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The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming
- Thread starter GabrieleR
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I try to avoid computer 'sleep' as much as possible. The history of too many operating systems is littered with stories of issues with the different varieties of 'sleeping'. Apparently there is a 'deep sleep', and an 'light sleep', and all varieties in between, and all kinds of mischief seems to happen post updates and such. I leave everything on, except for the M1, which is only used for about an hour a day.
But the wake up from dead is interesting. I would think that the OS would be looking for a monitor of some kind if it hadn't found one. To just go 'Well, we don't have a monitor yet so let's stop looking' is just bizarre. I mean, why even look at that point. Just blast your signal in the format of the last monitor and hope for the best? Windows did that minimum at one point. I had to restart in Safe Mode to instruct it that there was a new monitor in town. Whatever... I found a workaround. Just strange that there were that many variations from the Intel based box.
No, not at all. Chip upgrade options are common for various types of computers. Hell, the 14" MacBook Pro has FIVE different chip options. Yes, they sell higher volumes, but nobody is asking for five different chip options for the Mac mini. People are thinking about just two. M2, and one M2 Pro option, perhaps a binned variant.
BTW, while it's possible the new Mac mini will be M2-only, so far I have not seen any good evidence that says that introducing such a M2 Pro mid-tier would reduce Apple's profit because of the loss of Mac Studio sales. I suspect a lot of people would succumb to the upsell from M2, if Apple released an M2 Pro Mac mini. How the ratio of sales and overall profit shake out would depend on how they spec'd and priced that mid-tier.
It would have to be at least $1499. Apple would likely charge US$200 for the 8 GB RAM upgrade.
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“If you don't cannibalize yourself, someone else will.” - Steve Jobs
Forget what you not know about marketing and think about physics. The MacBook Air has no fans and thermal throttles even the M1. There is no point in putting a faster hotter chip in it. A Mac mini on the other hand might be able to sufficiently cool the M1/M2 Pro and close the performance gap to the Mac Studio, which starts with an M1 Max.I don't believe there is room for a Mac mini with an M2 Pro, but then looking at how segmented the iPad lineup is now (six bloody models!) I would not put it past Apple to offer a Mac mini and a MacBook Air with M2 Pros just to get an extra $200 out of customers.
Except for expansion slots the Mac Studio basically is the new Mac Pro mini. We don't know how many people actually bought the Mac Pro and if Apple made any money selling it, but the Mac Studio M1 Ultra must further cut into its market.
There is the financial reason why Apple won’t do m2 pro. I remind you why some of us did the subs and can’t find the gap.
It’s $1099 for m1 16/512
It’s $1499 for m1 32/512 (impossible spec)
Add $100 for 10 gig network
Add $200 for binned M1 Pro which likely only exists because some full fat M1 Pro fail QA slightly. That’s our guess in this forum by the way.
And the killer point is you have to add another $500 on top to get to the same binned M1 Max in the studio.
Our Frankenstein mini just cost $2299 whereas the studio which includes even more ports and superior cooling solution costs $1999.
Even if you conclude that the heat profile rules out M1 Max in a mini a full fat M1 Pro mini costs $2099 and the 10/14 single binned M1 Pro mini reaches parity at $1999.
And you’re still going to get a certain percentage of people who struggle to use their Bluetooth keyboard and mouse near their expensive mini when a usb hard drive is plugged in.
I cite engineering reasons.
The studio ultras includes 6 full thunderbolt ports with 2 at the front. The M1 Max studio turns the 2 front ones into plain usb c 10mbps ports but no case redesign is needed.
The back of a mini has just 2 thunderbolt ports cut out. An M1 Pro Mini would increase that to a known 3 if we compare to the MacBook Pro, we don’t know for sure if it can support 4 like the Intel model. The point here is it’s a totally new case sku.
That’s before you get to the reason why the 2014 Mini didn’t include the quad core Intel cpu from the much loved 2012 model - that it would have required a new motherboard due to different pin out design on the haswell quad core vs the duel core. The ivy bridge motherboards were the same. Therefore it’s an engineering budget.
There is precedent in apple using M1 Max and M1 Pro in the same product line and that’s the MacBook Pros. Moreover limited bandwidth due to M1 Pro might be the reason why the laptops have just three thunderbolt ports when the previous Intel ones had 4 and we can see that the mac studio m1 max has 4 plus an extra 2 usb-c ports.
