The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

[Kentuckienne]

The point is that the Mac mini is Moby Dick. The White Whale. In case you have not been paying attention, there is a running, six-month old thread about how the Mac Mini is "Almost certainly coming". The new Mac mini is almost NOT certainly coming. That's all. People who hang around here believe in Santa and the Wizard of Oz. That's all.

I DO believe in Mac I DO believe in Mac I DO believe in Mac I DO believe in Mac said the Cowardly Lion. Wait, make that Mavericks. Remember, in the book the White Whale actually does appear, and - Spoiler Alert! - it does not end well for the captain. Maybe what we need is to demonstrate our true and sincere devotional belief by offering up a suitable sacrifice. I will be out at the crossroads, at midnight, to bury a suitable offering. But what would be most pleasing to the Lords of Refresh?

 

[imanidiot]

I DO believe in Mac I DO believe in Mac I DO believe in Mac I DO believe in Mac said the Cowardly Lion. Wait, make that Mavericks. Remember, in the book the White Whale actually does appear, and - Spoiler Alert! - it does not end well for the captain. Maybe what we need is to demonstrate our true and sincere devotional belief by offering up a suitable sacrifice. I will be out at the crossroads, at midnight, to bury a suitable offering. But what would be most pleasing to the Lords of Refresh?

Well said.
I did delete my post, BTW. I don't want to ruffle any feathers.

 

[philipma1957]

As time winds down to next weeks iMac refresh remember my earlier prediction a new mac mini on June 17th. We shall soon see if the mini tags along with the iMac next week. While it may not be June 17th it could turn out to be the week that includes June 17th.

BTW I had a good feeling when I picked that day ,usually thats means it is good for something . So if the iMac drops on fri the 20th along with a mini refresh I will take it. This also means you guys have to pick up your postings here or we will fall short of 2000 and the mini will have come!

 

[Kentuckienne]

That's it! The sacrifice required is 2000 posts in this thread! And not just any meaningless, "OK here's a post" posts. They have to be real timewasters: proof that we are willing to lay our valuable minutes on the keyboard altar, and give up a portion of our already too short lives in exchange for what we hope is a improvements to CPU, graphics processing with another Thunderbolt port but retaining the Firewire, USB 3, HDMI and Ethernet ports, the twist-off cap and non-soldered memory. I chant! I plead! I do believe! Reward me, oh Apple, for my faith is true and my heart is pure.

 

[Cape Dave]

That's it! The sacrifice required is 2000 posts in this thread! And not just any meaningless, "OK here's a post" posts. They have to be real timewasters: proof that we are willing to lay our valuable minutes on the keyboard altar, and give up a portion of our already too short lives in exchange for what we hope is a improvements to CPU, graphics processing with another Thunderbolt port but retaining the Firewire, USB 3, HDMI and Ethernet ports, the twist-off cap and non-soldered memory. I chant! I plead! I do believe! Reward me, oh Apple, for my faith is true and my heart is pure.

I offer up as sacrifice....... my old mini!

 

[apfelmann]

It's time to start preparations for next week's potential mini release:

Scenario 1:
New haswell mini - old design: I won't hesitate one second and order the i7 version.

Scenario 2:
New haswell mini - new design: if the RAM is exchangeable and SSD is standard I'll buy it, IF NOT: I'll hurry to order a refurbished old one as I'm not willing to pay the prices for apple's BTO RAM and SSD

 

[adonis3k]

Hope they keep the size/space similar as I prefer the 2nd HDD in mine.

 

[Micky Do]

Well said.
I did delete my post, BTW. I don't want to ruffle any feathers.

Too late.

Your post was quoted, thus lives on as a slight blemish on the generally congenial spectrum of opinion expressed in this thread.

….. and with that I reach a personal milestone, thus become privileged to sport an avatar alongside my pearls of wisdom.

 

[peagreen]

I DO believe in Mac I DO believe in Mac I DO believe in Mac I DO believe in Mac said the Cowardly Lion. Wait, make that Mavericks. Remember, in the book the White Whale actually does appear, and - Spoiler Alert! - it does not end well for the captain. Maybe what we need is to demonstrate our true and sincere devotional belief by offering up a suitable sacrifice. I will be out at the crossroads, at midnight, to bury a suitable offering. But what would be most pleasing to the Lords of Refresh?

Too late to have any effect.
Sacrifice should have been made yesterday.
It was Friday the 13th *AND* full moon at the same time.

 

[philipma1957]

it is funny as I actually have grown to like my pc's a lot more due to my mini's not being refreshed.

I just got hold of a top of the line i7 4790 and a hi-end gigabyte motherboard I was going to drop a 1tb samsung ssd into my 2013 mini.


but most likely I will build a killer i7 pc for dad's day and keep it for myself.

