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The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

jpietrzak8 said:
Yeah, Apple has so few employees and so little cash on hand, they don't have nearly enough resources to work on more than one model at a time... :p
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It's basically a laptop without the keyboard, trackpad and screen - it couldn't bet that hard to release if they wanted.
 
Count Blah said:
Lol, new to the Apple platform are you?
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Nope. Been on it for over 25 years.

But Apple did show signs a while back of reducing the gouging (e.g. factory RAM upgrade prices came down), only to crank it back up again more recently.
 
Boyd01 said:
For example?….
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If he is talking about Macrumors front page "rumor", there is absolutely no new info there or anywhere on the web, just a bunch of recycled articles.
[doublepost=1476789423][/doublepost]http://techfrag.com/2016/10/13/gen-z-consortium/

Here's one that's not a rumor:

"most interesting of the lot is the quad-core Core i5-7500T which has a TDP of 35 Watts. The clock speed of this desktop Kaby Lake processor is 2.7 GHz."

Hope...
 
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richpjr said:
It's basically a laptop without the keyboard, trackpad and screen - it couldn't bet that hard to release if they wanted.
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Looking at the history, Mac mini has been upgraded every 18 months or less except for the last model, which lagged by 2 years. This is the month when 2-year upgrade cycle is due, so I suspect Mac mini will either get a spec bump or retired for good.

It's not that Mac mini is hard to upgrade, although if Apple is planning more substantial upgrade, it might be one of the reasons for delay.

Let's face it. Mac mini isn't dependent on cutting edge components like iMac, MacBook, and MacBook Pro are. As sad as this may sound, it's obvious that Mac mini isn't selling in high enough quantity for Apple to bother with more frequent upgrade (Mac Pro is another example). The existing inventory must clear out and new components must arrive in sufficient quantity and profit margin for Apple to bother upgrading Mac mini.

Anyway, 2 year is the longest we had to wait for Mac mini upgrade and many signs point to Apple updating various Macs this month. Hopefully, Mac mini will be one of them as I am eyeing a purchase myself.
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DesertSurfer said:
I wonder if there will ever be another Mac-focused event. It may be silent refresh until the end from here on out.
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Even if Apple holds a Mac event this month, and every single Macs get an update one way or another, I doubt Mac mini will receive a mention. It will instead receive a silent upgrade on the website.
 
nutmac said:
Let's face it. Mac mini isn't dependent on cutting edge components like iMac, MacBook, and MacBook Pro are.
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Back when it first came out, and especially with the switch from PowerPC to Intel CPUs, the Mini was definitely sporting cutting edge components. It was a full-featured PC at that time.

And I think it's pretty obvious right now that, as the current Mini is definitely not sporting anything like cutting-edge components any more, it isn't getting the kind of support it used to get. But that doesn't mean it isn't dependent on having decent components; other SFF PCs, like Intel's "Skull Canyon" device, are getting all the buzz now, mainly because they are packed with powerful chips and offer high-end features.

nutmac said:
As sad as this may sound, it's obvious that Mac mini isn't selling in high enough quantity for Apple to bother with more frequent upgrade (Mac Pro is another example). The existing inventory must clear out and new components must arrive in sufficient quantity and profit margin for Apple to bother upgrading Mac mini.
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??? Gotta disagree here. Apple has consciously positioned the modern Mini as the lowest of low-end Macs. If you want more power, they want to "upsell" you to the (far more expensive) iMac.

In any case, this argument is a bit backwards. Apple doesn't actually want the Mini or the Pro to sell in high quantities; if so, they would provide the devices in more configurations and at a lower price point. No, they offer the Mini and Pro to technically fit within a particular niche, but consciously designed to (a) maximize profits at lower sales quantities, and (b) to highlight the iMac as the sweet spot between these two outliers. Apple has kept the iMac more up-to-date, and at a better bang-for-the-buck compared to their other offerings.

In short, for the Mac, both form and function follow marketing. :(
 
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The odd thing is that there are rumors aplenty about new MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs and MacBooks. Absolutely nothing about the Mini. So is it a super secret project, a minor spec bump of the 2014 models… or maybe it's just not coming at all. :(
 
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jpietrzak8 said:
Apple doesn't actually want the Mini or the Pro to sell in high quantities; if so, they would provide the devices in more configurations and at a lower price point. No, they offer the Mini and Pro to technically fit within a particular niche, but consciously designed to (a) maximize profits at lower sales quantities, and (b) to highlight the iMac as the sweet spot between these two outliers. Apple has kept the iMac more up-to-date, and at a better bang-for-the-buck compared to their other offerings.
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I said sufficient quantity, not high quantity. And I am not sure if iMac is considered an up sell for many Mac mini buyers. Many folks use Mac mini as a server or for home theater.
 
nutmac said:
I said sufficient quantity, not high quantity.
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??? Ok, but what exactly does that mean? That Apple created the crippled 2014 Mini because the 2012 didn't sell in high enough numbers, and so they didn't think they could afford a high-end SFF PC? That Apple is trying to reposition the Mini as a sort of "toy" PC, rather than a full-featured PC like the iMac? That Apple is trying to squeeze more profit out of the Mini by filling it with the absolute cheapest components possible?

