So basically, they are shoving a 13" MBP logic board in the low end model and a 15" MBP logic board in the high end model. Don't be surprised if it can the same form factor as the laptop logic board.
My supreme dude color me surprised if it comes out in the same form factor as this effing logic board.
It sounds like if Apple fully supported macOS on PC hardware we wouldn’t even be talking about the Mac Mini. But if Apple is going to build a Mini it has to fit into their portfolio in a meaningful and profitable way and mesh with the Apple Store buying experience. Or they start a new product line devoted to enthusiasts/builders who want a NewEgg or MicroCenter buying experience but with Apple hardware.
What displays will they be expecting people to connect this new Mini to?
I hope to be re-using my 27" Apple Cinema Display that is my display for my 2012 Mac Mini. At the time I bought it that was the plan : keep the monitor, keyboard, mouse and update the Mac Mini periodically as it was more affordable than my iMac. I didn't think it would be this long....
I am open to 4K, 5K displays in the future, maybe dual displays if I can fit both on my desk.
What displays will they be expecting people to connect this new Mini to?
Apple is expected to release new monitors. I had assumed they would do both Mac Mini / Mac Pro release at the same time as the monitors... now I am not sure.
Maybe they will introduce the Mac Mini first with the monitors, or maybe the monitors will be released with the Mac Pro -- who knows.
If it is later -- obviously the expect people to order the LG monitors in the meantime.
If Apple could get a Mac mini that would drive my recording studio with low latency, high processing power and let me code apps with Xcode I’d throw money at them.
I love over my iMac but I have a 38” ultrawidescreen monitor that is amazing but want a Mac mini to drive it and keep my home studio with all its vst’s running.
What displays will they be expecting people to connect this new Mini to?
I hope to be re-using my 27" Apple Cinema Display that is my display for my 2012 Mac Mini. At the time I bought it that was the plan : keep the monitor, keyboard, mouse and update the Mac Mini periodically as it was more affordable than my iMac. I didn't think it would be this long....
I am open to 4K, 5K displays in the future, maybe dual displays if I can fit both on my desk.
Since it's also reported to be a bit larger, how great would it be if it had similar specs to the also pretty small Chuwi HiGame. That Kaby Lake G package with "Vega" and HBM2 combined with an Intel CPU.
It's not going to be a gaming rig like that, but the AMD GPU does accelerate Apples pro apps.
So is this going to be a Mac Mini Pro? And is there something that will actually make it “pro” or is it just a way for Apple to raise the price? Customers will be pissed if the only new Mac Mini is one that’s more expensive.
Here we go again. First you complain about it being too old, too low-spec’d...now with new hardware you’ll complain that it’s too expensive. Classic.
So releasing a new model with updated specs means they need to increase the price?
$20 says it'll have more modern ports on the back with expandable RAM and accessible drive bays... just like the 2012 model, but it'll be "Pro" because it'll be expandable just like the old model. Innovative at a Pro price.
Just what I was hoping for to replace my 2012 Mac Mini but what I expect is:
something the size of a deck of cards
made from exotic "unobtainium" in a exciting unmatchable subtle anodized color
glued up inside like a bug trapped in amber making it totally non-expandable and unrepairable (except by Apple, of course)
having 1 USB-C port in the rear
Cost $1999 because we can and we need to protect our profit margins
So is this going to be a Mac Mini Pro? And is there something that will actually make it “pro” or is it just a way for Apple to raise the price? Customers will be pissed if the only new Mac Mini is one that’s more expensive.
You know Apple always gets a bad rap on price but having recently had to buy a couple of PCs I can tell you from first hand that to get an actually good PC is not cheap. Case in point, for a headless server I spent over $1,200 for a new NUC with Windows 10 Pro and that is only an i5. Running the same mysql databases as my 2012 Mac mini (running Windows 10 natively, not using Boot Camp) they are almost on par. Only the USB-c/TB3 is obviously far better than the Mac mini's I/O. I even splashed out for the 16 GB Optane and the 1TB SSD and 32 GB RAM. The 2012 Mac mini has 16 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD (my own upgrades). I was truly expecting a far greater improvement than I got. Quite honestly I'd have gone for a used Mac mini but I needed more RAM than they can use.
I'm struggling to figure out where a "pro" Mac Mini fits into Apple's product. If it's truly a pro class machine it would have to fit somewhere between the iMac 5K and the iMac Pro and possibly lower spec'd versions of the next generation Mac Pro. I guess this niche would provide an unattached CPU for Apple's next generation monitor, i.e.. TB monitor replacement. This all makes the Mac product line seem overly crowded and somewhat confusing.