Thanks apple.

 

[scottsjack]

it is funny as I actually have grown to like my pc's a lot more due to my mini's not being refreshed.

I just got hold of a top of the line i7 4790 and a hi-end gigabyte motherboard I was going to drop a 1tb samsung ssd into my 2013 mini.


but most likely I will build a killer i7 pc for dad's day and keep it for myself.

Thanks apple.

I've grown to like my PCs too. For play, recreation, fiddling around and photography I use Mac. For work, finance, genealogy, surfing the Net I use W8.1.1. As a PITA as Windows can be it really works better for some kinds of things. And, you can find some very nice PCs for i7 mini price with better hardware.

 

[opeter]

And what will all you people do, if Apple suddenly drops the Mac mini? Suicide?

Anyway ... next week - they say - we will see a Mac mini refreshment. And ... for your surprise, there will be no refreshed Mac mini.

Hope, I'm wrong.

 

[OldMike]

And what will all you people do, if Apple suddenly drops the Mac mini? Suicide?

I wouldn't go that far, but I might have to begrudgingly build one of these:
http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/10/shuttle-haswell-mini-pc-ds81/

The Intel NUC proves just how small a desktop-class, 4K-capable Haswell PC can go. What the NUC doesn't do, though, is let us switch out the processor - it comes with either a Core i3 or i5 soldered to the mainboard. Now, Shuttle's DS81 is slightly bigger than the NUC, but it's still tiny (19 x 16.5 x 4.3cm) and its H81 chipset supports user-upgradeable processors up to a Haswell Core i7. Like the DS61 before it, the DS81 comes with serious cooling to let it function in environments up to 50 degrees Celsius, such as in digital signage situations. It's also deceptively big in terms of connectivity, with two PCIe Mini slots (one half-size and one full-size), two slots for RAM (up to 16GB), six USB ports (two of which are 3.0), three displays outputs (1x HDMI and 2x DisplayPort), dual Gigabit Ethernet ports and even a card reader. A Shuttle rep we met at CeBIT told us the DS81 should start to become available from next week, starting at 178 euros ($250) for a barebones unit

 

[Micky Do]

And what will all you people do, if Apple suddenly drops the Mac mini? Suicide?

Anyway ... next week - they say - we will see a Mac mini refreshment. And ... for your surprise, there will be no refreshed Mac mini.

Hope, I'm wrong.

Nah, despite the odd naysayer, this thread will continue to give hope till a new Mini comes out in some form or another……

It may even be be resurrected some time after that momentous event, to predict the imminent arrival of the following generation, and what form it could take. There may also be whinging about the cost of the current model, and the slow arrival of the next update.

 

[Crosscreek]

I don't know what it is about the look of windows UI but I just want to throw something at it every time I see it whether it's on my tv, the store or in a magazine.

Maybe it's 30 years of continuous viruses and patches that run a few hours at a time.

 

[gregorsamsa]

And what will all you people do, if Apple suddenly drops the Mac mini? Suicide?

Anyway ... next week - they say - we will see a Mac mini refreshment. And ... for your surprise, there will be no refreshed Mac mini.

Hope, I'm wrong.

I'd buy refurb Minis for as long as is viable, finally get an iPad, but in time I'd also move over more serious tasks to PC. It'd be a bummer, but a Mac Pro is overkill for my needs, whilst glossy screens aren't an option.

An updated Mini may not be unveiled until much later this year, but if Cook was serious about growing the OS X user base further via targeting more switchers, as he stated only a few months ago, then Apple will almost certainly do a Mini refresh. Time, as usual, is the only factor.

FWIW, I'd be astonished if, however relatively neglected, the Mini wasn't available for years to come. If I'm wrong & Apple drops it now, well, after the money spent on buying Beats, to me it'd suggest that Cook may not be the right man to lead Apple after all.

 

[Kentuckienne]

And what will all you people do, if Apple suddenly drops the Mac mini? Suicide?

Anyway ... next week - they say - we will see a Mac mini refreshment. And ... for your surprise, there will be no refreshed Mac mini.

Hope, I'm wrong.

I recently bought a refurb i7 mini, so I take credit for the upcoming refresh. If there is a new machine within the 14 day return period, I would upgrade, or ask for some credit as the price of the 2012 machines should drop. If no upgrade, I will keep it and figure out the issues. It came with a 1 TB HDD drive. I can replace this with an SSD, but for I think, $300 I could have upgraded to a Fusion Drive. I will be adding more RAM, but I've read conflicting advice about trying to create my own Fusion setup by adding an SSD. Would it be better to exchange this one for another with the Fusion already in there ... I don't need a spare TB drive, have some already in firewire/USB enclosures ...

