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So would everybody's brains explode if the Mini was updated but with an A10 or A11 chip? The explosion on the forum would measure on the Richter Scale.
I think you may have misunderstood my point…
The post I quoted said "Apple really isn't interested in computers anymore and is moving on into new things.". Yet, the iPad (and iPhone etc.) are just as much computers as the Mac. They're just tailored to be used with touch interactions instead of a mouse-driven GUI. Which was my point.
I fully agree. I would like to add that the pathway I described leaves users like you, out. It also leaves out those mid level users l (like me) who rely on small, proprietary software that could be done on an iPad BUT the app is desktop only. Also, those who use massive spreadsheets: spreadsheets often require features absent from the tablet version of the software, even if computationaly, the iPad is fine.
Thus products, like our beloved mini, are left out in favor of iOS and higher end desktops (iMac).
Actually, I wouldn't mind at all, so long as it is compatible with OS X, and designed in such a way as to remain usable for more than 4-5 years: i.e., vital components (such as RAM) can be upgraded to support future versions of the operating system.
(My first Mini had a PowerPC processor, and I lived through the transition to x86. Lots of griping and grouching, but Universal Binaries and the Rosetta mechanism made the transition much less painful.)
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I've got my machines going in a rotation: when I purchase a new desktop computer, my previous desktop computer moves to the #2 position, my HTPC / file server. The previous #2 computer moves to the #3 position, my router / web server / e-mail server. The previous #3 computer moves to the #4 position, the collection of boxes I use as dedicated compile boxes and/or for testing various Linux distributions.Computers never really go obsolete.
Except when you *need* a new machine and Apple serves up the stale old...
Computers never really go obsolete.
You basically CANT buy a new Mac right now; no such thing.
I understood your point.
When someone says that Apple doesn't care about computers anymore, they are saying that Apple doesn't care about Macs anymore. The words computer and Mac are being used interchangeably. Usually everybody understands what is being said.
Even Apple uses the words computer and Mac interchangeably. Hence the dropping of the word 'computer' from their name. i.e. Apple Computer Inc. to Apple Inc.
I suppose it depends -- I can't think of anything that would improve by using ARM in the Mini. You would lose Intel compatibility.
In what way would it be any kind of an upgrade? A 2012 with i7 quad would be quite a bit more powerful than the ARM processors of today -- not saying it would never happen since ARM could get very powerful at some point.
And for how long would an ARM chip (again, today's variants) be usable? Would it become like an iPhone where even the most trivial updates cause it to run very slowly?
Right now, it would simply be a terrible idea. I'm sure it could come one day though, and it would be fine if it becomes advantageous instead of just ripping people off and locking them down to short upgrade cycles.
Yeah but just think.....Apple could initiate a Mac Mini upgrade program where you could trade in and get a new one each year for a "slight" monthly fee. [sarcasm]
I just thinking out of the box
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It's true -- but then just buy used instead of paying new prices for old hardware.
I know an argument can be made for AppleCare, but that costs twice as much, plus the charge for AC.
I'm so far enjoying a used 17" MBP. They just don't make them like they used to.