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kofman13

macrumors 6502a
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May 6, 2009
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I want to upgrade my dads old i5 Dell from 2014 with an M1 Mac mini. But with WWDC so so soon, do you think I should wait until then to see if there is a refresh? if chances are insanely low then ill probably get the Mac mini now. if not then ill wait
 
Unlikely that they'll refresh the current M1 mini.

More likely that they'll transition the remaining higher tier Intel mini to Apple Silicon when the higher tier SOC is ready, which may be this year. Then we'll have two tiers of Apple Silicon mini, just as we expect to have two tiers of Macbook Pro models (two-port vs four-port)

If the current M1 mini isn't sufficient for your dad's needs, I'd definitely wait for WWDC.
 
Unlikely that they'll refresh the current M1 mini.

More likely that they'll transition the remaining higher tier Intel mini to Apple Silicon when the higher tier SOC is ready, which may be this year.

I'd definitely wait for WWDC.
yeah thats what I meant. any type of "better Mac mini", because then I would get that for myself and give my dad my entry level one
 
Highly unlikely anything changes on the current mini M1, but the Intel one still for sale, will likely be updated sooner or later, when a higher end Apple silicon is ready.
 
After 6 months of real world use, I do love my "entry" level base M1 Mini - it's been the best so far with all previous Intel Macs I have owned/used.

Compared to my work Intel 2018 Mini with top end i7 CTO / BTO with the new looking space gray and 10GBe option - can't perform as well as my "entry" silver M1 Mini.
 
I want to upgrade my dads old i5 Dell from 2014 with an M1 Mac mini. But with WWDC so so soon, do you think I should wait until then to see if there is a refresh? if chances are insanely low then ill probably get the Mac mini now. if not then ill wait
I would say near zero. Apple just did a silent update to the M1 mini, adding a 10Gb ethernet option.
 
I want to upgrade my dads old i5 Dell from 2014 with an M1 Mac mini. But with WWDC so so soon, do you think I should wait until then to see if there is a refresh? if chances are insanely low then ill probably get the Mac mini now. if not then ill wait
I don't see it coming until November at the earliest, and maybe November 2022.
 
I think people didn't understand the OP, Im also holding off to buy a new Mini, and actually think the chances of a refresh coming within 6 weeks, at June's WWDC, are rather high: we're talking about the top of the line / higher-end Mini which is still Intel-based and has yet to transition to AS.

There's a pattern here, Apple refreshed all the lower-end, less ports, lower GPU powered Mac's: the MBA, the 13" basic MBP, the lower-end Mac Mini's, while leaving the top tier ones on Intel. When the new higher-end MBP's, iMacs, etc. get introduced, with an M1X, M2 or however Apple calls it, Im sure the higher-end Mini will transition from Intel as well.

Remember that Apple said they would transition the whole line up within 2 years. We're 1 year in, the higher-end Mini, along with the higher-end MBP and iMacs, are all still on Intel, a refresh to the higher-end Mini is coming, and will hopefully offer the expected benefits: beefier GPU, more I/O ports/connectivity, just like it does now on the rather old Intel model they're still selling.

If Apple weren't thinking on having a higher-end AS Mini, they would have just discontinued the Intel model last November.
 
I think people didn't understand the OP, Im also holding off to buy a new Mini, and actually think the chances of a refresh coming within 6 weeks, at June's WWDC, are rather high: we're talking about the top of the line / higher-end Mini which is still Intel-based and has yet to transition to AS.

There's a pattern here, Apple refreshed all the lower-end, less ports, lower GPU powered Mac's: the MBA, the 13" basic MBP, the lower-end Mac Mini's, while leaving the top tier ones on Intel. When the new higher-end MBP's, iMacs, etc. get introduced, with an M1X, M2 or however Apple calls it, Im sure the higher-end Mini will transition from Intel as well.

Remember that Apple said they would transition the whole line up within 2 years. We're 1 year in, the higher-end Mini, along with the higher-end MBP and iMacs, are all still on Intel, a refresh to the higher-end Mini is coming, and will hopefully offer the expected benefits: beefier GPU, more I/O ports/connectivity, just like it does now on the rather old Intel model they're still selling.

If Apple weren't thinking on having a higher-end AS Mini, they would have just discontinued the Intel model last November.
It wasnt clear , you assumed he is talking about the high end , but looking at the question , in which his father has an 8 y/o computer which was not a high end to begin with , its safe to assume the question was about the entry level refresh , but thats just an educated guess from the information we have !
 
I think people didn't understand the OP, Im also holding off to buy a new Mini, and actually think the chances of a refresh coming within 6 weeks, at June's WWDC, are rather high: we're talking about the top of the line / higher-end Mini which is still Intel-based and has yet to transition to AS.

There's a pattern here, Apple refreshed all the lower-end, less ports, lower GPU powered Mac's: the MBA, the 13" basic MBP, the lower-end Mac Mini's, while leaving the top tier ones on Intel. When the new higher-end MBP's, iMacs, etc. get introduced, with an M1X, M2 or however Apple calls it, Im sure the higher-end Mini will transition from Intel as well.

