Sadly I'm not getting a warm fuzzy feeling here. I wold have expected a leak or two by now.
They might as well discontinue the Mini at this point. Hey Wizard why do you torture yourself this way, you've been bitching about the Mini for the better part of a year now. Just move on already, it's not even a decent computer anymore, especially when compared to whats out there now. I know I've mentioned the Dell X51 in the past but man is that thing just packed full of goodies, you can now configure it with a Intel i7-4790 chip, which makes it as fast as the Mac Pro entry model. The prospect of running a Hackintosh might feel dirty on some level but in all honestly, if you didn't see the box you would never know, it runs and feels identical. Screw Appl?, seriously, why should you suffer.
The MM is a decent computer and a reliable one also.Sadly Cook who had more gumption than he has should come out with a newer model and stop modifying the dumb i pad airs which are worthless in my opinion.
The prospect of running a Hackintosh might feel dirty on some level but in all honestly, if you didn't see the box you would never know, it runs and feels identical. Screw Appl?, seriously, why should you suffer.
A hackintosh isn't even necessary, they offer plenty of cheap laptops that would suffice and get updated often:
That's an older one that can be upgraded but performs about the same as the newer models. $1109 for the machine, put in a 16GB RAM for $100 and a 512GB SSD for $200 and you get a ~$1400 Mini with a dedicated GPU.
The mini is good value for a spare Mac but as a main computer, people are far better off with a MBP or iMac.
The mini is good value for a spare Mac but as a main computer, people are far better off with a MBP or iMac.
I have a Mini underneath the TV and only use it for watching movies. But when the 10.10 beta went public I thought what the heck and installed. Tried out various software, and I have to say, the Mini is one heck of a machine. Even though mine has a HDD it performs incredibly well.
On my MP it's fun to see all 8 CPU's doing their thing when I convert FLAC to .mp3 and I don't think tasks like those would be anywhere near 'ok' on a Mini but if my MP dies I would seriously consider a Mini as my main Mac. Especially because a) I don't like the glossy screens on laptops and b) I'm enjoying the 30"ACD to the fullest; it's large ánd matte.
We had the Airport Express router that was big and hanging like a pachyderm dong from the power socket - now that has become flat, square, little.
We had the Apple TV which was as big as the mac mini itself but thinner, that shrunk to as big as the now Airport Express.
Why can't the mac mini be next ? Really what does it have now that can't be made in that form factor ? And the storage - would it be a motherboard soldered SSD like the macbook air or, dare I say, even, iCloud based ?
Haswell may be something - but S8 processor (parody of A8 - for the desktop) or something like that ? There had been rumors about Apple moving desktops to A8. Why not start with the mac mini ?
Ideally, my dream is that they also make a backbone frame where you can slot in a mac mini, the airport express router and an apple tv all hooking up to the backbone and one outlet from that - ethernet, hdmi and power which will connect to outside.
Well, wild it is. But that is what makes it exciting though.
We had the Airport Express router that was big and hanging like a pachyderm dong from the power socket - now that has become flat, square, little.
We had the Apple TV which was as big as the mac mini itself but thinner, that shrunk to as big as the now Airport Express.
Why can't the mac mini be next ? Really what does it have now that can't be made in that form factor ? And the storage - would it be a motherboard soldered SSD like the macbook air or, dare I say, even, iCloud based ?
Haswell may be something - but S8 processor (parody of A8 - for the desktop) or something like that ? There had been rumors about Apple moving desktops to A8. Why not start with the mac mini ?
Ideally, my dream is that they also make a backbone frame where you can slot in a mac mini, the airport express router and an apple tv all hooking up to the backbone and one outlet from that - ethernet, hdmi and power which will connect to outside.
Well, wild it is. But that is what makes it exciting though.
What sayeth you guys?
We sayeth that this has been covered multiple times in the last 34 pages but since TL;DR:
A shrunken Mini with a ARM processor like the A8 is called an Apple TV.
The A8 is much too slow to replace the Core i5 in Mini much less the Core i7.
An A8 Mac Mini is pointless as a Mac because the majority of Mac applications would not work on it. Nor would Windows. And it would be slow. Annoyingly slow.
An A8 based Apple TV with an App Store makes sense since it's already a ARM based machine and would be great as a media and game console.
