I am so eagerly waiting for October 15rh and hoping so hard for a mini update with Iris Pro and a PCIe SSD.
That would be extremely nice to say the least. I have to winder if they are waiting on Intel and the TB2 chip supply. TB 2 could be very interesting in a Mini Quad core for the server market. TB2 in this case would be providing a disk array connection.
I might have to wait to afford it but it'll be worth it.
Sadly I might not be able to afford it this year.
While I know CPU performance over the past few years has been marginal (Sandy to Ivy and now Ivy to Haswell), I wonder if integrated GPU performance will continue to have substantial jumps starting with Haswell and onward.
If you look at the photo micro graphs of the Haswell chip you will see that the GPU takes up a good portion of the chip. To get substantially better performance, Intel would have to do a process shrink to increase the area available to the GPU. However there is a problem, there is strong demand for more CPU cores so it isn't an automatic gain for the GPU if Intel does do a process shrink.
In any event the CPU performance really isn't that bad, Intel actually does fairly well on a per watt basis now. I know that isn't the performance you are talking about, but they got there without loosing computational performance. Haswell basically is a design that stressed different priorities than in the past. It is a good chip design that would do wonders with the next shrink.
I am dreaming for a revamped mini that has a better cooling fan so that it will work well with heavy rendering with a nod towards render farms, oh, and an 8-core CPU. If so, I could pick up 2 or 3 and add more later. Ha!
That unfortunately is a dream that won't come true for a couple of years. Four core and even six core might be possible even with an advance GPU. Four core is already a done deal if you DuPont need GPU performance.
Alas, I do wake up from time to time and realize that that is not likely, so I hope they do a good improvement.
Not likely this year and possibly not next year if the rumors about Intel slowing up some development programs is true. However continue to dream because the onward march of technology means that machine isn't far off.
I will consider it, but it is looking highly likely that I will look first at a 12-core MacPro, unless it would require selling the house.
There is no way at all that that machine will be cheap, Intel has a stiff price on those chips. However I think there is an extremely good chance that lower end configurations will be much cheaper. So maybe a six or eight core is in your future.
Well I mean I don't have to have a mini if they do get rid of it but I want something like it in the headless desktop category. If they do get rid of it eventually (say within a year or two), what are my options? The Intel NUC? I know I asked this before but don't think I got a clear answer.
Actually if your rendering software get ported to OpenCL and runs well on Intels new Iris GPUs you may want to consider Iris enabled processors. For some OpenCL uses Iris is delivering impressive numbers. Wanting for that 8 core chip might not be worth it.
Of course this supposes that the rendering software ends up ported to OpenCL and that it actually runs good on Iris.
Well I mean I don't have to have a mini if they do get rid of it but I want something like it in the headless desktop category. If they do get rid of it eventually (say within a year or two), what are my options? The Intel NUC? I know I asked this before but don't think I got a clear answer.
In the last year or so the mini concept has been heavily copied in the PC world. Lenovo for example has a very compact machine that sort of resembles the Mini. I also remember just recently seeing a front page cover at the magazine store of a whole lineup of Mini look a likes. I can't remember what magazine it was as I'm not interested in most PC rags.
In any event I would be prepared to see desktop machines shrink from every manufacture in the coming years. It is the way of high integration and fast electronics that computer literally have to get smaller to benefit from those fast electronics.
In the last year or so the mini concept has been heavily copied in the PC world. Lenovo for example has a very compact machine that sort of resembles the Mini. I also remember just recently seeing a front page cover at the magazine store of a whole lineup of Mini look a likes. I can't remember what magazine it was as I'm not interested in most PC rags.
In any event I would be prepared to see desktop machines shrink from every manufacture in the coming years. It is the way of high integration and fast electronics that computer literally have to get smaller to benefit from those fast electronics.
Yeah I am just too used to having my mini hooked up to my HDTV for use as a huge monitor. I am not sure I want to go back to Windows so I will make every effort to stay with Mac but I am not sure I want an iMac or MacBook Pro. A Mac Pro is out of my budget and I wouldn't get full usage out of it.
