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2011 Mac Mini - Speculation

Now that's a server my cluttered office could live with. I think it's time to give the mini some muscle and sell it for form factor.. One base model for entry level mac users and a powerhouse desktop in the other mini box, price irrelevant. And the 2x thunderbolt mini server, of course!
 
This is running under the assumption that Apple will maintain the same max TDP of 25 W used in the mid 2010 Mac minis.

If Apple deems it time to update the Mac mini they may use these Sandy Bridge mobile processors. They all have Intel HD Graphics 3000 and I expect no AMD or Nvidia GPU will be included to balance cost.

2.1GHz Dual-Core Core i7-2629M
2.3GHz Dual-Core Core i7-2649M

It will allow for a max of 8GB @ DDR3-1333Mhz

2.2GHz Dual-Core Core i7-2655LE

It will allow for a max of 16GB @ DDR3-1333Mhz

If the savings from having the GPU in the CPU is not enough then Apple could probably use Arrandale mobile processors.

2GHz Dual-Core Core i7-620LE
2GHz Dual-Core Core i7-620LM
2.13GHz Dual-Core Core i7-640LM
2.27GHz Dual-Core Core i7-660LM

It will allow for a max of 8GB @ DDR3-1066Mhz.

I am certain that Nvidia will not show up in the 2011 Mac mini and instead AMD GPUs will be used.

AMD GPUs that can be used are the following.


  • ATI Radeon HD 5630 Device ID 0x68D8
  • ATI Radeon HD 5630 Device ID 0x68D9
  • ATI Radeon HD 5670 Device ID 0x68D8
  • ATI Radeon HD 5730 Device ID 0x68D8
  • ATI Radeon HD 5770 Device ID 0x68B8
  • ATI Radeon HD 5850 Device ID 0x6899
  • ATI Radeon HD 5870 Device ID 0x6898
  • AMD Radeon HD 6850 Device ID 0x6739
  • AMD Radeon HD 6870 Device ID 0x6738
  • AMD Radeon HD 6970 Device ID 0x6718

Thunderbolt will be included.

Intel Z68 Express Chipset may be included for SSD Caching.

SATA 6 Gbit/s will be included

HDD can be increased to beyond the old 320GB & 500GB.

It could ship at the same time as OS X Lion or WWDC.
 
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Oh, could Arrandale use Thunderbolt?

I was expecting the Intel Z68 Express chip, but seeing the huge SSD in the iMac made that format seem cost prohibitive in a Mini.

Although I'm tired of waiting (it's been a long time; this will be my first Mac), the Mini released simultaneously with Lion makes sense because Snow Leopard Server software won't exist as an incentive to buy the server model.
Because server function will be in Lion, the cost benefit will be diminished for the upgrade Mini.

Maybe the extra money could go toward a quad-core Sandy Bridge chip with a dedicated GPU (unlikely), or a small size SDD cache to accompany the 1 TB drive.
 
ARM Processor Mac Mini

Year 2012 Prediction

ARM Cortex A-15 Processor Mac Mini. 2.5 ghz quad. A Dual GPU. 1066 RAM or better

So small it would be as flat as a MacBook Pro or little thicker than iPad with same square proportions of current mac mini.

No superdrive.

More peripherals: USB 3.0 (3 or 4) and 2 Thunderbolt, 1 Firewire

Super low dynamic power consumption. 😀
 
Herdfan said:
Yes. A Minidisplay to DVI or VGA adapter. Why not use the included HDMI to DVI adapter that is included?
Click to expand...

Wouldn't he just need a display port cable like this?

MDP-DP-cable-3ft.jpg
 
Delete Control said:
I just noticed that the Canadian store offers us the US price only for the Mac mini and the iMac... I'm wondering why only these two products ?? ;-)
Click to expand...

Usually they only adjust the price when an update or refresh is released. Weird that they'd change the price of the Mini when the iMac got updated.. Worries me almost that they may not make any changes to the Mini.
 
Herdfan said:
Yes, but I am not sure of the poster's location and the availability of cables. So my solution used a readily available DVI cable.

An HDMI cable would work as well with that monitor.
Click to expand...

