5 Reasons to Get Excited About the New Mac Mini

[Remy149]

Gaming and certain media playback due to various file types/attributes can push the hardware, like decoding AV1 video for example.

I don’t game on my Appletv but I’ve never experienced any issues playing media.

 

[Velli]

I agree with the first part

I just reject any notions that progress is impossible if we kept one single USB-A port around

But .. it is what it is (obviously)

I reject any notion that legacy support is impossible if we are plugging an adapter into one of the USB-C ports.

Like it or not, the more products that are USB-C only, the faster USB-A will die. I look forward to the day.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I'm excited to answer this question, because it's me! I've been using Apple computers since the first iMac (or, if we're being technical, a PowerPC from '94). After having a series of MacBooks, I don't have a need for an Apple laptop anymore but I do have decades of files, music, etc, that I want to keep on a modern machine. I'm only ever using a computer in one location these days, and I'll be upgrading from a 2019 MacBook Air, so it's going to be a huge boost in computing power. Don't care for an iMac because I don't want to pay extra to be locked into that monitor forever.
I think I read it as Mac Mini is the base desktop, and then Studio and above are for professionals. iMac is the all-in-one. However Apple decides to distribute their chips is up to them.

Appreciate you chiming in

To be honest, you sort of sound like my cousin ... and she is someone that has an old Logitech mouse she uses (that has a USB-A dongle) and who also routinely has a USB-A thumb drive from work that she pulls files off of

Pretty annoying to need an adapter or dongle for those situations

People here might find this crazy, but a lot of basic users like she is just bring home a USB something or other and look for "the hole it fits in on the back" ... and it's way beyond them and certainly not pleasurable to need to go somewhere and figure out what to buy to just "make it work"

 

[citysnaps]

Like I said .. you'll want that new Belkin Weighted Dock, both for the weight of it and to get the USB-A ports back

Apple cuts their own costs, increases margins and then the rest of us have to spend even more money to make their products usable again.

The Tim Cook playbook

Time to go with and purchase Apple competitor products, sending Apple a strong message. And *finally* find happiness.

Will you do it?

 

[krakenrelease]

Wonder how a M4 Pro with 32GB Mini with compare price and performance wise with the base Studio, M2 Max with 32?

I expect, with much better single core performance, the Mini will edge it, making the M2 Max Studio high and dry.

That’s not the whole story. The studio will have more I/o bandwidth. Real comparisons aren’t worth a grain of salt until the two machines can be benchmarked together with the same exact tests.

The M2 versions before, once you upgraded the mini, you might as well get a studio for not much more. The question will be can you wait for the M4 Studio. You will know if you prefer the mini to the studio.

 

[mrr]

Still need USB-A?
3 pack for $3.99:

https://a.co/d/cs8g5kP

 

[Velli]

Who is this user, is my question?

We are starting to describe such an incredibly basic computer user that I'm wondering if that person is even interested in a Mac and/or macOS

The Mac Mini is Apple’s “catch-all” device. Most other of their products is designed for a specific use case. Mac Mini’s are used for all sorts of weird purposes, none of which are individually big enough to merit a product designed for it. I’d definitely say it’s false to say Mac Mini users are “basic”. They are used heavily for sound production, and there are server parks full of Mac Mini’s.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Still need USB-A?

https://a.co/d/cs8g5kP

Enough room between the USB-C ports to actually use those on the back?

(serious question -- as that's been a problem before)

 

[washablemarkers]

Appreciate you chiming in

To be honest, you sort of sound like my cousin ... and she is someone that has an old Logitech mouse she uses (that has a USB-A dongle) and who also routinely has a USB-A thumb drive from work that she pulls files off of

Pretty annoying to need an adapter or dongle for those situations

That's true. (I'm glad that old Apple keyboard has two USB-A ports on it, which I can use for my mouse!) At least the adapters are inexpensive, and USB-A was/is so universal that you're not trying to, like, hook something to Firewire and then to USB etc. And any new USB product you buy is going to be USB-C. I picked up a webcam to use for the Mini and it didn't even have an USB-A option.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

The new mini is getting real now. I need to know what's the best high DPI monitor (max 27", min 4K) to pair with this that won't break the bank. Any great experience or suggestions for such a monitor?

