2018 MacBook Air and Mac mini Hands-On: Long-Awaited Updates Don't Disappoint
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Of course it is a toy. What is the file system? Where is the file browser? How do I install programs on my own on it without the App Store? How can I run 3, 4 or 5 programs on the desktop next to each other. Hell how do I drag things and drop them somewhere else? How can I use cross platform software? How can I build a work network?
The iPad is a fantastic expensive T O Y.
If You have a Mac and iCloud, you can use it fore some productivity, if You don’t have a Mac as Your homebase, than it is a T O Y.
Or the most computerlike thing, that elderly people can use.
Now go back and polish Your Apple Watch.
That actually looks very hot.
An SSD in the shape and color of the new Mac mini with 2-4 TB and a tiny tb3 connection cable would sell like hot cake... a built in SSD of 256 GB would clearly be sufficient then...
kevinp8192
macrumors member
I can't speak for everybody, but after huffing, moaning, and hating on just about every Mac notebook and desktop release in the past 5 years, I find this new Mini the "goldilocks" prosumer Mac I've been waiting for. Great port selection, up to 64 GB of RAM, and good processing power. It's a little pricey, but properly spec'd it looks to be a solid 5 year Mac choice for those of us who want to choose our own desktop display configuration.
6-core Mini is great choice for the price, I’ll be getting one for my music studio. A lot of choice and flexibility here, I don’t think there is any reason to complain about new Mac Mini. In case of MacBook Air people forget that it originally started for 1800$, for completely unusable configuration, It took years for prices to come down for the technology that was introduced back in 2008. I’m surprised how fully equipped new Air is, it’s not only Retina, but also Touch ID, two full TB3 (not only USB-C) and 12 hours battery. This everything for the price lower than MacBook 12 that has already been a big selling hit. Apple seem to be very confident in this lineup and pricing strategy, we’ll see what earnings call will tell us.
tubular
macrumors 65816
I agree. They filled a painful hole in their lineup.
prasand
macrumors 6502a
Unnecessary, you can network the minis using thunderbolt 3 and get 20Gb bi-directionally between each link.
Stella
macrumors G3
Apple will kill off its PC range beforehand.
Unless iPad gets keyboard / mouse / support 3rd party applications / file system, it won't be a full replacement.
Trust me, 128gb is absolutely tiny to the point of being nigh-unusable.
MacBook and iMac are not that old compare to MacBook Air and Mac Mini. So you are not allowed to be disappointed yet.
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If you ignore the MacBook, the line is back to the basic consumer vs pro. Not confusing at all.The MacBook line is confusing AF now.
Michael Goff
Suspended
Of course it is a toy. What is the file system? Where is the file browser? How do I install programs on my own on it without the App Store? How can I run 3, 4 or 5 programs on the desktop next to each other. Hell how do I drag things and drop them somewhere else? How can I use cross platform software? How can I build a work network?
The iPad is a fantastic expensive T O Y.
If You have a Mac and iCloud, you can use it fore some productivity, if You don’t have a Mac as Your homebase, than it is a T O Y.
Or the most computerlike thing, that elderly people can use.
Now go back and polish Your Apple Watch.
You have very weird ideas as to what makes the difference between a computer and a toy. I don’t know many toys that can run full photoshop and manipulate a 3gb PSD. What toys do audio editing? How about video editing?
At this point, I will just add $200 to previous price to accommodate the software development cost. I mean iWork suite, iLife suite, MacOS are the thing that we take for granted for some times now. And software is the prime reason to get a Mac/iPhone.
Touch ID may be cheaper to make. Just my 2 cent.
The MBA is a budget laptop. You'd be willing to pay extra $ for FaceID?
Michael Goff
Suspended
You’ll have to go to Intel and ask them why they’re charging premium prices for crap components.
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Is the point of the MBA to be budget or just the thinnest and lightest Mac?
Think of it as Apple's cod piece.
It's whatever you want it to be.
But in the end, would you be willing to pay extra $ to have FaceID instead of TouchID on your MBA? A feature that's not yet on Apple's MBPs.
And that of course assumes Apple will be going in that direction and the technology is now laptop-ready.
Michael Goff
Suspended
I assume the real reason it isn’t in there yet isn’t price but physics. The laptop lid is probably far too thin to hold FaceID.
cmaier
Suspended
Of course it is a toy. What is the file system? Where is the file browser? How do I install programs on my own on it without the App Store? How can I run 3, 4 or 5 programs on the desktop next to each other. Hell how do I drag things and drop them somewhere else? How can I use cross platform software? How can I build a work network?
The iPad is a fantastic expensive T O Y.
If You have a Mac and iCloud, you can use it fore some productivity, if You don’t have a Mac as Your homebase, than it is a T O Y.
Or the most computerlike thing, that elderly people can use.
Now go back and polish Your Apple Watch.
I’m confused. iOS has the same file system as the Mac. It has a file browser, as well as file chooser components for embedding in third party apps. You can run three apps at the same time, plus more in the background.
Of course it is a toy. What is the file system? Where is the file browser? How do I install programs on my own on it without the App Store? How can I run 3, 4 or 5 programs on the desktop next to each other. Hell how do I drag things and drop them somewhere else? How can I use cross platform software? How can I build a work network?
The iPad is a fantastic expensive T O Y.
If You have a Mac and iCloud, you can use it fore some productivity, if You don’t have a Mac as Your homebase, than it is a T O Y.
Or the most computerlike thing, that elderly people can use.
Now go back and polish Your Apple Watch.
- What is the file system? -> What about it? Do you want to type mkdir in terminal or something? So intuitive.
- Where is the file browser? -> Put your **** in iCloud and organize them by tags, then search and you get your file. You just want your file right? Here you go. You can work with it now.
- How do I install programs on my own on it without the App Store? -> Like what? What kind of program? People always use the cloudiness of this argument 'my own program' but never really specify what exactly. Or may be you just want to install your calculator app that you make yourself just to prove your point?
- How can I run 3, 4 or 5 programs on the desktop next to each other? -> 5 programs on a tablet will have you juggle around a lot to the point that you don't do the actual work anyway. Why bother with it?
- Drag and drop. -> They have drag and drop.
- How can I use cross platform software? -> Like what? Do you want to use the cross platform software or use whatever and make the work done? Why so obsess with use this and that? It's like you want to make a fried egg with a plate and a spoon instead of a pan and a spatula.
- How can I build a work network? -> You do that on a desktop. Or remote desktop using tablet. It's that simple you can't think of a solution?
iPad is what it is. If you don't need it, then don't buy it. What is there to discuss? I don't understand.
The 2006 Mac Mini started at $599. The 2010 Mac Mini started at $699. These were never cheap computers. A $799 starting price for the 2018 model seems in line with that.