A USB mic it is. I have nice speakers already.
I'm going to try the integrated graphics, but can always add an eGPU if needed.
Also going to use a USB-C to USB-3 adapter cable to connect an external USB-3 hard drive for backup/transfers. If that isn't fast enough then I'll find a TB3 enclosure.
While I'd like the pricing to be lower (of course), I don't see it as excessive because of the long support I'll get with the system. Many other computers I've had don't even update the drivers after the first 6 months leaving me to go site to site to get updates.
I'm taking the AppleCare+ on this though.
I'm ok with the rather vague statement that a mac mini is the least expensive way to get a (new) mac, but remember, if you want a computer, that means adding keyboard, mouse, and monitor (and apparently a mic too.) If you have these, great. If not, acquiring such things to make a "computer" means more quid. I think the race is still on with macmini and iMac, and you really dont save a lot going with the former. I do think you get more flexibility. Like everything tech, you wight what you need, and buy the tool for it. Choices, like this new macmini, are always good.
I buy lots of Apple products but I usually wait a couple of weeks to see if there's any "-gate" controversy. I would call myself a "-gatewaiter". Hmm, that's a word I just coined and it starts with an apostrophe. I can't think of any other words that start with one.
I need a new machine real soon now, but will wait to see what the iMac is like, my current iMac is dying from overuse. If I had to buy a machine right now, it would be the i7 mini with minimum ram and ssd. I will update the ram myself. I will wait until someone comes up with a matching external TB3 case that stacks with the mini in space grey, and add an external M.2 SSD. I currently boot my old iMac off a TB2 external SSD anyway, but I would like better than SATA. No way am I paying Apple’s evil prices for ram and ssd. And if I wanted a dedicated GPU, I am sure there will end up a eGPU case that matches too.
Cook is making it real hard not to switch to the dark side. The prices are getting stupidly expensive.
I was on verge of buying an iMac Pro, but the new Mini has stopped me in my tracks. Super-fast SSDs combined with far faster processors and suddenly the new Mini is looking like a rocket-ship. A 12,500 multi-core score for the cheapest entry level Mini are amazing, just shy of trashcan Mac Pro performance.
This makes me anxious to see what the top of the line Min can do with the new i7 8700k 3.2Ghz 6 Core. Geekbench has some (prototype?) iMacs running 3.2Ghz 8700s scoring up to 6,400 on single core performance and over 28,000 on multi-core. That's almost 20% better iMac Pros on single core, and less than 10% shy of the 8 core iMac Pro on multi-core. I can build the top end 6 core Mini with a 5K monitor for around $3,400, that's almost half the cost of the 10 core iMac Pro I was configuring. Not only will it drive a 5K monitor but also a second external 4K monitor, all on internal GPU. That's all I need.
Apple's lineup is now red-hot. Their fastest/best MacBooks ever, fastest/best iMacs ever, and now fastest/best Minis ever, and everything refreshed within the last year. They are going to sell a ton of Macs over the next year. This is exactly why the Macintosh division is the most profitable and successful PC maker in the world, focusing on professionals willing to spend a bit extra for the best tools to get their jobs done. A $6,000 iMac Pro is well worth it, it would only cost me 50 cents per work hour, but if the Mini is nearly as fast, why not save a couple grand?
Ugh, once again integrated graphics only. Once again Apple pays lip service to pro users.
Ugh, once again people making stupid comments about "pro users".
The Mac mini is not aimed at the part of the pro market that wants high performance graphics. And even if it were, there are eGPUs available that will work. The high performance graphics are served by the iMac Pro and the forthcoming new Mac Pro. You can argue that those don't serve your needs either, but at least that's fair since those devices are built to serve that market.
The Mac mini is primarily intended as a consumer product, with good enough internals for most users. With this version, they are also embracing a section of the pro market they didn't anticipate originally: the people who bought one or more of them to run back-end services. Again, graphics isn't a priority for this kind of use, and even cpu power isn't necessarily important. IO and memory are more important, and for the kind of uses where this makes sense, you can even argue that 64GB is as much as is really needed. (Would 128GB or 256GB be better? Of course, but first imagine how much Apple would charge for that, and then consider whether the cpus they're using can actually use that much RAM.)