In my opinion, you increase sales by providing a higher-quality product than your competitors. Apple is no longer doing that with the Mini. And I don't see them ever improving sales until they do...
 
jpietrzak8 said:
??? Ok, but what exactly does that mean? That Apple created the crippled 2014 Mini because the 2012 didn't sell in high enough numbers, and so they didn't think they could afford a high-end SFF PC? That Apple is trying to reposition the Mini as a sort of "toy" PC, rather than a full-featured PC like the iMac? That Apple is trying to squeeze more profit out of the Mini by filling it with the absolute cheapest components possible?
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Purely just my theory. But I am guessing Apple wanted to increase margin and decrease support cost by making 2014 Mac mini less upgradable. As for quad-core models, they probably didn't sell in meaningful quantities.

As for the cheapest components, come on. Mac mini always used older components. I think Mac mini is well built and well designed but components were always old. We just didn't notice it as much because Mac mini got more frequent updates in the past.

Anyway, WSJ is reporting Mac event scheduled for October 27 (next Thursday). Let's just hope that Mac mini will at least get a decent spec bump. If it does get updated, I am guessing it will get at least Broadwell from 2015 MacBook Air (capable of 4K 60Hz output). But Skylake would be my wish.
 
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nutmac said:
As for the cheapest components, come on. Mac mini always used older components. I think Mac mini is well built and well designed but components were always old. We just didn't notice it as much because Mac mini got more frequent updates in the past.

...

Let's just hope that Mac mini will at least get a decent spec bump.
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Nah, I'm out. I fell hard for the Mini back when the first Intel versions came out, as they provided a seriously powerful and inexpensive commercial Unix PC. But as Apple hasn't seen fit to really support that model any more, I've not seen fit to support Apple any more. I've transitioned most of my serious work back over to Linux PCs, and am satisfied with the results.

I just really don't see the point of a Mini any more. If you want a general-purpose SFF, there are much better choices available now. And if you just want an HTPC, well, Apple itself offers a better choice now...
 
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jpietrzak8 said:
I just really don't see the point of a Mini any more. If you want a general-purpose SFF, there are much better choices available now. And if you just want an HTPC, well, Apple itself offers a better choice now...
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The appeal is certainly limited but I frankly think Mac mini's appeal was limited to begin with. Most folks will get a better value out of portable Mac or iMac.

I use Mac mini as my family's central hub of data. It hosts all of our family photos and iTunes media library (which is quite sizable), and is constantly backed up to Backblaze and iCloud Photo Library.

I suppose I could use NAS (e.g., Synology) or Linux PC, but Mac mini is cheap and capable enough for task at hand. I just wish it could output 4K 60Hz.
 
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Boyd01 said:
The odd thing is that there are rumors aplenty about new MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs and MacBooks. Absolutely nothing about the Mini. So is it a super secret project, a minor spec bump of the 2014 models… or maybe it's just not coming at all. :(
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It's really a strong indication that Apple is using Kaby Lake and not Skylake. Kaby Lake natively supports H265 + usb3.1c while Skylake requires the alpine ridge chipset for that support. More integration means cheaper boards, more profit for Apple, while cooler running (and therefore can be made thinner) computers for customers.

Kaby Lake is in really limited quantity right now and the higher power usage stuff won't be out until next year. So yeah, it's probably only the laptops right now
 
Just as an aside, here's a "9 to 5 Mac" article predicting what will happen at the October 27th Apple event:

https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/18/apple-october-mac-event-what-to-expect/

Probably the most interesting part of the article for our purposes:

Mac Pro/Mac Mini (or what not to expect)
The two machines that often feel most neglected by Apple could be headed for the same fate this year. There haven’t been any rumors concerning Apple’s entry-level Mac Mini or its Pro-level Mac Pro. The latter of the two was dramatically overhauled three years ago, but hasn’t seen an update since. The Mac Mini, on the other hand, hasn’t been updated in two years.

While minor under-the-hood refreshes aren’t out of the question, it’s unlikely that Apple has anything major planned for the Mac Pro or Mac Mini.
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