The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

[wlossw]

I think it's entirely possible that there will be no Haswell mini, as desktop performance increase over ivy bridge is negligible. I'm sad to say that like many of you I was looking forward to the promise of crystalwell graphics, but it may not come until broadwell.

If there is no new mini by the end of april I guess I'll bite the bullet and buy a late 2012 refurb...

 

[squirrrl]

I think it's entirely possible that there will be no Haswell mini, as desktop performance increase over ivy bridge is negligible. I'm sad to say that like many of you I was looking forward to the promise of crystalwell graphics, but it may not come until broadwell.

If there is no new mini by the end of april I guess I'll bite the bullet and buy a late 2012 refurb...

I'm not saying that you'd be wrong saying that the mini might not come out until broadwell, but i highly doubt it will be BECAUSE of broadwell. Some past mini updates have not been so spectacular but they have continued to do different things, such as take out the optical drive, redesigns, ports, etc...

Even if there is no redesign (which would be reason enough for apple to upgrade the mini even with modest increase in specs, which they would play up anyways), a new mac mini will still likely have 802.11a/c, probably 2 thuderbolt ports, USB 3.0 and I have a feeling they will drop the their traditional hard drives for SSD (but probably keep Fusion as a cheaper way to have more storage but with an SSD component).

Just saying that apple in the past has not brought cutting edge tech into their less popular items like the mac mini, but they do make sure to upgrade other components and usually make it look more appealing design-wise.

 

[crzyhanko]

Would a new MM without a dedicated GPU , still be better than the 2010-320M ?

Don't know what your use case is, but I found the base 2012 mini to be better for D3 and Civ V.

 

[atrozi]

I couldn't wait any longer and bought a mac mini for a reasonable price from BB (shocking!) In truth, it was a returned item that sat around for months so BB kept lowering the price. When I opened it, it still had the new Apple smell . It's a great mac especially after maxing out the internals.

I would've loved the intel HD 5000 for D3, but it's running perfectly fine for my foreseeable needs.

 

[haravikk]

I think it's entirely possible that there will be no Haswell mini, as desktop performance increase over ivy bridge is negligible. I'm sad to say that like many of you I was looking forward to the promise of crystalwell graphics, but it may not come until broadwell.

On the CPU side of things maybe, but even the regular (non Iris Pro) graphics are a big leap forward over current processors, which includes OpenCL performance, potentially making the Minis even faster as more apps are updated to take advantage. Even on the purely CPU side of things, Haswell has improvements in various hardware supported features such as decompression and virtual machine performance; maybe not your average consumer benefits, but it's still a bit of an increase there too.
I mean yeah, Iris Pro is what I'm most interested in too, but I think there was plenty to recommend Haswell for simple Mac Mini update.


My hope is that Apple is planning (or has already done) a redesign, but that it's waiting for Broadwell chips, as they are even smaller than Haswell, and iirc have Iris Pro graphics as standard, possibly even a bit better. Haswell meanwhile might work fine in the current Mac Mini, but if some of the NUCs with it are anything to go by then keeping a Haswell i7 cool is still a bit of a challenge; if Apple did want to go smaller then it might make sense to wait for a smaller, more power/heat efficient chip.
If this is the case though then I'm hoping Apple can push Intel to get Broadwell chips sooner; I know it's currently delayed due to production issues, but you'd think they could still produce enough good chips to meet Apple's needs.

 

[Crosscreek]

......... if some of the NUCs with it are anything to go by then keeping a Haswell i7 cool is still a bit of a challenge; if Apple did want to go smaller then it might make sense to wait for a smaller, more power/heat efficient chip.
If this is the case though then I'm hoping Apple can push Intel to get Broadwell chips sooner; I know it's currently delayed due to production issues, but you'd think they could still produce enough good chips to meet Apple's needs.

From what I have seen on it it is not so much production issue as high inventory on Haswell. They seem to be very secretive about it but the NUC is suppose to have Broadwell in December.

 

[Jambalaya]

Apple isn't going to push Intel for Broadwell in order to launch a revised Mini. To put that chip in another product such as iMac or MBP perhaps but the Mini isn't going to drive that.

I am coming to the conclusion that new 12" MBA will be out this summer (WWDC?) and any Mini refresh will be later in 2014 or perhaps none at all this year.

 

[Crosscreek]

Apple isn't going to push Intel for Broadwell in order to launch a revised Mini. To put that chip in another product such as iMac or MBP perhaps but the Mini isn't going to drive that.

I am coming to the conclusion that new 12" MBA will be out this summer (WWDC?) and any Mini refresh will be later in 2014 or perhaps none at all this year.

Broadwell comes stock with Iris Pro and I think Apple will wait until next year for a new Mini release. That's cost effective and gives it solid IGPU for another 3 year refresh and by that time ARM will probably refined enough to take over.

