There is something about all this talk about the non-upgradable RAM in the Mini that I don't understand. A good percentage of the current Mac Book and iMac models also have non-upgradable RAM but I don't see the same heated discussion about that. Also, the discussion about a second drive. What's wrong with connecting up a USB external if you need more than what's inside your mini?
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Why did Apple cripple the 2014 Mac Mini?
- Thread starter yahoodlums
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They are not desktop computers. Form follows function.
Cable spaghetti. Certain functions may work better on internal SATA bus than external USB bus.
If the 2014 mini existed in a vacuum where the 2011 and 2012 models never existed it would be a decent machine. After removing 3 key elements of the previous 2 models (upgradeable hard drives, ram, and downgrading to dual core from quad core) it's disappointing at the least.
As for competition, there are many options.
HP alone has 26 models that cost the same starting price of the mini $499 or less (as low as $159). Half a dozen include an 18-23" LCD screen, plus built in camera, plus keyboard and mouse. Those start as low as $320.
Chromeboxes (from Asus, Dell, and HP) start in the $150-180 range and can serve most people's needs, which these days are simply email, web surfing, social media, video chats, and editing photos. They generally have 16gb SSD's but come with 100gb of Google Drive storage for 2 years. 2gb of ram and Celeron processors.
HP also has a Chromebox-sized Windows 8.1 machine in two models launched yesterday starting at $179 for a dual core pentium machine with 32gb SSD and 2gb ram, plus 200gb of OneDrive storage for 2 years, or $319 for a core i series version with 500gb and 4gb of ram. A 1tb model is available. The Windows versions have HDMI out, display port out, (can run dual monitors) and 4 USB 3.0 ports. And they are smaller than the Mac mini.
LG sells a Chromebase, which is basically a Chromebox built into a 22 inch lcd display that comes with a keyboard and mouse for $319.
There are others, when you compare small form factor machines from other companies, which while larger than the mini are upgradeable and in the same price range. Plus full size desktops, which are fully upgradeable, are available starting around $300 from HP and others.
The main advantage the mini and all Macs always have going for them is they run OS X. But your point was what the average user is looking for, not a power user. There are cheaper alternatives that still offer a good user experience and better value. Apple doesn't have to totally compete on price but it would have been nice if they at least kept a quad core model available and didn't solder everything down (they also soldered the cpu in place so that cannot be upgraded on the 2014 mini's).
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Mine 2014 mini works nice (1.4ghz, 8gb ram and basic 500gb drive.)
only rare beachball. in normal use no beachball.
tried that basic model 1.4 with 4gb and is was slow and constantly beachball.
This uses much ram.
My first mac and i like it. And here prices are high 519 euros for low end mini plus extra 100 euros for ram uppgrade.
only rare beachball. in normal use no beachball.
tried that basic model 1.4 with 4gb and is was slow and constantly beachball.
This uses much ram.
My first mac and i like it. And here prices are high 519 euros for low end mini plus extra 100 euros for ram uppgrade.
Actually, at the time, there was a ton of consternation about removal of upgradeable RAM on every Mac that's happened. It's just the Mm is the latest casualty. Eventually, the criticisms will mostly flame out as people accept the way things are now - welcome to the appliance computer age.
Someone in another thread, said a while ago that soldered RAM is the future, and upgradeable RAM is old-fashioned, coming from '90s. He ignored, however, that soldered RAM comes from '80s.
This is not about past or future. Lack of options cannot be called "futuristic". It's all about profit based on a locked user base, and Apple is betting too much on that lately.
This is not about past or future. Lack of options cannot be called "futuristic". It's all about profit based on a locked user base, and Apple is betting too much on that lately.
Yes, where the quest for being more "green", leads to tons of prematurely obsolete electronics in the landfill.
Idiocy, plain and simple.
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It will be interesting. I agree in principal with what you're saying. A few points I'd throw out there.
1. We're underestimating the longevity of these computers just because of the RAM limitations... as long as they're in working shape, there's no reason they should end up in a "landfill" any time soon. We may outgrow their usefulness because of the RAM limitation, and we might be annoyed that we have to buy a new one rather than upgrade some RAM, but they'll still be way better than what a lot of people have (and those people will be happy to take them off our hands even with only 4GB).
2. Along those same lines, technically speaking, SSDs have changed the landscape more than most people realize. PCIe SSDs are getting to the point of being fast enough to page a gigabyte per second in and out of memory. Between that and modern RAM compression, a surprising amount can be made up when it comes to basic usage.
3. Computers shouldn't be put in landfills. Relatively speaking, Apple computers are some of the most recyclable and green computers around. The vast majority of computers end up at the recycle center without ever being upgraded anyway. Upgraders are a vocal community, but much smaller than they think.
I agree 4GB of ram really isn't a limitation for the people these computers are intended for. My laptop is older than most of the minis on here and has been chugging along just fine on 4GB of RAM for coming up on 6 years. The problems arise when you believe that you laptop wrapped in a desktop case is a mini Mac Pro there was no logical reason to believe that when they had a quad and replaceable RAM and there's still no reason to believe it.
