The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

[sleconte]

I still hope for a new mac Mini - love the size of the thing and I already have a large, good quality monitor and peripherals. But only reason I feel I need a Mac is to run X-Code - like probably many on this forum. I understand that Apple now views this as a very niche reason to have a computer, but Apple insists that Apple stuff must be developed on Apple hardware. Then they give us so few options for hardware? I would happily use my Windows machine or my laptop with Ubuntu already if they would relax that requirement. Then they could just go ahead and focus on the phones and tablets.

The maddening thing is that they insist on Mac hardware and release almost no Mac hardware.

Bring out the new Mini, or get rid of the restrictions on X-Code. I don't want another laptop, Apple.

 

[EnesM]

Phil Schiller has spoken!

https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/02/phil...pped-the-sd-card-but-kept-the-headphone-jack/

“We love the Mac and are as committed to it, in both desktops and notebooks, as we ever have been.”

There, Mac Mini will almost certainly not be discontinued...unless he meant iMacs

 

[robotica]

Phil Schiller has spoken!

https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/02/phil...pped-the-sd-card-but-kept-the-headphone-jack/

“We love the Mac and are as committed to it, in both desktops and notebooks, as we ever have been.”

There, Mac Mini will almost certainly not be discontinued...unless he meant iMacs

Fingers crossed he means it!

 

[xmlninja]

Fingers crossed he means it!

keeping macmini updated with the latest chipsets, cpus and gpus yearly is a nobrainer though. So I dont understand how they are not doing it.

Same with apple tv. could just release a new one yearly a couple of months after they have introduced new iphone, just take the latest chip and put it in, release.

 

[Partron22]

could just release a new one yearly a couple of months after they have introduced new iphone, just take the latest chip and put it in, release.

It's not as if there's no market for these things.
Just look at the Lenovo ThinkCentre M700 or the sytem76 Meerkat.
Cute as a button and modern.

 

[Cape Dave]

It's not as if there's no market for these things.
Just look at the Lenovo ThinkCentre M700 or the sytem76 Meerkat.
Cute as a button and modern.

And the new one from Gigabyte and the Intel Skull NUC.

 

[essiw]

Phil Schiller has spoken!

https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/02/phil...pped-the-sd-card-but-kept-the-headphone-jack/

“We love the Mac and are as committed to it, in both desktops and notebooks, as we ever have been.”

There, Mac Mini will almost certainly not be discontinued...unless he meant iMacs

I was so glad to see that message... bring back the mini

Couldn't they just make a mac mini which you could stack to up the specs, so that if you stack enough you would get a mac pro? (yes I know this is not how computers work, the thought however was fun)

 

[jpietrzak8]

Couldn't they just make a mac mini which you could stack to up the specs, so that if you stack enough you would get a mac pro? (yes I know this is not how computers work, the thought however was fun)

Actually, that is kinda how computers work. At least, that's how they did in the days long, long ago; you'd start out with a "motherboard", which was little more than a collection of slots on a pc-board with traces to interconnect them. Then, you would add the daughter boards; and these wouldn't just be boards containing I/O ports or connections to storage drives or even GPU co-processors, these boards would contain the actual processors you'd use to get work done.

I think in today's world where corporations are trying to get people to buy into the idea that a computer is a compact slab of glass and metal that you hold in your hand, folks are starting to forget that the point of a "general purpose computer" is that it was a device that could be used in a wide variety of situations. You could put these things together in innumerable configurations, optimized for whatever use you deemed necessary, and rearrange them as needed when you need to get different work done.

I don't really see any reason why you couldn't design a computing block the size of a Mini, set up so that you could remove a cover on the top or bottom to connect to another block. Let one block concentrate on graphics, another block on the CPU, perhaps a third concentrating on extra storage. Wouldn't be that hard to do, I think...

 

[Boyd01]

Couldn't they just make a mac mini which you could stack to up the specs, so that if you stack enough you would get a mac pro?

Hey, that's a great idea!...Apple wouldn't even need to update the mini, just put the 2014 model in a two-pack and call it a quad core!

 

[jpietrzak8]

Hey, that's a great idea!...Apple wouldn't even need to update the mini, just put the 2014 model in a two-pack and call it a quad core!

Actually, just stack them as high as you want, and make a Beowulf out of them.

 

[xmonkey]

Phil Schiller has spoken!

https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/02/phil...pped-the-sd-card-but-kept-the-headphone-jack/

“We love the Mac and are as committed to it, in both desktops and notebooks, as we ever have been.”

There, Mac Mini will almost certainly not be discontinued...unless he meant iMacs

Actions Phil, actions. How he can possibly say they're as committed as ever is beyond me. It's very clearly not the case.