TLDR: If you want high performance graphics, look at the iMac Pro, or wait for the Mac Pro. Don't complain that the Mac mini doesn't meet your needs - it's not meant to.
(Aside: What are the people who spammed the iPhone and iPad threads complaining that there was no Mac mini going to do now? Start complaining about the Mac Pro? Or updates to the iMac Pro?)
I broke down and ordered one of these to replace the Hackintosh I've been using for the last couple years. The Hackintosh has 2 x Thunderbolt 3 ports so the 4 x Thunderbolt 3 ports is what sold me.
Mac mini with the following configuration:
3.2GHz 6‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 4.6GHz)
8GB 2666MHz DDR4
Intel UHD Graphics 630
256GB SSD storage
10 Gigabit Ethernet (Nbase-T Ethernet with support for 1Gb, 2.5Gb, 5Gb, and 10Gb Ethernet using RJ‑45 connector)
When you bump up the processor to the 6-core the base SSD jumps to 256GB.
I'll swap out the RAM for 2 x 16gb in the near future.
It's a small empty case that you can install up to FOUR NVMe SSD's. You then stripe RAID them with the included SoftRAID Lite XT software. I am getting write speeds over 1,700 MB/s and read speeds over 2,100 MB/s using 4 x Samsung 960 EVO Series - 500gb NVMe drives. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M20VBU7
The EVO Pro series would get you even faster speeds but I felt it wasn't worth the extra money for them. I can easily swap out these NVMe drives for 1tb or 2tb drives in the future which you can't do in the Mac mini since it now has a T2 chip.
A great update and thinking of replacing my little server and use it as more than just a time machine backup and plex server for my macs. When they showed the iPad Pro with USB C the first thing I thought was "so can I plug it in to a mac Mini and use it as a screen without the usual lag of VNC apps"? That would be pretty sweet.
hattig said: ... But, failing that, how about an eGPU in a matching case that you can stack under the Mac Mini? A tiny thunderbolt cable between the two (shame there isn't a direct PCIe slot for this built into the base of the Mac Mini to avoid the cable and thunderbolt), and boom, nice setup with GPU.
I wonder about keeping it quiet enough, but that's a good idea. There should be a lower end GPU than an $800 Black Magic. Even a fairly inexpensive discrete GPU in some little case would be a big improvement... maybe sell it for $100-300.
8gb as a standard and overcharging for memory upgrades is an insult. 8gb is ridiculous. Nobody wants that, and they know it.
Too much RAM? I'm not sure I understand. 8 GB of RAM is pretty standard in computers these days. And, it goes way up in RAM expandability well beyond even some other Apple pro models.
8gb as a standard and overcharging for memory upgrades is an insult. 8gb is ridiculous. Nobody wants that, and they know it.
So do what everyone else does and buy 16GB from amazon and move on. The only thing you have to decide is how much storage you want. Get over it.
I don't think you'll save much money doing that, not to mention the time (and we don't yet know what is all involved in the job). If you're going 32+, then yes... but for 16, I think I'd just order it from Apple that way.
Also, keep in mind that you might want a webcam, and those often have mics in them. Or, there are really good/inexpensive USB adapters that offer the standard audio in/out jacks. I have one just so I can avoid plugging and unplugging cables... I just leave everything plugged in and switch via Rogue Amoeba's excellent SoundSource utility.
randy hill said: I was on verge of buying an iMac Pro, but the new Mini has stopped me in my tracks. Super-fast SSDs combined with far faster processors and suddenly the new Mini is looking like a rocket-ship. A 12,500 multi-core score for the cheapest entry level Mini are amazing, just shy of trashcan Mac Pro performance.
This makes me anxious to see what the top of the line Min can do with the new i7 8700k 3.2Ghz 6 Core. Geekbench has some (prototype?) iMacs running 3.2Ghz 8700s scoring up to 6,400 on single core performance and over 28,000 on multi-core. That's almost 20% better iMac Pros on single core, and less than 10% shy of the 8 core iMac Pro on multi-core. I can build the top end 6 core Mini with a 5K monitor for around $3,400, that's almost half the cost of the 10 core iMac Pro I was configuring. Not only will it drive a 5K monitor but also a second external 4K monitor, all on internal GPU. That's all I need.
