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Why the Mini Has Not Had a Refresh Since 2012
- Thread starter mad3inch1na
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Yep, numbers are slipping on all PC's but if you don't need portability then why buy a laptop for twice the price you can get a desktop for?
I had a rMBP and decided it was overpriced and could get the same components in a Mini. Why should I pay for a extra screen, a battery that has to be replaced,
RAM I can't get to and a HD I can't swap out easily.
Yep, straight from their most recent filing, page 26:
How many Mini's are set up at Apple stores? 1, while there are 10+ iMacs and 20+ MacBooks. Its not a priority of theirs at all, plain and simple.
All anyone can know from those numbers is that Apple says laptops are responsible for the observed growth in mac sales, but that says nothing about how many desktop users there are, or even how many desktops were sold in that time period.
Sure, but we know that as of a little under 2 years ago portables outsold desktops by a 3 to 1 margin. See page 30.
http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/AAPL/3285293492x0xS1193125-12-444068/320193/filing.pdf
Moreover, several quarterly reports since then have indicated declining desktop sales, like the most recent quarter. Also factor in that of the desktop models available the iMac was the only model to be regularly updated. By this point I'd wager the ratio is 4 to 1, maybe even more.
I'm making some guesses here, but its possible that for every 20 Macs sold, 16 are MBA/MBP, 2-3 are iMacs and 1-2 are Mini/Pro. Which is pretty close to the ratio of display machines you see when going into an Apple store.
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My guess is that laptops are replaced at a faster rate than desktops.
Time was that there was a trend to laptops from desktops, and it may still be going on to some extent. However now we must be coming closer to the point that those who want laptops, have one, and those that want desktops have one. Then there are those whose system includes a desktop for heavy duty work at base, and a laptop (or a few) for on the on the move.
Laptops take a relative hammering. They tend to wear out quicker than desktops, which tend to be powered up for longer periods, and are not subject to the same general wear and tear. Give or take the odd recent iMac, desktops are generally more repairable and upgradeable. Colleagues reckon on replacing a cheap Windows laptop every couple of years. I guess MacBooks would last a bit longer, on average, but they still would not last as long as a desktop.
As to the display ratio of Apple computers and gadgets in shops, I have seldom seen more than one of anything.
I don't agree with that. The data suggest a 3-1 ratio, not 4-1. Moreover, Apple has lagged in introducing new desktops, which has undoubtedly had downward pressure on desktop sales. Without Apple's interference, the ratio would be 3-1, or perhaps even closer to 2-1, as it was in 2010.
I can't tell if this is a joke or not. If not, you've clearly never been in an Apple store before.
There they are, in the back left corner. A single Mac Pro and Mini, while every other product has multiple.
Yes, the data from 21 months ago, which has been trending strongly in favor of portables for the past 13 years:
*2013 uses same mix as 2012, adjusted down 10% for simplicity's sake
As you said there has been a lack of desktop updates so over that time period I'd expect the divide to be even larger than it was. Going from 3-1 to 4-1 is only a 5% shift, its entirely possible.
What interference are you talking about? Apple makes products that are a) profitable and b) have demand. Are you saying they're not selling desktops just to spite themselves?
Laptops are more profitable and it's not like Apple's desktop users have any choice if they want a Mac desktop. Instead, Apple could manufacture fewer desktop units per update, and update more frequently, but that's not what they've been doing.
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Recent earnings call as well as the WWDC 2014 keynote. Look it up.
Yep, numbers are slipping on all PC's but if you don't need portability then why buy a laptop for twice the price you can get a desktop for?
I had a rMBP and decided it was overpriced and could get the same components in a Mini. Why should I pay for a extra screen, a battery that has to be replaced,
RAM I can't get to and a HD I can't swap out easily.
Because (a) it is inevitable that the Mac mini will have no user-servicable RAM nor non-proprietary SSD storage just like the iMacs, MacBook Airs, and retina MacBook Pros, and (b) the cost of 13" Retina MacBook Pros will eventually hit a comparable price-point where the Mac mini will be rendered moot anyway.
and this very well may be true. There may not even be another Mini. At that point I would have to way the benefits of staying with Apple or moving on to Linux or Windows.
I'm not a Apple fan boy but I do like OSX and IOS. I'm also running Linux Mint 17 on another machine which I like also.
My present Mini is just fine right now until true 4k matures with content and prices come down.
On the current mini Apple went out of its way to make it easy to upgrade. The 27" iMac has a very convenient way to upgrade ram. OWC has all sorts of ram and drive upgrade kits for laptops (some of them). If you turn out to be correct in your prediction, I guess you can say it was inevitable, but if your prediction is wrong (and I think it is), it won't be much of a shock given how the mini has been designed and marketed to date. But, it will be quite a feat to be able to make a laptop with a retina display that costs no more than a comparable machine with no display. I look forward to seeing it.
and this very well may be true. There may not even be another Mini. At that point I would have to way the benefits of staying with Apple or moving on to Linux or Windows.
I'm not a Apple fan boy but I do like OSX and IOS. I'm also running Linux Mint 17 on another machine which I like also.
My present Mini is just fine right now until true 4k matures with content and prices come down.
Mac minis were never meant to be performance workhorses; same with 13" MacBook Pros (retina or otherwise). If they were to kill off the Mac mini and the iMac, there'd still be a Mac at every performance level; MacBook Air/13" MacBook Pro at the low-end; 15" MacBook Pro at the prosumer end; and Mac Pro at the high end.
On the previous Mac mini, you couldn't upgrade anything without voiding the warranty. On this Mac mini, you can upgrade the RAM without voiding the warranty, but that's it. It wouldn't be unrealistic for the next mini to make upgrading the RAM either impossible (if soldered per retina MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, and that new low-end 21.5" iMac configuration) or not user-servicable (i.e. it's possible, but you'd void the warranty unless you were a certified technician). That being said, the Gigabyte Brix allows for RAM (DDR3L SO-DIMMs) and the solid state drive (mSATA) to be replaced/serviced easily. Not far fetched for Apple to adopt a similar design as the Brix is substantially smaller than the current Mac mini. Bye bye hard/fusion drives though; but, given the capacity limits of 2.5" drives anyway, good riddance in my opinion.
I like your positive thought but I think it will be glued and soldered just because of automated production process.
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