2014 Mac mini Wishlist

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  • Reply 1041 of 1528
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post







    Sadly I haven't heard, seen or otherwise noted any rumors at all about the machine. That is strange in and of itself.

     

    They always hold back the mini refresh to some degree. It's like initial cpu purchases are earmarked for the macbook pros. The mini is typically the last thing refreshed, possibly to avoid the risk of undercutting the other lines with confused buyers. I suspect it'll debut alongside the mac pro. Broadwell won't ship in anything until most likely Q4 next year.

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  • Reply 1042 of 1528
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member
    wizard69 wrote: »
    Frustrated are we?

    Don't you know it!
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  • Reply 1043 of 1528
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    winter wrote: »
    Don't you know it!

    Here is something to tweak your mind: http://store.apple.com/fi/product/HD971ZM/A/sharp-32-inch-pn-k321-4k-ultra-hd-led-monitor. Look at the LCD screen images especially the one on the right. They have the machine sitting next to something that looks like an Airport of some type. Maybe the new Mini?
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  • Reply 1044 of 1528
    Marvinmarvin Posts: 15,585moderator
    wizard69 wrote: »
    Look at the LCD screen images especially the one on the right. They have the machine sitting next to something that looks like an Airport of some type. Maybe the new Mini?

    It's the Airport Extreme. Just a size reference for the display. You'd think they'd put a Mac Pro next to it but I guess they wanted something that was shipping that people might own to be able to tell how big it was. The current mini isn't a very good comparison as it's so small. This way you can see it's just over twice the height of the Airport. It helps when you try to fit it into a tight desk space.
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  • Reply 1045 of 1528
    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post

    They have the machine sitting next to something that looks like an Airport of some type.

     

    It’s just an AirPort Extreme.

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  • Reply 1046 of 1528
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post





    It's the Airport Extreme. Just a size reference for the display. You'd think they'd put a Mac Pro next to it but I guess they wanted something that was shipping that people might own to be able to tell how big it was. The current mini isn't a very good comparison as it's so small. This way you can see it's just over twice the height of the Airport. It helps when you try to fit it into a tight desk space.



    Yeah. What I wonder is whether it's a sign that Apple isn't going to come out with their own 4K display in the near future. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes some time. Typically they like to share parts with the imac, but that's still seemingly way outside of imac territory.

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  • Reply 1047 of 1528

    Do you think that will happen sooner rather than later or not for at least say five years?

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  • Reply 1048 of 1528
    frank777frank777 Posts: 5,839member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmm View Post

     



    Yeah. What I wonder is whether it's a sign that Apple isn't going to come out with their own 4K display in the near future. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes some time. Typically they like to share parts with the imac, but that's still seemingly way outside of imac territory.


     

    That's fine, the 4K market is in its infancy and time is on their side. They'll go 4K when it makes sense.

     

    But it would be nice to know when the 27" will be updated and the cost. Apple's not big on roadmaps, but we're in unique economic times here.

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  • Reply 1049 of 1528
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Frank777 View Post

     

     

    That's fine, the 4K market is in its infancy and time is on their side. They'll go 4K when it makes sense.

     

    But it would be nice to know when the 27" will be updated and the cost. Apple's not big on roadmaps, but we're in unique economic times here.




    Dell has a 24".  They also have a 28" that is cheaper for whatever reason. It's probably a lower panel grade, B grade, or something of that sort. I think the 24" is around $1500. I like 24" displays. When I used a 3:4 display, it was 21", which is basically the same height as a 24" 16:10. If NEC comes out with one, I'll probably buy it at some point. They did update some of their higher end displays to LED backlighting. That actually took off on the low end initially, as while it has advantages, the color reproduction was initially inferior. It also took some time for colorimeters to catch up.

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  • Reply 1050 of 1528
    Marvinmarvin Posts: 15,585moderator
    hmm wrote: »
    Yeah. What I wonder is whether it's a sign that Apple isn't going to come out with their own 4K display in the near future. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes some time. Typically they like to share parts with the imac, but that's still seemingly way outside of imac territory.

    It could be a sign it'll be delayed and people can still buy the current Thunderbolt display for the Mac Pro. I don't see Apple going back to $3000+ displays, the market is just too small for it. Dell is bringing their sub-$1000 28" out early next year - if it's just a TN panel, I'm not sure what market it's aimed at but if it's MVA rather than IPS or IGZO, it'll still be pretty competitive.
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  • Reply 1051 of 1528
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post





    It could be a sign it'll be delayed and people can still buy the current Thunderbolt display for the Mac Pro. I don't see Apple going back to $3000+ displays, the market is just too small for it. Dell is bringing their sub-$1000 28" out early next year - if it's just a TN panel, I'm not sure what market it's aimed at but if it's MVA rather than IPS or IGZO, it'll still be pretty competitive.