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But that's the point of the whole argument. There is no such thing as "plenty of ram" or "lack of ram" on a generic context. The whole point is that the new Mac Mini is intended for less people that the previous model.
While the older model being upgradeable would not reduce its usability for what we would call a "light usage", the closed/locked/soldering policy of the new one alienates other target groups.
So, the real question is not if the new mac mini is ok for the people it is intended for, but if it is now intended for less people than the previous model.
As an absolute number Apple will lose some sales but as a percentage I don't think it will be noticeable. So yes fewer but not stastically significant.
What Apple has done is take away a segment of market that would like a headless desktop with the power of the quad MacBook Pros or an iMac without the screen.
This segment will move to Windows or Linux for their next machine because they will not buy an all in one or do not need or want a clamshell laptop.
It's likely that the next Minis will be more underpowered with ARM or lesser powered Intel chips.
Apple isn't necessarily going to loose sales. Apple has about 6-7% of classic PC market. 90+% of folks don't buy Macs in the first place. If 1% stomps off in a huff back to the bigger Windows/Linux pool and 1.1% leaves the Windows/Linux pool to Mac because these particular factors don't matter as much to them, then Apple would see a net gain (or at least a wash in the overall Mac percentage numbers).
Apple dropping the entry price from $599 to $499 will get them a bump of new users whose top criteria is just price. They aren't going to get the $350-400 folks but they can always offset volume a bit by incrementally shifting to a entry price that is somewhat closer to the much larger market's average selling price.
The percentage is anybody's guess, though. The fact that so many people are rushing to buy the previous model as long as it is still in stock, is suggestive in my opinion. Let's not forget that Apple is still trying to get PC users in their camp (users that will switch from windows, since Mac can run this OS natively). Not sure if many PC users will see in a positive way Apple's latest h/w decisions, especially since these options are not followed by big price cuts.
That's my guess too. I'd also bet that in such a case, the device would run iOS. Porting a full OS X version for ARM would be pointless and leave them out in the cold, as no other s/w developer would follow them.
Mini never well particularly highly overlapped with the 15+" MBP or the iMac. What you are ignoring is where the highest volume Macbook laptops are going. It is to dual, not quad , core as of late. Apple isn't particularly deviating as much as following.
The overwhelming vast majority of that segment never came over to Mac in the first place. That a few happened to get temporarily side tracked probably doesn't reflect any major "change of plan" for Apple.
Not very likely. There is nothing pointing to the non retina MBA 13" or rMBP 13" disappearing any time soon. As long as they are the higher volume Mac laptop sellers then the Mac Mini and entry level iMac will likely continue to ride in that bow wave of parts volume. There is nothing about ARM that makes sense for those two higher volume Macs either. That is even more unlikely. Apple has a 10x bigger than OS X market for an ARM OS that already exists. They don't need another OS on ARM when already make tons of money off on the one they already have.
The upcoming MBAr 12" is pretty likely to be a lower volume seller as it is likely that the price will go up. ( every Retina Mac has meant a higher priced Mac so far. Nothing particular about 12" points to that changing much). The MBA 11" would disappear and the MBA 13" could very well take its old price point (which would likely drive its volume higher; not lower ).
A significant percentage of those put off by the pathetic upgrade, also advise other family members on Mac purchases. I know that with the lack of upgradeability, macs are no longer as slam dunk a decision as they were before.
Apple Stores have more collective visitors per month than several mega scale amusement parks. The notion that folks won't see and get recommendations about buying Macs if some non-paid evangelist doesn't do a sermon on the mount preaching is increasingly just narcissistic hand waving.
The number of non Mac owners are greatly outnumbers by than those that do. The vast bulk of Apple device owners do NOT own Macs. The iOS user base is 10x bigger than OS X. All that has to happen is 10% of the iOS owners say "by Mac" and all the "I'm going back to Windows" folks are completely and utterly swamped back into background noise. Frankly, a huge chunk of those folks may be on Windows themselves. Right tool for right job.
...and that market segment is so small that it isn't even a rounding error on MM sales. I'm with you on the 2014 soldered & sealed approach, but we need to be realistic about whether it matters as a business point.
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For YOU. Face it, the number of people who care about this issue is roughly 2x the number of people posting in this thread. It's a non-issue to Apple, and it will go on being a non-issue.
Enjoy it George!
According to recent reports, if you have a 2014 mini or other Mac with the same fast PCIe storage option, the Fusion Drive can be much faster than the prior generation of SSD and FD storage solutions.
All the new Mac mini has done is this:
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=121542940125
Bloody ridiculous!!!
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=121542940125
Bloody ridiculous!!!
This. Considering you can upgrade most Late 2014 minis to PCIe SSD, your hard drive performance could be from 2-3X faster than even the fastest 2011/2012 minis with SSD. This will become more common in the next year or two when those 1TB PCIe X 4 Apple/Samsung SSDs with 1.3+ GB/s read speeds become more available in the after market.