Define "Break the bank." If ASD pricing works, see post 100. I'm a long-term Mac person and absolutely love that monitor. It is no taller than my old 27" iMac and thus now 27" ASD too... but does provide much more horizontal screen R.E. for workspace. Once you go ultra-wide, it is probably impossible to go back towards nearly "square."

If ASD is "break the bank," Samsung makes an ASD clone that is regularly on sale here for under $1K and Black Friday is coming. This crowd rips all that is not Apple as "plasticy" and "wobbly" but once you place a desktop monitor on the desk, you probably never touch it or move it again.

LG also has the predecessor to ASD often also on sale below $1K. It too is 5K and was the "go to" monitor endorsed by Apple themselves by selling it in their stores before they rolled out ASD. Then it immediately became "junk" in the collective opinion too.

If you can only buy Apple, you have only 1 consumer choice. Keep an eye on the refurb store and/or watch third party Apple ASD sellers and you may get it for upwards of about $400 or so under MSRP in occasional sales.

 

[Siliconguy]

Do you still use (on a desktop):
Floppy disk? No
DVD drive? Yes
Firewire 800? No
Second hard drive? Yes
Serial Port? No
VGA port? Occasionally.
DVI port? Yes
Display Port? Yes
Bluetooth? No
Wired Ethernet? Yes
Wi-Fi? No.
Sound out? Yes
Sound in? Yes
Camera? No

Number of USB ports in use, 6. Adding in the need for an external DVD and HD then 8.

 

[turbineseaplane]

And any new USB product you buy is going to be USB-C

Eh... not so fast soldier...

I just got a BT transmitter this week that came with a USB-A plug (as one example of many)

We are a lot further from this "all USB-C world" than people seem to realize

 

[krakenrelease]

Laptops are better without optical drives, for sure.

It’s a rare enough I use the dvd drive, so not a biggie, but more seriously, I have a 4tb hdd that I use as a redundancy backup that I need to use USB A for. Again not a biggie as I can get an adaptor, but the point is USB A is still actively used.
I can understand ditching it for laptops due to space and weight savings, but desktops should really keep at least one USB A port. While it may be becoming legacy, it’s still actively used and still sold - I believe Oneplus still uses them For phones and tablets.

Actively used but it’s slow.

 

[l0ken]

I've got bad news on the display support front...

View attachment 2440864

If i remember correctly, there were (leaked?) infos about the base m4 macbook pro was capable of driving 2 external displays including the internal display simultaneously.

 

[turbineseaplane]

If i remember correctly, there were (leaked?) infos about the base m4 macbook pro was capable of driving 2 external displays including the internal display simultaneously.

Could be .. but I suspect the chipset the base Mini will have won't
You'd mentioned the base model in your post I think

 

[raythompsontn]

the USB C ports will be too close together to use USB A adapters

And you know this how? Have you seen the final design that shows the placement of the USB-C ports? If so, please provide the image. I would really like to an image if you have a source.

 

[Scifresh]

For those worried about it being too small or light, the Intel NUC line was around for years and it was 117mm x 117mm x 35mm. The apple TV is what, 93 x 93mm x 31mm? So roughly the same and there ware no issues with the NUC computers falling off desks or having issue due to size at all. I have seen entire offices using NUCs as desktops. The size is also great for hiding the computer behind a TV easily. Whole factories are using NUC equipment for digital signage and other displays on wall mounted TVs. Easy because the size and weight and fully capable PCs, no need to even mount them in many cases. They still weigh a few pounds, its not like this will Mini not be made of metal and much heavier than an Apple TV. Rubber feet or bottom pad and it weighing 2 pounds or so and it will be absolutely fine.

I see smaller as great, I am looking forward to this. I personally wish there was one or two USB A ports too as there will be plenty of case room for them (see NUC ports for example in the size mentioned above they had a mini display port, Ethernet, HDMI, audio jack, three USB A, two USB C Thunderbolt ports, IR sensor and power button) but I also welcome the change to more native USB C devices so maybe more devices will switch over as comptuers start to offer them more than the older USB A format.