Ok.. Figured that if you have a computer and monitor both with display port that the simplest thing would be to use a display port cable and not worry about adapters.
 
AppleFan1998 said:
Year 2012 Prediction

ARM Cortex A-15 Processor Mac Mini. 2.5 ghz quad. A Dual GPU. 1066 RAM or better

So small it would be as flat as a MacBook Pro or little thicker than iPad with same square proportions of current mac mini.

No superdrive.

More peripherals: USB 3.0 (3 or 4) and 2 Thunderbolt, 1 Firewire

Super low dynamic power consumption. 😀
Click to expand...

Dude, what are you smoking?
 
My gut tells me that Apple is focusing more on the performance of the mini, and moving in the direction of a high performance desktop in a package that can't be beat.. but the price will probably fall in line with a base MBP by the time they have achieved this. Form factor is already there- and if the optical drive is done away with, there will be a lot of room for serious upgrade in the same form factor currently attractive to the market.

I just say this looking at the advertising, more emphasis on what you get than on how affordable it is. There may always be a mini with base specs of a macbook to bring along switchers and students- but I expect that within two years folk's won't be getting an iMac just for the performance boost. They'll be getting a Mac Pro to do that. The mini may fill the gap that many have been clamoring for, a mid priced well spec'd puter smaller than a refrigerator and bigger than an oreo cookie.
😀
 
srf4real said:
My gut tells me that Apple is focusing more on the performance of the mini, and moving in the direction of a high performance desktop in a package that can't be beat.. but the price will probably fall in line with a base MBP by the time they have achieved this. Form factor is already there- and if the optical drive is done away with, there will be a lot of room for serious upgrade in the same form factor currently attractive to the market.

I just say this looking at the advertising, more emphasis on what you get than on how affordable it is. There may always be a mini with base specs of a macbook to bring along switchers and students- but I expect that within two years folk's won't be getting an iMac just for the performance boost. They'll be getting a Mac Pro to do that. The mini may fill the gap that many have been clamoring for, a mid priced well spec'd puter smaller than a refrigerator and bigger than an oreo cookie.
😀
Click to expand...

I agree with this. With a 2 Jack T-Bolt Mac mini.

It can be stacked on Sonnet's raid0/raid1 t-bolt case and used with Sonnet's external PCIe Case. The mini is more of a cpu box. You will be able to buy it stand alone or get add-ons . The internal hdd is more for backup of the external raid ssd0. Yeah you will be spending money if you buy a mini an ssd raid0 case and an external PCIe case.

The beauty of it is you can do 1 piece at a time the mini then the raid0 then the PCIe case. As hellhammer says the PCIe case will not put the best gpu but it will be far nicer then any internal gpu the mini has ever had. Also if you don't care about gaming the external gpu case is optional. you may buy a nice external storage option. I am looking forward to seeing a new mini and some working t-bolt gear hooked up. I have about 1000 usd saved up for this. I hope to get the new mini and a raid1/raid0 t-bolt case to start.
 
You guys do realize that Apple has gone 20 months between Mini updates before, right? And that was 2007-2009, before they had the iPad as a magnet to bring PC users into the Apple universe. Dollars to donuts the Mini doesn't get updated until 2012, assuming it doesn't get discontinued later this year. It just doesn't serve a purpose for Apple anymore.
 
Tulpa said:
assuming it doesn't get discontinued later this year. It just doesn't serve a purpose for Apple anymore.
Click to expand...

The mac mini has had it's early death predicted ever since it was released. It'll be around for a while. As for not serving a purpose, well for the last 5 years they've served me well. It could do with a boost, hopefully the next upcoming iteration will be i5 powered.
 
Tulpa said:
It [The Mac Mini] just doesn't serve a purpose for Apple anymore.
Click to expand...

Interesting... I'm thinking of getting two of them ( a server and a desktop) after the next refresh. Also I know lots of people who have purchased mac mini's and a lot more that are in the market for one. Not everyone one wants an all-in-one package (iMac) or need/afford a Mac Pro. The iMac fills that slot nicely
 
Tulpa said:
You guys do realize that Apple has gone 20 months between Mini updates before, right? And that was 2007-2009, before they had the iPad as a magnet to bring PC users into the Apple universe. Dollars to donuts the Mini doesn't get updated until 2012, assuming it doesn't get discontinued later this year. It just doesn't serve a purpose for Apple anymore.
Click to expand...


