As awesome as a pro Mac mini would be, wasn't the Mac mini supposed to be the most entry level Mac you could get at the lowest price point?
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The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming
- Thread starter GabrieleR
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Nevertheless, the lower end model is the route I got into Macs originally: cheapest way to get one.
And the higher end models never really reached their "bigger" brothers (iMacs, Macbooks Pro). Except maybe in the beginning, when they were introduced and had the same CPU as the mentioned bigger brothers. But as time passed and the MBP and iMac got never generation components, the Mac minis stayed the same. Not to mention the update cycle after 2014, that moved above 2 years.
I have a strange feeling, that the Mac mini in its current form with the M1 will be sold at least for another year if not more. And they will simply discontinue the Intel i5/i7 models in the beginning of 2022 as they did with the iMac Pro.
Mac mini started as a "low cost" model in 2005, available at an entry-level price of US$500 for a 1.25 GHz G4 CPU, 256 MB RAM, a Combo drive, & an ATI Radeon 9200 GPU with 32 MB video RAM...
More low-end models followed, with mid-to-high-end spec models also becoming available; Apple even had a server model, which was basically a regular model with dual storage drives and included the Mac OS X Server software suite...
Right now the mid-to-high-end Intel Mac mini is still available on the Apple website; hopefully that will go away come the Spring of 2022 with the release of M1 Pro / Max-powered Mac mini models...!
More low-end models followed, with mid-to-high-end spec models also becoming available; Apple even had a server model, which was basically a regular model with dual storage drives and included the Mac OS X Server software suite...
Right now the mid-to-high-end Intel Mac mini is still available on the Apple website; hopefully that will go away come the Spring of 2022 with the release of M1 Pro / Max-powered Mac mini models...!
Mac mini has been upgraded every year (sometimes twice in a year) since its introduction in 2005; exceptions being the 2007 to 2009 gap, the 2012 to 2014 gap, and the longest gap of 2014 to 2018...
2020 (another two year gap) gave us a new Mac mini update with the M1-series models...
2022 would be yet another two year gap; rumors have both M2 entry-level models (with a possible chassis refresh) & M1 Pro / Max mid-to-high-end models becoming available...
If Apple planned to discontinue the current Intel Mac mini they would have done so in late 2020 with the release of the M1-powered models, it remains available for sale until the M1 Pro / Max Mac mini models are released...
The 27" iMac Pro was a stop-gap model to appease users until the 2019 Mac Pro became available...
It was in 2005.
I think Apple started going in different direction with the quad-core models in 2012 and made a pretty clear signal in 2018 that it was not longer an "entry level" machine with the high-spec models. Then the first M1 models were again positioned as entry level machines, as signalled by switching back to the silver color.
It was in 2005.
Would be cool if Apple offered a Space Black option for the M1 Pro / Max Mac mini models...!
The trouble with the space grey matte finish is that it just doesn't show dust and fingerprints well enough. 🤣
I hope they do give us a Pro or Max Mac Mini.
While I've been waiting for the sale of my late parents' house to go through to release some cash, I've been re-thinking my strategy of buying an M1 Pro or Max laptop and I am instead thinking of buying a 2TB M1 Mini, based on the reality that mostly I do not need the gorgeous screens on the 14" and 16" because I'd be mainly using the laptop in clamshell with my 28" Samsung monitor, so I may as well just buy an M1 Mini. But I sure would appreciate the ability to spec-out whatever I buy to 32GB RAM (16GB currently the maximum in the Mini, like my neanderthal iMac...) and have the Pro or Max processors and GPU.
It's frustrating that an M1 Mini Pro and/or M1 Mini Max was not announced at the same time as the 14" and 16" laptops. It's almost certain that Apple will at some point update the Mini line to include at least the M1 Pro chip, if not the Max, but OMG they dripfeed new technology into their product lines at an absolute snails-pace. In 2020 we all knew the M1 would eventually be included in laptops with bigger screens than 13", but it took them a full year to do it.