An A8 based Apple TV with iTunes/HomeKit Server and a 3TB HDD replacing the Time Capsule would be great as a digital hub for movies, photos, etc.
This is NOT a Mac Mini replacement.
This would not be cheap since the Time Capsule is already $399…so probably like $599
The Airport Express is too slow as your primary router. It's not meant to be one.
Having both an aTV and a Mini co-located in the same place is a waste of space.
I am very tired of folks that want X but primarily via the route of destroying the most affordable mac as a mac. Much better to wish for an upgraded Apple TV.
They might as well discontinue the Mini at this point. Hey Wizard why do you torture yourself this way, you've been bitching about the Mini for the better part of a year now. Just move on already, it's not even a decent computer anymore, especially when compared to whats out there now. I know I've mentioned the Dell X51 in the past but man is that thing just packed full of goodies, you can now configure it with a Intel i7-4790 chip, which makes it as fast as the Mac Pro entry model. The prospect of running a Hackintosh might feel dirty on some level but in all honestly, if you didn't see the box you would never know, it runs and feels identical. Screw Appl?, seriously, why should you suffer.
It feels identical except that you're afraid of doing updates…and sometimes you need to spend time reinstalling patches and kexts. Does everything work on the X51 like WiFi and BT?
It's not linux level of annoyance but it's not what I'd want my primary mac to be either. I'll probably get a X51 or the Alpha but mostly to run Windows. The i7-4790 is a $1250 config.
They might as well discontinue the Mini at this point. Hey Wizard why do you torture yourself this way, you've been bitching about the Mini for the better part of a year now. Just move on already, it's not even a decent computer anymore,
That is the whole point, it isn't a decent value anymore and frankly hasn't been for a year now.
especially when compared to whats out there now. I know I've mentioned the Dell X51 in the past but man is that thing just packed full of goodies, you can now configure it with a Intel i7-4790 chip, which makes it as fast as the Mac Pro entry model. The prospect of running a Hackintosh might feel dirty on some level but in all honestly, if you didn't see the box you would never know, it runs and feels identical. Screw Appl?, seriously, why should you suffer.
I actually have a need for a low end Linux machine so maybe a Dell is in my future. However I don't much care for the Hackintosh approach, especially if the machine is to be my primary computer. I prefer Mac OS for my daily driver so to speak. Then there is the issue of the coming iPad which might divert cash from a PC upgrade. ????????????????????????????
The MM is a decent computer and a reliable one also.Sadly Cook who had more gumption than he has should come out with a newer model and stop modifying the dumb i pad airs which are worthless in my opinion.
IPads are just the nuts for somethings. If it wasn't for iPad I Wouldnt be able to check into the various forums as easily as I do. I'm actually being pulled in multiple directions with all these releases so close together. In any event iPads are far from worthless and can really fit well into certain lifestyles.
We sayeth that this has been covered multiple times in the last 34 pages but since TL;DR:
yes and there is a lot of disagreement over the idea.
A shrunken Mini with a ARM processor like the A8 is called an Apple TV.
not at all. An A8 powered Mac would need the same sort of I/O as is seen on a Mac.
[*] The A8 is much too slow to replace the Core i5 in Mini much less the Core i7.
At this moment in time all we have see is an A8 version optimized for the portable world. Currently Apples processors out perform Intel Atom at a modest clock rate. We don't even know where A8 tops out clock wise but there are plenty of 64 bit ARM examples running at much higher clock rates. It is doubtful we would see A8 competitive with a top of the line i7, however it doesn't have to be for a low end laptop or Mac Mini replacement.
[*] An A8 Mac Mini is pointless as a Mac because the majority of Mac applications would not work on it. Nor would Windows. And it would be slow. Annoyingly slow.
The very same thing was said about iPad. Here we expect a much faster A8 implementation.
[*] An A8 based Apple TV with an App Store makes sense since it's already a ARM based machine and would be great as a media and game console.
Yes it would but this is not a Mini replacement.
[*] An A8 based Apple TV with iTunes/HomeKit Server and a 3TB HDD replacing the Time Capsule would be great as a digital hub for movies, photos, etc.
This is NOT a Mac Mini replacement.
This would not be cheap since the Time Capsule is already $399…so probably like $599
I hope Apple reads this, because I see real demand for something like that.
[*] The Airport Express is too slow as your primary router. It's not meant to be one.
