Why doesn't everyone love the Mac mini?

[macmikemac]

Can anyone explain to me why the world of Mac users does not love the Mac mini as much as I do?

I can't understand why people want to pay for a new screen every time they buy a new Mac.

I love my 3 Mac minis. And I have these great Apple 24" cinema displays that I've had for years.

I just don't understand why the mini is not an extremely popular product.

My latest one has 16 GB of RAM and a 2 TB drive -- and I did not have to buy a new monitor with it!

What in the world am I missing???

Thank you for any help.

 

[treekram]

I have 3 Mini's and an iMac that predates all of my Mini's.

The iMac's have desktop CPU's, so the clock frequency is higher, even if the Mini were updated and had a quad core option, you could get ~50% more processing power on the high-end.

The 27-inch iMac's have 5K Retina monitors. You wouldn't be able to get 5K even from an updated Mini unless it had a dGPU, something that would be very unlikely.

On the low-end, the 1920x1080 monitor iMac doesn't make much sense even compared to the current Mini (although I think the current cheapest iMac memory can be upgraded).

 

[for this]

It's very popular. It has (had?) been on the top of best selling computers on Amazon. Not sure how much the lack of upgrade for 3 years affects the sales there though.

It seems Apple just don't love them, not much profit margin compared to iMac's, perhaps.

 

[Boyd01]

Wouldn't the world be a boring place if everyone loved the same thing? I love my Mini's, gave one to my daughter's family and still have two at home, along with an 11" MacBook Air and a Windows PC. The little MacBook Air is amazing, so small and light you forget you're carrying it around, battery lasts all day, has lots of ports for peripherals and is very powerful (I have the i7/8gb/512gb model). Obviously this meets a much different need than the Mini. If someone spends a lot of time away from home, why would they want a Mini?

Many people have been attracted to the Mac for its simplicity and ease of use. The mini probably won't appeal to them because you have to buy a screen, keyboard and mouse. An iMac or laptop is appealing because you just open the box, plug it in and start using it.

I have a 2012 quad 2.6ghz i7 mini server with 16gb and original Apple 256gb SSD that I use for video and audio editing. Something is plugged into every port - 4 channel USB audio interface, Samson studio monitors, Korg control surface, 1tb Samsung T3 SSD, two 5tb USB hard drives, a firewire Sony DVCAM/HDV tape deck, Blackmagic thunderbolt ultrastudio video interface connected to a production monitor...

The Mini is great for this and the quad core cpu renders video twice as fast as my MacBook Air (it is also 50% faster than the current top of the line Mini). But clearly I am not "everyone", so I don't expect everyone to share my enthusiasm for the Mini.

Enjoy yours while it lasts, I have a feeling there won't be any new ones.

 

[frank4]

My Mini still runs great and does it all, even though it is a humble refurb base model 2011 with a spinner HD. I hope Apple comes out with a good update, if not I will buy a used 2012 or current model 2014 Mini.

I have friends with Apple and Windows notebooks and 90 to 100% of the time their computers are always plugged in to AC power and are never moved, or they are moved but plugged in. Those notebooks are desktop replacements that are bought for the convenient form factor (small, no external monitor/mouse/keyboard), not really bought for portability, battery could actually be removed.

 

[Boyd01]

Those notebooks are desktop replacements that are bought for the convenient form factor (small, no external monitor/mouse/keyboard)

That is very true, I have a family member that used an old white MacBook for many years just because it fit her desk nicely. She never once took it out of the house. Got her a 13" MacBook Air two years ago and it has been on her desk ever since. I suggested that it was actually great for travel and just got a confused look from her.

 

[macmikemac]

I emailed Tim Cook ask him to please, please not discontinue the mini. I have not heard back.

But I do feel that I could still get years out of my existing Mac minis and/or buy some "new" or refurbished ones for quite a while, unless they change something fundamental about the Mac operating system that renders all the minis obsolete...

 

[krause734]

The Mac Mini is the best way to use MacOS at the lowest price point. Mac Pro is overpower/priced for most people and I'm not a student anymore so I don't need a laptop. I am not a fan of standalone iMacs that need to be upgraded more frequently.

 

[AFEPPL]

It's just not configurable or able to offer serious power.
If you want to do anything serious you are better off with either a iMac (soon to be iMac pro) or the rMBP 15". The 21" iMac with the newer 3.0Ghz i5 CPUs is only a £100 more!!! Why would you not take the screen too for that price?

That said, I'd rather have a NUC, over the mini.
I equally surprised people actually still buy them and apple produce them if I'm honest..

 

[Partron22]

Some people like to have a machine that when the display goes, you have to buy a whole new computer.

 

[AlliePallie]

Some people like to have a machine that when the display goes, you have to buy a whole new computer.

Right. I have a 2010 Mini which has had two, 2 that is, display failures and the third is a wee tad wonky now.
One way or another, the Mini survives and wins. Well, except, maybe, in Apple management circles <sad sighs>.

 

[AFEPPL]

For just £100 extra, i'll take my chances and get a new screen too every 3 years.

 

[tibas92013]

Can anyone explain to me why the world of Mac users does not love the Mac mini as much as I do?

I can't understand why people want to pay for a new screen every time they buy a new Mac.

I love my 3 Mac minis. And I have these great Apple 24" cinema displays that I've had for years.

I just don't understand why the mini is not an extremely popular product.

My latest one has 16 GB of RAM and a 2 TB drive -- and I did not have to buy a new monitor with it!

What in the world am I missing???

Thank you for any help.

I gather from your comments above that all your MM's are Year 2011 and below?? If so, this gives me hope that my Refurbished MM(late 2012), 2.5GHz,16GB Ram, 500GB HD will serve me through year 2020 and my other Refurbished MM(Late 2014), 2.8GHz,8GB Ram, 256SSD will serve me through Year 2025!

However, my next Mac will be the 2017 iMac as I am not on a "beer Budget".

 

[macmikemac]

It's just not configurable or able to offer serious power.
If you want to do anything serious you are better off with either a iMac (soon to be iMac pro) or the rMBP 15". The 21" iMac with the newer 3.0Ghz i5 CPUs is only a £100 more!!! Why would you not take the screen too for that price?

That said, I'd rather have a NUC, over the mini.
I equally surprised people actually still buy them and apple produce them if I'm honest..

[doublepost=1499546711][/doublepost]I'm curious -- for what kind of tasks/programs specifically does the mini not offer enough power? Thank you.

 

[AFEPPL]

Anything that needs a decent graphic card... mini only has iris.
Editing videos, encoding, adobe creative, windows gaming, 3D modelling, nice smooth experience, 4k video playback would all see significant improvements for a better GPU.