I would buy this for video editing but I really, really want that hard connection to be sure V and A are in sync when I edit. Bluetooth headphones have led me to believe they were not, when in fact they were. So it's a dongle for me?
Please Apple, leave the 1/8" jack aloooooone
A pro level USB DAC would be much better than an analog jack. Try it sometime.
Why? An internal power supply takes up space and by far generates the most heat of any component. External power supply means additional hardware can be added. I respectfully disagree with your take on this.
As for opening it up, that’s a non-issue. With the advent of the M1 SOC you can’t add RAM, you can’t install a bigger SSD, it’s all on the M1,so why would you need to open it up? You do know that RAM and Storage are fixed and not upgradeable, period, right?
- The mac mini has had an internal GPU to keep things neat & clean for about a decade. My intel mac mini server has two hard drives, intel chips, two user upgradeable RAM slots AND an internal PSU. That's plenty of added hardware. If all that can be squeezed into a tiny mac mini in 2014, it is objectively a regression to require an external power brick in 2022.
- Your second line disputes your first line. You cite expandability as the key to the mac mini moving to external power...yet in the same breath state that the new mac mini will not / should not be expandable. 🤔If it is not expandable - than it should certainly not need external power per your logic!
- Apple is going to have to solve the expandability issue for internal storage for the Mac Pro. If it is to be released this year (per Apple's promised roadmap) than they must have solved such a basic necessity for a computer by now. The next Mac Pro must have storage & PCIe expansion to succeed the current Mac Pro (which was the key selling & marketing point over the trashcan Mac).
The current M1 Mini is not upgradeable and you are living in the past. If you still want to tinker and upgrade then Apple is no longer for you. it’s as simple as that. When the entire line is transitioned to the M1 SOC paradigm that will be the end of upgradeability, except perhaps for the high end Mac Pro. So make the move away now so you are not disappointed.
I would buy this for video editing but I really, really want that hard connection to be sure V and A are in sync when I edit. Bluetooth headphones have led me to believe they were not, when in fact they were. So it's a dongle for me?
Please Apple, leave the 1/8" jack aloooooone
A pro level USB DAC would be much better than an analog jack. Try it sometime.
Possibly, but if all s/he needs is to sync the audio it why would it matter?
Why? An internal power supply takes up space and by far generates the most heat of any component. External power supply means additional hardware can be added. I respectfully disagree with your take on this.
As for opening it up, that’s a non-issue. With the advent of the M1 SOC you can’t add RAM, you can’t install a bigger SSD, it’s all on the M1,so why would you need to open it up? You do know that RAM and Storage are fixed and not upgradeable, period, right?
- The mac mini has had an internal GPU to keep things neat & clean for about a decade. My intel mac mini server has two hard drives, intel chips, two user upgradeable RAM slots AND an internal PSU. That's plenty of added hardware. If all that can be squeezed into a tiny mac mini in 2014, it is objectively a regression to require an external power brick in 2022.
- Your second line disputes your first line. You cite expandability as the key to the mac mini moving to external power...yet in the same breath state that the new mac mini will not / should not be expandable. 🤔If it is not expandable - than it should certainly not need external power per your logic!
- Apple is going to have to solve the expandability issue for internal storage for the Mac Pro. If it is to be released this year (per Apple's promised roadmap) than they must have solved such a basic necessity for a computer by now. The next Mac Pro must have storage & PCIe expansion to succeed the current Mac Pro (which was the key selling & marketing point over the trashcan Mac).
The current M1 Mini is not upgradeable and you are living in the past. If you still want to tinker and upgrade then Apple is no longer for you. it’s as simple as that. When the entire line is transitioned to the M1 SOC paradigm that will be the end of upgradeability, except perhaps for the high end Mac Pro. So make the move away now so you are not disappointed.
Sadly I think you’re correct. The unified memory SOC architecture means memory couldn’t really be upgraded even if it wasn’t soldered in place and I t’s been years since any Apple consumer computer has allowed GPU upgrades and Apple has steadfastly refused to allow hard drive upgrades. The latter are conceivable upgradable but Apple has made it clear they don’t plan on making them so.