Hoping the cooling is enough to keep it from throttling though, espically on the pro version.

 

[xSushi]

A monitor update would be a nice pairing to go along with this.

 

[parameter]

don't think you understand the Mini is a product and its place in the product line.

Its not targeted for people that will do m.2 slots options etc. Its an entry level box for basic needs whilst the Pro chip allows for 'mini tower' style.

I think there are actually a large number of Mini users, including me, that would disagree. I have my M1 Mini using 3 ext SSD arrays through TB. This works, and I use it for many "PRO" use cases, and I think there are a LOT of others out there doing the same.

This is largely also due to what others have mentioned, which is the next best thing is much more expensive - the Studio. Inbetween is what? Just the small-screen iMac now, which no thanks due especially to the small screen it now has. But I've never been an iMac user myself, I like to put my equipment together myself when possible (much harder now without being able to really touch the guts inside the computers but), like choosing a display that works for me, and so on.

And a laptop doesn't appeal to be. I know about clamshell mode, etc. but don't travel and want a desktop. The M1 is powerful for what it could do at the time, but only with 16GB of memory. 8GB barely even ran, believe me, I returned mine for the 16GB version.

I definitely think there are a TON of users out there that are like me, and would absolutely LOVE to have more internal expansion - why not?
For the mini, just the basics like others have mentioned, just throw in even a single NVMe slot for us to use if we want, those who don't will never even know it's there and the cost is minimal if done correctly.

APPLE's TAKE:
They probably will never do anything like this again. Just like others have mentioned since it makes things like the Studio not so much of a necessity. But, there are a lot of other things to love about the Studio than just some ports and processor. You can max it out much more than a mini could be, which is very useful for a wide variety of tasks.
However, it also costs a lot more.
This is where there should be an upgradable Mini or something. Again, just allow for something more than a completely locked-in at purchase solution.
Oops, I forgot I was in the "Apple's Take" section - so nevermind on that, Apple just wants you to upgrade to the Studio. Extremely doubting that any expansion or anything of that nature will arrive in the mini sadly.


MINI PRO USERS:
If anyone reads this and you use a Mini for your more than just basic tasks, and use some type of expansion, etc. - Can you please thumb this up?
I'm just asking so I can truly gauge my usage against other Mini users.

 

[sunny5]

There are cheap adapters available. USB-A to USB-C or USB-C to USB-A. I have a couple of each. I keep a portable multi-port adapter with my laptop that supports both interfaces. I have had no issue using USB-C or USB-A.

I prefer that USB-A be eliminated from the Mac mini. The USB-C ports are smaller thus there is room for more ports on the case.

Another dongles that you never learned?

 

[bice]

Sounds like what you need is a Mac Studio, and not a Mini. There are absolutely use cases for micro computers, and just because yours doesn't seem to be one, doesn't me "we" don't need it.

I agree there is a need for micro computers, but does that really mean the mini should become micro?

 

[parameter]

There is nothing wrong with the iPad Pro hardware. Only people who complain do so about the software and that’s because they want iPad to become a Mac

Isn't that what they're saying here though? That the new mini will just basically be an iPad in a box, running macOS with Mac software? If so, that won't run things very well without some decent upgrades, more than just the processor.

 

[zorinlynx]

Still need USB-A?
3 pack for $3.99:

https://a.co/d/cs8g5kP

These are great. I have Anker branded ones. They're super cheap so I just leave them on my USB-A plugs on all my devices.

 

[RoystraA]

Probably won’t happen but it would be super convenient and a clean set-up if you could power the Mini with the same USB-C that goes in the monitor.

Plus I would love to only take the mini and a keyboard to my coworking space instead of the MacBook I carry now.

 

[Jordan Klein]

ugh, my thoughts exactly, imagine it's 'so gorgeously small and light' and moves around every time you plug something in or out. That would be absolutely terrible, would boil my piss that.

Or better yet, a stiff cable causes it to raise itself from the desk, partially or fully. Joy!