Apple's lineup is now red-hot. Their fastest/best MacBooks ever, fastest/best iMacs ever, and now fastest/best Minis ever, and everything refreshed within the last year. They are going to sell a ton of Macs over the next year. This is exactly why the Macintosh division is the most profitable and successful PC maker in the world, focusing on professionals willing to spend a bit extra for the best tools to get their jobs done. A $6,000 iMac Pro is well worth it, it would only cost me 50 cents per work hour, but if the Mini is nearly as fast, why not save a couple grand?
For sure... though just keep in mind some of the limitations. For example, I'm guessing the TB3 ports are on separate controller channels on the iMac Pro... so if you're connecting an eGPU, and external storage, and external other peripherals, the mini would be more limited. Also, you're giving up stuff like error correcting RAM, or probably some performance edge of the CPUs for certain things. And, unless you add an eGPU, the iMac Pro has a lot more GPU power.
But, I think I'm getting one too. With an eGPU, it fits my needs quite well. I'm just trying to figure out all the differences between the i5 and i7 model, or if I should put the saved money towards the eGPU or other stuff.
Oh, and another thing I'm curious about re: 'trash can' Mac Pro companion, is how much AEVC of the T2 chip will play into working with video (which I'll be doing more of). If I'm understanding correctly, it might be way, way faster at exporting certain kinds of video.
randy hill said: I was on verge of buying an iMac Pro, but the new Mini has stopped me in my tracks. Super-fast SSDs combined with far faster processors and suddenly the new Mini is looking like a rocket-ship. A 12,500 multi-core score for the cheapest entry level Mini are amazing, just shy of trashcan Mac Pro performance.
This makes me anxious to see what the top of the line Min can do with the new i7 8700k 3.2Ghz 6 Core. Geekbench has some (prototype?) iMacs running 3.2Ghz 8700s scoring up to 6,400 on single core performance and over 28,000 on multi-core. That's almost 20% better iMac Pros on single core, and less than 10% shy of the 8 core iMac Pro on multi-core. I can build the top end 6 core Mini with a 5K monitor for around $3,400, that's almost half the cost of the 10 core iMac Pro I was configuring. Not only will it drive a 5K monitor but also a second external 4K monitor, all on internal GPU. That's all I need.
Apple's lineup is now red-hot. Their fastest/best MacBooks ever, fastest/best iMacs ever, and now fastest/best Minis ever, and everything refreshed within the last year. They are going to sell a ton of Macs over the next year. This is exactly why the Macintosh division is the most profitable and successful PC maker in the world, focusing on professionals willing to spend a bit extra for the best tools to get their jobs done. A $6,000 iMac Pro is well worth it, it would only cost me 50 cents per work hour, but if the Mini is nearly as fast, why not save a couple grand?
For sure... though just keep in mind some of the limitations. For example, I'm guessing the TB3 ports are on separate controller channels on the iMac Pro... so if you're connecting an eGPU, and external storage, and external other peripherals, the mini would be more limited. Also, you're giving up stuff like error correcting RAM, or probably some performance edge of the CPUs for certain things. And, unless you add an eGPU, the iMac Pro has a lot more GPU power.
But, I think I'm getting one too. With an eGPU, it fits my needs quite well. I'm just trying to figure out all the differences between the i5 and i7 model, or if I should put the saved money towards the eGPU or other stuff.
Oh, and another thing I'm curious about re: 'trash can' Mac Pro companion, is how much AEVC of the T2 chip will play into working with video (which I'll be doing more of). If I'm understanding correctly, it might be way, way faster at exporting certain kinds of video.
I"m just doing software development so the GPU is nearly meaningless. As long as the built-in GPU can drive two big screen Retina monitors I'm in fuego. Fast SSD and being able to add memory is much more important.
randy hill said: I"m just doing software development so the GPU is nearly meaningless. As long as the built-in GPU can drive two big screen Retina monitors I'm in fuego. Fast SSD and being able to add memory is much more important.