The only sad thing here is the removal of the internal power supply.
The rest is gold.
The removal of the earphone jack is weird. Like why?
I'm skeptical of the removal of the audio port. Remember, it's a render of what Prosser's heard, and Prosser doesn't get the details really that correct. Perhaps the big picture, but not the details really. So, nice to hear some rumors, but be mindful that the details won't be correct.
Even the port placement in the renders seem "wrong", even if those were the ports. The renders have all the ports on the flat edge of the rear, including the power button. The real Mac mini's have the power button right on the rounded section of the corner. The Intel models have 4 horizontal TB3 ports, 2 horizontal USBCA ports, Ethernet, HDMI, the power button and A/C power port all in a row, and the is even room for the audio port in this line of ports.
So, the render of this new model implies it is not a 7.7 x 7.7 inch footprint. The rumors seem to say thinner, but is the footprint decreasing? Maybe not.
A glowing omission is the lack of a microphone. You are forced to use an external microphone. Strange when Siri is supposed to be useful or having a video call. In fact, absolutely frustrating omission, quire frankly.
A glowing omission is the lack of a microphone. You are forced to use an external microphone. Strange when Siri is supposed to be useful or having a video call. In fact, absolutely frustrating omission, quire frankly.
Even if you had a microphone how are you going to have a "video call" when you have no iSight camera on your Mac mini?
A glowing omission is the lack of a microphone. You are forced to use an external microphone. Strange when Siri is supposed to be useful or having a video call. In fact, absolutely frustrating omission, quire frankly.
I'm not aware of any desktop computer that has a mic built-in. You do realize we're talking about a Mac mini, right?
Painfully obvious: It needs a SSD slot. Not a removal of the underside and difficult installation but an actual slot into which you insert a SSD stick complete with heat sink. This would greatly extend the useful life of the Mac Mini and would be trivial for Apple to add as the SSD's only connector is on its end. Five years from now a M1 Pro or Max will still be a decent processor but the SSD will seem very slow and cramped.
Yep. A PS5 shouldn't be more expandable than a desktop computer in 2022. If the internal power supply is eliminated - it should be for an actual user benefit. Two easily accessible m.2 slots would make the mac mini far more desirable for a broader number of use cases.
What cases would those be for the masses? What is the ratio of users who will actually upgrade the storage versus those who would never open it for any reason now matter how easy it would be to access it?
It's a two screw affair to add an m.2 SSD to a PS5. Most PS5 owners add internal storage to their machine. There's no reason (beyond form over function) that adding an m.2 stick to a future Mac Mini couldn't be as easy or easier.
Adding an M.2 is generally no more difficult than adding RAM sticks. All intel mac minis allow for an owner to easily add / swap memory sticks. Many owners take advantage of this capability. Although more difficult than it ever needed to be due to the intentionally poor design of the round hole on the bottom of mac minis, many owners also swap out the 2.5" drives.
The camera company, Mavo, allows users to use stock m.2 drives as a memory card installed in their special enclosures. Apple could do something similar (sort of a mini version of what they do with the Mac Pro modules). A mac mini without an internal PSU could easily accommodate two m.2 slots. We both know that the odds are that Apple would prefer to artificially limit the potential of the mac mini (planned obsolescence).
A glowing omission is the lack of a microphone. You are forced to use an external microphone. Strange when Siri is supposed to be useful or having a video call. In fact, absolutely frustrating omission, quire frankly.
I'm not aware of any desktop computer that has a mic built-in. You do realize we're talking about a Mac mini, right?
A glowing omission is the lack of a microphone. You are forced to use an external microphone. Strange when Siri is supposed to be useful or having a video call. In fact, absolutely frustrating omission, quire frankly.
I'm not aware of any desktop computer that has a mic built-in. You do realize we're talking about a Mac mini, right?
iMac
Of course, I meant stand alone CPU, not including AIO types. I should have been more clear.
