Today confirms that Apple has total spite for mini owners at this point

[mmomega]

guys, if apple can put an quad i7 in the macbook pro they can do the same with the mini.

The point though is that they do not offer a quad core anymore, so one either buys a late 2012 or buys something other than a Mac Mini completely.

Apple could put the same graphics chips as the higher end retina MacBooks, they just don't.

It has nothing to do with Apple wanting to hurt or offend a particular group of buyers and why should this even impact people the way it seems to be.

We all have other choices so spend your money elsewhere.

 

[fa8362]

So quit bitching and realize that Apple doesn't cater to YOU, they cater to what makes the most business sense.

That's not marketing, that's selling. Long term that doesn't work. Apparently, the top execs don't care though...as long as they get their money and bonuses for short term performance.

My next computer will likely not be a Mac...and I've used Macs exclusively for longer than I can remember.

 

[crawler1975]

at $100 less than the previous model, IMO Apple cannot afford(profit ratio) to put a quad core processor in their new mini. Bottom line, Apple wants to penetrate untap market (those who are wanting to shift to Macs from Windows but don't want to spend top dollars) - it's a business strategy. That's all there is to it.

 

[fa8362]

at $100 less than the previous model, IMO Apple cannot afford(profit ratio) to put a quad core processor in their new mini. Bottom line, Apple wants to penetrate untap market (those who are wanting to shift to Macs from Windows but don't want to spend top dollars) - it's a business strategy. That's all there is to it.

Only the crap base model is $100 less. The other model costs more for significantly less than the 2012 model.

 

[pcd109]

As much as you guys want to think the Mini is supposed to be a power-users machine, it isn't, it's an entry-level Mac and that is very clear. No upgrades, no server version, no quad-core - these weren't things that were removed because Apple has spite for Mini owners, they were removed because they finally want to be more diligent about forcing people to buy iMacs or Mac Pros if they're working on power-hungry tasks. Apple doesn't just make decisions to piss people off, though it might feel like it sometimes, they do it to make money - as any business should. I want a Mac Mini equal to some of your suggestions, but I realize that Apple has never been and never will be in the game for those of us that are power users or tinkerers or like upgrade options down the road. You know what Apple wants you to do when it's time to upgrade? Buy a new machine. That should be their goal as they have to keep stockholders happy. So quit bitching and realize that Apple doesn't cater to YOU, they cater to what makes the most business sense.

As a business owner i can tell you that this is a WRONG model of business. If you became greedy and do whatever you can to rip off your clients, eventually you will go the dodo way. If you don't find disturbing the fact that Apple is offering a machine with lesser specs after 2 years, just to force people to buy higher end models, then you clearly have some issues. The current mini is a bad joke compared to the previous one. I always stated that Apple is trying to avoid quad core AND IrisPro in an upgradable machine and i got a lot of attacks on mini forums. I hate to say, but i was right. The simple fact is this: a HUGE number of users purchased mac mini to WORK on them. For few simple reasons: you could upgrade the components yourself(bye-bye this option) and the performance/price ratio was very good for Apple products. We are in 2014 and at the mini price range(at least in EU) you can purchase a hexa core intel desktop(or build one yourself). No matter how much i love OS X i will not throw my hard earned money out the window. Darn, now i need to go buy nMacPro if they update that....

 

[cypriot]

As much as you guys want to think the Mini is supposed to be a power-users machine, it isn't, it's an entry-level Mac and that is very clear. No upgrades, no server version, no quad-core - these weren't things that were removed because Apple has spite for Mini owners, they were removed because they finally want to be more diligent about forcing people to buy iMacs or Mac Pros if they're working on power-hungry tasks.



Apple doesn't just make decisions to piss people off, though it might feel like it sometimes, they do it to make money - as any business should. I want a Mac Mini equal to some of your suggestions, but I realize that Apple has never been and never will be in the game for those of us that are power users or tinkerers or like upgrade options down the road. You know what Apple wants you to do when it's time to upgrade? Buy a new machine. That should be their goal as they have to keep stockholders happy.



So quit bitching and realize that Apple doesn't cater to YOU, they cater to what makes the most business sense.

From the business sense you dont earn more by losing customers in the long run. This i think is a short sighted vision. They want us to spend more to get the basic hw. We get irritated and spend less.

Customer loyality and keeping your folk motivated to continue buying from you, advertising their products where you go and defending the company is a good business. That was my experience with apple but now i feel like being pushed to make a purchase i am not happy with.

This is simple criticism, its not bitching around stop blaming people expressing their experiences and feelings. If you dont like dont read.

I had a damned hp computer and i didnt even complained in their support. I just returned it. For Apple i complain because i care and want to continue my great experience i listened this from steve jobs where he says its important to earn customers than to earn money from random people.

 

[paulrbeers]

Just ordered a refurb quad core for < $600 from Apple. While I appreciate the new graphics of the new Mini's, I need the quad cores for what I do more so than the graphics.....

