2011 Mac Mini - Speculation

[MJL]

Ah yes, this is a concern for me as well. Although some might find a bunch of things OSX has bloat as well.. Widgets spring to mind, even when I personally find them very useful. My brother even dislikes the dock confused.
But yeah, when I try to update FF or something at my parents', I have to click multiple 'security' boxes. (Or was that during Vista?)

Anyway, my experience with OSX (even though I'm on 10.4) has been brilliant, Windows not so. So I'd rather have the machine I'm getting, for the price I'm getting it, but running Lion Now where did I put my cake??

I see you are in Utrecht, NL? Can remember sitting my AMBI exams there in the Veehallen next to Hoog Catherijne back in 1984/5. Even visted a retired relative there during those days before returning down under to NZ. (emigrated in 78).

Can remember 1200/2400 baud modems going into dial-up bulletin boards and (wait for it) a full height 5.25" HDD of a huge 5 Mb size.... Anything more than 256K memory was luxury (what did Gates say: 640K is all anyone would ever need or want) ...

That beside: Windows 7 also has that nasty security check although there is some hack to tone it down a lot. But all software has to be "certified" by Microsoft else you get an error message (or even worse some DLL"s won't be run). IMHO major difference is that Windows is for a business environment where "colleboration" is all the rage these days slowing Excel down by several factors. Am glad I still have my business license for Office 2000 - if I had no need to connect to the internet then I would still be running Windows 2000 or XP with that. Alas hardware requirements may in due course make even that impossible, how many of todays computers are still certified for Windows 98SE or Windows NT 3.51. Who still remembers OS/2? OS X is all about personal computing (and less about sharing) and I like that.

If I look at the current lineup of CPU's in all the Mac's then there are only two that are still using a core 2 duo so I would expect the Mac Mini to be upgraded to some i3 / i5 but lests hope it is the i3-2xxxM or i5-2xxxM series (has DMI 2.0) because if it is not then I'll be forced to move somewhere else. I can wait only another month to 6 weeks so I do hope Apple moves along with releasing a new mini since I have taken a shine to it.

 

[Defla]

And what about the Mac Mini 2011?

 

[Lankyman]

My son bought a high end Mac and he tried OS X for 3 months and then reverted back to Windows 7. Normally I am a late upgrader, ran XP until a 18 months ago, tried Vista but now am running Windows 7. With a SSD on an T7500 the software flies and I am more than happy performance wise.

However I am less than happy with all the monthly updates, the continous "validation" to ensure I am running legit software (I am, cannot afford anything less in a business environment, too much malware risk otherwise) and who knows what else information they try to gain. The bloat is also a thorn in my side, can remember NT workstation 3.5 on something like 22, (or 26?) 3.5" floppies. Office came on something like 10 floppies and installed was something like 10 Mb. My oh my, what has happened? Software is getting slower than that the hardware is getting faster.

I value my privacy highly and do not like the way things are going, looks like we are back to the old "dumb terminal with server" idea except this time it is not inhouse but across the web and not to a server owned by the employer but to the software company. George Orwell's 1984 is coming of age if you ask me.

Well let's face it the monthly updates (of which there appear to be many for my iMac too these days) are down to the popularity of Windows worldwide and those that seek to exploit that popularity for criminal purposes. Make no mistake if the boot was on the other foot i.e. OS X was the main player then that too would be plagued with updates. On the subject of validation though one rarely sees that with W7 unless of course you are installing new software or doing something that requires access to the Root, certainly nothing like Vista. I run Office 2007 on my HP PC and that opens in 1.7 seconds so again I don't recognise your bloat claim.

As for the "cloud" I'm with you on that one. There's no way I would put any of my data onto a remote server, too many complications if things go wrong or the net is down. Besides I have no use for mobile computing whatsoever, I don't even own a so called "smartphone" or intend to get one either. Emails from whatever source can way until I'm either in the office or I get home.

 

[Tulpa]

Meh, W7 is an improvement but still has some of the same problems as its ancestors (as well as some new ones). I've only had my W7 laptop for a week or so, but if I had a dime for every time I've shut down when I was intending to merely switch user accounts (the button for the menu to get the logoff option is about 10% the size of the Shutdown button next to it, and the Shutdown button doesn't ask for confirmation).

Also, getting file sharing to work with my 2010 mini has been a mess. Sometimes it works automatically (as it always did with XP) but sometimes I have to manually connect using the "Connect to Server" in OS X.

Maybe some of these things are due to inexperience with W7, but that's the point. I've never had to trudge around the net looking for ways to accomplish basic functions in OS X. I wonder if all the gushing praise for W7 is for similar reasons as the common belief that Star Wars III was a good movie.