A glowing omission is the lack of a microphone. You are forced to use an external microphone. Strange when Siri is supposed to be useful or having a video call. In fact, absolutely frustrating omission, quire frankly.
I'm not aware of any desktop computer that has a mic built-in. You do realize we're talking about a Mac mini, right?
iMac
Of course, I meant stand alone CPU, not including AIO types. I should have been more clear.
Sure. If anything it proves your point. If a mic and webcam are to be integrated into anything, it’s the display. They’re in the display part of the iMac, the display part of a MacBook, and the Thunderbolt Display that Apple used to sell had one too. It makes very little sense in a Mac mini, nor the Mac Pro or the Apple TV. Maybe Apple’s rumoured consumer display will have one, and that there’s your solution for the Mac mini - get an Apple display to go with it. For anyone else there’s third party mics and webcams a-plenty.
Bit of a silly complaint from laytech, certainly not a glowing (glaring?) omission.
A glowing omission is the lack of a microphone. You are forced to use an external microphone. Strange when Siri is supposed to be useful or having a video call. In fact, absolutely frustrating omission, quire frankly.
Even if you had a microphone how are you going to have a "video call" when you have no iSight camera on your Mac mini?
A glowing omission is the lack of a microphone. You are forced to use an external microphone. Strange when Siri is supposed to be useful or having a video call. In fact, absolutely frustrating omission, quire frankly.
Even if you had a microphone how are you going to have a "video call" when you have no iSight camera on your Mac mini?
I've taken part in many zoom calls on Audio only.
Then you didn't have a "video call". Playing "video" on your computer isn't the same thing unless you want to try to classify a YouTube livestream as a "video call".
BTW: I'm in a Zoom class right now in which I have not given my Mac permission to use my microphone or my camera. Zoom is simply one of many options for a one-way stream.
What is the aversion to ports on the front? I get handed USB drives all the time- why isn't a port on the front? I shoot video- and photos- again- in the back? I understand maybe no SD card slot- since we could be using mini sd or Fast cards- or whatever- but- a port out front for a dongle? And- why would you not have a headphone jack? I still like to crank tunes at work- or if I'm editing video? I'd prefer it in front too- but- no- we worry about esthetics instead of functionality.
What is the aversion to ports on the front? I get handed USB drives all the time- why isn't a port on the front? I shoot video- and photos- again- in the back? I understand maybe no SD card slot- since we could be using mini sd or Fast cards- or whatever- but- a port out front for a dongle? And- why would you not have a headphone jack? I still like to crank tunes at work- or if I'm editing video? I'd prefer it in front too- but- no- we worry about esthetics instead of functionality.
My bet is that it will have an audio port. Apple likely doesn't do ports in the front because of aesthetics reasons. It will take a while longer for them to get away from this design viewpoint.
If it has the same footprint as the current Mac mini, you can get a port/dock extender with ports in the front. It will stack up nicely. If it is the same footprint. If not, well, docks will have to stick out like a sore thumb.
What is the aversion to ports on the front? I get handed USB drives all the time- why isn't a port on the front? I shoot video- and photos- again- in the back? I understand maybe no SD card slot- since we could be using mini sd or Fast cards- or whatever- but- a port out front for a dongle? And- why would you not have a headphone jack? I still like to crank tunes at work- or if I'm editing video? I'd prefer it in front too- but- no- we worry about esthetics instead of functionality.
What's the aversion to finding a solution that works for you? There are a plethora of inexpensive options for those that don't have ports in their display and like to have their Mac mini prominently displayed on their desk. If I had to do this but somehow didn't have access to any of the aforementioned solutions I'd just turn my Mac mini to get easy access.
A glowing omission is the lack of a microphone. You are forced to use an external microphone. Strange when Siri is supposed to be useful or having a video call. In fact, absolutely frustrating omission, quire frankly.
Even if you had a microphone how are you going to have a "video call" when you have no iSight camera on your Mac mini?