 

[Ridley]

How do you know that the new mini can drive 3 monitors?

Intel's site says "Number of displays supported: 3" for both the i5 and i7 Iris chips

http://ark.intel.com/compare/83506,75991

 

[paulrbeers]

Only the crap base model is $100 less. The other model costs more for significantly less than the 2012 model.

The 2014 Mid-Mini is superior to the Base 2012 (dual core, HD4000 graphics) and is $100 less than the CPU superior 2012. So yes, the base and mid Mini's are both $100 less than their previous counter parts. Whether you agree with the decision to drop quad cores, they have dropped the base and Mid Mini's by $100 by using slower CPU's.

 

[blanka]

What does Apple do with Dutch refurbs? Ship them to the US?

 

[Ridley]

Just ordered a refurb quad core for < $600 from Apple. While I appreciate the new graphics of the new Mini's, I need the quad cores for what I do more so than the graphics.....

That's a good deal! At first i thought that the quad cores were still only 4 threads... and so it would be less of a difference than we might think. But that's not true, the one you got is 8 threads!!

I am waiting now for the ifixit teardown. If memory serves, the 2012 model was one of the first with a soldered in CPU. If they did away with that and we can drop a new chip into the 2014 mini that would be AWESOME! I'd get a quad core iris pro 5200. I think there is a 1% chance of that happening... maybe less, but we can hope.

I also want to know if the RAM is still user upgradable and what the IOPS on the fusion SSD are. I want to see if its worth it to DIY a fusion drive or buy from apple.

 

[CausticPuppy]

Some 2012 models are back up in the refurb store. $589 for a 2.3 quad-core, 4GB memory, 1TB drive (add your own memory and SSD of course)

 

[paulrbeers]

That's a good deal! At first i thought that the quad cores were still only 4 threads... and so it would be less of a difference than we might think. But that's not true, the one you got is 8 threads!!

I am waiting now for the ifixit teardown. If memory serves, the 2012 model was one of the first with a soldered in CPU. If they did away with that and we can drop a new chip into the 2014 mini that would be AWESOME! I'd get a quad core iris pro 5200. I think there is a 1% chance of that happening... maybe less, but we can hope.

I also want to know if the RAM is still user upgradable and what the IOPS on the fusion SSD are. I want to see if its worth it to DIY a fusion drive or buy from apple.

All Mini's from 2009 on have soldered CPU's. Only the 2006 and 2007 had replaceable CPU's.

 

[giggles]

The whole backtracking about phablets showed that anything is possible in the new Apple if there's demand.

Even a MacCube 3.5" HDD bays and discrete pcie16x GPU.

Unfortunately the demand for it is laughable when compared to the phablet situation.
As are the profits in the Mac business compared to iDevices nowadays.

 

[Agent-J]

I use my dual0-core mid-2011 Mini w/NVIDIA dGPU for basic stuff, like Office w/VMWare Fusion and some very light gaming (DOTA 2). But more important for me than more cores were RAM and graphics. If the RAM truly is not user-upgradeable, that's a deal-breaker for me ($200 for 8 GB of RAM, Apple? REALLY?) And no IRIS Pro option? Apple has successfully avoided making a gamer-friendly machine, well done!

But to be fair, Apple has actually done itself a favor by reducing the price of a bare-bones machine for people migrating from Windows. The price drop will attract people and schools. It's just that the machine won't be very attractive to hobbyists, and probably toxic to gamers.

 

[madrag]

When I saw about three minutes reserved for the new Mac Mini, I knew something was wrong, and after reading through the specs I am trully sad.

Soldered RAM, really?
No quad-core? really? why??
More expensive (come on, the top machine is much more expensive than the ones from 2012, and the processor is not as fast!, not to mention having to add more RAM from Apple).
No firewire (that one I was already expecting, having another TB port IMO is better this days).

BTW, why not remove the sound in? I was amazed that they kept it, they've removed it on all other Macs.

Is it even possible to add a second HDD or SSD? (at least I've done that in my lovely 2012 Mini).

Sad days, big expectations (from me at least), and now a big fall.

I'll keep my 2012 quad-core until it crawls.

 

[Celerondon]

Yes the new CPU is slower, and that is crazy after waiting two years.

Thanks Ridley!

You made my day. Those numbers are good for those of us who took the plunge and purchased the quad core late 2012 mini. Although I am not certain about your CPU numbers ( i7-3610QE or i7-3615QM?), CPU Boss says that there is not much difference between them either way.

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-3615QM-vs-Intel-Core-i7-3610QE

802.11n, USB 3.0, Fusion Drive, and Intel 4000 series graphics are fine for my current setup. I won't loose any sleep knowing that faster options exist. In fact, it is sort of comforting to know that features like 802.11ac, Intel Iris graphics, and PCIe-based flash storage are available*.
*(when I need them)

How about it KingKen1986? Does your quad core mini feel "slow" or "antiquated" today?

