Happy to be stuck in the past with my space grey 2018 Mini! 🤣
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The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming
- Thread starter GabrieleR
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Happy to be stuck in the past with my space grey 2018 Mini! 🤣
Are you advocating for that?
Personally I find it infuriating to design things with no regard for using existing accessories wherever reasonable and feasible. Customers spend a pile of dough on accessories and it’s awful to have to buy new ones “just because”
These are computers.
What accessories would they be making that would/could/should only work with ASi hardware?
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Apologies for typos.
I’m on my iPad and iOS text prediction and correction seems to get wears with every new iOS version.
I’m on my iPad and iOS text prediction and correction seems to get wears with every new iOS version.
Is that on purpose....wears (worse)...
LOL
No, it wasn't - haha
Exactly
Thx iPad
(I'll leave it so it makes sense to others)
There were compelling reasons to redesign the iMac and the MacBook Pros, with the previous models attracting criticism in specific ways, and the new versions being better in meaningful ways.
I find it hard to believe that Apple would go to the trouble of redesigning the Mac mini just to make it a little bit thinner. Why bother? It’s not like people are holding back on buying the current one because of its design.
No idea what you’re referring to when it comes to new accessories that would only be compatible with new models and not the existing models. That sounds like a very strange thing for Apple to do. Especially with everything being USB-C/Thunderbolt.
It's not a matter of whether or not I advocate for this. It's about whether or not Apple will do it. And it appears inevitable that they will.
If I'm buying in 2022, I'd rather buy the next generation, which would likely be the form factor for the next decade, rather than the old generation, a discontinued form factor.
This has been discussed to death in this very long thread, but for example one of the reasons provided is that a plexiglass surface would offer better Bluetooth strength and reliability.
BTW, there are several in this thread that are holding back on buying because of its old design, myself included.
You need to think about more than just port selection and chipsets.
This would also affect the rack mounts, but I don't personally use rack mounts for my Macs.
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I understand that frustration, but I suspect those days are gone. I find the RAM a bigger issue than the storage as a Thunderbolt chassis and drive on Amazon is probably better value than apple charge. I can understand them not wanting to have an NVMe slot as it’s leaving idle pcie lanes that most users won’t ever use, so more Thunderbolt ports are a good compromise.
I’m hoping the Mac Pro update will give us some hints of what the RAM strategy is going into the TB realm as I suspect some degree of caching will have to be implemented, but that’s well away from my budget and use cases. 64GB should see me through another 7-10 years unless some game-changing stuff happens. I intend on keeping my 2012 Mac mini around for docker and k8s stuff. I’m even tempted to install a Linux distribution on it to cut the bloat.
Possibility Apple implements LPDDR5X in the Apple Silicon Mac Pro (Cube); pin-compatible with the current LPDDR5 used for the M1 Pro/Max SoCs, 33% faster, and uses 20% less power...
64GB chips would allow for up to 256GB RAM per SoC, so 512GB maximum in a dual SoC configuration & 1TB maximum in a quad SoC configuration; but I would expect that to be a $3K+ upgrade for every SoC...
If the first Apple silicon Mac Pro has slots, then third-party RAID cards with multiple M.2 slots could fill storage needs, and with discrete GPUs no longer being a thing, the MPX slot is no longer needed (nor the four slots the MPX module took up for the massive heat sink within) I would expect a reduction in slots, but the audio folks need slots for their gear (never mind the whole plug-ins nightmare side of things)
Unless you have deep pockets, or using your computer for business so you can write it off on taxes, good luck affording a new Mac Pro. Current mini is a joke with 16gb of Ram. Should have been 32 gb Ram. My M1 mini with 16gb of Ram and 1 tb ssd was over a grand. Hate to see what Apple will charge on a pro version. No plans on upgrading unless the price comes down.
I guess you don't need 32 GB RAM then.
There have been significant issues with Bluetooth; plexiglass top would provide better pass-through for radios.
Also, if a reduction in physical size can be made, then the cost savings over time (manufacturing, packing, storing, transportation etc) would pay for the R&D costs - especially considering Apple would likely keep a new design around for the next decade or longer.
Eh, you are aware that goods larger than the MacMini are manufactured, packaged, stored and transported too - and can still be sold for peanuts. Those costs are present, yes, but are also miniscule. And when we are talking about about the difference a redesign from the present one can make to such costs - well that delta is safely rounded to zero.
A reduction in physical size provides little benefit. This is a mains powered stationary computer, it is going to have a number of cables attached to it that requires space from the connector. Minimising the size of the device itself is thus pretty pointless, and can lead to problems with noise levels, cooling, uncomfortably cramped connectors including causing incompatibility with some cables/devices, even incompatibility with certain connector types as in the recent iMac 24", and other issues.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t guarantee that Apple won’t create those problems. The new iMac 24" couldn’t accomodate standard desktop connectors which is why you’re limited to base level ethernet via the proprietrary power cord and supply. (And the 3,5mm jack goes in sideways, though that is arguably just as good as any other alternative) The base model also can’t even keep the M1 cool enough not to throttle in spite of running its fan at 7000rpm (ugh!) - it requires the dual fan setup of the higher end model to avoid that. The M1Max can draw over three times the power of the M1, something the 24" iMac clearly can’t accommodate. It’s crippled by design, both thermally and spatially.