And finally, the renders of a smaller Mac mini thanks to Jon prosser and Ian zelbo show a smaller case which likely fixes the wifi and Bluetooth issues because of use of a radio transparent polycarbonate top. It resembles a mark 1 Apple TV and there looks to be only 2 thunderbolt ports on it. Apple TV 4K mark 3 got slimmed down with the fan removed to cut costs (including shipping costs on a pallet I would guess).
I do wonder if apple have done some sums on the now over engineered case which has purported radio flaws but can cool a 65w Intel cpu (and therefore coincidentally can handle M1 Pro on paper) and decided they can reduce costs rather than add a binned M1 Pro in and increase costs because of a second motherboard required with extra cut out for an unspecified number of ports on the back? What if the engineers say that M1 Pro only supports 3 thunderbolt ports anyway? The 4 thunderbolt Intel guys will have their pitchforks out!!!
And this is before the 24gb m2 upgrade gets rated as poor value because folks like you would always spec the m2 Pro above more ram. That clue tells you that the engineers have helped the marketing department decide that m2 is enough for the mini.
Did Steve Jobs have a supply issue because of covid and war in Ukraine? Did he also have adverse Foreign exchange issues which likely would add £500 or €500 to the price of a base m2 Max Mac Studio when it gets an update, which could have a knock on with supply for the vastly more important MacBook Pros?
And my cannibalisation point stands. Introduce the full fat m2 Pro as base Studio sku for $1799 32/512. It would have at least 3 thunderbolt ports and i would say 3 usb c Ports without affecting case design.
The m2 mini can be taken to 24/512 for $1299 for those users who don’t need 10 gig Ethernet. And I would say the marketing folks will be happy with the upsell to Mac Studio.
The same M1 Max on the Studio managed 4 thunderbolt ports despite having only 3 on the MBPs. It seems by taking away the internal display can spare enough lanes for one more bus. And IIRC the M1 Pro and M1 Max do not have differences concerning PCIe lanes / display capabilities.
Couple with the fact we have not seen a M1 Pro at all in any of the Mac desktops, it does sound quite reasonable to anticipate an M2 Pro mini as long as the 27" iMac isn't in the equation (if it will happen at all).)
Couple with the fact we have not seen a M1 Pro at all in any of the Mac desktops, it does sound quite reasonable to anticipate an M2 Pro mini as long as the 27" iMac isn't in the equation (if it will happen at all).)
Some points in favor of an M2 Pro Mini:
- There’s a high-end Mini still on Intel that needs to be brought to AS
- There’s currently no M1 Pro desktop, leaving a gap between basic M1 Mini ($699) and M1 Max Studio ($1,999)
- If the 14” MBP can handle the thermals of the M1 Pro & M1 Max, a Mini can surely handle a M1/M2 Pro
- Apple is all about upselling you to a higher-end model
- If you upgrade just the chip, you might be looking at a binned M2 Pro with 16GB RAM 512GB Storage (just like the base M1 Pro in the MBP) for about the same price or perhaps $100-200 more as the current high-end Intel model ($1,099), this is, a $500-700 upgrade on a price point right between the base Mini and the base Studio.
- There’s a high-end Mini still on Intel that needs to be brought to AS
- There’s currently no M1 Pro desktop, leaving a gap between basic M1 Mini ($699) and M1 Max Studio ($1,999)
- If the 14” MBP can handle the thermals of the M1 Pro & M1 Max, a Mini can surely handle a M1/M2 Pro
- Apple is all about upselling you to a higher-end model
- If you upgrade just the chip, you might be looking at a binned M2 Pro with 16GB RAM 512GB Storage (just like the base M1 Pro in the MBP) for about the same price or perhaps $100-200 more as the current high-end Intel model ($1,099), this is, a $500-700 upgrade on a price point right between the base Mini and the base Studio.
No, it doesn't matter. Just a friendly question.
I too have the base M1 8GB/256 and am completely happy.
Timeframe is within the next few months.
The next-generation Mac mini will purportedly feature the same M2 chip as the MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Apple has tested an M2 Pro chip inside the new Mac mini, featuring increased core counts, but Gurman did not offer any further clarity about if the company is proceeding with that model.
www.macrumors.com
The next-generation Mac mini will purportedly feature the same M2 chip as the MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Apple has tested an M2 Pro chip inside the new Mac mini, featuring increased core counts, but Gurman did not offer any further clarity about if the company is proceeding with that model.
Gurman: Apple Silicon Mac Pro Testing Ramping Up, New MacBook Pro and Mac Mini to Launch Within Months
Apple is planning to debut several new Macs over the next several months, including new MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and Mac Pro models, according to...
www.macrumors.com
Last week I thought I’d go for a Mac Studio due to Apple increasing the prices of all iPads in Europe, and I was worried they’d do the same for all Macs when the new MBPs come out. But realistically, £2k on a computer for my needs is stupid. Not sure why it’s taken this long for me to knock some sense into myself, but it has. I will hold out for the M2 Pro (may try an M2 mini and return it if it doesn’t hit the spot).