Why do you think its 1) It won't get updated any time soon and 2) It serves no purpose

2012 is a very far time away, I'm not even sure Core 2 Duo will be able to be bought by then. And even if Apple could get its hands on chips, it would be very outdated by then.(And C2D seems to be going from elsewhere in Apple's line up)

It very much does server a purpose in my mind. The iMac is a pricey jump into OS X for desktop usage. It doesn't seem anything has changed in Apple's line up to make the Mac Mini useless for Apple's line up.

So unless you have some reports from Apple to support your claim, it sort of sounds like you are just talking for the sake of talking
 
Tulpa said:
You guys do realize that Apple has gone 20 months between Mini updates before, right? And that was 2007-2009, before they had the iPad as a magnet to bring PC users into the Apple universe. Dollars to donuts the Mini doesn't get updated until 2012, assuming it doesn't get discontinued later this year. It just doesn't serve a purpose for Apple anymore.
Click to expand...
Correct! The GMA950 model was neglected for ages when just about every other desktop PC, bar the cheapest bargain range, had long moved on. Hence my concern re the next Mini update. Such is the nature of Apple's greed, we may well be stuck with C2D until 2012.

I'll wait a while longer, but looks like I'll be buying a decent desktop PC first. Though I still prefer to work in OS X, Windows 7 is impressive & more than good enough for much of my needs. (FWIW, bought my 1st PC laptop with anti-glare screen just over a week ago). Finally had enough of this BS. When updated Minis come out, I'll end up running both systems off separate hardware via a KVM switch.

Undo Redo said:
...except to make money. The mini is a hot seller, currently second only to the newly refreshed iMac, on Amazon.com. And that's of all desktop computers, not just Macs.
Click to expand...
That appears to be so, but only because PC companies like HP, Acer, etc. usually have a greater number of models on sale at any one time & they're all regularly replaced by new, updated models within fairly short cycles. That means older PCs usually disappear from the Amazon sellers list fairly soon.

OTOH, Macs like the Mini see update cycles that are a lot longer than any PCs due to Apple's greed & that they have no hardware competitors for OS X.
 
anotherkenny said:
Oh, could Arrandale use Thunderbolt?

I was expecting the Intel Z68 Express chip, but seeing the huge SSD in the iMac made that format seem cost prohibitive in a Mini.

Although I'm tired of waiting (it's been a long time; this will be my first Mac), the Mini released simultaneously with Lion makes sense because Snow Leopard Server software won't exist as an incentive to buy the server model.
Because server function will be in Lion, the cost benefit will be diminished for the upgrade Mini.

Maybe the extra money could go toward a quad-core Sandy Bridge chip with a dedicated GPU (unlikely), or a small size SDD cache to accompany the 1 TB drive.
Click to expand...


I think Mac Mini sales would go through the roof if they actually implemented Z68 SSD caching with a small SSD.
It would be something to ignite interest in the Mini. At least offer it as an option :apple:!!!

I know I would buy one with a ACD.
 
I may be wrong but in the past, haven't Mac Mini's always been a generation behind (i.e. C2D Processors when they released the i3/i5/i7 models of everything else)? So isn't it better to assume that the 2011 Mini's are more likely to have the previous generation i3/i5 processors rather than the Sandybridge ones?

Also, to those that think the price is likely to increase again, are you fogetting that not so long ago, Apple reduced the price of Mac Minis worldwide? Don't think they'll put them up again any time soon. Also, there's only so far they can take the pricing before the whole point of the Mini is no more (i.e. a budget Mac).
 
hsj2011 said:
I may be wrong but in the past, haven't Mac Mini's always been a generation behind (i.e. C2D Processors when they released the i3/i5/i7 models of everything else)? So isn't it better to assume that the 2011 Mini's are more likely to have the previous generation i3/i5 processors rather than the Sandybridge ones?
Click to expand...

If this is the case, would they still be able to add Thunderbolt ports and Z68 chipsets?
 
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