Guess the shutdown has some people down. I can go to the Apple page and get to the mini in three clicks, same as iMac, MacBooks, etc.; it is right in the middle of the bar.
Guess the shutdown has some people down. I can go to the Apple page and get to the mini in three clicks, same as iMac, MacBooks, etc.; it is right in the middle of the bar.
Gee, Apple hates the mini.
Keep the politics out of Future Hardware. That's what PO is for.
And I was referring to the physical Apple Stores, where usually one lonely Mini sits all by itself against a wall. It sits right next to the one Mac Pro model, which was itself forgotten by Apple until this June.
In contrast, whole tables are used to display the AIO products: MacBooks, iMacs and iPads.
There will be no announcement, just a silent update and press release. Apple hates the Mini.
If you question that, just look at how it's presented at the Apple Store. If you can find it.
I noticed that too, I had to ask the a sales person where it was the last time I was in the Apple Store. I like really like the Mini, the perfect media computer for your TV.
I was surprised the iMac wasn't saved for an announcement but oh well. Iris Pro would be nice but if they give me Iris, I'll be happy. I am not too excited on picking up the Intel HD 4600 and would probably wait for Broadwell unless they had a PCIe SSD.
Keep the politics out of Future Hardware. That's what PO is for.
And I was referring to the physical Apple Stores, where usually one lonely Mini sits all by itself against a wall. It sits right next to the one Mac Pro model, which was itself forgotten by Apple until this June.
Yeah I know what you are talking about now. It is very perplexing to say the least and frankly it applied to their server hardware too. The server hardware is gone now but I have this feeling that Apple just didn't want to be bothered with actually trying to sell outside its primary markets.
In contrast, whole tables are used to display the AIO products: MacBooks, iMacs and iPads.
Pretty pathetic isn't it. To be honest though I don't think the Mini was ever really something that Apple wanted to sell, it seems like a product designed for alternative sales channels. Many of those alternative channels being Internet based.
In the end though you are right, it is a machine that gets treated like a step child by a mother with no love in her heart. Sad really because the Mini isn't a bad machine nor concept, but it is neglected.
I was surprised the iMac wasn't saved for an announcement but oh well. Iris Pro would be nice but if they give me Iris, I'll be happy. I am not too excited on picking up the Intel HD 4600 and would probably wait for Broadwell unless they had a PCIe SSD.
If they use the same SSD blades used in the MBA's that will be one hell of an upgrade for the Mini. My fear though is that they would shrink the machine some more and drop support for an internal magnetic drive. Having room for bulk storage is still a nice feature to have in any desktop. Of course if Apple where to offer a cost competitive external storage device for use over TB that may allow for a much thinner Mini.
Of course the Mini would have to still be around in the coming year.
With this year's updates, Apple could push me closer towards an iMac if the Mac mini is discontinued but for the $1,300 cost want something better than 1920x1080 and I want flash storage not a 1 TB HDD at 5,400 rpm.
With this year's updates, Apple could push me closer towards an iMac if the Mac mini is discontinued but for the $1,300 cost want something better than 1920x1080 and I want flash storage not a 1 TB HDD at 5,400 rpm.
We'll see what the Haswell refresh brings.
The current Mac Mini can push A 27" Apple Display at full rez and that price you quoted would include a 256GB SSD drive or a hybrid Fusion drive at 1TB.
The only downside is the Intel HD Graphics 4000. I want a minimum of Iris 5100. I don't want another base mini and to have a dual core processor with the Intel HD 4600.
I should perhaps say that I'd like to think Iris (and especially Iris Pro) will be much better than the 4600, but price will play a role in my decision on whether I pull the trigger.
Comments
You will probably first see a six core mobile CPU before you see an eight core mobile CPU.
I hope I said I was dreaming!
I could go for dual quad core...
If you look at the photo micro graphs of the Haswell chip you will see that the GPU takes up a good portion of the chip. To get substantially better performance, Intel would have to do a process shrink to increase the area available to the GPU. However there is a problem, there is strong demand for more CPU cores so it isn't an automatic gain for the GPU if Intel does do a process shrink.