FGS Apple just pull your finger out and give us M1 Pro and/or M1 Max Minis (and iMacs, for that matter). It's literally zero effort on your part to incorporate the technology - which you've already developed - into your products' different form-factors. It doesn't have to be done only annually every October with a fricking televised fanfare: just get on with it.
While I've been waiting for the sale of my late parents' house to go through to release some cash, I've been re-thinking my strategy of buying an M1 Pro or Max laptop and I am instead thinking of buying a 2TB M1 Mini, based on the reality that mostly I do not need the gorgeous screens on the 14" and 16" because I'd be mainly using the laptop in clamshell with my 28" Samsung monitor, so I may as well just buy an M1 Mini. But I sure would appreciate the ability to spec-out whatever I buy to 32GB RAM (16GB currently the maximum in the Mini, like my neanderthal iMac...) and have the Pro or Max processors and GPU.
It's frustrating that an M1 Mini Pro and/or M1 Mini Max was not announced at the same time as the 14" and 16" laptops. It's almost certain that Apple will at some point update the Mini line to include at least the M1 Pro chip, if not the Max, but OMG they dripfeed new technology into their product lines at an absolute snails-pace. In 2020 we all knew the M1 would eventually be included in laptops with bigger screens than 13", but it took them a full year to do it.
FGS Apple just pull your finger out and give us M1 Pro and/or M1 Max Minis (and iMacs, for that matter). It's literally zero effort on your part to incorporate the technology - which you've already developed - into your products' different form-factors. It doesn't have to be done only annually every October with a fricking televised fanfare: just get on with it.
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I don't mind waiting. I think we are in a good spot for Mac mini users. We can look at the community reaction to M1 Pro and Max, and there is also a chance that the mini receives the M2 and what that entails (eg does it include M1 Pro Max feature set or is it a beefed up M1).
Also keep in mind that the MacBook Pro is the most popular Apple machine. I suspect Apple would ask the mini team to hold off on the new silicon while the MBP is flying off the shelves.
I guess your point of view depends on whether you are wanting to buy right now. I mostly am, pending a house sale, but my FOMO doesn't want to buy the current M1 Mac Mini when the spec of machine I actually do want to buy (a) will probably be announced in 2022 at some point, and more frustratingly (b) already exists in so far as Apple has the hardware to market it (M1 Pro + M1 Max) but have chosen to not yet do so.
Apple has this frustrating trait of dripfeeding technology only into certain products, like how their latest phones used to get the most cutting-edge A-series processors, while their iPads, which would benefit more, were often a generation behind.
Yeah good point. I'm on a 2018 Mac mini w/ 64 GB ram so I can hold out a little longer. But I absolutely want to upgrade as quickly as possible. The iGPU performance on my machine is pretty terrible (took out RX 580 for another purpose), but GPUs cost as much as a new Mac mini would...and eGPU is no longer supported on Mx platforms so no point in buying something now just to not be able to use it.
The best part is that no matter what Mx you end up with, anyone on Intel Macs is in for a treat as indicated by the various reviews. Can't wait.
I suspect the global chip shortage has had an impact on the decision. We may have had a different timeline without that interference.
Why? Form factor is proven for high wattage and sufficient space for ports and well established in data centers. It’s “green” due to using recycled aluminum and being able to be mostly recycled, the tooling is done and paid and its refined, simplistic look is now well known, if not already iconic. Professional customers as well as 3rd party add-on makers have adjusted, so why p*ss ‘em off? It’s not like in the iPhone world, where add-on makers hope for changes so they can sell their quickly designed new product generation and business customers hope to be able to brag and pose with the latest iteration.
Why should Apple give up all this just to define a new form factor for the sake of it? Sure, some may wish for an AppleTV-sized Mac mini, but I’d rather stick to the current form factor for some more years, allowing for a decent cooling system and various other benefits (such as e.g. the integrated PSU) as well as requiring less compromises regarding component quality, system heat (packing density) etc.
The years of always going slimmer, smaller and lighter every (other) year, no matter what compromises are required, should be gone for good by now!
Meh. There is more to Apple design than utilitarian considerations.
Let’s see…
They’ve changed the MacBook Pro.