[*] Having both an aTV and a Mini co-located in the same place is a waste of space.
I am very tired of folks that want X but primarily via the route of destroying the most affordable mac as a mac. Much better to wish for an upgraded Apple TV.
Realistically Apple could shave $300 of the price of some of its machines with a good ARM based chip. That is all about affordability. It would allow me to use a Mac where a cheap Linux box would go now.
It feels identical except that you're afraid of doing updates…and sometimes you need to spend time reinstalling patches and kexts. Does everything work on the X51 like WiFi and BT?
Some hardware is better than others but that doesn't really matter to me. I just don't want to screw around with such crap on what wield be my primary machine. From my perspective Hackintoshes fly in the face of why I buy a Mac in the first place.
It's not linux level of annoyance but it's not what I'd want my primary mac to be either. I'll probably get a X51 or the Alpha but mostly to run Windows. The i7-4790 is a $1250 config.
If I really need to run Windows I'd create a VM for that. However I've gone for years now without Windows in any form for my personal needs.
Yes it is! I suppose that closes out this thread. Hopefully some blogger will give this thing a tear down soon. Apple web site seems to be more screwed than usual when it comes to technical information. However I now believe that the SSD sits on a PCI Express interface, this should indicate good "disk" performance.
The only real disappointments I see are no quad cores and the really slow processor in the intro model. Overall I like what i see though Iris Pro in the top end would have been nice. They seemed to have dropped the "server" model too.
Now the decision to make is what comes first, a new iPad or a new Mac Mini.
[/Quote]
It is a mixed bag really. The lack of a quad core is very very bad but much of the rest of the desire improvements are there. You get the better GPUs, the PCI Express capable SSD option, an extra TB 2 port and we keep the HDMI port. So I'm trying to keep an open mind here.
I actually was very happy with the announcement. I am mildly disappointed that SSDs are not standard but oh well. I will definitely be buying one.
I'm in a tough position because that iPad looks very inviting and frankly I can only buy one at this point. The lack of a quad core really hurts the platform though so maybe the iPad.
Comments
Sadly I'm not getting a warm fuzzy feeling here. I wold have expected a leak or two by now.
They might as well discontinue the Mini at this point. Hey Wizard why do you torture yourself this way, you've been bitching about the Mini for the better part of a year now. Just move on already, it's not even a decent computer anymore, especially when compared to whats out there now. I know I've mentioned the Dell X51 in the past but man is that thing just packed full of goodies, you can now configure it with a Intel i7-4790 chip, which makes it as fast as the Mac Pro entry model. The prospect of running a Hackintosh might feel dirty on some level but in all honestly, if you didn't see the box you would never know, it runs and feels identical. Screw Appl?, seriously, why should you suffer.
The MM is a decent computer and a reliable one also.Sadly Cook who had more gumption than he has should come out with a newer model and stop modifying the dumb i pad airs which are worthless in my opinion.
A hackintosh isn't even necessary, they offer plenty of cheap laptops that would suffice and get updated often:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD103LL/A/refurbished-154-inch-macBook-Pro-23ghz-Quad-core-Intel-i7
That's an older one that can be upgraded but performs about the same as the newer models. $1109 for the machine, put in a 16GB RAM for $100 and a 512GB SSD for $200 and you get a ~$1400 Mini with a dedicated GPU.
The mini is good value for a spare Mac but as a main computer, people are far better off with a MBP or iMac.
Thanks all for contributing in this thread.
I have a Mini underneath the TV and only use it for watching movies. But when the 10.10 beta went public I thought what the heck and installed. Tried out various software, and I have to say, the Mini is one heck of a machine. Even though mine has a HDD it performs incredibly well.
On my MP it's fun to see all 8 CPU's doing their thing when I convert FLAC to .mp3 and I don't think tasks like those would be anywhere near 'ok' on a Mini but if my MP dies I would seriously consider a Mini as my main Mac. Especially because a) I don't like the glossy screens on laptops and b) I'm enjoying the 30"ACD to the fullest; it's large ánd matte.
Well, here is a different take on this.
We had the Airport Express router that was big and hanging like a pachyderm dong from the power socket - now that has become flat, square, little.
We had the Apple TV which was as big as the mac mini itself but thinner, that shrunk to as big as the now Airport Express.