 

[Micky Do]

I recently bought a refurb i7 mini, so I take credit for the upcoming refresh. If there is a new machine within the 14 day return period, I would upgrade, or ask for some credit as the price of the 2012 machines should drop. If no upgrade, I will keep it and figure out the issues. It came with a 1 TB HDD drive. I can replace this with an SSD, but for I think, $300 I could have upgraded to a Fusion Drive. I will be adding more RAM, but I've read conflicting advice about trying to create my own Fusion setup by adding an SSD. Would it be better to exchange this one for another with the Fusion already in there ... I don't need a spare TB drive, have some already in firewire/USB enclosures ...

It depends how much you like mucking around with computers.

I just want something I can use, so if my present Mini was either kaput, or inadequate for my needs, I would look for a quick, cost effective, hassle free fix. I have done that a couple of times since I got my first computer, a 2005 Mini.

If there was no quick and easy fix, I would buy a new computer. I have done that once, when I got the Mini I am using now.

On the other hand, someone else might be more inclined to tinker with the hardware and software to transform computer they have into what they desire. I have neither the time nor the facilities, let alone the skill and confidence, to go down that route.

 

[Kentuckienne]

It depends how much you like mucking around with computers.

I don't mind mucking, depending. Something like replacing RAM is a no-brainer. I've replaced laptop hard drives, and I have a hard time thinking it could be worse than that. Small space, everything shoehorned into place, fragile connectors. There are lots of videos/guides online, so I feel sure I can physically do it. But I am less sure about the configuration. Have read lots of posts indicating that trying to roll your own Fusion drive system can be problematic. I like the idea of a smaller SSD drive, with the bulk of the data on the big HDD. But I do not, do not, want to create setup where i lose data, or something gets out of synch, or something stops working ... speed is a distant second to reliability. The price delta between a Fusion drive and a 1 TB HDD on the new mini is $200, vs $80 or if I really could do this myself it would save mucho dinero.

 

[Crosscreek]

I don't mind mucking, depending. Something like replacing RAM is a no-brainer. I've replaced laptop hard drives, and I have a hard time thinking it could be worse than that. Small space, everything shoehorned into place, fragile connectors. There are lots of videos/guides online, so I feel sure I can physically do it. But I am less sure about the configuration. Have read lots of posts indicating that trying to roll your own Fusion drive system can be problematic. I like the idea of a smaller SSD drive, with the bulk of the data on the big HDD. But I do not, do not, want to create setup where i lose data, or something gets out of synch, or something stops working ... speed is a distant second to reliability. The price delta between a Fusion drive and a 1 TB HDD on the new mini is $200, vs $80 or if I really could do this myself it would save mucho dinero.

I really do not see the attraction of a fusion drive any longer now that SSD have drops so much in price.
You also have the problem of lost data on both drives when the spinner goes bad.
I seen Samsung 840 Evo 250gb for $120 last week.
That with a 1TB HD will give you better performance than the fusion with a lot less hassle.
Keep all your data on the HD and your Apps on the SSD.

 

[evilsofa]

And what will all you people do, if Apple suddenly drops the Mac mini? Suicide?

Probably run Mac OS X 10.9.3 on an Intel NUC. There's a fantastically detailed walkthrough here:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/mavericks...e-intel-haswell-nuc-core-i5-d54250wyk-v2.html

I do think Apple will compete with the NUC, making something significantly smaller and more elegant, and less accessible and more proprietary inside, because that's just what they do.

 

[talmy]

And what will all you people do, if Apple suddenly drops the Mac mini? Suicide?

I own four and probably would buy a refurbished server model right away as a replacement for my existing one that has been plugging away for 4 1/2 years. If a new mini comes out that is downsized, I'll probably do the same.

 

[Kentuckienne]

I really do not see the attraction of a fusion drive any longer now that SSD have drops so much in price.
You also have the problem of lost data on both drives when the spinner goes bad.
...
Keep all your data on the HD and your Apps on the SSD.

Brilliant voice of reason. You're right: if the fusion drive works as I understand, it would work towards just such a configuration: the frequently used application files on the SSD, the less frequently used data on the HDD. The configuration you describe would achieve the same result while bring more simple and secure. Thanks!

 

[Crosscreek]

Brilliant voice of reason. You're right: if the fusion drive works as I understand, it would work towards just such a configuration: the frequently used application files on the SSD, the less frequently used data on the HDD. The configuration you describe would achieve the same result while bring more simple and secure. Thanks!

Crucible MX100 256 gb are fast and cheap if you can find them in stock but any 250gb or greater SSD will work for you.
http://www.crucial.com

 

[Mandesly]

Tuesday is coming