Failing that, I reckon my 2018 mini will make do for another 2 years even if slow at times. Show us what you’ve got, Tim Apple!
Failing that, I reckon my 2018 mini will make do for another 2 years even if slow at times. Show us what you’ve got, Tim Apple!
Check this out! Mini clone. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/d/windows-dev-kit-2023/94K0P67W7581
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So... ten years after Microsoft released the Surface RT with an Arm processor... they now have an Arm development kit?
Or have they had one all along and this is just an update?
🤔
Likely to be of interest to some, but many folks here rest assured that new Mac Mini is almost certainly coming.
In November or December hopefully.
Heh. I've never understood the love for space grey or whatever. Stodgy and too conservative IMO.Funny that it is the color that everyone wants for the Mac Mini
Give me bright fire engine Project Red!
The possibility of an M2 Pro Mac Mini has renewed my interest in the Mac Mini and Mac desktops in general. The Mac Mini always seemed like the desktop I should be able to get but something always held me back. First it was the lack of a higher-end option. Then they re-introduced a higher-end option, but Apple no longer made monitors. I didn't want to use a 3rd party one. Now Apple makes monitors again (and might be introducing a 27" mini LED monitor soon) and if the Mac Mini gets a Pro chip, that would be my dream desktop combination (Studio being more than I need and too expensive). I hope the M2 Pro Mac Mini is coming, but I've been disappointed before. 😔
I think the Studio took that. Not sure an M2 Pro Mini would be on the horizon, and if it was, could be usable because it would likely be so hobbled to avoid crimping Studio sales, although there isn't a Studio M2 Pro currently.
Hmm, 50/50? 🤷🏻♂️ There are people that definately can't afford the Studio, but could use the power of an M1 Pro (M2 Pro?) Mini.
If the suspected specs for M2 Pro and M2 Max are accurate, a binned version of M2 Pro might be reasonably close to full speed M1 Pro. OK, let's do some probably bogus back-of-the-napkin calculations.
M1 Pro is 8+2 CPU cores.
M2 Pro is rumoured to be 8+4 CPU cores. A binned version might be 6+4?
If we were to guesstimate the efficiency cores are 1/3rd the speed of the performance cores, and that single-core speed of the M2 core is ~10% faster than the M1 core, on a perfectly parallelized application, speed would be:
M1 Pro (non-binned) = 8+2/3 = 8.7 units
M2 Pro (binned) = 1.1(6+4/3) = 8.1 units
In other words M1 Pro (non-binned) might be only ~5-10% faster multi-core than M2 Pro (binned), and the latter would be perfectly suited for a high end Mac mini.
Meanwhile, M2 Pro (non-binned) = 1.1(8+4/3) = 10.3 units
That might suggest M2 Pro (non-binned) might be ~15-20% faster multi-core than M1 Pro (non-binned). This might not be appropriate from a marketing standpoint because it would beat the performance of the existing Mac Studio (since M1 Max has the same CPU performance as M1 Pro).
I realize these guesstimates could be way off, but nonetheless I'll treat it as a rough guide for estimating would could be used in a high end Mac mini to replace the Intel model.
This site disagrees. It states that unlike M1 Pro vs M1 Max, M2 Pro has fewer CPU cores than M2 Max. (I always thought it was odd that M1 Max didn’t have more CPU cores than M1 Pro, but this would address that.)
It also claims it would be N3, which could really increase performance per Watt.
Apple Has Reportedly Given TSMC a Large Order to Mass Produce Its M2 Pro, M2 Max and Future SoCs on the Latest 3nm Process
A new report states that TSMC has taken a large order from Apple to mass produce M2 Pro, M2 Max and future chipsets on its 3nm node
wccftech.com
蘋果M2打核心戰 台積傳獨吞3奈米大單 - 工商時報
雖然個人電腦（PC）市場需求低迷不振，但蘋果仍將在未來幾個月推出多款新機，而蘋果亦加速第二代Apple Silicon的M2處理器研發及量產，據外電及業界消息，蘋果M2處理器將大打核心戰，可能推出搭載48核心的最高階M2 Extreme搶攻高階PC及工作站應用，晶圓代工龍頭台積電可望獨吞3奈米晶圓代工大單。
This was originally linked by @Xiao_Xi here:
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