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The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

volodymyrqa said:
I hope that new mac mini will not contain power brick inside the body. My 2011 mini is so loud when working.

That's the main reason why i want to update it. Another reason is i need USB 3.0 ports.
Click to expand...

I think you are the first person wanting an external power supply. Apple always wants to get this into your machine to eliminate this inconvenient brick.

But I have to ask why would you like that? That power brick isnt making your mini louder under load you would gain nothing but an external brick. The cpu is the hot thing to cool in there not the supply
 
bennibeef said:
I think you are the first person wanting an external power supply. Apple always wants to get this into your machine to eliminate this inconvenient brick.

But I have to ask why would you like that? That power brick isnt making your mini louder under load you would gain nothing but an external brick. The cpu is the hot thing to cool in there not the supply
Click to expand...

Previously i had older mini with power brick outside the body, it worked almost silent. Current Mini is almost always using fan to cool CPU at max. Especially during summer.
 
Well, I dont know what your mini has to do for work but it seems there isnt much to do about it. I myself got a 2011 MBP with the core i7 quad core which is running quite hot also and the fans have to work to cool it. But thats not the supplies fault. Modern power supplies are quite good especially Apple ones which are not even connected to the main heatsink because they dont require much cooling anymore.

I think its not the right way to compare it this way

old mini with brick with a different chip -> was cool
"new" mini without a brick and different chip -> has to run the fans more
 
bennibeef said:
old mini with brick with a different chip -> was cool
"new" mini without a brick and different chip -> has to run the fans more
Click to expand...

My suspicion is that the next mini would almost certainly have to be a tall form-factor to fit beam-forming antennas (the current mini being the only machine which doesn't have vertical space) for AC wifi. So it could very well get an evolution of the nMP cooling tower philosophy - (relatively) big slow quiet fan.
 
iFitzgerald said:
Interesting, I didn't know that! Thank you for sharing the info!
I've been looking at the hackintosh possibility to be honest. But when looking at the buyer's guide on a well known hackintosh website, they don't have the processors that have the Iris Pro, but they do have the ones with the HD 4600, so I might look into that now :)
Click to expand...
The problem with Iris Pro parts is that they are OEM only, i.e - you can't just buy one and stick it in the right motherboard. This means if you want one then you're currently limited to buying something like the Gigabyte Brix Pro or a Zotac ZBox EI750. You can still customise the RAM and storage, and various people have managed to get them running OS X successfully; since RAM and storage are unlikely to introduce incompatibilities it may even be an easier option. The downside is that both of these systems are tiny, so cooling and noise are an issue; originally I considered transplanting the innards of a Brix Pro to a different case, but I think it'd be more trouble than it's worth.

But yeah, an HD 4600 should still be a marked improvement over the HD 4000, it's just not quite as awesome as having that extra cache from the Iris Pro, as it accelerates both the CPU and GPU (depending upon workload). For my own planned hackintosh I'm now considering the i7-4790T; it still has great CPU performance and is only 45W, which means it should work in a passively cooled case like the Akasa Euler case, I'm just hoping the graphics are good enough to handle the kinds of light gaming I do on my main computer (mostly strategy games like Civilization V), I'll do any serious gaming on something else whenever I get around to that :)
 
benni wrote above:
[[ I think you are the first person wanting an external power supply. Apple always wants to get this into your machine to eliminate this inconvenient brick.
But I have to ask why would you like that? ]]

I, too, would prefer an external power supply on the Mini.

Primary reason -- less heat generated inside. Can now run a more powerful CPU (which would generate more heat) without having to increase the fan size to a point where the noise would become objectionable.

Besides, one of the common memes around here is that "they're going to make the next Mini smaller". Probably not possible unless the power supply is (once again) returned to it's external "block".

Actually, I don't mind the Mini form factor as it is right now.
They don't need to make it smaller.
They don't need to make it larger.

What they -really- need is a removable top plate, to provide access to the drive area without having to partially (or fully) disassemble the internals.
Aside: I don't expect to see this, however...
 
I've got 4 minis, three of them white models with power supply bricks, and the fourth the current model. I much prefer not having the brick, and the newer model doesn't seem either warmer or louder than the older ones.

Of course I could also care less about improved graphics performance. I like the minis as they are and am not necessarily looking forward to the new ones, whichever Tuesday they arrive.

Why I don't like these bricks:
picture.php


It's actually worse now: Mac mini, 4 external drives, drive toaster, router, Airport Extreme Base Station, SamKnows box, and an Ethernet switch -- ten of these !@#$% things in one location.
 
talmy said:
I've got 4 minis, three of them white models with power supply bricks, and the fourth the current model. I much prefer not having the brick, and the newer model doesn't seem either warmer or louder than the older ones.