 

[mattspace]

Intel's site says "Number of displays supported: 3" for both the i5 and i7 Iris chips

http://ark.intel.com/compare/83506,75991

Just because the hardware is capable of something, doesn't mean Apple will allow it to do that. For example, Apple may have judged that the nature of OSX's display system needs a greater amount of GPU per screen than Intel's measurements would indicate.

Or more likely, they've decided that triple displays are a feature differentiation for the Mac Pro.

 

[squirrrl]

Just because the hardware is capable of something, doesn't mean Apple will allow it to do that. For example, Apple may have judged that the nature of OSX's display system needs a greater amount of GPU per screen than Intel's measurements would indicate.

Or more likely, they've decided that triple displays are a feature differentiation for the Mac Pro.

That would be dumb.. even the 2012 supported three displays (one badly through the USB, but still three). I don't really see how you couldn't run three ****** displays (which is what I have), through the two thunderbolts and HDMI. The Iris graphics are way better than the 4000. They would specifically have to cripple OSX for the mini to disallow this, no?

 

[Micky Do]

That's so far from "problem solved" it's like the insight of someone with a learning difficulty. The Mac Mini previously offered an entry level headless Mac with 4 cores that was at least close to the performance of the entry level quad MacBook Pro with the 3 x the cost Mac Pro only offering around 23% more CPU power and questionably useful GPUs.

Now there's nothing. It's either buy a used 2012 model or pay 2014 Mac Mini prices for a used 8-core Mac Pro tower and a few PCIe cards to add USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s (because of the questionable usefulness of Thunderbolt compared with internal PCIe).

So your solution to someone wanting a Quad Core machine is to fork an additional $2000...amazing...

Spiteful comments…… insulting even……..

To be expected in a rather bad tempered thread.

To be expected from a dilettantes, who crave bragging rights to the latest bauble, that is just a little "better".

There is a Mac Mini in the line up that can be optioned to meet a range of needs. A good choice should see a typical user right for a good few years.

Serious professional power users would probably find more satisfaction in Apple's jewel, the Mac Pro. Sure, it costs a pretty penny, but amortised over several years, and upgraded as necessary, it would probably be better value than keeping up with the cutting edge Mini minded geeks.

 

[mattspace]

That would be dumb.. even the 2012 supported three displays (one badly through the USB, but still three). I don't really see how you couldn't run three ****** displays (which is what I have), through the two thunderbolts and HDMI. The Iris graphics are way better than the 4000. They would specifically have to cripple OSX for the mini to disallow this, no?

USB adapters aren't really in the category of supported displays, since they're driven by black magic and witch utterings - so that option would be in addition to whatever the "supported" displays are.

The Mac Pro has 3 Thunderbolt busses, each with 2 Thunderbolt ports, and capable of running 1x4k display, or 2x<4k, and the HDMI port is on one of those busses, so for that bus, you can have screens on both Thunderbolt ports, or one in the TB and one in the HDMI, but not in all 3. I would expect the Mini is basically just like that bus from the nMP.

Yes, they would specifically have to "cripple" OSX to do this. This is not unusual. OSX is crippled so that Apple external superdrives won't work on machines that originally shipped with an internal drive, for example.

 

[mtneer]

That's not marketing, that's selling. Long term that doesn't work. Apparently, the top execs don't care though...as long as they get their money and bonuses for short term performance.

My next computer will likely not be a Mac...and I've used Macs exclusively for longer than I can remember.

Apple is probably keenly aware of the weight of their customers loyalty and would have considered reactions such as yours in making their choices. They have done it in the past and suffered no ill effects, and they are willing to roll the dice again. Looking at the number of people defending choices made on the Mini and the iPad Mini 3 as somehow being best for the consumer, I think Apple has a lot more slack on that rope they can use on their customers.

 

[NinjaDuck]

Does the 2014 new mini support 3 displays?

Since my retina 13" has the same graphics chip and the same ports (2 Thunderbolt and 1 HDMI). When you plug in the 3rd monitor, it'll just disable 1 of them. So basically, only 2 external monitors work.

Is it the same case with the new 2014 mini? Anybody can test this?

 

[theSeb]

It's Tim Cook's Apple. Steve Jobs made interesting new products. Tim Cook moved Apple manufacturing overseas.

I wish people would stop posting this kind of misguided xenophobic rubbish, thinly hidden as patriotism. Your facts are wrong.

 

[theSeb]

The lack of quad core makes my blood boil. Under-clock a i7 QC Haswell chip. Problem solved.

People who want QC want the threads anyway, not the speed.

Every refresh of every Apple product it's always the same...

I think it's time for people to realise that Apple is not in the business of trying to create a product that will suit YOUR exact needs perfectly. No amount of crying and whinging on forums is going to change this. Steve Jobs was quite adamant from the early days that users did not know what they want, so nothing has changed under Tim Cook.