Never had any issues on my current Mac Mini, but it’s ancient… 😉
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2024 Mac Mini to Feature No Design Changes
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Does anyone know of a real M1 Mac Mini server farm, outside of Apple's sleek PR video?
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
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Those of you that were asking. Mac
Mini redesign could look something like this. 🤨 Notice the new colors.
Mini redesign could look something like this. 🤨 Notice the new colors.
I feel like the M2 (non-Pro) Mini could've been smaller (and or flatter) with no fan, but it's a good design and it's still small, so all good.
I would argue that Apple's tower designs peaked with the G4 series (functionally at least) with the hinged side to swing out the logic board and easily access the components. The pop-off door of the Power Mac G5s and early Mac Pros weren't quite as user friendly. That begs the question - did Apple make the G5 less user friendly just for the sake of change?
Why does a desktop need to be thinner than the current mini? The biggest reason people choose desktops is for better performance. The Mini's thermal designs given even the M1/M2 more room to breathe than the chips could in an MBA. Plus if I have a bunch of cords hanging out of the back of my Mini I would want the unit itself to be fairly weighty so as not to have the cords pulling on the machine or causing it not to sit evenly.
For the love of GOD.
It’s a freaking DESKTOP!
It’s already within spitting distance of the thickness of my PowerBook G3! One of the best LAPTOPS I’ve ever owned!
It doesn’t need to be thinner!!!
It’s a DESKTOP!!!!
*headdesk*
Good grief.
Sigh.
I need a drink.
Sorry for getting off the design topic here, but . . .
I currently have a late 2015 5k iMac w/24gb and 2tb Fusion drive (almost 1tb full - I have a lot of music and will add more). Here are the replacement options since I'm giving up on seeing another 27" iMac:
M2 Mini with 16gb and 2tb = $1419
M2 Pro with 16gb and 2tb = $1739
Studio Display refurbished = $1359
I'm a teacher, I don't do any graphics, photo editing, etc. The only reason for considering the M2 Pro is to make it more future proof. My current iMac actually still does everything I need it for, but the fan is starting to rev up a lot more, spinning beachball a little more often and it can't be upgraded to Ventura.
I've thought about getting the Mini with 1tb and adding a Satechi hub with SSD enclosure, but these are $100 and then adding a 1tb SSD is another $75, which is half the $360 Apple charges but it's one more thing and the ports on the Satechi can't be used for charging.
So, is the M2 Pro worth the extra $320 considering I'll have it for 5+ years?
Appreciate any input.
I currently have a late 2015 5k iMac w/24gb and 2tb Fusion drive (almost 1tb full - I have a lot of music and will add more). Here are the replacement options since I'm giving up on seeing another 27" iMac:
M2 Mini with 16gb and 2tb = $1419
M2 Pro with 16gb and 2tb = $1739
Studio Display refurbished = $1359
I'm a teacher, I don't do any graphics, photo editing, etc. The only reason for considering the M2 Pro is to make it more future proof. My current iMac actually still does everything I need it for, but the fan is starting to rev up a lot more, spinning beachball a little more often and it can't be upgraded to Ventura.
I've thought about getting the Mini with 1tb and adding a Satechi hub with SSD enclosure, but these are $100 and then adding a 1tb SSD is another $75, which is half the $360 Apple charges but it's one more thing and the ports on the Satechi can't be used for charging.
So, is the M2 Pro worth the extra $320 considering I'll have it for 5+ years?
Appreciate any input.
Okay, let's all calm down... it's a lighthearted discussion about Apple design surrounding the excitement of a new chip and the possibilities of future hardware design due to fast and cool running chips. It's not that serious. 
I love thin and light design and Apple silicon will allow for the thinness that Apple used to obsess over, but without the heat and loud fans of the Intel era. I would love a 15"-16" MacBook that's as thin (or even thinner) than a MacBook Air.
I think if the Mini was built around the M chip, it would probably have a different case size and design. Just look at all the Mac they shoved in that thin M1 iMac display (yes, with fans). The current Mac Mini design and fan is a carryover from the Intel chip model, but still very attractive and small enough.
It's okay though, no one is taking your thick and chunky Pro machines away!
I love thin and light design and Apple silicon will allow for the thinness that Apple used to obsess over, but without the heat and loud fans of the Intel era. I would love a 15"-16" MacBook that's as thin (or even thinner) than a MacBook Air.
I think if the Mini was built around the M chip, it would probably have a different case size and design. Just look at all the Mac they shoved in that thin M1 iMac display (yes, with fans). The current Mac Mini design and fan is a carryover from the Intel chip model, but still very attractive and small enough.
It's okay though, no one is taking your thick and chunky Pro machines away!
Not sure why you need a hub? mini has a dedicated power port. 2 Tbolts, one for a fast drive, one for ???. USB A for everything else. Or get a basic $25 USB hub, no need for a spendy Tbolt one.