Yeah, then sounds like the perfect machine. (Though be sure to check which ports, monitors, etc. I don't really follow all the details on that, but I know when you get to 4k and 5k, it gets tricky sometimes.)
I’ve got a question about the Mac Mini in a small office environment.
I’ve been waiting for an updated Mac Mini for a while now as I think it’s the perfect Mac device for my small office (only about 6 computers).
The issue however is that this is more expensive than I was expecting as I don’t need a powerful device for image/video editing etc. I purely want a device that can handle basic office tasks that also work nicely with the office iPhones and my Apple setup at home where I manage everything. (Everything I own is Apple but currently we are on iPhones in the office which are fine to use and PC’s that are god awful, slow and painful. Incidentally this isn’t a slight against PC’s, just that the ones we have are old and just a pain to work with.)
I want to migrate over to Mac but at the lowest cost possible as I’m only looking for interconnectivity with the ecosystem of other Apple devices that we use. Now that the new Mac Mini is being positioned as much more of a pro device I’ve turned towards the older Mac Mini’s.
My question then: Is it worthwhile purchasing an older Mac Mini? My only issue is how long they will be able to receive macOS updates as I’m sure they’ll be good enough for basic office tasks.
I’ve got a question about the Mac Mini in a small office environment.
I’ve been waiting for an updated Mac Mini for a while now as I think it’s the perfect Mac device for my small office (only about 6 computers).
The issue however is that this is more expensive than I was expecting as I don’t need a powerful device for image/video editing etc. I purely want a device that can handle basic office tasks that also work nicely with the office iPhones and my Apple setup at home where I manage everything. (Everything I own is Apple but currently we are on iPhones in the office which are fine to use and PC’s that are god awful, slow and painful. Incidentally this isn’t a slight against PC’s, just that the ones we have are old and just a pain to work with.)
I want to migrate over to Mac but at the lowest cost possible as I’m only looking for interconnectivity with the ecosystem of other Apple devices that we use. Now that the new Mac Mini is being positioned as much more of a pro device I’ve turned towards the older Mac Mini’s.
My question then: Is it worthwhile purchasing an older Mac Mini? My only issue is how long they will be able to receive macOS updates as I’m sure they’ll be good enough for basic office tasks.
I think I would have the same concerns you would, in terms of longevity. I suppose if you just need something to get by until you grow and have a bigger budget, etc. then maybe saving, what, like $1200 is worth it? Otherwise, I'd just spend that extra to get the entry level of the new machine.
Also, I'm not sure what all software you run on the PCs, but you might incur other expenses there.
I totally get being on a tight budget, but I wouldn't try to get the savings by buying a fairly old model (even though it is being sold as new currently).
I’ve got a question about the Mac Mini in a small office environment.
I’ve been waiting for an updated Mac Mini for a while now as I think it’s the perfect Mac device for my small office (only about 6 computers).
The issue however is that this is more expensive than I was expecting as I don’t need a powerful device for image/video editing etc. I purely want a device that can handle basic office tasks that also work nicely with the office iPhones and my Apple setup at home where I manage everything. (Everything I own is Apple but currently we are on iPhones in the office which are fine to use and PC’s that are god awful, slow and painful. Incidentally this isn’t a slight against PC’s, just that the ones we have are old and just a pain to work with.)
I want to migrate over to Mac but at the lowest cost possible as I’m only looking for interconnectivity with the ecosystem of other Apple devices that we use. Now that the new Mac Mini is being positioned as much more of a pro device I’ve turned towards the older Mac Mini’s.
My question then: Is it worthwhile purchasing an older Mac Mini? My only issue is how long they will be able to receive macOS updates as I’m sure they’ll be good enough for basic office tasks.
I think I would have the same concerns you would, in terms of longevity. I suppose if you just need something to get by until you grow and have a bigger budget, etc. then maybe saving, what, like $1200 is worth it? Otherwise, I'd just spend that extra to get the entry level of the new machine.
Also, I'm not sure what all software you run on the PCs, but you might incur other expenses there.