They’ve changed the small iMac.
We are still waiting for the big iMac, which is strongly rumoured to get a major change.
The Air got M1 without a form factor change but that is also rumoured to get a major change in 2022.
Like I said, I’d be shocked if they reuse the same old Mac mini design for M1 Pro.
Good point, Space Black would be a black hole for fingerprints...!
There are likely to be changes to improve the wireless performance, especially Bluetooth. That probably means changing the aluminium top for something more suited to passing signals through, and repositioning of components. The reasons you give are good, but would no longer apply if those changes are made, so a redesign would then be probable.
Co-location guys have designed their data centres for the Current Mini form factor. You can assume they will had a say. A change in the form factor will be pretty major.
That form factor appears to have some well known wifi/bluetooth issues - a redesign might fix what appear to be either radio interference or issues when retail customers plug loads of USB3 peripherals in.
In the data centre any wifi or bluetooth issues with that form factor will be irrelevant.
An external power brick - for example the iMac one - would make replacements easy but data centres will be familiar enough with how much downtime is likely with the current Mini due to power supplies - plus they would have to handle the extra external PSUs.
Reducing the overall thickness of the mini based on the idea that the iMac 24 is following the trend might seem a bit incongruous. Remember that the MacBook Pros have gotten bigger and thicker.
If anything, Apple may be looking to discontinue the old Intel line because the M1 Pro, M1 Max, and reportedly the M1 Max Duo and M1 Max Quad might be turning up in new Mac Pro.
They could then in theory be making the Mac Pro bigger than the existing Mini model to accommodate the Max variants and letting the old unibody case - with wifi improvements - be used with M2 Mac mini (with iMac 24 external PSU) which would continue on.
Within a datacenter could the 'new' Mini fit in a fraction of the space required?
Apple has never catered to the co-location guys. They've happily sold to them, but the machines aren't built specifically for them.
On the flip side, a redesign doesn't mean all of a sudden the machine can't be adopted in those types of data centres. If anything, the unit could be made even smaller, allowing them to more densely pack them in, since right now the Mac mini is largely just empty space.
To put it in more plain terms: Just because some small minority of your customer base has designed its business around your form factor doesn't mean you can never change your form factor again for the rest of time.
Yes, wireless connectivity has been an ongoing problem with the Mac mini.
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I could be wrong... but I suggest that every server installation/farm that is running Intel Mac Mini's in racks are waiting with baited breath for the upgrade. The Mini is a workhorse behind the scenes in thousands of server/cdn designs. I just don't see Apple neglecting that space going forward.
My belief is Apple will definitely change the form factor. In fact, I think that's almost a lock. However, what makes it a Mac mini won't change. It's going to be a Mac, and it's going to be mini. As such, it will still likely work well in server farms in terms of form factor. It just will no longer look exactly like the current Mac mini, and it may have different dimensions. It is also possible it will lose the internal power supply as some have postulated, although I'm not quite as convinced about that part.
If my prediction turns out to be correct, these Mac mini server farm guys and gals will have to adjust, and adjust they will, to gain access to those Apple Silicon processors with VASTLY improved performance per Watt.
And once they adjust, they will likely be good for the better part of yet another decade of Mac minis.
Smaller Mac mini, sure, for the Mn entry-level SoCs...
But for the Mn Pro / Max SoCs, NO...!
External PSU, sure, for the Mn entry-level SoC Mac mini models...
But for the Mn Pro / Max SoCs, NO...!
Mn Max Duo-powered Mac mini...? Gonna need a bigger boat...!
If Apple decides to offer a dual SoC Mac mini, a taller chassis (for larger heat sink / improved fan) might be in order...!
But for the Mn Pro / Max SoCs, NO...!
External PSU, sure, for the Mn entry-level SoC Mac mini models...
But for the Mn Pro / Max SoCs, NO...!
Mn Max Duo-powered Mac mini...? Gonna need a bigger boat...!
If Apple decides to offer a dual SoC Mac mini, a taller chassis (for larger heat sink / improved fan) might be in order...!