Why can't the mac mini be next ? Really what does it have now that can't be made in that form factor ? And the storage - would it be a motherboard soldered SSD like the macbook air or, dare I say, even, iCloud based ?
Haswell may be something - but S8 processor (parody of A8 - for the desktop) or something like that ? There had been rumors about Apple moving desktops to A8. Why not start with the mac mini ?
Ideally, my dream is that they also make a backbone frame where you can slot in a mac mini, the airport express router and an apple tv all hooking up to the backbone and one outlet from that - ethernet, hdmi and power which will connect to outside.
Well, wild it is. But that is what makes it exciting though.
What sayeth you guys?
Well, here is a different take on this.
We had the Airport Express router that was big and hanging like a pachyderm dong from the power socket - now that has become flat, square, little.
We had the Apple TV which was as big as the mac mini itself but thinner, that shrunk to as big as the now Airport Express.
Why can't the mac mini be next ? Really what does it have now that can't be made in that form factor ? And the storage - would it be a motherboard soldered SSD like the macbook air or, dare I say, even, iCloud based ?
Haswell may be something - but S8 processor (parody of A8 - for the desktop) or something like that ? There had been rumors about Apple moving desktops to A8. Why not start with the mac mini ?
Ideally, my dream is that they also make a backbone frame where you can slot in a mac mini, the airport express router and an apple tv all hooking up to the backbone and one outlet from that - ethernet, hdmi and power which will connect to outside.
Well, wild it is. But that is what makes it exciting though.
What sayeth you guys?
We sayeth that this has been covered multiple times in the last 34 pages but since TL;DR:
I am very tired of folks that want X but primarily via the route of destroying the most affordable mac as a mac. Much better to wish for an upgraded Apple TV.
They might as well discontinue the Mini at this point. Hey Wizard why do you torture yourself this way, you've been bitching about the Mini for the better part of a year now. Just move on already, it's not even a decent computer anymore, especially when compared to whats out there now. I know I've mentioned the Dell X51 in the past but man is that thing just packed full of goodies, you can now configure it with a Intel i7-4790 chip, which makes it as fast as the Mac Pro entry model. The prospect of running a Hackintosh might feel dirty on some level but in all honestly, if you didn't see the box you would never know, it runs and feels identical. Screw Appl?, seriously, why should you suffer.
It feels identical except that you're afraid of doing updates…and sometimes you need to spend time reinstalling patches and kexts. Does everything work on the X51 like WiFi and BT?
It's not linux level of annoyance but it's not what I'd want my primary mac to be either. I'll probably get a X51 or the Alpha but mostly to run Windows. The i7-4790 is a $1250 config.
I actually have a need for a low end Linux machine so maybe a Dell is in my future. However I don't much care for the Hackintosh approach, especially if the machine is to be my primary computer. I prefer Mac OS for my daily driver so to speak. Then there is the issue of the coming iPad which might divert cash from a PC upgrade. ????????????????????????????
IPads are just the nuts for somethings. If it wasn't for iPad I Wouldnt be able to check into the various forums as easily as I do. I'm actually being pulled in multiple directions with all these releases so close together. In any event iPads are far from worthless and can really fit well into certain lifestyles.
If I really need to run Windows I'd create a VM for that. However I've gone for years now without Windows in any form for my personal needs.
It's here!
Yes it is! I suppose that closes out this thread. Hopefully some blogger will give this thing a tear down soon. Apple web site seems to be more screwed than usual when it comes to technical information. However I now believe that the SSD sits on a PCI Express interface, this should indicate good "disk" performance.
The only real disappointments I see are no quad cores and the really slow processor in the intro model. Overall I like what i see though Iris Pro in the top end would have been nice. They seemed to have dropped the "server" model too.
Now the decision to make is what comes first, a new iPad or a new Mac Mini.
New mini is an expected disappointment.
I'm waiting for an iFixit teardown before passing too much judgment. It is better in some respects and seemingly not in others.
I actually was very happy with the announcement. I am mildly disappointed that SSDs are not standard but oh well. I will definitely be buying one.
It is a mixed bag really. The lack of a quad core is very very bad but much of the rest of the desire improvements are there. You get the better GPUs, the PCI Express capable SSD option, an extra TB 2 port and we keep the HDMI port. So I'm trying to keep an open mind here.