Why confusing? They're doing a new display to sell alongside their Mac Pro (and possibly MBPs, eGPUs, etc before that if they come sooner), so why not push out a new mini that might occasionally trigger a display sale as well? If the mini is indeed coming this year, I have a hard time seeing them launch it without a monitor to go with it. They still show the discontinued TB Display on the Mac mini web page.
They already sell displays with the computer, it's called an iMac or MBP. The problem with a headless Mac is always the same, they often lose the monitor sale. That lowers the average selling price and profits. No way to make up for that loss without raising the price of the MacMini and it's upgrades, which makes them harder to sell. Making them upgradable only compounds the problem since people will buy the bare or lowest spec machine and spend those savings elsewhere. The trick is to get people to spend the same amount of money, so expect this thing to be high end? They could make it upgradable but you will pay for the privilege.
Not sure if you're replying to me or what. I'm saying a completely new mini would be a ripe opportunity for the new displays to be released simultaneously, if possible, which addresses the asp/profit issue you mention. And they've always marketed their displays alongside the MBP as well, they pimped out the LG UltraFine when the 2016 MBP came out, and I expect them to do the same with their own when they come.
I'm not sure what to make of this. I do think that whatever Apple decides to release, particularly with respect to the Mac Mini part, will be quite revealing as to their thinking with regards to desktops. Apple doesn't make cheap things, so if this category of computer is no longer viable (because people will not pay enough for a consumer computer appliance that isn't an iMac) I can see them simply abandoning it altogether.
Tim vaguely claimed that Apple had "plans for the mac mini" some time ago, but he might have been saying "we're gonna kill it like Apple displays and airports."
I seriously do not understand why there's any doubt. Cook clearly said they do have plans for the mini in the future:
Cook clearly said 10 months ago. Cook has also said many of the things they work on never come to market. I can see Tim simply saying "we changed our minds." 10 months is an eternity in computer design cycles.
Yet here we are, in a thread on an article about an upcoming Mac mini.
So is this going to be a Mac Mini Pro? And is there something that will actually make it “pro” or is it just a way for Apple to raise the price? Customers will be pissed if the only new Mac Mini is one that’s more expensive.
Here we go again. First you complain about it being too old, too low-spec’d...now with new hardware you’ll complain that it’s too expensive. Classic.
Agreed. Since the alternative is $2-3k minimally (and out of date), I'd be happy to pay considerably more for a mini 'Pro' if it has the right stuff. So... no complaining here!
And, if they do this right, I might have to take back some of the stuff I've said about Apple in the last year or so.
So is this going to be a Mac Mini Pro? And is there something that will actually make it “pro” or is it just a way for Apple to raise the price? Customers will be pissed if the only new Mac Mini is one that’s more expensive.
Here we go again. First you complain about it being too old, too low-spec’d...now with new hardware you’ll complain that it’s too expensive. Classic.
So releasing a new model with updated specs means they need to increase the price?
In a word, yes. If they update it to new processors and an SSD, yes it will be more than the old price. Even if they kept the same relativer specs as before, time marches on and so does inflation.
Does new processors and an SSD make it a “pro” machine? I don’t even know what “pro” means really other than more expensive.
As has been said a million times, including by Gruber who you follow, Pro is a marketing term to mean “deluxe”. Why are you pretending to struggle with this?
And why are you casting doubt on the value add when Apple has announced nothing and specs or features are not known?
Yet here we are, in a thread on an article about an upcoming Mac mini.
What does that have to do with anything? We had threads on the Apple HDTV. Is that happening?
This is the part where you back up your argument with something suggesting that Cook and Schiller lied in November, and Gurman's sources are now lying to him.
Yet here we are, in a thread on an article about an upcoming Mac mini.
What does that have to do with anything? We had threads on the Apple HDTV. Is that happening?
This is the part where you back up your argument with something suggesting that Cook and Schiller lied in November, and Gurman's sources are now lying to him.
No, you should focus more on Quantum Mechanics and the experiment that broke reality leaving as we know it and left us with many worlds where the current state is just one of many probabilities
Comments
I am open to 4K, 5K displays in the future, maybe dual displays if I can fit both on my desk.
Maybe they will introduce the Mac Mini first with the monitors, or maybe the monitors will be released with the Mac Pro -- who knows.
If it is later -- obviously the expect people to order the LG monitors in the meantime.
I love over my iMac but I have a 38” ultrawidescreen monitor that is amazing but want a Mac mini to drive it and keep my home studio with all its vst’s running.
It's not going to be a gaming rig like that, but the AMD GPU does accelerate Apples pro apps.
Yet here we are, in a thread on an article about an upcoming Mac mini.
So... no complaining here!
And, if they do this right, I might have to take back some of the stuff I've said about Apple in the last year or so.
And why are you casting doubt on the value add when Apple has announced nothing and specs or features are not known?