 

[now i see it]

I think the MacMini still has a place in Apple 's product line. It will always exist as the low end mac. There's still untold new users getting into computers for the first time who are on a tight budget, and long time users too. An appropriately spec'd (aka gimped) Mini at a cheap enough price is the entry drug into the Apple addiction. It has value to Apple.

The Mini doesn't (and shouldn't) need to be fast or too satisfying. It's purpose is to create a desire for a better and more expensive mac.....and the current mini still fulfills that requirement admirably.

No need to update it.

 

[essiw]

I think the MacMini still has a place in Apple 's product line. It will always exist as the low end mac. There's still untold new users getting into computers for the first time who are on a tight budget, and long time users too. An appropriately spec'd (aka gimped) Mini at a cheap enough price is the entry drug into the Apple addiction. It has value to Apple.

The Mini doesn't (and shouldn't) need to be fast or too satisfying. It's purpose is to create a desire for a better and more expensive mac.....and the current mini still fulfills that requirement admirably.

No need to update it.

Then give us an option to upgrade to a more expensive one without a screen already implemented. The mac pro is the only option, which is far above what I want in specs and in price and is also outdated. The imac is not a mac mini upgrade as I have my own screen which works perfectly fine.

 

[Micky Do]

I think the MacMini still has a place in Apple 's product line. It will always exist as the low end mac. There's still untold new users getting into computers for the first time who are on a tight budget, and long time users too. An appropriately spec'd (aka gimped) Mini at a cheap enough price is the entry drug into the Apple addiction. It has value to Apple.

The Mini doesn't (and shouldn't) need to be fast or too satisfying. It's purpose is to create a desire for a better and more expensive mac.....and the current mini still fulfills that requirement admirably.

No need to update it.

The original Mac Mini was promoted as an entry into Apple and OS X back in 2005, back in the day when Apple was the Mac and the iPod. The original Mac Mini had the form and function I wanted in a computer, so I got one; my first computer. Since then Apple has moved in new directions, with iOS and associated products, and OS X has become MacOS.

The Mac Mini now fills a variety of roles in different situations. For some it supplements other Macs, one way or another. For many the Mini is part of a so called Apple ecosystem of several devices. Sure it may stimulate the desire for more powerful Macs in some. For others, including me, a base level Mac Mini is all the computer we need. I don't an iDevice, or any other smart tech.

The Mac Mini fulfils a variety of purposes, with the option of HDD or SSD, though not as the Pro machine at a Mini price desired by budget minded geeks. As as always it is more likely to follow rather than being state of the art tech.

Come to think of it, Apple has seldom been at the leading edge of hardware. Rather, they have tended to be more innovative in the way they apply tech….. More likely to lead the way in dropping old tech than adopting the new. OS X, now MacOS, is what makes a Mac.

The original Mac Mini was innovative in its form, but not in its hardware. New Mac Minis will almost certainly continue to come, albeit at a slower rate of updating than in the past.

 

[Cloudsurfer]

I think the MacMini still has a place in Apple 's product line. It will always exist as the low end mac. There's still untold new users getting into computers for the first time who are on a tight budget, and long time users too. An appropriately spec'd (aka gimped) Mini at a cheap enough price is the entry drug into the Apple addiction. It has value to Apple.

The Mini doesn't (and shouldn't) need to be fast or too satisfying. It's purpose is to create a desire for a better and more expensive mac.....and the current mini still fulfills that requirement admirably.

No need to update it.

On top of that, progress at Intel has been very slow. It doesn't make sense to equip a Mini with a Skylake part that is only marginally faster than the Haswell part it should replace. This lack of progress is what plagues the entire Mac lineup. That's what happens when you have a monopoly. And that's why I'm really looking forward to AMD's Zen parts. If they manage to step on Intel's toes again, everyone will benefit from it.

I would be psyched for a Raven Ridge powered mini...

 

[sleconte]

On top of that, progress at Intel has been very slow. It doesn't make sense to equip a Mini with a Skylake part that is only marginally faster than the Haswell part it should replace. This lack of progress is what plagues the entire Mac lineup. That's what happens when you have a monopoly. And that's why I'm really looking forward to AMD's Zen parts. If they manage to step on Intel's toes again, everyone will benefit from it.

Above is right, I've been responsible for several moaning posts since joining the forums but admittedly the current mac Mini is suitable for many people who browse, do some work in Office suites, web development, watch video. I want to see a Mini with Kaby Lake in 2017.

 

[Santabean2000]

Then give us an option to upgrade to a more expensive one without a screen already implemented. The mac pro is the only option, which is far above what I want in specs and in price and is also outdated. The imac is not a mac mini upgrade as I have my own screen which works perfectly fine.

