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The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

They might as well take the case of the new Mac Mini Pro and stuff it with lesser guts and call that the Mac Mini - perhaps shorter height would be in order.

1) typical next generation Intel processor (in the Mini/Laptop lines)
2) discrete GPU that is ideally swappable (though possibly proprietary)
3) mini board that plugs in to add physical SSD or 2.5 drive
4) 2 TB2 connectors, 4 USB3
5) HDMI
6) improved audio in/out
7) 32 G RAM capable

That might be a good start and thus we have the Mac Mini and the Mac Mini Pro. One can dream.
 
phrehdd said:
They might as well take the case of the new Mac Mini Pro and stuff it with lesser guts and call that the Mac Mini - perhaps shorter height would be in order.

1) typical next generation Intel processor (in the Mini/Laptop lines)
2) discrete GPU that is ideally swappable (though possibly proprietary)
3) mini board that plugs in to add physical SSD or 2.5 drive
4) 2 TB2 connectors, 4 USB3
5) HDMI
6) improved audio in/out
7) 32 G RAM capable

That might be a good start and thus we have the Mac Mini and the Mac Mini Pro. One can dream.
Click to expand...

of course with a cherry on top, no?
 
Apple just needs to realize that 40% profit margins on Macs and increasing sales figures no longer go together. Four consecutive quarters with negative sales numbers compared to their year ago quarter. People and technology have moved on. I gave a parts list in a separate thread, and you can get A LOT of computer in a small package for $1200. That's retail pricing too, and not the kind of pricing a billion dollar company could sway. Them continuing to act like computers should still cost what they did in the 1980's is total BS.
 
corvus32 said:
Apple just needs to realize that 40% profit margins on Macs and increasing sales figures no longer go together. Four consecutive quarters with negative sales numbers compared to their year ago quarter. People and technology have moved on. I gave a parts list in a separate thread, and you can get A LOT of computer in a small package for $1200. That's retail pricing too, and not the kind of pricing a billion dollar company could sway. Them continuing to act like computers should still cost what they did in the 1980's is total BS.
Click to expand...

Ya but when you mash it in to a small package and throw a :apple: on it - it costs more.
 
Last edited:
corvus32 said:
Apple just needs to realize that 40% profit margins on Macs and increasing sales figures no longer go together. Four consecutive quarters with negative sales numbers compared to their year ago quarter. People and technology have moved on. I gave a parts list in a separate thread, and you can get A LOT of computer in a small package for $1200. That's retail pricing too, and not the kind of pricing a billion dollar company could sway. Them continuing to act like computers should still cost what they did in the 1980's is total BS.
Click to expand...

Ahhhhm computers in the 80's? We're you even around for that? Prices today do not come even close to comparison.

I have no particular qualms with you thinking that macs are expensive. They are, always have been, and most likely always will be. The reality of the matter however is that no other company comes even close to reproducing the aesthetics of apple. Perhaps if a "samsung" was to produce a PC maybe there will be something that competes. But as it it the mini is the only PC I'd be willing to put on displaY in my living room. There is a reason why a few years back desks with doors hiding the PC housing were so popular.

Yes you could buy a win machine for less. Just like you could buy an android phone with better specs for less. Yet many don't.

And the absurdity of your statement complaint mac prices today with mac prices in the 80s is truly quite sad.

I'm sorry if this reads offensive but in many ways it is meant to be. Precisely because of the blindly overexageration of your post.

At the end of the day, and I think you'll agree there much to be said about the build quality, warranty and customer service that apple offers, not even mentioning the customer experience in the ecosystem.
 
corvus32 said:
Apple just needs to realize that 40% profit margins on Macs and increasing sales figures no longer go together. Four consecutive quarters with negative sales numbers compared to their year ago quarter. People and technology have moved on. I gave a parts list in a separate thread, and you can get A LOT of computer in a small package for $1200. That's retail pricing too, and not the kind of pricing a billion dollar company could sway. Them continuing to act like computers should still cost what they did in the 1980's is total BS.
Click to expand...

Hey, that's a nice parts list.

