M1X Mac mini will be thinner, use iMac's magnetic power connector says leaker

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited May 2021
The next version of the Mac mini may have more than a specifications bump, with renders published depicting a thinner model using the same magnetic power connection as the 24-inch iMac.




For the first version of the Apple Silicon Mac mini, Apple decided to reuse its trusted and well-worn design for the Mac, but with new internals. For the next version, Apple could make some major changes to the compact computer, as well as using the "M1X" chip.

In renders based on rumors shared by leaker Jon Prosser, Apple will take advantage of the small size of internal components in the Apple Silicon Mac mini to make the enclosure thinner. This results in a shorter Mac mini that appears to have the same desk footprint as previous models.




Around the back, Apple will apparently continue to offer a wide array of ports, including four USB 4-Thunderbolt 3 ports, two USB-A connections, Gigabit Ethernet, and HDMI. Joining the roster is the magnetic circular power connection, the same as used on the 24-inch iMac.

The use of the magnetic connector could also indicate Apple's use of an external power brick for the Mac mini, rather than internalizing it. If true, it seems that Apple could have made a similar move to the iMac in putting the Gigabit Ethernet connection on the powerbrick, saving a bit more room on the back of the Mac mini itself.

The chassis will not only be thinner, but it will also be redesigned to have aluminum sides but a "plexiglass-like" top panel. Color options may be on the way, as they have apparently been "tested" by Apple.

The usual circular base of the Mac mini will allegedly be replaced by a pair of rubber strips. The vent, which is usually located at the back panel near the ports, has been moved to the base.

The so-called "M1X" chip"M1X" chip was said in February to be a 12-core CPU with a 16-core GPU, up from the 8-core CPU and the 7-core or 8-core GPU in the M1. The chip is also predicted to use up to 16GB of memory, feature 256 execution units instead of the M1's 128, and could drive three displays instead of two.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 93
    Let's hope this is also the time they release a standalone monitor (that's cheaper than $6000).  The 24" iMac display would make a perfect monitor to go with a new Mac Mini.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 93
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,727member
    Let's hope this is also the time they release a standalone monitor (that's cheaper than $6000).  The 24" iMac display would make a perfect monitor to go with a new Mac Mini.
    Agreed but also a 27"-30" 6K is needed for or photographers who need to view full-frame images but are not in the Mac Pro price bracket.
    Scot1caladanianwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 93
    MacPro said:
    Let's hope this is also the time they release a standalone monitor (that's cheaper than $6000).  The 24" iMac display would make a perfect monitor to go with a new Mac Mini.
    Agreed but also a 27"-30" 6K is needed for or photographers who need to view full-frame images but are not in the Mac Pro price bracket.
    Absolutely, release two standalone monitors.  Presumably there is a 30" iMac coming later this year, so that could be the larger monitor.  Apple used to sell 2-3 sizes of monitor back in the day, makes sense to do it again.  And they'll sell tons, I bet.  Lots of laptop users want an external display that isn't some crappy PC monitor.  And just imagine an M1X mini with three 24" displays, or two 30" displays.  And that whole setup would still be cheaper than one XDR.  :)
    aderutterfastasleepwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 93
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,727member
    MacPro said:
    Let's hope this is also the time they release a standalone monitor (that's cheaper than $6000).  The 24" iMac display would make a perfect monitor to go with a new Mac Mini.
    Agreed but also a 27"-30" 6K is needed for or photographers who need to view full-frame images but are not in the Mac Pro price bracket.
    Absolutely, release two standalone monitors.  Presumably there is a 30" iMac coming later this year, so that could be the larger monitor.  Apple used to sell 2-3 sizes of monitor back in the day, makes sense to do it again.  And they'll sell tons, I bet.  Lots of laptop users want an external display that isn't some crappy PC monitor.  And just imagine an M1X mini with three 24" displays, or two 30" displays.  And that whole setup would still be cheaper than one XDR.  :)
    Yup!  Fingers crossed.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 93
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,727member
    The power of the M1X and M2 will be staggering, I can well see the next Mac Pro, using Apple Silicon, being used to prototype Crays.  ;)

    https://wiki.c2.com/?AppleCrayComputer
    edited May 2021 Japheywatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 93
    aderutteraderutter Posts: 604member
    Love this, I bet it would be mighty fun having a few of these M1X Minis stacked and using team rendering in Cinema4D :smiley: 

    Totally agree we need monitors from Apple, as the LG ones are scarce, buggy and don’t look as good as the new iMac.