 

[philipma1957]

Broadwell comes stock with Iris Pro and I think Apple will wait until next year for a new Mini release. That's cost effective and gives it solid IGPU for another 3 year refresh and by that time ARM will probably refined enough to take over.

This. As Apple does not feel enough people need to drive screens above 1080p.

As 4k and 1440p become the norm in the next 2-3 years. Haswell would be short. So they will wait for Broadwell.

I so hope they make a fool of me come late May early June. But I do not think so.

 

[Mr. McMac]

I'm glad I'm not holding my breath for the new mini. I'm perfectly happy with my 2011 model which I have no plans on selling. If nothing happens soon, I'm getting myself a Asus ChromeBox for my livingroom HDTV. It's cheap enough, and for what I'd be using it for should be fine

 

[Maxedonia]

This. As Apple does not feel enough people need to drive screens above 1080p.

As 4k and 1440p become the norm in the next 2-3 years. Haswell would be short. So they will wait for Broadwell.

I so hope they make a fool of me come late May early June. But I do not think so.

Well, we don't need to wait to make a fool out of you till then . Because which monitor do you think Apple wants you to use with you Mac Mini? Exactly, the Thunderbolt display with 1440p...

Also Apple was pretty quick with releasing things like the iPhone and iPad with "retina" displays, so I actually expect them to release 4K products relatively soon. I'm pretty sure that even the current Mac Mini would be able to drive a 4K display if it had a Thunderbolt 2 port. Of course not for gaming or any other graphic intensive tasks, but definitely for "normal" use.

 

[wlossw]

Well, we don't need to wait to make a fool out of you till then . Because which monitor do you think Apple wants you to use with you Mac Mini? Exactly, the Thunderbolt display with 1440p...

Also Apple was pretty quick with releasing things like the iPhone and iPad with "retina" displays, so I actually expect them to release 4K products relatively soon. I'm pretty sure that even the current Mac Mini would be able to drive a 4K display if it had a Thunderbolt 2 port. Of course not for gaming or any other graphic intensive tasks, but definitely for "normal" use.

And that is an interesting point... could a haswell refresh with integrated graphics dive a 4K display over thunderbolt? And as we can see with the mac pro, 4K isn't quite ready for primetime.

Is it possible that apple will release a new 4K thunderbolt display and get osx working better with 4K before we see this new mini? After all, iMac is still on 1440p, and it would make more sense to give that machine an upgrade to 4k before the mini gets the same treatment.

Food for thought.

 

[haravikk]

Is it possible that apple will release a new 4K thunderbolt display and get osx working better with 4K before we see this new mini? After all, iMac is still on 1440p, and it would make more sense to give that machine an upgrade to 4k before the mini gets the same treatment.

I suppose that's a fair point, but I wonder if they might do a combined release (iMacs and Mac Minis at the same time) in such a case? This would avoid the problem of the Mac Mini leap-frogging the lower-end iMacs.

Personally I think Apple should keep the iMac and Mac Mini releases closely linked anyway, as it would make things so much easier if the two basic models of Mac Mini paired up exactly to the iMacs, with the only difference being the integrated screen, i.e; low end Mac Mini has same basic specs as low-end 21.5" and 27" iMacs, and high-end is the same again. Of course that only works when the integrated GPU is enough to drive the iMac displays well enough, but they can still add the discrete graphics chips as needed for that purpose. It just seems weird to currently break the iMacs down into four fairly distinct models.

 

[SoCalReviews]

Broadwell comes stock with Iris Pro and I think Apple will wait until next year for a new Mini release. That's cost effective and gives it solid IGPU for another 3 year refresh and by that time ARM will probably refined enough to take over.

I also agree with this. It makes the most sense. Expect a Broadwell Mini next year. It will very likely get a design overhaul as well. I don't expect all the design changes to be positive... possibly soldered RAM, etc..

 

[RCAFBrat]

I couldn't wait any longer and bought a mac mini for a reasonable price from BB (shocking!) In truth, it was a returned item that sat around for months so BB kept lowering the price. When I opened it, it still had the new Apple smell . It's a great mac especially after maxing out the internals.

Congrats on the new purchase!

Make sure your 1 year warranty starts from the date you purchased the mini and not the first time BB sold it (recall seeing a mention of this on another thread). I have no idea how this is accomplished; may want to give Apple a call directly.

Cheers

 

[jnachbar]

Congrats on the new purchase!

Make sure your 1 year warranty starts from the date you purchased the mini and not the first time BB sold it (recall seeing a mention of this on another thread). I have no idea how this is accomplished; may want to give Apple a call directly.

Cheers

I had to call apple to do that once. They simply asked me to take a photo of the receipt and email it to them. within a few hours the purchase date was up to date.

