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Heat_Fan89

macrumors 68030
Feb 23, 2016
2,537
3,233
I strongly doubt there is any technical reason. More likely a purely financial decision.

Basically the socketed HDDs and socketed RAM on the 2011/2012mini have allowed them to live on for 7-8 years. This is terrible if you are Apple.
Which is why I highly doubt it that my 2012 Mini will see macOS 10.15 as Apple wants to put those older Mini's out to pasture.
 
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hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
There is another reason to have your personal data on an external drive, which shouldn't be a problem with a desktop system like the Mini and iMac with "captive" internal drives. If your system should fail and require a trip into the service shop, where you will probably have to give your password to the tech, all your possibly sensitive financial, mail, etc. personal data will be safely at home with you, not locked within the computer until fixed.

Of course, your backup will give YOU access to that data while it is in for service ... but this way the technician won't also have access to it once it is running again.

If the machine still works enough, even though faulty, you could probably erase the internal disk prior to sending it in for service.
 
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russell_314

macrumors 603
Feb 10, 2019
6,012
8,918
USA
Here we go with the apologies again with the usual dismal of concerns and the suggest anyone raising them should go do the job themselves. Unless you can give me a solid technical reason why this component cannot be socketed with an industry standard socket you're just making excuses.
It's not an apology. I think it's funny how someone posting on forms thinks he knows more than the guy working for Apple with years of experience and education on this. My point was calling out how ridiculous you sound. If you honestly think you can design a better computer do it instead of complaining about how Apple did it. Maybe you can but maybe you can't... I don't know you. It reminds me of my friends watching professional football and saying "I could have made that touchdown". Sure you could buddy. Of course they could have put a standard m.2 drive in it. They also could have put a socketed CPU. Anything can be done but there's lots of factors as to why it's not done. I'm not an Apple designer nor am I a computer hardware designer so anything out of my mouth would be BS. I could speculate or give my opinions but that's about it. Apple isn't going to do something just for no reason. Part of the reason might be cost. There's a limit to what a certain market will pay for a product. Some people are already complaining about the cost of the new mini so would adding a few hundred dollars to the price make sense? Price is a legitimate issue because people have a budget. I know if it was a few hundred dollars more I probably wouldn't have bought one. I would have saved for an iMac instead. I realize you're entitled to your dislike or opinion on something and I respect that. Feel free to express it on the internet but the best way to express it when it comes to products is your wallet. If you're complaining about you dislike the mini but you bought one then Apple isn't hearing you.
 

pl1984

Suspended
Oct 31, 2017
2,230
2,645
It's not an apology. I think it's funny how someone posting on forms thinks he knows more than the guy working for Apple with years of experience and education on this. My point was calling out how ridiculous you sound. If you honestly think you can design a better computer do it instead of complaining about how Apple did it. Maybe you can but maybe you can't... I don't know you. It reminds me of my friends watching professional football and saying "I could have made that touchdown". Sure you could buddy. Of course they could have put a standard m.2 drive in it. They also could have put a socketed CPU. Anything can be done but there's lots of factors as to why it's not done. I'm not an Apple designer nor am I a computer hardware designer so anything out of my mouth would be BS. I could speculate or give my opinions but that's about it. Apple isn't going to do something just for no reason. Part of the reason might be cost. There's a limit to what a certain market will pay for a product. Some people are already complaining about the cost of the new mini so would adding a few hundred dollars to the price make sense? Price is a legitimate issue because people have a budget. I know if it was a few hundred dollars more I probably wouldn't have bought one. I would have saved for an iMac instead. I realize you're entitled to your dislike or opinion on something and I respect that. Feel free to express it on the internet but the best way to express it when it comes to products is your wallet. If you're complaining about you dislike the mini but you bought one then Apple isn't hearing you.
Amazing what lengths some people will go to apologize for Apple.
 
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philipma1957

macrumors 603
Apr 13, 2010
6,362
248
Howell, New Jersey
First off, let me introduce myself by saying “Hello” it’s been some years since I’ve bought an Apple computer.

Just recently purchased my 2018 Mac Mini with the following specs:
i7 cpu, 32gb ram, 128gb SSD

I discovered the biggest disappointment after purchasing is that I cannot upgrade the SSD because it is soldered into the unit. I opted for 32GB of ram at the time of purchase (assuming I would upgrade storage later) because I wanted the speed right away and I have several external drives for photo and video editing

I quickly found the 128gb is nearly consumed with only ~40gb left after installing final cut, Adobe, office, etc etc....

Did I make a mistake with only 128? I feel like I have... Solutions I already initiated was storing libraries for Photos and iTunes to the external drives to free up space.

Has anyone else dealt with this dilemma? This is going to haunt me for years if I don’t find a good solution or sell the unit and buy another one with larger internal SSD.

Thank you for your inputs.
Return it get a bigger ssd and get less ram.

Frankly I ended up getting some 2014 minis as I need about 600 to 700 gb on the boot drive .

I want some clean look minis no external HDD.
ETH cord
power cord
Hdmi cord.

I have two NAS shared with 3 minis.

My suggestion to you is bigger ssd as you can not make a bigger ssd.
You can always add more ram.
16gb ram and a 500gb ssd is better then 32gb ram and a 128gb ssd.

Both cost 1399. Direct from Apple.
I3 base is 799. Add 32gb it is 1399
I3 base is 799. Do 500gb option for ssd 400 do 16 gb ram option for 200 cost is 1399.

If you page out on the 16gb ram down the road you can upgrade to ram. Short term the 500gb ssd can cover pages fairly well.

Same cost but a better machine for most users.
 
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