    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 93
    CiaranFCiaranF Posts: 23member
    What is ‘s aesthetic obsession with making everything smaller? I mean there is no reason to make an Mac Mini or iMac smaller. It’s not a handheld device like an iPhone or iPad or something you bring around with you regularly. Why not keep them the same size or make then even bigger and fit more to them? Give me function and modularity over making something that doesn’t need to be made more portable anyday. Groan. 
    edited May 2021 mike54mobirdwilliamlondonmuthuk_vanalingamasdasdCloudTalkincgWerksdarkvader
  • Reply 8 of 93
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,808member
    CiaranF said:
    What is ‘s aesthetic obsession with making everything smaller? I mean there is no reason to make an Mac Mini or iMac smaller. It’s not a handheld device like an iPhone or iPad or something you bring around with you regularly. Why not keep them the same size or make then even bigger and fit more to them? Give me function and modularity over making something that doesn’t need to be made more portable anyday. Groan. 
    Because they can? What other function will you gain by making it larger? You're not getting more ports. Thats a limitation of the M1, not because its thin. The only real thing you'd gain is the power supply would be inside instead of an external power brick. 
    williamlondondoozydozendewmepatchythepiratewatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 93
    ApplePoorApplePoor Posts: 286member
    Hopefully this "vapor ware" mini does not become the "mini" MacPro for the non-pro crowd that need a reasonable cost desktop system...
    williamlondon
  • Reply 10 of 93
    mobirdmobird Posts: 753member
    With all of the Apple minis deployed using the same form factor, I think Apple should keep the mini the same size.
    cgWerkswatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 93
    stuartfstuartf Posts: 64member
    I thought most predictions suggest that the M1X will be available in up to 64Gb of unified memory not 16Gb as the article states
    aderutterOutdoorAppDevelopercgWerkswatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 93
    Eric_WVGGEric_WVGG Posts: 968member
    I was about to quip "What, no USB-C ports?" when I realized that I had mistaken them for a vent. Cool!

    I hate this trend to take the power supply out to pretend the device is smaller. No, your device is actually bigger now, and sloppier, and more stuff to break/lose. Reminds me of that awful old X-Box 360 power supply that was bigger than a shoe… sloppy, messy. Eff that. 
    williamlondoncaladaniancgWerkswatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 93
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,808member
    mike54 said:
    CiaranF said:
    What is ‘s aesthetic obsession with making everything smaller? I mean there is no reason to make an Mac Mini or iMac smaller. It’s not a handheld device like an iPhone or iPad or something you bring around with you regularly. Why not keep them the same size or make then even bigger and fit more to them? Give me function and modularity over making something that doesn’t need to be made more portable anyday. Groan. 
    Absolutely 100% agree.
    Also, small is not good for heat and although the power brick maybe external, anything that reduces heat is a positive.
    This is basically a non-issue. The M1 chip produces virtually no heat. They switched from Intel for a reason. 
    williamlondonraybowatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 93
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,329member
    CiaranF said:
    What is ‘s aesthetic obsession with making everything smaller? I mean there is no reason to make an Mac Mini or iMac smaller. It’s not a handheld device like an iPhone or iPad or something you bring around with you regularly. Why not keep them the same size or make then even bigger and fit more to them? Give me function and modularity over making something that doesn’t need to be made more portable anyday. Groan. 
    Uhm, because their called Mac Mini's, I think the rest is self explanatory...
    williamlondonStrangeDaysdoozydozenblastdoorcaladanianraybopatchythepiratewatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 93
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,877member
    CiaranF said:
    What is ‘s aesthetic obsession with making everything smaller? I mean there is no reason to make an Mac Mini or iMac smaller. It’s not a handheld device like an iPhone or iPad or something you bring around with you regularly. Why not keep them the same size or make then even bigger and fit more to them? Give me function and modularity over making something that doesn’t need to be made more portable anyday. Groan. 
    Why is the Raspberry Pi small? What would be gained by making the Raspberry Pi the size of a desktop computer? Or the size of a VAX? Or a mainframe? Same answer: the smaller the computer, the greater the use applications.

    Are you sure you dudes are computer people? This is like computing 101.
    edited May 2021 williamlondondoozydozenblastdoordewmerob53raybofastasleepcitylightsapplewatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 93
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,198member
    10GbE or it's no dice. Maybe OWC will produce a clip to secure the magsafe connection.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 93
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,571member
    Will it come with an embedded U1 chip?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 93
    I am really happy Apple stuck with the Mac Mini. I kept expecting them to discontinue it but people kept buying them so they kept selling them. Now if Apple would only sell a $300 Mac Nano and lay waste to the entire PC market, that would be sweet. Come on Tim. What would Steve Jobs do?
    dewmewilliamlondonh2p
  • Reply 19 of 93
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,282member
    mike54 said:
    CiaranF said:
    What is ‘s aesthetic obsession with making everything smaller? I mean there is no reason to make an Mac Mini or iMac smaller. It’s not a handheld device like an iPhone or iPad or something you bring around with you regularly. Why not keep them the same size or make then even bigger and fit more to them? Give me function and modularity over making something that doesn’t need to be made more portable anyday. Groan. 
    Absolutely 100% agree.
    Also, small is not good for heat and although the power brick maybe external, anything that reduces heat is a positive.
    I think it's totally fine for a computer called the Mac Mini to be small. 

    However, I think it would also be great to have a somewhat larger headless desktop with the ability to dissipate more heat than a laptop. Even then, though, it's not going to need to be all that big. I'd guess the purported 40 core Mac Pro beast chip will only suck down about 160 watts. When you consider that's CPU+GPU, it's a really low power/thermal limit relative to x86 PCs. 
    cgWerkswatto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 93
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,363member
    I am really happy Apple stuck with the Mac Mini. I kept expecting them to discontinue it but people kept buying them so they kept selling them. Now if Apple would only sell a $300 Mac Nano and lay waste to the entire PC market, that would be sweet. Come on Tim. What would Steve Jobs do?
    It would be nice to have an Apple TV sized Nano to pull in more budding developers who have modest means but still aspire to targeting apps for the Mac, iOS, and iPadOS market. It would not need a lot of ports but HDMI would be vital so it could be attached to a TV or inexpensive monitor. 
    watto_cobra
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