Yes, modular...I've have been running 4 Mac Mini:s stacked for years and years now without any thermal issues, sure, the fan probably runs slightly faster than if it was air-gapped but yeah, no problem. Adding a fifth like in the picture would probably not push the stack over the edge so yeah
What are you using them for? Are they idle most of the time?
Maybe next year, when my existing computer is 10 years old!!My ‘theory’ (I like how you put that in quotes to undermine it, nice!) was simply that there appears to be a clear trend for Apple to systematically remove the ability for users to self-upgrade their devices. In my view, that’s less of a theory at this point and more of a demonstrable fact. You can see that progression across the Mac range. I don’t recall saying that it’s “rigid dogma”, so I don’t know where you got that from, just that it’s a trend we can observe in Apple’s behaviour that may be useful as a predictor of the future.
But Apple sells hardware not software. It means really to become a Microsoft.
It‘ll be very interesting how Apple will allow us to upgrade the machines. I don‘t see how any „Pro“ would buy an overpriced machine that you have to bring to an Apple Store if you want to swap the boot drive, say.
All the reportage so far is that Apple support is saying the RAM is not user-servicable, that it's an Authorised service agent only procedure, regardless of whether you *can* open the bottom...
...whether it's actually accessible through the bottom is a different question. you might have to pull the whole thing out of the case to get to the RAM.
if you look it seems the CPU May be underneath the RAM? In which case the heat pipes will go under there, you’ll need to remove that and the fan assembly to get the memory out looking at how tight it is. Unless it’s easy to slide the case off, which knowing Apple I doubt it but you never know.Okay, and you have evidence of this? Over in the Mac mini forum people have been asking Apple this question (multiple times) and Apple are telling them that it is NOT user upgradeable and will void the warranty if attempted, and posts of product documentation explicitly say that memory upgrades can only be done by an Apple Authorised Service Provider.
This situation really is a dichotomy that couldn't be more evident. The easy user-upgradeability with 3rd party components that the Pros want and Apple's hardware history after 2012 really exclude each other. And their recent history includes iMac Pro, MacBook Pro and Mac mini (supposedly targeting Pros as well). In addition, both, T2 and the transition to their own ARM CPUs, will almost certainly kill the Hackintosh. Where is the silver lining?
Wasn't the first iMac Pro public demo done during this conference last year? This time we know at least the MBP15" with VEGA20 option is happening in November as well.
This is my guess. We have all this evidence of Apple systematically removing the ability for users to self-upgrade across the Mac range over time (a model which other manufacturers have subsequently followed), and with any upgrade capability that Apple chooses to provide (iMac Pro, new Mac mini) needing to be done by an Apple Authorised Service Provider. In my opinion that tells us something about the principles by which Apple designs its products and runs its business that can inform us about how they may be approaching the design of the new Mac Pro. At the very least, I think it forces us to question the likelihood of Apple providing the sort of open box that allows adhoc installation of commodity hardware that people here would like, when it would appear to conflict so fundamentally with their apparent principles.
Sooner or later Apple will introduce new iMacs, these will be an indication, I think, for what is going to happen.