 

[Lankyman]

Tulpa states ......Maybe some of these things are due to inexperience with W7, but that's the point. I've never had to trudge around the net looking for ways to accomplish basic functions in OS X. I wonder if all the gushing praise for W7 is for similar reasons as the common belief that Star Wars III was a good movie.

Homegroups work really well with W7 but that's assuming the other PCs in the group are using W7.

As regards trudging and W7 - well I've been using OS X for around 2 years now and I still have to google or ask on here how to do things. I think it's simply a case of "what you're used to". For me I always but always use W7 if that's an option as I find that OS X is less than the sum of it's parts. Wife tends to use the iMac but then again she's only browsing most of the time and even then it's via FF not Safari.

I shall wait to see what Lion offers as I'm just hoping it will be better than SL.

 

[danielsmu]

Within the last day or so, all best buy stores in my area are now showing only "Ship to Store" availability for mac minis (as opposed to only 1-2 stores showing that status for the last few weeks). Anybody else seeing similar behavior in your area?

Looking good folks

 

[Lankyman]

Within the last day or so, all best buy stores in my area are now showing only "Ship to Store" availability for mac minis (as opposed to only 1-2 stores showing that status for the last few weeks). Anybody else seeing similar behavior in your area?

Looking good folks

Best Buy UK plus quite a number of large retail outlets are still showing stock for immediate delivery?

 

[Tulpa]

Homegroups work really well with W7 but that's assuming the other PCs in the group are using W7.

Well yeah, that's the hitch. The point is that Win7 is now the squeaky wheel in my home network. Replacing all my devices with Windows 7 machines isn't really an option. OS X has always played nice with other OSs (well until now at least).

As regards trudging and W7 - well I've been using OS X for around 2 years now and I still have to google or ask on here how to do things. I think it's simply a case of "what you're used to".

Agreed on the "what you're used to" criterion, but I had been a Windows XP user since it came out. There wasn't nearly as much of a learning gap when I got the new Snow Leopard mini after working only with OS X up to Tiger.

 

[Tulpa]

Within the last day or so, all best buy stores in my area are now showing only "Ship to Store" availability for mac minis (as opposed to only 1-2 stores showing that status for the last few weeks). Anybody else seeing similar behavior in your area?

Looking good folks

The Waterfront BB location still has some in stock, but all the other Pittsburgh ones are ship to store. In fact, there's only two other BBs within 150 miles (Erie and Strongsville OH) that have it in stock. All the others estimate arrival in store to be July 29.

So, yeah, that looks "good" if one considers the update to be good.

 

[Brenzo]

Does anyone think the Mini will lose the HDMI output?

 

[obsidian1200]

Does anyone think the Mini will lose the HDMI output?

I'd hope not, just because I don't want to fork over another $30 or $40 for cable to restore the port...

Wishful thinking aside, Apple could honestly go either way. The HDMI port on the Mac Mini made it an ideal machine for people wanting a HTPC, and removing it would only make it a less than ideal machine for that purpose. Then again, it's a mac; removing the port probably won't hurt sales all that much, but you never know...

 

[japtor]

I'd hope not, just because I don't want to fork over another $30 or $40 for cable to restore the port...

Wishful thinking aside, Apple could honestly go either way. The HDMI port on the Mac Mini made it an ideal machine for people wanting a HTPC, and removing it would only make it a less than ideal machine for that purpose. Then again, it's a mac; removing the port probably won't hurt sales all that much, but you never know...

I'm hoping for a second Thunderbolt port (and separate TB bus) in place of HDMI so I can dedicate one for an external GPU and use the other for storage and anything else.

 

[Lankyman]

I'm hoping for a second Thunderbolt port (and separate TB bus) in place of HDMI so I can dedicate one for an external GPU and use the other for storage and anything else.

That's a big ask and what is after all the entry level Desk Top Mac!

 

[japtor]

That's a big ask and what is after all the entry level Desk Top Mac!

Just asking for the port...god knows if you add in the price of TB peripherals (for now) it would push it past entry level pricing (hell it's arguably already past entry level at $700).

 

[InuNacho]

Those Thunderbolt peripherals are going to cost close to the cost of the Mini whenever they come out.

 

[evilcat]

Just asking for the port...god knows if you add in the price of TB peripherals (for now) it would push it past entry level pricing (hell it's arguably already past entry level at $700).

I read somewhere that each TB controller costs around $100 so that's a fair price increase on a $700 machine.

Even if those figures are total BS, consider this: the 21" iMac has one TB port, the 27" has two. It's unlikely the mini would get two.

That said, I agree it would be awesome!

 

[MJL]

I remember OS/2 being a better OS than the early versions of NT but it fell by the wayside because no-one was going to be the first to write an application for it. (there were only a very few highly expensive applications for it).