I actually prefer to use an external camera and microphone to the ones that are integrated into Macs. Unless you’re talking about the very latest MacBook Pros the integrated camera/mic have only been serviceable but far from stellar. I also find the integrated camera on the 27” iMac to be too low and have to bump up my standing desk a couple of inches to get my head framed properly for zoom calls.
It needs an intake and exhaust for the cooling system. The vent in the rear-bottom is maybe the exhaust where hot air comes out. So perhaps the intakes are hidden underneath the skids. This still isn't great for cooling either way. It could be like the intakes for the MBP, with slots in the bottom corners. Wish the air flow was front to back like it is in the Mac Pro. A square footprint limits them on having a good cooling system. Hoping the footprint is identical to the current model at least.
Really don't like an external power supply, in the iMac 24, and this if it has it. I even include laptop power bricks in my hatred list. I despised the one on the Xbox One we had. What a piece of shit hardware that Xbox was, where the external power brick had to be "reset" to fix some of its issues. Microsoft probably earned 20% margins on it, at least.
Otherwise, this might be what I get after the 2013 iMac 27 goes kaput. A port extender dock, and two miniStacks all stacked on top of each other sounds reasonably tidy, but it will require 3, possibly 4, external power bricks with some arrangement shenanigans for the power strip.
I don’t mind the idea at all. It’s no big deal after all, and actually gives about twice the cord length between the computer and the wall..
on small, or thin devices,, removing the power supply has several advantages, other than the bulk. One is temperatures. A good deal of the heat is coming from that. In an Intel Mac, where the electronics produce a fair amount of heat, it doesn’t matter as much, but here, the power supply is likely producing more heat when the machine is being used heavily, than the rest of it. So eliminating that allows easier cooling overall, and more efficient use of the chips in the machine as they don’t have to contend with that excess heat, allowing somewhat higher performance.
secondly, power supplies produce electronic noise which affects the circuits. Removing that noise also allows for better performance and simplifies design as reduced shielding allows for easier air flow and less worries over interference.
Comments
Even the port placement in the renders seem "wrong", even if those were the ports. The renders have all the ports on the flat edge of the rear, including the power button. The real Mac mini's have the power button right on the rounded section of the corner. The Intel models have 4 horizontal TB3 ports, 2 horizontal USBCA ports, Ethernet, HDMI, the power button and A/C power port all in a row, and the is even room for the audio port in this line of ports.
So, the render of this new model implies it is not a 7.7 x 7.7 inch footprint. The rumors seem to say thinner, but is the footprint decreasing? Maybe not.
BTW: I'm in a Zoom class right now in which I have not given my Mac permission to use my microphone or my camera. Zoom is simply one of many options for a one-way stream.
I get handed USB drives all the time- why isn't a port on the front? I shoot video- and photos- again- in the back? I understand maybe no SD card slot- since we could be using mini sd or Fast cards- or whatever- but- a port out front for a dongle?
And- why would you not have a headphone jack? I still like to crank tunes at work- or if I'm editing video? I'd prefer it in front too- but- no- we worry about esthetics instead of functionality.
If it has the same footprint as the current Mac mini, you can get a port/dock extender with ports in the front. It will stack up nicely. If it is the same footprint. If not, well, docks will have to stick out like a sore thumb.
https://satechi.net/products/stand-hub-for-mac-mini-with-ssd-enclosure
on small, or thin devices,, removing the power supply has several advantages, other than the bulk. One is temperatures. A good deal of the heat is coming from that. In an Intel Mac, where the electronics produce a fair amount of heat, it doesn’t matter as much, but here, the power supply is likely producing more heat when the machine is being used heavily, than the rest of it. So eliminating that allows easier cooling overall, and more efficient use of the chips in the machine as they don’t have to contend with that excess heat, allowing somewhat higher performance.
secondly, power supplies produce electronic noise which affects the circuits. Removing that noise also allows for better performance and simplifies design as reduced shielding allows for easier air flow and less worries over interference.