I totally get being on a tight budget, but I wouldn't try to get the savings by buying a fairly old model (even though it is being sold as new currently).
Appreciate the feedback. I was thinking along the same lines as you. The initial investment is bigger but I can imagine I’d easily get 5 years out of these newer machines if not many more.
sheakun said: Appreciate the feedback. I was thinking along the same lines as you. The initial investment is bigger but I can imagine I’d easily get 5 years out of these newer machines if not many more.
Oh yeah, I'd think so. You *might* even get almost that much out of the previous generation, but I'd invest in the current if possible, especially for the ports, bus-technology, and SSD. The latter would be the thing you'd probably notice most in terms of feel/performance of the system. The difference between a computer with a traditional hard drive (previous gen mini) and SSD is night and day.
Then, there is the T2 chip which seems will be the ongoing modern Mac architecture. Often the GPU seems to be the factor that cuts OS support... so I'm not sure how much difference there is there (in terms of what might eliminate the old model from support). Both would probably be adequate for what you're trying to do, though.
Comments
I don’t understand the product positioning either. It has a very weak GPU, when upgraded just a bit the price is practically reaching 27” iMac. Why?
Get over it.
It was a few years ago, but a Sonnet solution over Thunderbolt 2 off a Mac Pro was like 900 dollars to get 10 gig.
To upgrade that from 128GB to 256GB is $200 / £180!
Then again, 8GB of additional memory is £180 as well. Nice markup if you're Apple.
It actually makes the +£270 for the six-core look like a good deal.
The 10GigE upgrade is really good value however. Really odd.
I was on verge of buying an iMac Pro, but the new Mini has stopped me in my tracks. Super-fast SSDs combined with far faster processors and suddenly the new Mini is looking like a rocket-ship. A 12,500 multi-core score for the cheapest entry level Mini are amazing, just shy of trashcan Mac Pro performance.
This makes me anxious to see what the top of the line Min can do with the new i7 8700k 3.2Ghz 6 Core. Geekbench has some (prototype?) iMacs running 3.2Ghz 8700s scoring up to 6,400 on single core performance and over 28,000 on multi-core. That's almost 20% better iMac Pros on single core, and less than 10% shy of the 8 core iMac Pro on multi-core. I can build the top end 6 core Mini with a 5K monitor for around $3,400, that's almost half the cost of the 10 core iMac Pro I was configuring. Not only will it drive a 5K monitor but also a second external 4K monitor, all on internal GPU. That's all I need.
Apple's lineup is now red-hot. Their fastest/best MacBooks ever, fastest/best iMacs ever, and now fastest/best Minis ever, and everything refreshed within the last year. They are going to sell a ton of Macs over the next year. This is exactly why the Macintosh division is the most profitable and successful PC maker in the world, focusing on professionals willing to spend a bit extra for the best tools to get their jobs done. A $6,000 iMac Pro is well worth it, it would only cost me 50 cents per work hour, but if the Mini is nearly as fast, why not save a couple grand?
Ugh, once again people making stupid comments about "pro users".
The Mac mini is not aimed at the part of the pro market that wants high performance graphics. And even if it were, there are eGPUs available that will work. The high performance graphics are served by the iMac Pro and the forthcoming new Mac Pro. You can argue that those don't serve your needs either, but at least that's fair since those devices are built to serve that market.
The Mac mini is primarily intended as a consumer product, with good enough internals for most users. With this version, they are also embracing a section of the pro market they didn't anticipate originally: the people who bought one or more of them to run back-end services. Again, graphics isn't a priority for this kind of use, and even cpu power isn't necessarily important. IO and memory are more important, and for the kind of uses where this makes sense, you can even argue that 64GB is as much as is really needed. (Would 128GB or 256GB be better? Of course, but first imagine how much Apple would charge for that, and then consider whether the cpus they're using can actually use that much RAM.)
TLDR: If you want high performance graphics, look at the iMac Pro, or wait for the Mac Pro. Don't complain that the Mac mini doesn't meet your needs - it's not meant to.
(Aside: What are the people who spammed the iPhone and iPad threads complaining that there was no Mac mini going to do now? Start complaining about the Mac Pro? Or updates to the iMac Pro?)