You could save yourself some significant money if you went with a lower internal storage tier and an external drive (since unlike a laptop it's not like having an external drive connected is an inconvenience). While not as fast as internal SSDs a USB-C drive with 10 Gbps performance will still be significantly faster than the HDD portion of your iMac's Fusion Drive. You can get a 2 TB external SSD from Amazon for $150-$200 depending on brand vs. $600 for the upgrade from Apple (and still get the 256 - 512 GB internal storage in the Mini itself). As an added bonus if the drive is still in good shape when you're ready to upgrade computers again you can just plug it into the new machine.
It eclipses it in some ways, but the Mac Studio still eclipses it from a GPU standpoint.
I guess the reason for the Satechi hub is to expand storage and get the additional (although non-charging) ports. And the Mini sits right on top of it.
Wouldn't one of the thunderbolt ports on the Mini be needed to connect to the Studio Display?
Not sure why, but I have always been reluctant to use external drives. I like the all in one idea (27" iMac, I will miss you!). But, I definitely get your point about the cost savings and hadn't thought about the speed vs the Fusion drive.
Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated.
1 port for Studio, 1 for storage then. You also gain 3 more USB C ports on the studio display. Dont get too focused on thunderbolt. A $75 1 TB drive (like a crucial X8) or DIY are going to be 10 Gb/s. Incredibly speedy for any user. Considering the drive in your current iMac might get 1 Gb/s.
Depending on how you started your computer experience, internal was the only way to get fast storage... which perpetuated that notion that external storage was "bad". When USB 3 came out, the external option was now viable. 5 Gb/s speeds were faster than any HDD RAID 0, and had enough bandwith for 2.5" SSDs too. But too many users still think of external as "bad".
Im the opposite. external all the way. I have a 4TB NVME RAID 0 in a dual bay Sabrent TBolt external with everything on it, gets 25 Gb/s R/Ws, so speedy, and spendy. Came from HDD RAID 0, with 7200 RPM drives, that only got 3.5 Gb/s on a good day.
When I conslut on setups now, I highly encourage extneral storage.
fwiw, your $1500 price is close to a 14" MBP M1 PRO 16/512... on sale. if you would like protability.
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My first computer was a Mac SE30 in 1990, I think, then a IIsi and all Mac up to today. And, my wife has worked at Intel all this time.
Maybe a dumb question, but can the external drive be connected to one of the USB C ports on the back of the Studio Display?
I don't think they had a choice to move to aluminum and lose the door logic board. The G5 ran too hot. The cooling system was ridiculous especially in the later models. While I don't like the G5 design as much as the Power Mac G4, it still was considered user friendly.
I'd argue the new Mac Pro is too. It's just no-one can afford it. The G4 and G5 towers were around $1499. What's the new Mac Pro start at something like $6,000?
We'll see what happens with the new Apple.
I originally dismissed Jony Ive's exit interview concerns because 1) Cook gave him too much power after Jobs died, 2) he was responsible for some terrible design choices like the original MacBook with one USB C port, the Apple Watch $10,000 gold edition and the butterfly keyboard and 3) he was just tired and burned out.
But the idea that a $.50 cent or $1.00 component cost can dictate the design or you're designing phones to be sold three or four years later as a cheaper model or in a different country is nuts to me.
Your Apple, innovate. Go back to your Think Different mantra. Stop coasting on designs from 10 years ago.
The Mini with the M2 Pro SOC has 4 fully independent thunderbolt 4 ports. What else are you looking for?
of course. A port is a port is a port. and all on the apple site "Three downstream USB-C ports (up to 10Gb/s) for connecting peripherals, storage, and networking"
ports have come a looooooong way. 1 USB C port can peel off into 21 different ones.
Again, I think this is more of the "externals are bad/scary" from years of them being bad and scary. Centronics, parallel, SCSI, SCSI II, ultra SCSI. Then FW400 and FW800. and USB2 that was blech. USB 3 kinda saved us.
Is now a good time to remind you Samsung is coming out with a 5K display soon? Maybe less $$$ for your budget.
Whatever you buy, even a basic 8/256 mini will kill your iMac.
Oops got that one completely wrong! 😂
Apple's next-generation Mac mini set to come out in 2024 will not feature an updated design, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In a tweet today, Kuo said that the "next new Mac mini" will have the same "form factor design."
The M2 and M2 Pro versions of the Mac mini that Apple introduced today have the same design as the prior-generation M1 and Intel models, with no major external updates. Instead, the changes are all internal, featuring faster M-series chips.
There were 2021/2022 rumors that suggested the Mac mini could see a refreshed look with a plexiglass top and other new features, but that did not come to pass with this update.
Apple sells the Mac mini alongside the Mac Studio, which was introduced in spring 2022. The Mac Studio is using Apple's M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips, and it is due for an M2 refresh at some point.
Article Link: 2024 Mac Mini to Feature No Design Changes
Consider getting the one with 512GB SSD and then adding an external 2TB Thunderbolt SSD. It’s a non-mobile desktop so you won’t need to worry about it being external and an SSD is small enough to tuck behind. You’ll save a lot over paying Apple’s eye watering storage prices on the upper range.
Ah, I see @badgerbadgerx2 already made this suggestion so consider this a second to his proposal 😊
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