Out of curiousity:
  • Who would put all that together?
  • What OS comes with it?
  • What mail client?
  • What chat client?
  • What movie maker?
  • What photo editing software?
  • What is the back up solution in case you want to back up your data?
  • When things don't work, who do I call?

It dawns on me that the overwhelming majority of consumers who want/need computers might want an appliance. You know, something that is ready to go out of the box. Isn't that why HP, Dell, etc sell so many computers? Overwhelming majority. A stack of boxes that have parts and pieces might look appealing to you. But it doesn't look appealing to my wife. Or to my parents. Or to my daughter. Or to any of my neighbors - 2 of which are software engineers.

For $600, Apple has a solution that is ready to go. Out of the box. To be fair, you do have to BYOKDM. If the $600 model is not beefy enough, you can put $3-400 into it and make it far more powerful than what the vast majority of people use computers for - surfing the web, email, composing documents, organizing pictures, making home movies. Far more powerful.

If you want something fancier, they have an all in one desktop. $1200ish. (Does your parts list contain a monitor, keyboard and mouse?).

And if things don't work, you can call someone on the phone. Or you can walk into one of their stores.

Is it possible that the people who run the company with $170 billion in revenue might know something you don't?
 
mvmanolov said:
Ahhhhm computers in the 80's? We're you even around for that? Prices today do not come even close to comparison.

I have no particular qualms with you thinking that macs are expensive. They are, always have been, and most likely always will be. The reality of the matter however is that no other company comes even close to reproducing the aesthetics of apple. Perhaps if a "samsung" was to produce a PC maybe there will be something that competes. But as it it the mini is the only PC I'd be willing to put on displaY in my living room. There is a reason why a few years back desks with doors hiding the PC housing were so popular.

Yes you could buy a win machine for less. Just like you could buy an android phone with better specs for less. Yet many don't.

And the absurdity of your statement complaint mac prices today with mac prices in the 80s is truly quite sad.

I'm sorry if this reads offensive but in many ways it is meant to be. Precisely because of the blindly overexageration of your post.

At the end of the day, and I think you'll agree there much to be said about the build quality, warranty and customer service that apple offers, not even mentioning the customer experience in the ecosystem.
Click to expand...

There are 2 things that made me switch to Mac.

1) 30 years of dos and windows
2) no support

The machine I can fix.
The support and community plus quality of build is well worth the expense .
 
mvmanolov said:
Ahhhhm computers in the 80's? We're you even around for that? Prices today do not come even close to comparison.

I have no particular qualms with you thinking that macs are expensive. They are, always have been, and most likely always will be. The reality of the matter however is that no other company comes even close to reproducing the aesthetics of apple. Perhaps if a "samsung" was to produce a PC maybe there will be something that competes. But as it it the mini is the only PC I'd be willing to put on displaY in my living room. There is a reason why a few years back desks with doors hiding the PC housing were so popular.

Yes you could buy a win machine for less. Just like you could buy an android phone with better specs for less. Yet many don't.

And the absurdity of your statement complaint mac prices today with mac prices in the 80s is truly quite sad.

I'm sorry if this reads offensive but in many ways it is meant to be. Precisely because of the blindly overexageration of your post.

At the end of the day, and I think you'll agree there much to be said about the build quality, warranty and customer service that apple offers, not even mentioning the customer experience in the ecosystem.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was around in the 80's, so what's your point? That you'll pay a lot for something because it looks nice and it's full of magic. Ummm, ok.
 
corvus32 said:
Yeah, I was around in the 80's, so what's your point? That you'll pay a lot for something because it looks nice and it's full of magic. Ummm, ok.
Click to expand...

Well: 1985 Macintosh XL Original price $9995 is about $23,000 in Today's dollars. So please do tell me how are you comparing the current mac prices to that? the XL was no where close to being the fastest on the planet at the time either.

So my point is that there is something more to the Apple brand that makes people buy their product. While the Os is one factor the design is another... Now couple that with all the other things i mentioned, customer experience, relations etc. and there is a pretty convincing reason to pay a premium, in the same way as you would pay a premium for an iPhone or and iPad...

The very suggestion that looks don't matter runs counter to the very logic of our existence. if looks did not matter we would not have luxury cars, or houses, or neighbourhood, or even countries for that matter.