I’d hate to see the same thing happen to Apples base desktop computer.
I only know two Mac Pro users, so very much in anecdotal territory, but I don't believe either would continue using the platform if RAM and GPU was completely non-upgradable. These guys don't have the base specs, but I know they've both done GPU and RAM upgrades already. That's what makes the machine worth the investment over the years.
I suspect most Mac Pro owners consider it as part of their business model and its a calculated investment. We considered them at the last company I worked for, but it was more practical to spin up a virtual machine on AWS/Azure etc. as the workload was only heavy enough for about one week a month
This would be an extremely bad move from Apple, if they had 'fixed' Ram.
THE main benefit of a Mac Pro is the benefit of upgrades over it's lifetime.
Unless you infer user upgradeable ram...
I hope we might see some on chip RAM plus standard sockets in some kind of smart caching. I also don't expect the whole GPU to be on the same SoC as it would be a thermal nightmare.
I wonder how much these higher end Mac Minis would cost. I bought a used 8GB, 256GB SSD version for $450 off of eBay recently but perhaps I can get a decent Apple trade in value if I upgrade so I won’t be at a tremendous loss. But Apple charges so much more for 16GB of memory and 512GB ssd for the current model. I’m scared to think how much a M1 Pro or Max with 16GB or 32GB of memory would cost.
I have the silver 2014 mini, that I bought last year...
I was hoping my Mac Pro 2,1 would last me one more year for my business app machine until the new form factor Mac minis were released, but it didn't quite make it. I grew tired of dealing with the various workarounds for a machine that old, so I finally just bit the bullet... and bought a used 2014 - 8 GB RAM and Core i5-4278U. Luckily it was very cheap, even with the 500 GB NVMe SSD I added, and it works great with macOS 12 Monterey.
I'm currently using it with a 30" Apple Cinema HD Display. When I get a new Apple Silicon Mac mini, I hope to use it with the 30" ACD instead. (Others have had success mating the M1 Mac mini and 30" ACD.) I already have a nice 23" ACD for the 2014 Mac mini. My 30" ACD is one of the later models with HDCP support, so I have full 1080p support in Safari for streaming DRM video. Not bad for a 15 year-old monitor.
The earlier rumors were for a Mac Mini with a plastic top panel (similar to the original Mini). that would make the cased more transparent to bluetooth signals than the current closed aluminum block case. I’ve heard of people mounting their Mini upside down to get better BT performance.
I also have a 2014 2.8ghz/8gb Mini for a media server, a 2012 2.6ghz i7/16gb Mini for a file server and base 1.4ghz/4gb in the closet (no real need for it anymore). Until I got the 2018 Mini, I used my 23" Apple Cinema display originally purchased for my Powermac G5. That is getting close to 20 years ago I think! That screen still looks pretty good, but much happier with the 32" BenQ QHD monitor I got with the 2018 Mini.
Likely more than the current Intel Mini and less than the M1 Pro/Max MBP.
- M1 Mini with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD is $1099
- Intel i7 Mini with 32GB RAM and 512 GB SSD is $1899
- MBP 14” with 8Core CPU / 14 core GPU with 32GB RAM and 512 GB SSD is $2399
Thanks. That makes sense. $1899 seems a credible price point for one of the upper models. I wonder if Apple will allow you to trade in a Mac Mini M1 towards it? I don’t think they accept the M1 mini for trade ins right now. Probably because it’s the latest generation. I bought it for $450 off of eBay which I think is a good buy but I am having second thoughts because I want more memory.
Edit: I was wrong. You can trade in a M1 Mac Mini. And right now, I’ll get back almost all my money. I’m not sure that will hold up until the higher end models are released.
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Install Grammarly I did helps a lot.
I’m very curious about the power, size, design, and cooling efficiency of the Mac Mini refresh in 2022. I’m hoping it’s a smaller LxWxH dimension with much better cooling. M1 Pro or more power it’ll need much better cooling and slotted vents in the bottom area and a much wider back opening to get rid of the heat.
Install Grammarly I did helps a lot.
I’m very curious about the power, size, design, and cooling efficiency of the Mac Mini refresh in 2022. I’m hoping it’s a smaller LxWxH dimension with much better cooling. M1 Pro or more power it’ll need much better cooling and slotted vents in the bottom area and a much wider back opening to get rid of the heat.
A few pages back someone did the maths on it, they would have to shrink it a lot to be an issue. The volume of the 14” MacBook Pro including screen keyboard, battery, trackpad etc is already smaller than the mini.
One thing I did note in a LTT video was apple are still favouring throttling over ramping fans up on the M1 Pro/Max.
Edit: Also, I’d be very wary of using Grammarly if you value your privacy. It effectively a keylogger and is seen as a security risk by many in the IT industry. If something is “free”, then you’re the product.
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