Mini's buyers remorse...

[phalseHUD]

I'll only have buyers remorse if the next minis run a lot cooler.

Performance wise, I love the mini. But if I try watching a blu ray rip, the cpu will be in the high 80s, and when using handbrake, it goes up to around 96c!. The cpu while typing this is at 55c, and thats like what PCs are at when gaming lol (my mini sits around 75c while playing Flatout 2)

They might be "normal" temps for the minis, but I'v always been a PC user until recently, so these temps scare me!

If the new minis are a lot cooler, I might have to get 1, just so it's a lot less stressful when using it lol.

Your fans are always on when your Mac is on, spinning at a minimum of 2000 rpm (for MBPs) or 1800 rpm (for MBAs, MBs and minis). They will spin faster as needed to keep temps at a safe level. If they're spinning up without increased heat, try resetting the SMC. PRAM/NVRAM has nothing to do with these issues, so resetting it will not help. Also, make sure you don't block the vents, which are located at the rear, near the hinge.

I've had 3 different Mac Mini's now and all three have been exactly the same... The noise when the fan hits 5500rpm is like a hair dryer. This is not exactly helpful late at night or when laying down some vocals or a podcast because you can hear the thing in the background! The fans even go ballistic (and temps go up to the 90's) when copying data from one place to another for example from a server to a FireWire drive or from the mini to a FireWire drive. The same even applies when emptying the trash securely. In short I'm hoping to take mine back for a refund and plan on using my older mini for now. The model I've got the problems with is the one with the AMD Graphics Card in it.

Over and out!

EDIT: I should also say that I've been onto AppleCare twice and they did suggest the SMC reset etc, etc. They just seemed to think it was all normal. But obviously recognised the inconvenience it was causing me for my particular setup

 

[SR45]

If it does what you want it to do, keep it...

I will with mine, unless the new MacMini comes with a USB 3.0 port, and an easy slide in/out Hdd drive to make it a simple task like some notebooks have (Not going to happen, but I can dream a little)

 

[thekev]

I wouldn't go by the buyer's guide suggestions. Just look at the actual events for reference of how long you should expect to wait. If it mentioned Ivy Bridge shipping, that would be the time to expect a potential bump. Macbook pros got a bump last fall due to mid generation cpu bumps. They skipped the minis on that one (there may have been a reason, but I don't know it), so you're waiting until Ivy Bridge.

 

[Mojo1]

A Bit of Advice For The OP...

Once you buy a new piece of gear try to avoid online forums and buyer guides unless you have a specific question or are in the market for new hardware/software.

You will enjoy your gear in blissful ignorance...

 

[57004]

I've had 3 different Mac Mini's now and all three have been exactly the same... The noise when the fan hits 5500rpm is like a hair dryer. This is not exactly helpful late at night or when laying down some vocals or a podcast because you can hear the thing in the background! The fans even go ballistic (and temps go up to the 90's) when copying data from one place to another for example from a server to a FireWire drive or from the mini to a FireWire drive. The same even applies when emptying the trash securely. In short I'm hoping to take mine back for a refund and plan on using my older mini for now. The model I've got the problems with is the one with the AMD Graphics Card in it.

Over and out!

EDIT: I should also say that I've been onto AppleCare twice and they did suggest the SMC reset etc, etc. They just seemed to think it was all normal. But obviously recognised the inconvenience it was causing me for my particular setup

I've also got the i5 with AMD graphics and I've never heard the fans go above a whisper except when running handbrake or something similar that runs the CPU constantly at 100%, or heavy prolonged gaming. Not during photoshop, VMware or copying large amounts of data.

Under normal use it's so quiet that my replacing the hard drive with an ssd made it noticeably quieter. I'd check if there is some background process pushing the CPU, perhaps a virus scanner or something? Maybe one of the applications you use.

I think it's pretty great, a solid quiet work machine and optionally some decent graphics power at the expense of quietness (I always game with a headset on anyway).

 

[srf4real]

Really. There will be rumors of Apple discontinuing the mini in Novermber, December before you see a refresh. I'm soooo glad I did not wait. Grabbed an i7 quad and ssd, I'll wish I had a different computer some time in 2015..

 

[kas23]

Really. There will be rumors of Apple discontinuing the mini in Novermber, December before you see a refresh. I'm soooo glad I did not wait. Grabbed an i7 quad and ssd, I'll wish I had a different computer some time in 2015..

Those rumors have been around over 2 years, but I just can never see Apple discontinuing the Mini. Apple continues to shift their efforts towards consumer-grade hardware, which the Mini epitomizes. Now, the Mac Pro...this will go the way of the dinosaurs, likely with the 17 inch MacBook Pro too. Are these two computers useful? You bet. But, Apple likely makes more money via iTunes than either of these two systems combined.

 

[phalseHUD]

I've also got the i5 with AMD graphics and I've never heard the fans go above a whisper except when running handbrake or something similar that runs the CPU constantly at 100%, or heavy prolonged gaming. Not during photoshop, VMware or copying large amounts of data.

Under normal use it's so quiet that my replacing the hard drive with an ssd made it noticeably quieter. I'd check if there is some background process pushing the CPU, perhaps a virus scanner or something? Maybe one of the applications you use.

I think it's pretty great, a solid quiet work machine and optionally some decent graphics power at the expense of quietness (I always game with a headset on anyway).

Nothing running. With only finder open and doing a secure erase of the drive a process called locum runs and gets the CPU up to +100% and then the fans ramp up. Similarly with only, finder running when copying files. Only iphoto open and importing photos/vids into iPhoto causes the same behaviour. That locum process however is only present when doing a secure erase which is normal as far as my research shows.