What is important to notice there is not the fact that there is a certain superficiality, for that may as well be a social-construct in the same way as aesthetics is one - rather it points to the fact that issues of aesthetic appeal are real - in the sense that they are a tangible factor in deciding to spend - and that apple as a company - unlike dell, hp, lenovo etc (and to a smaller degree sony which try but fail often by comparison) - has correctly identified aesthetics as one of the priority components that make up the total exchange value of the object they produce. In a sense what apple has very successful managed to do is merge "use-value" and "symbolic-value".

A feat, that is indeed quite impressive - particularly in the face of the persistent failures of the competition - and which really should be a subject of more nuanced analysis - regardless of whether critical or not - and not the crude and erroneous even equation that you expressed earlier...

Think about it!
 
And said:
It's not going to happen in Dec:

1) It would be known as the 2013 mini and would feel out of date in Jan to the general public

2) All those minis bought for xmas would be returned.
Click to expand...

The general buying public does not know anything about a 2012 or 2013 mini. I have seen people walking out of Apple stores with a brand new previous generation iMac when the new one was available online, but not in the stores yet.
 
In a sense what apple has very successful managed to do is merge "use-value" and "symbolic-value".
Click to expand...
Actually, what apple has successfully done is tied development for the most popular smart phone ecosystem to their operating system and their hardware.

As a software developer trying to make money in that ecosystem, the only real value a Mac has is that it lets me into the game.
 
Schnort said:
Actually, what apple has successfully done is tied development for the most popular smart phone ecosystem to their operating system and their hardware.

As a software developer trying to make money in that ecosystem, the only real value a Mac has is that it lets me into the game.
Click to expand...

Me thinks you miss the point, the idea of "use-value" comes from Marx and his analysis of political economy, and "symbolic-value" is derived from Baudrillard and his deconstruction of the relationship between political economy and socio-cultural issues...


But, yes, Apple is making everyone buy a mac at gun point ;)
 
Crosscreek said:
OK. Back to the OP. I am looking forward to buying one as soon as they are available and hopefully before Jan 8/14. :)
Click to expand...

Same here… but, actually, I can wait until summer '14, I think. Sooner=better unless something much better is coming later.
 
phrehdd said:
Yes, with a cherry on top. Perhaps the fan blades will let us drop Apples in and make Apple sauce. (grin)
Click to expand...

lovely, Apple sauce on buttered toast in the morning with a cup of milk make a wonderful breakfast.... i'd buy that mini any day :D
 
mvmanolov said:
lovely, Apple sauce on buttered toast in the morning with a cup of milk make a wonderful breakfast.... i'd buy that mini any day :D
Click to expand...

Oh come on, the Apple "toaster" is antiquated just like optical disc players as some would tell us. We just need to accept being told what we want (grin again)
 
GabrieleR said:
Clearly i was wrong, i'm very sorry for that.

In Italy all the Apple wholesalers are completely out of stock, and retailers like my us have not received new shipments for two weeks, so we won't have any minis to sell during holiday season, which never happened to an Apple product before (which wasn't a newly introduced).

The only place to buy a Mac mini is the online Applestore, but in Italy retailers can't buy directly from there.
Click to expand...

I'm curious.... why did you think yesterday was "the day" instead of next week or any other day?
 
mvmanolov said:
Well: 1985 Macintosh XL Original price $9995 is about $23,000 in Today's dollars. So please do tell me how are you comparing the current mac prices to that? the XL was no where close to being the fastest on the planet at the time either.
Click to expand...

I don't remember the Macintosh XL costing $10k. I believe your confusing it with the Apple Lisa, its predecessor which did cost $9995 and happens to be the most expensive Mac in history. Real nice choice for comparison and maybe you should ask Apple how well that sold. Anyway, please don't act like that was the only computer ever made in the 1980's. Growing up we had both a Commodore 64 and a Tandy 1000. In today's dollars with accessories, those were $1500 to $3000 computers.

btw, it was more of a figure of speech. Not sure if you've ever heard of that. Doesn't sound like it, but if you still want to continue go ahead.
 
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