Of course I could also care less about improved graphics performance. I like the minis as they are and am not necessarily looking forward to the new ones, whichever Tuesday they arrive.

Why I don't like these bricks:
Image

It's actually worse now: Mac mini, 4 external drives, drive toaster, router, Airport Extreme Base Station, SamKnows box, and an Ethernet switch -- ten of these !@#$% things in one location.
Click to expand...

You should take an old Mac Pro cheese grater case and put all those things inside of it. :cool:
 
Fishrrman said:
benni wrote above:
[[ I think you are the first person wanting an external power supply. Apple always wants to get this into your machine to eliminate this inconvenient brick.
But I have to ask why would you like that? ]]

I, too, would prefer an external power supply on the Mini.

Primary reason -- less heat generated inside. Can now run a more powerful CPU (which would generate more heat) without having to increase the fan size to a point where the noise would become objectionable.

Besides, one of the common memes around here is that "they're going to make the next Mini smaller". Probably not possible unless the power supply is (once again) returned to it's external "block".

Actually, I don't mind the Mini form factor as it is right now.
They don't need to make it smaller.
They don't need to make it larger.

What they -really- need is a removable top plate, to provide access to the drive area without having to partially (or fully) disassemble the internals.
Aside: I don't expect to see this, however...
Click to expand...

Yes! Access without taking apart!
 
Cape Dave said:
Yes! Access without taking apart!
Click to expand...

Well next upgrade you dont need to take it apart because in there is only a ssd like in retina macbooks or mac pros ;)

I have to say I hope this happens to be honest (many others not) but I hope not that it gets a tall form factor. But the point with AC wifi is a really goo point. Hm to only thing is if its tall, I cant fit it in 1U rackspace anymore and that was my biggest argument in the past but somehow my whole interest in needing it to fit nice in a 19'' rack is fading.
 
bennibeef said:
Hm to only thing is if its tall, I cant fit it in 1U rackspace anymore and that was my biggest argument in the past but somehow my whole interest in needing it to fit nice in a 19'' rack is fading.
Click to expand...

the nMP runs on its side, so I wouldn't write off the possibility that a tall timecapsule / airport extreme style form factor mini wouldn't be able to do the same.
 
I wouldn't write off the possibility that a tall timecapsule / airport extreme style form factor mini wouldn't be able to do the same.
Click to expand...

A machine that can work in both vertical and horizontal orientations makes a lot of sense, especially if they can set the external dimensions to match a standard rack mount.

Or possibly offer the Mini in two different forms, a Timecapsule / Airport vertical form, and something like the current flatter horizontal form that can be mounted into standard racks.
 
the new Mac mini will have the form of a "BALL"

the most natural, purest and most perfect shape there is, like our Mother Earth
 
Miat said:
A machine that can work in both vertical and horizontal orientations makes a lot of sense, especially if they can set the external dimensions to match a standard rack mount.

Or possibly offer the Mini in two different forms, a Timecapsule / Airport vertical form, and something like the current flatter horizontal form that can be mounted into standard racks.
Click to expand...

Actually the current Mini is neat enough. I like the fact that you can place it vertically with the addition of a stand. A cubic mini doesn't look good because it looks fat.

I hope they don't change the current design or the capability to switch around RAMs if new Mini were ever to be launched.
 
Everyone negates the idea of the WEDGE as a basic shape Apple might use. It slopes... for... convenience. The back has a wide edge for ports. And it can stop doors from opening when you use it at late night to browse porn.

Mal67 said:
Is the earth a perfect ball shape?
Click to expand...

Perhaps it will come as a pitted oval shape with 2/3 of the surface covered with water... since that is the perfect shape.
 
Fishrrman said:
What they -really- need is a removable top plate, to provide access to the drive area without having to partially (or fully) disassemble the internals.
Click to expand...
Why add an extra cover? I doubt Apple would want to go from an essentially two part case design to three parts.

Actually, if the predictions of soldered RAM come true, then this actually simplifies things, as the new Mini could simply have the motherboard at the top with RAM facing up, and CPU facing down into some form of cooling (heatsink and/or a blower), with the storage underneath, easily accessible from the bottom cover. Since Fusion Drive SSDs may likely switch to PCIe based SSD "sticks" then accessibility shouldn't be hard at all.

I definitely don't want to see the Mac Mini getting taller though; one advantage of the current flat design is that it's VESA mountable with minor modification, if Apple would actually sculpt keyhole slots mounting then it'd be even easier, rather than having to drill your own (or buy an expensive third party replacement cover).
 
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