Who knows if thunderbird goes the same way as firewire. It may be technologically better but if the masses don't join then it will be history.

http://www.extremetech.com/computin...heaper-thinner-faster-thunderbolt-alternative

 

[Lankyman]

Well it looks possible that hardware updates for various product may now be announced before the end of this month or very early next with Lion released as early as the middle of next week. However, I'm really not expecting much more than a modest upgrade for the Mini e.g. SB dual core CPU with Intel graphics, bump in the RAM and a small bump for the HD. I'd like to be proved wrong but doubt I will be.

Still be be perfectly honest I would be more than happy with that.

Opps! forgot to include TB port

 

[srf4real]

Yep. My birthday is next Thursday and Apple would have to stoop really low with under-specs to keep me from gifting myself a new mini. I really hope its at least upgradeable to 8GB ram and if only two cores then 2.8Ghz minimum. I'd be very happy with that..

 

[obsidian1200]

Well it looks possible that hardware updates for various product may now be announced before the end of this month or very early next with Lion released as early as the middle of next week. However, I'm really not expecting much more than a modest upgrade for the Mini e.g. SB dual core CPU with Intel graphics, bump in the RAM and a small bump for the HD. I'd like to be proved wrong but doubt I will be.

Still be be perfectly honest I would be more than happy with that.

I think it's likely we'll see a thunderbolt port, too. I don't see how leaving it off the mini would benefit Apple. They need as many computers as possible to have it if they want to make the port a mainstream technology. Then again, if they don't want it to be successful outside of the Mac community (I don't know why they would, but whatever), then it's very possible they'll leave the port off.

Other than that, I'd agree with everything else you said. I'd like to see bigger and faster RAM, personally. I don't think anyone is realistically expecting a revolutionary improvement to the mini aside from hardware updates.

Also, I'd like the option to buy a server model (dual HDDs, no optical) without the server software. If that doesn't happen, however, I guess I'll get to play with the server tools when I get my hands on one

 

[Lankyman]

I think it's likely we'll see a thunderbolt port, too. I don't see how leaving it off the mini would benefit Apple. They need as many computers as possible to have it if they want to make the port a mainstream technology. Then again, if they don't want it to be successful outside of the Mac community (I don't know why they would, but whatever), then it's very possible they'll leave the port off.

Other than that, I'd agree with everything else you said. I'd like to see bigger and faster RAM, personally. I don't think anyone is realistically expecting a revolutionary improvement to the mini aside from hardware updates.

Also, I'd like the option to buy a server model (dual HDDs, no optical) without the server software. If that doesn't happen, however, I guess I'll get to play with the server tools when I get my hands on one

Yes the error was mine, I forgot to include a TB port. There's no way they are going to over spec the Mini though as it would then be moving in on iMac territory. Apple would look ridiculous if they had their entry level Mac with a higher spec than their iMacs

 

[Tulpa]

Yep. My birthday is next Thursday and Apple would have to stoop really low with under-specs to keep me from gifting myself a new mini. I really hope its at least upgradeable to 8GB ram and if only two cores then 2.8Ghz minimum. I'd be very happy with that..

The 2010 mini is upgradeable to 8GB RAM so that should be a slam dunk for the new one. Are the clock speeds comparable between i-cores and core duos anyway? (ie, is a 2.5 GHz i-core slower than a 3 GHz core duo?)

 

[japtor]

The 2010 mini is upgradeable to 8GB RAM so that should be a slam dunk for the new one. Are the clock speeds comparable between i-cores and core duos anyway? (ie, is a 2.5 GHz i-core slower than a 3 GHz core duo?)

i-cores are faster per clock afaik, and if they have a hyperthreading model it improves a bit beyond that if you have multiple threads.

I'm just expecting the 13" MBP hardware...but hoping for more like quad and another Thunderbolt port, but I consider those really long shots going by history. And if they do it'd only be on a high end config with a major premium attached.

 

[mattdeezy]

So my Mac mini which said shipping 3 days but delivers 12 July two weeks ago now is being delivered today. It is the 11th here.

Looks as though I'm getting the 2010 model probably without Lion as nothing has been announced as yet. Makes me wonder what the delay in shipping was about?

If they release a new model in the next week or so can I trade it for the new one like they do for other products?

 

[obsidian1200]

So my Mac mini which said shipping 3 days but delivers 12 July two weeks ago now is being delivered today. It is the 11th here.

Looks as though I'm getting the 2010 model probably without Lion as nothing has been announced as yet. Makes me wonder what the delay in shipping was about?

If they release a new model in the next week or so can I trade it for the new one like they do for other products?

I don't see why not. You should either be able to trade it in for the newer model, or you might have to return it, pay the restocking fee, and buy the new mini... I see the former being more likely than the ladder, given the history on this kind of thing.