So do I, its called my tv...

 

[Crosscreek]

I don't have much faith in Apples commitment to Mac except for developers to be able to use X Code to make apps for IOS.

The laptops and iMac will be their focus and I will be surprised to see another Mac Mini or Mac Pro.

They will continue trying to force people to the iPad Pro which so far has gone poorly.

 

[STC1709]

dont see how the mac mini doesnt get updated. Believe it or not theres demand in this space. with lenovo and intel nuc making waves, people like the small form factor so apple would be stupid to discontinue it.

 

[Lankyman]

Phil Schiller has spoken!

https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/02/phil...pped-the-sd-card-but-kept-the-headphone-jack/

“We love the Mac and are as committed to it, in both desktops and notebooks, as we ever have been.”

There, Mac Mini will almost certainly not be discontinued...unless he meant iMacs

I have read what he said and it amounts to little more than corporate mission statements. Nothing of any real substance and he seemed to be more focussed on Notebooks in his statement than anything to do with the Mini, iMac or Pro.

I will only believe his/Apple's commitments when I see new and significatantly updated desktop products.

 

[jpietrzak8]

dont see how the mac mini doesnt get updated. Believe it or not theres demand in this space. with lenovo and intel nuc making waves, people like the small form factor so apple would be stupid to discontinue it.

People like the classic tower form factor far more than SFF boxes, but Apple has seen fit to abandon that space long ago.

Today's Apple is in the business of creating "pretty" computing devices. Pretty phones, pretty watches, pretty laptops, pretty AOIs. It might just be that the Mini isn't pretty enough any more to keep Apple's interest...

 

[BeefCake 15]

People like the classic tower form factor far more than SFF boxes, but Apple has seen fit to abandon that space long ago.

Today's Apple is in the business of creating "pretty" computing devices. Pretty phones, pretty watches, pretty laptops, pretty AOIs. It might just be that the Mini isn't pretty enough any more to keep Apple's interest...

If you can get the same parts in SFF as you would in the tower, they can get rid of the tower with no issues, it's not the case currently though.

 

[jpietrzak8]

If you can get the same parts in SFF as you would in the tower, they can get rid of the tower with no issues, it's not the case currently though.

In general, the problem with this is that (a) there isn't a decent SFF daughterboard format available the way that the PCI standard offers for the tower format, and (b) there doesn't seem to be a decent cooling solution available for SFF boxes, such that you could add high-power components. Otherwise, I think the desktop world would have gone entirely small-box a long time ago.

I was kinda hoping that Google's Ara project might provide a starting point for the first problem, but of course that's been canceled now. There have been other efforts made at creating small modular computing interfaces, but nothing that really seems like it could become an industry standard...

 

[strawbale]

On top of that, progress at Intel has been very slow. It doesn't make sense to equip a Mini with a Skylake part that is only marginally faster than the Haswell part it should replace. This lack of progress is what plagues the entire Mac lineup. That's what happens when you have a monopoly. And that's why I'm really looking forward to AMD's Zen parts. If they manage to step on Intel's toes again, everyone will benefit from it.

I would be psyched for a Raven Ridge powered mini...

But the Skylake Iris 540/550 graphics (with 64 MB eDRAM) would be a lot better than the HD 4000, whilst staying in the same TDP bracket (15/28W); BTW these Skylakes have been available for a year:
http://ark.intel.com/products/family/88393/6th-Generation-Intel-Core-i5-Processors#@Mobile

PS: no 4k @60Hz is also unacceptable these days, I find.

 

[MRrainer]

I *love* the SFF.
I hate the large tower under my desk at work. Filled with air, cables that are often too short, for nothing. I would *love to have that Mini-look-a-like from HP (which incidentally has a name nobody can remember) *on* my desk, at work.
I liked towers, when I built my own PCs (with SCSI-HBAs and SCSI-disks, SCSI-tapes and SCSI-scanners). I once even built a workstation, with Socket 603 or 604 Xeons (was so loud and vibrated so much that I needed to buy one of these dampening mats that you usually put under washing-machines...).
But I have no time for this now. And I've got virtual (or even real, if need be) servers at work for all the heavy lifting.
The Mini does all I need for me - in a very nice and quiet package.
These days, unless you're into gaming, there's enough CPU power for 99% of (the non-video-transcoding) population in integrated GPUs and laptop-class CPUs.
A fan-less Mini (Core M) could work for a very long time, with no movable parts inside.
As such, my only wish was for Apple to offer longer Apple Care for hardware. It would fit in well with their ecologic efforts (reduction in grey energy usage). That way, both iMac and Mini would be much more attractive to buy if you knew you could still get a screen or SSD replacement after five years, with predictable costs.