I have an iMac. The power button is big and on the back, easily reachable with my left hand. The only time I have used it in the last few years is after we’ve had a power cut to start the iMac! As there’s a restart after power failure option (I think) I could even avoid that incredibly onerous task if I wanted, but as our power cuts tend to come in bursts I prefer to leave that feature off.
This entire utter non-issue boggles my mind that people can get so worked up by something utterly irrelevant. Good on Apple, for making a surprising but very sensible design choice.
Power Button Mini ..simple solution. Cut a 1/2 " piece of plywood in a circle to match to bottom of the Mac Mini, paint it black, and problem solved. It raises the Mini enough to allow access for your finger.
Yes, the incredibly-rarely-used power button might have been better placed elsewhere on the machine. I don’t see it as any sort of big deal, certainly not a problem I have to buy some solution to “fix.” As with my other Macs, powering down completely is something generally reserved for moving house.
What I think the nit-pickers here are overlooking is that for $600 you can get a machine that KICKS THE **SHIT** out of any Windows PC at that price point. That’s kind of a big deal, you guys, and really should be the focus of most reviews of the base model.
Thankfully, some of the leading YouTuber tech influencers have the brainpower to focus on the big picture instead of stupid trivialities, and have duly made a big deal out of the base model as well as the pro model, which again is incredibly competitive at its base price point and again kicks the shit out of most if not all off-the-shelf PCs at its price point.
Heck, I’m thinking of replacing my i9 MBP from 2019 with one of these, because it is just as portable (even with KB and trackpad in tow) and hotels have TVs that can be used for monitors. Given my present workflow, even the base Mac mini would handily run rings around it.
THAT’S the thing people should focus on. Some of the above commenters sound like they would turn down a 10-room mansion on sale for $25K because the doorbell is on the right.
Isn't relevant to the discussion. You may not have noticed but AI among other sites as multiple posts/threads regarding the value the M4 mini represents, as well as actual objective tech reviewers, and not just mere influencers, leading or otherwise. Yet you suggest any present here aren't aware of its performance to dollar ratio. Except you of course. But this thread isn't about that.
People have chosen to weigh in on this thread to discuss the power button location and insult those who take issue with it. Classic forum behavior. Further they decide to dictate how everyone should view the location and what to do about it. You usually have well reasoned and thoughtful posts. However you like they are not arbiters of any degree nor do you or they know what any individual's situation. That's just plain HEAD UP ASS hubris.
You are obviously irked to say the least that this is being discussed. Others are too. I'm irked that idiots are trying to tell others how to think and what to view as important, thinking their experiences must apply to everyone else.
I've owned several minis over the years and have had to force quit more than "rarely" for various reasons. Never once have I accidentally hit the power button. I don't doubt that someone has done that more than once. A reason to move it? I don't think so.
If I get a new mini I'll be able to use the button without issue, probably inverting it. That doesn't mean it's a good design – it isn't. But Apple did it because it suits Apple. The could have put it in the forward corner instead of the back corner. That would have been more convenient but that doesn't matter. Apple had their reason(s) and that's what matters. To Apple.
Oddly the charging port on the bottom of the Magic Mouse didn't bother me at all. All of the reasons that people gave for it being a bad idea made no sense. They read like excuses and lies a miscreant tells the judge in traffic court why they were speeding. Most ultimately don't actually provide a reason, just a poor excuse. If someone said "I don't pay attention to the low battery notifications and have no regular charging schedule so the port is in a bad location". I could at least respect the honesty. The voice in my head would still say "You can't fix stupid." But that would stay in my head.
This article is interesting enough and it's fun to see a budding cottage industry and the ingenuity demonstrated. Those who choose to raise the noise floor are a buzzkill.
My solution has been place a a small candy box that is about a half inch in width underneath my Mac mini, so that my finger can fit under it. It makes it appear that the Mac mini is floating.
How many times are you shutting down your desktop Mac? It's not a bad design at all. JFC people making a big deal out of shit that doesn't need a big deal made out of. It's maddening!
The solution is to not shut your fuckin Mac off...how about that? Just put it to sleep and then wake up when you wanna use it again. Is that so hard?????
The solution is to think more than a 3rd grader when making stupid design decisions. Give one justification for the placement (no, not excuses as to why it’s not that big of a deal. I’m talking a valid justification.)
How about the one Apple spoke of in the presentation. By moving to a pressed aluminium shell instead of a machined one they saved significant amounts of aluminium in the casing production.
Knock on effect being the internals need to slide in to the case and button on the side would need to be heavily in set to allow it to slide.
Or move to the top or bottom they choose the bottom potentially to allow easy cabling given wifi is also in the bottom.
Still they should let you configure them to boot on power connection in the store interface
So the smaller size means there’s no other place to put the power button than the bottom? Bullshit. If you believe that then you need to find that prince in Nigeria. They have 5 other sides to choose from.
What I think the nit-pickers here are overlooking is that for $600 you can get a machine that KICKS THE **SHIT** out of any Windows PC at that price point. That’s kind of a big deal, you guys, and really should be the focus of most reviews of the base model.
Except, it cannot run Windows OS. Why would any Windows PC user consider buying a Mac Mini when it won't run the only thing that they need it to run?
What I think the nit-pickers here are overlooking is that for $600 you can get a machine that KICKS THE **SHIT** out of any Windows PC at that price point. That’s kind of a big deal, you guys, and really should be the focus of most reviews of the base model.
Except, it cannot run Windows OS. Why would any Windows PC user consider buying a Mac Mini when it won't run the only thing that they need it to run?
It's not Windows I want to run, it's my games and all the attendant apps that go along with them. Most of the other stuff I run could probably be done either place. I suspect that's probably true for many Windows users. Another consideration is that I can replace or upgrade my CPU, RAM, graphics card, and storage any time I want, in any order I want, and far less expensively than I can with any Mac product.
One of the reasons the base Mini would be at all appealing to me (at least if my needs weren't being met by Windows) is because I can add external storage to it without paying Apple's ridiculous price for additional, and without buying a new Mini entirely.
Comments
People have chosen to weigh in on this thread to discuss the power button location and insult those who take issue with it. Classic forum behavior. Further they decide to dictate how everyone should view the location and what to do about it. You usually have well reasoned and thoughtful posts. However you like they are not arbiters of any degree nor do you or they know what any individual's situation. That's just plain HEAD UP ASS hubris.
You are obviously irked to say the least that this is being discussed. Others are too. I'm irked that idiots are trying to tell others how to think and what to view as important, thinking their experiences must apply to everyone else.
I've owned several minis over the years and have had to force quit more than "rarely" for various reasons. Never once have I accidentally hit the power button. I don't doubt that someone has done that more than once. A reason to move it? I don't think so.
If I get a new mini I'll be able to use the button without issue, probably inverting it. That doesn't mean it's a good design – it isn't. But Apple did it because it suits Apple. The could have put it in the forward corner instead of the back corner. That would have been more convenient but that doesn't matter. Apple had their reason(s) and that's what matters. To Apple.
Oddly the charging port on the bottom of the Magic Mouse didn't bother me at all. All of the reasons that people gave for it being a bad idea made no sense. They read like excuses and lies a miscreant tells the judge in traffic court why they were speeding. Most ultimately don't actually provide a reason, just a poor excuse. If someone said "I don't pay attention to the low battery notifications and have no regular charging schedule so the port is in a bad location". I could at least respect the honesty. The voice in my head would still say "You can't fix stupid." But that would stay in my head.
This article is interesting enough and it's fun to see a budding cottage industry and the ingenuity demonstrated. Those who choose to raise the noise floor are a buzzkill.