Mac mini with the following configuration:
When you bump up the processor to the 6-core the base SSD jumps to 256GB.
I'll swap out the RAM for 2 x 16gb in the near future.
10GbE for only $100 was a no brainer upgrade. It'll work great with my Synology RackStation RS2418+ which I also upgraded to have 10GbE.
https://www.synology.com/en-us/products/RS2418+
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/TB3EX4M2SL/
It's a small empty case that you can install up to FOUR NVMe SSD's. You then stripe RAID them with the included SoftRAID Lite XT software. I am getting write speeds over 1,700 MB/s and read speeds over 2,100 MB/s using 4 x Samsung 960 EVO Series - 500gb NVMe drives.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M20VBU7
The EVO Pro series would get you even faster speeds but I felt it wasn't worth the extra money for them. I can easily swap out these NVMe drives for 1tb or 2tb drives in the future which you can't do in the Mac mini since it now has a T2 chip.
I'll also be using this $429 eGPU so the integrated graphics aren't a deal breaker.
Sonnet Technologies eGFX Breakaway Box Developer Edition (with Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 580 8GB Card)
https://www.sonnetstore.com/products/egfx-breakawaybox-radeonrx580
Too much RAM? I'm not sure I understand. 8 GB of RAM is pretty standard in computers these days. And, it goes way up in RAM expandability well beyond even some other Apple pro models.
I don't think you'll save much money doing that, not to mention the time (and we don't yet know what is all involved in the job). If you're going 32+, then yes... but for 16, I think I'd just order it from Apple that way.
Also, keep in mind that you might want a webcam, and those often have mics in them. Or, there are really good/inexpensive USB adapters that offer the standard audio in/out jacks. I have one just so I can avoid plugging and unplugging cables... I just leave everything plugged in and switch via Rogue Amoeba's excellent SoundSource utility.
For sure... though just keep in mind some of the limitations. For example, I'm guessing the TB3 ports are on separate controller channels on the iMac Pro... so if you're connecting an eGPU, and external storage, and external other peripherals, the mini would be more limited. Also, you're giving up stuff like error correcting RAM, or probably some performance edge of the CPUs for certain things. And, unless you add an eGPU, the iMac Pro has a lot more GPU power.
But, I think I'm getting one too. With an eGPU, it fits my needs quite well. I'm just trying to figure out all the differences between the i5 and i7 model, or if I should put the saved money towards the eGPU or other stuff.
Oh, and another thing I'm curious about re: 'trash can' Mac Pro companion, is how much AEVC of the T2 chip will play into working with video (which I'll be doing more of). If I'm understanding correctly, it might be way, way faster at exporting certain kinds of video.
I’ve been waiting for an updated Mac Mini for a while now as I think it’s the perfect Mac device for my small office (only about 6 computers).
The issue however is that this is more expensive than I was expecting as I don’t need a powerful device for image/video editing etc. I purely want a device that can handle basic office tasks that also work nicely with the office iPhones and my Apple setup at home where I manage everything. (Everything I own is Apple but currently we are on iPhones in the office which are fine to use and PC’s that are god awful, slow and painful. Incidentally this isn’t a slight against PC’s, just that the ones we have are old and just a pain to work with.)
I want to migrate over to Mac but at the lowest cost possible as I’m only looking for interconnectivity with the ecosystem of other Apple devices that we use. Now that the new Mac Mini is being positioned as much more of a pro device I’ve turned towards the older Mac Mini’s.
My question then: Is it worthwhile purchasing an older Mac Mini? My only issue is how long they will be able to receive macOS updates as I’m sure they’ll be good enough for basic office tasks.
Also, I'm not sure what all software you run on the PCs, but you might incur other expenses there.
I totally get being on a tight budget, but I wouldn't try to get the savings by buying a fairly old model (even though it is being sold as new currently).
Then, there is the T2 chip which seems will be the ongoing modern Mac architecture. Often the GPU seems to be the factor that cuts OS support... so I'm not sure how much difference there is there (in terms of what might eliminate the old model from support). Both would probably be adequate for what you're trying to do, though.