    It's not just that. There's nothing interesting for Apple to add there. Those are aimed at specialty markets that are better served by the companies that are already entrenched. The thunderbolt display's design seems aimed at being an attractive addition to a notebook. They sell a lot of notebooks. It allows those individuals to have one cable hookup to storage and a large display while at their desks. In that regard it's purpose and hardware budgeting is different than the aforementioned $3000 displays. There aren't as many in that range now anyway. You can get a really nice NEC 27" for under $1000 at this point + whatever they charge for spectraview and the accompanying colorimeter now. I figure the Sharp display is a case of something that can be shipped today. When it's cheap enough to ship a 4K imac, we'll definitely see a thunderbolt display. It does occur to me that the imac seems to still use the original thunderbolt. Only the rmbp and mac pro are listed as thunderbolt 2 on the apple site.

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  • Reply 1052 of 1528
    frank777frank777 Posts: 5,839member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by hmm View Post

     

    It does occur to me that the imac seems to still use the original thunderbolt. Only the rmbp and mac pro are listed as thunderbolt 2 on the apple site.


     

    Yep. An update to the iMac seems imminent after the New Year.

     

    With people wondering how USB 3.1 vs Thunderbolt is going to shake out, Apple really needs to ensure that TB2 gets solid support from all lines.

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  • Reply 1053 of 1528
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Frank777 View Post

     

     

    Yep. An update to the iMac seems imminent after the New Year.

     

    With people wondering how USB 3.1 vs Thunderbolt is going to shake out, Apple really needs to ensure that TB2 gets solid support from all lines.




    I would agree on this partly because they don't want to limit the available pool of hardware that can fully leverage future peripheral devices. I suspect part of the reason the thunderbolt display wasn't updated was due to costs and desired margins. It's possible that the imac facelift was more costly than they anticipated. I didn't expect them to break the trend of uniformity for this many months. My initial prediction was by June, but I usually look predominantly at past behavior to avoid digging through every rumor. Lately I haven't been very accurate due to this.

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  • Reply 1054 of 1528
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    It might be cheaper to make a larger panel if they are having problems achieving the high pitch densities. Just a thought.
    hmm wrote: »
    Dell has a 24".  They also have a 28" that is cheaper for whatever reason. It's probably a lower panel grade, B grade, or something of that sort. I think the 24" is around $1500. I like 24" displays. When I used a 3:4 display, it was 21", which is basically the same height as a 24" 16:10. If NEC comes out with one, I'll probably buy it at some point. They did update some of their higher end displays to LED backlighting. That actually took off on the low end initially, as while it has advantages, the color reproduction was initially inferior. It also took some time for colorimeters to catch up.
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  • Reply 1055 of 1528
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    frank777 wrote: »
    Yep. An update to the iMac seems imminent after the New Year.
    That would be pushing things pretty hard.
    With people wondering how USB 3.1 vs Thunderbolt is going to shake out, Apple really needs to ensure that TB2 gets solid support from all lines.

    I'm not sure why people continue to believe that anything will shake out with respect to USB and TB. The differences between the ports is stark, more so the markets they target are entirely different. I don't see Apple having any problems at all with supporting the newer USB standards to some degree.

    The other half of the equation is the continued implosion of the Windows PC market. The market isn't comparable to what it was even three years ago. Interests have changed and frankly a high performance USB port won't mean much, nor be a driver for new products.
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  • Reply 1056 of 1528
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post



    It might be cheaper to make a larger panel if they are having problems achieving the high pitch densities. Just a thought.



    Note the 32" is still much more costly. It may be of a completely different level of quality, but you have expensive 32", cheaper 24", and cheapest 28" from the same brand. That makes little sense to me. I only use my current one part of the time, so it can take 2 more years or so. At that point 4K should be stable and sensible in price.

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  • Reply 1057 of 1528
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member
    No silent mini update which is unfortunate but hopefully we'll see something in 2014.
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  • Reply 1058 of 1528
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    winter wrote: »
    No silent mini update which is unfortunate but hopefully we'll see something in 2014.

    Very unfortunate! I feel your pain!

    I'm thinking about a platform right now to run Linux on and the Mini in many ways is a good platform for that. However I'm not willing to forgo the improvements that Haswell GPU offers. I may have to go with a generic motherboard and box if something doesn't happen soon.

    This doesn't even include my need for a new Mac OS machine. Which again needs to be Haswell based to get a better GPU.
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  • Reply 1059 of 1528
    frank777frank777 Posts: 5,839member

    I wanted to buy a Mini to upgrade my parents' setup this Christmas. That plan got scratched this morning.

     

    Dyson may get the money instead.

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  • Reply 1060 of 1528
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    frank777 wrote: »
    I wanted to buy a Mini to upgrade my parents' setup this Christmas. That plan got scratched this morning.

    Dyson may get the money instead.

    Dyson makes computers?

    Just kidding. The current Mini is quickly becoming a very bad value with the advent of much better APU type chips. So I don't blame you for looking at a Dyson. You do have a few shopping days to go though.
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