In any event the CPU performance really isn't that bad, Intel actually does fairly well on a per watt basis now. I know that isn't the performance you are talking about, but they got there without loosing computational performance. Haswell basically is a design that stressed different priorities than in the past. It is a good chip design that would do wonders with the next shrink.
There is no way at all that that machine will be cheap, Intel has a stiff price on those chips. However I think there is an extremely good chance that lower end configurations will be much cheaper. So maybe a six or eight core is in your future.
Actually if your rendering software get ported to OpenCL and runs well on Intels new Iris GPUs you may want to consider Iris enabled processors. For some OpenCL uses Iris is delivering impressive numbers. Wanting for that 8 core chip might not be worth it.
Of course this supposes that the rendering software ends up ported to OpenCL and that it actually runs good on Iris.
In the last year or so the mini concept has been heavily copied in the PC world. Lenovo for example has a very compact machine that sort of resembles the Mini. I also remember just recently seeing a front page cover at the magazine store of a whole lineup of Mini look a likes. I can't remember what magazine it was as I'm not interested in most PC rags.
In any event I would be prepared to see desktop machines shrink from every manufacture in the coming years. It is the way of high integration and fast electronics that computer literally have to get smaller to benefit from those fast electronics.
Yeah I am just too used to having my mini hooked up to my HDTV for use as a huge monitor. I am not sure I want to go back to Windows so I will make every effort to stay with Mac but I am not sure I want an iMac or MacBook Pro. A Mac Pro is out of my budget and I wouldn't get full usage out of it.
There will be no announcement, just a silent update and press release. Apple hates the Mini.
If you question that, just look at how it's presented at the Apple Store. If you can find it.
Guess the shutdown has some people down. I can go to the Apple page and get to the mini in three clicks, same as iMac, MacBooks, etc.; it is right in the middle of the bar.
Gee, Apple hates the mini.
Guess the shutdown has some people down. I can go to the Apple page and get to the mini in three clicks, same as iMac, MacBooks, etc.; it is right in the middle of the bar.
Gee, Apple hates the mini.
Keep the politics out of Future Hardware. That's what PO is for.
And I was referring to the physical Apple Stores, where usually one lonely Mini sits all by itself against a wall. It sits right next to the one Mac Pro model, which was itself forgotten by Apple until this June.
In contrast, whole tables are used to display the AIO products: MacBooks, iMacs and iPads.
There will be no announcement, just a silent update and press release. Apple hates the Mini.
If you question that, just look at how it's presented at the Apple Store. If you can find it.
I noticed that too, I had to ask the a sales person where it was the last time I was in the Apple Store. I like really like the Mini, the perfect media computer for your TV.
Pretty pathetic isn't it. To be honest though I don't think the Mini was ever really something that Apple wanted to sell, it seems like a product designed for alternative sales channels. Many of those alternative channels being Internet based.
In the end though you are right, it is a machine that gets treated like a step child by a mother with no love in her heart. Sad really because the Mini isn't a bad machine nor concept, but it is neglected.
If they use the same SSD blades used in the MBA's that will be one hell of an upgrade for the Mini. My fear though is that they would shrink the machine some more and drop support for an internal magnetic drive. Having room for bulk storage is still a nice feature to have in any desktop. Of course if Apple where to offer a cost competitive external storage device for use over TB that may allow for a much thinner Mini.
Of course the Mini would have to still be around in the coming year.
We'll see what the Haswell refresh brings.
With this year's updates, Apple could push me closer towards an iMac if the Mac mini is discontinued but for the $1,300 cost want something better than 1920x1080 and I want flash storage not a 1 TB HDD at 5,400 rpm.
We'll see what the Haswell refresh brings.
The current Mac Mini can push A 27" Apple Display at full rez and that price you quoted would include a 256GB SSD drive or a hybrid Fusion drive at 1TB.
2.6GHz i7
8GB
256GB Solid State
1200.00
We should know something soon... hopefully...