Remember that Apple said they would transition the whole line up within 2 years. We're 1 year in, the higher-end Mini, along with the higher-end MBP and iMacs, are all still on Intel, a refresh to the higher-end Mini is coming, and will hopefully offer the expected benefits: beefier GPU, more I/O ports/connectivity, just like it does now on the rather old Intel model they're still selling.

If Apple weren't thinking on having a higher-end AS Mini, they would have just discontinued the Intel model last November.
This. I am waiting for more powerful Mac mini like a Mac mini pro. then I would get that, and give my dad my current entry level Mac mini. and then he wouldn't mind waiting until June/July. but if there is nothing coming soon, and the refresh is instead in November or something, I dont want to make him wait and I would just buy a new entry level for him now
 
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Now that my Mac mini runs iOS apps I'm looking to downsize my iPad. BUT won't
do it until they refresh the iPad mini.
 
It wasnt clear , you assumed he is talking about the high end , but looking at the question , in which his father has an 8 y/o computer which was not a high end to begin with , its safe to assume the question was about the entry level refresh , but thats just an educated guess from the information we have !
I am waiting for more powerful Mac mini like a Mac mini pro. then I would get that, and give my dad my current entry level Mac mini. and then he wouldn't mind waiting until June/July. but if there is nothing coming soon, and the refresh is instead in November or something, I dont want to make him wait and I would just buy a new entry level for him now
 
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I think people didn't understand the OP, Im also holding off to buy a new Mini, and actually think the chances of a refresh coming within 6 weeks, at June's WWDC, are rather high: we're talking about the top of the line / higher-end Mini which is still Intel-based and has yet to transition to AS.

The word refresh is causing confusion - it leads people to think OP is asking about a refresh to the M1 mini rather than (per OP's clarifications) asking about the transition of the Intel mini to Apple Silicon.
 
The word refresh is causing confusion - it leads people to think OP is asking about a refresh to the M1 mini rather than (per OP's clarifications) asking about the transition of the Intel mini to Apple Silicon.

The Mini, MBP & iMac's were only half-refreshed or partially renewed, the other half is still on Intel, this pending refresh might include new external design (14" MBP, new larger iMac, new Mac Pro Mini) or might retain it (16" MBP, higher-end Mini), things is, however you want to call it, refresh or transition, the Mac Mini has still news pending and they might be approaching quickly.

To the OP, I would say this: if at WWDC no new hardware is announced, it will probably mean they will be pushed until the fall (November, as some rumors have pointed out), but, I would definitely wait for WWDC first. Its a little more than a month away anyways.
 
having a simultaneous between mini, requires 3 headless:

Mini
Super mini
Pro

I think it’s unlikely apple wants three headless. It’s even less likely they are already preparing three CPUs to even make it practical. So the question is, once apple has a better chip (say a P1), would it power a high end video workstation like the current Mac Pro or just a normal business level machine with a more mid range friendly budget.
 
The Mini, MBP & iMac's were only half-refreshed or partially renewed, the other half is still on Intel, this pending refresh might include new external design (14" MBP, new larger iMac, new Mac Pro Mini) or might retain it (16" MBP, higher-end Mini), things is, however you want to call it, refresh or transition, the Mac Mini has still news pending and they might be approaching quickly.

If we wish to get into the weeds, we could say the M1 mini is a new branch, since there was not previously a lower-port-count mini... :D
 
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After 6 months of real world use, I do love my "entry" level base M1 Mini - it's been the best so far with all previous Intel Macs I have owned/used.

Compared to my work Intel 2018 Mini with top end i7 CTO / BTO with the new looking space gray and 10GBe option - can't perform as well as my "entry" silver M1 Mini.
Curious about this, because my understanding is top end Intel mini has a fighting chance against the M1.

How much ram was in your 2018? What types of tasks offer the most notable performance improvements?
 
They’d better not (I own own a 2020 M1 MacMini)! Or I’ll fling my 2020 iPad Magic Keyboard, that does not work with the 2021 iPP, at them ;) I guess I need to learn that time marches on, even at a faster pace with tech.
 
On the one hand, we might see a new Mini. But on the other hand, we might not.

I hope this was helpful to you, OP.
 
I wouldn't count on hardware refreshes during WWDC. More likely to happen in the September/October timeframe.
 
I wouldn't count on hardware refreshes during WWDC. More likely to happen in the September/October timeframe.
This wouldn't be good. They will announce it at WWDC, but would ship in the fall. Reason is, they usually do this at WWDC so developers are aware of the upcoming core counts and can develop appropriately.
 
I want to upgrade my dads old i5 Dell from 2014 with an M1 Mac mini. But with WWDC so so soon, do you think I should wait until then to see if there is a refresh? if chances are insanely low then ill probably get the Mac mini now. if not then ill wait

At this point, even if Apple releases a refresh, I don't think it would be a massive upgrade from the current model. More likely something like more RAM capacity or more ports, but nothing exceptional that makes you regret your purchase.

Unless your dad needs 32gigs of RAM, I'd say you can buy the current M1ni with confidence. It will be an awesome upgrade from his old Dell for sure.

One thing, tho. Make sure your dad is comfortable using something else than Windows before making the purchase. I know some people that just can't get used to macOS, hence why I'm saying that. After a certain age, it is sometimes difficult to change habits.

Cheers!
 
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