 

[atrozi]

Congrats on the new purchase!

Make sure your 1 year warranty starts from the date you purchased the mini and not the first time BB sold it (recall seeing a mention of this on another thread). I have no idea how this is accomplished; may want to give Apple a call directly.

Cheers

Thanks! As for the warranty, I tried doing that as soon as i made my purchase, but Apple suggested the big delay between original and my purchase date was too long. It would've been a non-factor anyway since I replaced the hard drive that had a black sticker (i'm guessing this is to show Apple someone's tampered with the internals?).

 

[Crosscreek]

Thanks! As for the warranty, I tried doing that as soon as i made my purchase, but Apple suggested the big delay between original and my purchase date was too long. It would've been a non-factor anyway since I replaced the hard drive that had a black sticker (i'm guessing this is to show Apple someone's tampered with the internals?).

If you didn't get it for a real good price I would be really upset with BB. I bought open box from them and checked the serial # on the Apple website to make sure it was not registered in someone elses name. I would complain to BB because they have the authorization to reset so you get the 1 year warranty.

 

[fOoLiX]

Thought it was worth pointing out that this thread starting with 'it's coming next week' - a guess obviously, but we are now in april and this is actually getting ridiculous.

I find it increasingly difficult to defend apple when talking (read debating) to people about their products when their product roadmap in general is a complete joke.

Last updates
Display: 932 days
Mac mini: 528
imac: 192 days ( given it only updates once per year)

It's about time they stopped focusing on their cash cows and remembered their other product lines which is what makes people stay in this ecosystem.

 

[grandM]

Thought it was worth pointing out that this thread starting with 'it's coming next week' - a guess obviously, but we are now in april and this is actually getting ridiculous.

I find it increasingly difficult to defend apple when talking (read debating) to people about their products when their product roadmap in general is a complete joke.

Last updates
Display: 932 days
Mac mini: 528
imac: 192 days ( given it only updates once per year)

It's about time they stopped focusing on their cash cows and remembered their other product lines which is what makes people stay in this ecosystem.

As apple is quite successful one could argue they know what they're doing
The mini just isn't their focus mobility is

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I'm not saying that you'd be wrong saying that the mini might not come out until broadwell, but i highly doubt it will be BECAUSE of broadwell. Some past mini updates have not been so spectacular but they have continued to do different things, such as take out the optical drive, redesigns, ports, etc...

Even if there is no redesign (which would be reason enough for apple to upgrade the mini even with modest increase in specs, which they would play up anyways), a new mac mini will still likely have 802.11a/c, probably 2 thuderbolt ports, USB 3.0 and I have a feeling they will drop the their traditional hard drives for SSD (but probably keep Fusion as a cheaper way to have more storage but with an SSD component).

Just saying that apple in the past has not brought cutting edge tech into their less popular items like the mac mini, but they do make sure to upgrade other components and usually make it look more appealing design-wise.

Most probably they'll put in a 7200 rpm instead of 5400
SSD will cost a premium

 

[Cape Dave]

As apple is quite successful one could argue they know what they're doing
The mini just isn't their focus mobility is

----------


Most probably they'll put in a 7200 rpm instead of 5400
SSD will cost a premium

If that is the best they can do, I'll build my own small computer. I highly doubt they would be that stupid. Spinners belong external for storage. SSD's forever. It is 2014, not 1994.

 

[grandM]

No thanks. For the same money I could buy a small PC with a faster processor, four RAM slots, six to ten USB ports and more. I love my 2012 mini but another downgrade in the ability to upgrade would put me out of the market.

I've just switched from windows to macos
have been using pc's for give or take 20 years
I truly already think that mac's are superior
wouldn't go windows if I were you (and certainly no linux either)

----------

If that is the best they can do, I'll build my own small computer. I highly doubt they would be that stupid. Spinners belong external for storage. SSD's forever. It is 2014, not 1994.

a 5400 rpm wasn't 2012 either
yet apple sold many

 

[Cape Dave]

I've just switched from windows to macos
have been using pc's for give or take 20 years
I truly already think that mac's are superior
wouldn't go windows if I were you (and certainly no linux either)

----------


a 5400 rpm wasn't 2012 either
yet apple sold many

Actually, I could never figure that out

 

[mvmanolov]

Actually, I could never figure that out

noise is the answer, a 7200 spinner is considerably louder than a 5400 especially in the confined space of the mini where noise cannot dissipate but rather gets transmuted through the other components...

 

[Crosscreek]

Apples trend is toward SSD and Fusion and those will probably be the options.
I would predict PCI msata with SATA3 cable and bay to add optional spiner for fusion or SSD. That seems to be where most Minis are going. PCI is required for TB2.