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What I would really like to see in the next Mac mini

D

dbanderson1

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 15, 2013
48
0
total pipe dream but... In addition to the mini and server models it would be great to have a mac mini home media server option.

The option would include a built in dual tuner card for recording television (or possibly hdmi pass through). Along with the new hardware, Tim Cook would bring back front row or some type of 10-foot WMC like interface for viewing all of our content on HDTVs along with television. It would make the most sense of this was essentially the same UI used in the new apple tv helping bring tighter integration to the Apple ecosystem. Would anyone else be interested in something like this?
 
Well using the mini as a home media player connected to the tv all the time will be how I use my mini when the new ones are released.

Plex is what I'm planning on using as the UI for my media. Unless anyone else has any suggestions.
 
While I'd love to see a new version of Front Row make a return, ideally using the same basic codebase as the Apple TV, I'm not sure a specific hardware model for the Mac Mini is really necessary.

With a new version of Front Row, once you setup auto-login and to open Front Row at login, you've basically got the Apple TV part down, then just add an external TV tuner and you're done. It's mostly a software problem IMO, just requiring a more Apple TV like Front Row replacement with more control over downloading (i.e - no need to switch to anything else).

What I would love though is a Mac Mini with a base that's VESA mount compatible; I've actually done a DIY job on a Mac Mini myself which is fairly easy (just need to drill four holes in a square 100mm apart); just screw the base on, then twist the Mac Mini onto it and you've got an instant monitor-mounted Mac Mini, but yeah, it'd be nice to actually have that as an official feature.
 
Given the Mac Pro and cost, maybe Apple should rethink the position of the top build Mac Mini to be a bit more powerful in GPU and CPU so it can be the poor man's Mac Pro.

Gained advantage -

Good option for HTPC (as others suggested)
Good option for lower end media production (graphics, imaging, audio)
Good option for PC users wanting a more portable system for gaming (yeah I said it - though I don't game).

Though Apple seems to use the Mini to get PC users over to the Mac universe, there is a large hole between the iMac and Mac Pro that the upper end Mini should fill.

Footprint - some like tiny and some don't mind a bit larger. I wouldn't mind if the Mini gained more height so that more could go in and better air flow. The extra space might allow for a good graphics card and/or audio.

OS - Simple point - Apple needs to offer everything that the "other" OS on PC offers and stop forcing the issue on certain media playback.
 
Best would be they leave everything as is, maybe 2nd Thunderbolt in the FW position, and that they put a similar TDP Broadwell to replace the Ivy.
If they do that, you can expect a quad i7 @ 3Ghz with the hottest Iris Pro. The 14nm process gives so much more power per TDP.

That will seriously outperform any current mac except 6-12 core dustbins, so I doubt they will.

The Mini team has surprised before. They seem to tun their own business. If they are still allowed to do so.... autumn can be nice (that's when Intel finally hopes to have their 14nm process bullet proof).

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laudern said:
Well using the mini as a home media player connected to the tv all the time will be how I use my mini when the new ones are released.

Plex is what I'm planning on using as the UI for my media. Unless anyone else has any suggestions.
Click to expand...

The Mini has long been way beyond HTPC capabilities. Since 2011 models, using it for HTPC solely does not make any sense.

Intel builds very nice passive Ivy-bridge based boards for HTPC use which allow a complete system under 200 bucks. Look for J1900 and 1037U chipsets. The newest ones have E8400 C2D power and do 4K HD decoding at 10 watt, that is plenty for HTPC. These 70-100 bucks boards including CPU also have dual gigabit, 4 SATA ports, room for 16GB ram, USB3 and some even allow a full PCI-X16 video card.
 
dbanderson1 said:
total pipe dream but... In addition to the mini and server models it would be great to have a mac mini home media server option.

The option would include a built in dual tuner card for recording television (or possibly hdmi pass through). Along with the new hardware, Tim Cook would bring back front row or some type of 10-foot WMC like interface for viewing all of our content on HDTVs along with television. It would make the most sense of this was essentially the same UI used in the new apple tv helping bring tighter integration to the Apple ecosystem. Would anyone else be interested in something like this?
Click to expand...

Seeing as how Apple is trying to reinvent the way we consume television, adding traditional tuners seems a.....silly. Further, they would have to release multiple versions to handle the various TV standards throughout the world.

Besides you can add dual tuners for less than $100 already....
 
laudern said:
Well using the mini as a home media player connected to the tv all the time will be how I use my mini when the new ones are released.

Plex is what I'm planning on using as the UI for my media. Unless anyone else has any suggestions.
Click to expand...

Using Plex the web sites it uses for art and info are The Online TV Database.com and for movies The Open Movie Database.com. It would be wise to bookmark these two sites to get TV & Movie info. Plus to name your files se the Plex Support web site Media Preparation - Plex.
 
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