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Apple Mac mini Ignored?
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Posted on 09/14/2017 8:09:50 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
I am not going to go over the new hardware being brought out by Apple. Fanboys are already cooing over the new iPhones. But something – something that flew under the radar to all but techies – is about to substantially alter the power and cost of computing.
To those following the Apple event, one item was missing: the Mac Mini. The Mac Mini was and is Apple's desktop option for those who want to buy just the core computer and provide their own monitor, speakers, keyboard, et al. In its heyday (the 2012 Server Model), the Mac Mini offered an option of a quad-core (eight-thread) model, which could be easily upgraded by the user in RAM and storage. On top of that, it was an elegant, lightweight, small-form factor gem.
Though it used a laptop CPU, it was highly powerful with great specs and was much loved by techies, who tended to shy away from Apple products as a rule. The 2012 quad-core Mac Mini attracted geeks – as it was the one Apple model that allowed users to tinker.
In 2014, Apple's new and "improved" model dropped the quad-core option, soldered in the RAM, and made storage upgrades more difficult. Mac Mini aficionados were furious. For the past three years, they have been waiting for Apple to undo the insult and to upgrade the Mac Mini back to its quad-core glory days. Instead, Apple has let the Mac Mini rot – and still sells it with underpowered, out-of-date fourth-generation Haswell chip technology.
The usual explanation is that Apple does not want to offer a cheap alternative to people buying its highly profitable iMacs. But there is more to it than that.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
No problem, Apple can have their OS just throttle the Mini until they can re-engineer the iMac with the newer cheaper components.
Then, Apple can just charge a Monthly fee to enhanced Mini performance.
In the world of Apple Alternate Reality that’s all they need.
That HP Elite Slice desktop was nice (link in article).
I’m not even gonna look up the price.
Interesting. Thanks for posting.
Linux is my fav OS
soldered-in memory. reminds me strongly that I don’t love Apple. I do appreciate them introducing me to Microsoft by way of the copyright notices on the IIe and probably the first mac.
I have that quad core i7 Mac Mini, to which I went from 4GB to 16 for maybe $50 and I added a second SSD hard drive inside with a $10 kit. It is an awesome machine, and a shame that Apple downgraded the mini into a weak little box that can’t be tinkered with at all, just as it did with MacBook Pro. At least with MacBook Pro, they can claim what they did was necessary to make it sleek and lightweight. The mini is the same size and weight as before, but my model from 2012 is still way more powerful than any dual core i5 model is today. And I got it for around $600.
However, good news for those who like the MacMini, if you are a little bit technically proficient: You can make your own. I made a quad core i5 Mac with 16GB of ram and an SSD hard drive for around $500. Go to this site: https://www.tonymacx86.com/. Buy the system you want, from a corei3 mini to a beast of a core i7 that equals the Mac Pro. After buying, follow the installation guide and you can have a great computer. On mine, I also have a second SSD on which I run Windows, and the software allows very simple booting to whichever OS you want to run.
So despair not, mini lovers!
Love my mac mini. I bought it 2 years ago and a super drive to go with it. Tiny footprint in my office and it always works. It's all this old guy needs.
I have 2 Mac Minis. I love them.
Very stable and fast.
Ping.
Of course, truth be told, the iPhone and not the iMac is the “cash cow” of Apple.
From the article:
“Apple may be faced with releasing a Mac Mini that approximates far more expensive iMacs that are only two or three years old – except for graphics-intensive processes that really need the dedicated graphics card. Apple may foolishly decide to drop the Mac Mini altogether, since the Intel Skull Canyon seems to be tooling up to corner the market. Or Apple may have to re-imagine the Mac Mini, no longer as a budget model, but as higher-end modular system - akin to the HP Elite Slice.
“The broader issue is that with these new chips - unless one is doing 4K movie editing - buying desktop hardware may be pointless. The lower-power chips may be sufficient, and one may be best advised to buy a laptop or small-form factor computer and attach it to an external monitor - if not with Coffee Lake, then with the anticipated Cannon Lake. The age of desktops looks to be over.
“This cannot be lost on Apple. As core counts increase, the consumer will best be served with low-power units/NUCs or laptops.
“Ultimately, it may be the iMac, not the Mac Mini, that should be made obsolete. A modified Mac Mini may be Apple’s best response to the new technology, but only if Apple re-imagines it as a modular system, not as a low-cost product.”
The Slice resembles the mini, cost ranges from $809-$709. The $809 Elite has an i5 chip, while the other 2 have i3 chips
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You've obviously never used a Mac mini. We use one as a server for 20 other Macs. does fine. So, Okie, you don't know what you are talking about at all.
But that open up the Windows platform to hacking and virus spreading.
I have two Mac Minis at home. Apple in simple form.
Models such as yours are plentiful on eBay for under $300. I just looked. :-)
I use a Mac Mini to control my 32 channel sound board and do the mixing in real-time for live performances. It works like a dream. Probably the best Mac ever made IMO for all the reasons you cite.
Why of course you do. You make your living from Apple.
I'd agree with just about all of this except for the quip about the 'age of desktops looks to be over'. These days the computing power available to your average person, even with low end chips is astounding. Someone who uses his desktop for web browsing, email, photo management, and perhaps the occasional document is really wasting most of the horsepower they have under the hood. It's like never driving your car more than 30 miles per hour.
I've been looking at upgrading my desktop which is about 7 years old, but every time I really look at it, I think to myself, "what will I really get from it?" The answer, not much. There are only a few things that I do that bump up against the power of what I have. The main thing is memory, and I'd really like to get a MB that would accept 64GB to 128GB of ram. Other than that, I'm pretty happy with what I have and only really am thinking about upgrading due to my habit of starting to look at things after about this much time has passed since I built it.
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