Apple Announces New Mac Mini Starting at $499

[SmileyDude]

Yep. No FireWire, which sucks for me. I absolutely despise Thunderbolt.

Losing FireWire should not be seen as a bad thing, IMO -- especially with the addition of another Thunderbolt port. Just toss on the $29 Thunderbolt to FireWire 800 adapter and move on.

Yes, it would've been better for Apple to somehow have left on FireWire 800 *and* added a Thunderbolt port. But that's not going to happen anytime soon.

In all honesty, I wonder just how long the gigabit ethernet port has left to live on modern Macs. The Thunderbolt gig-e adapter is minimally obtrusive (I leave mine connected to the ethernet cable at work) and for some people, they would probably prefer to have a 3rd Thunderbolt port than an ethernet port.

 

[CIA]

The Thunderbolt gig-e adapter is minimally obtrusive (I leave mine connected to the ethernet cable at work) and for some people, they would probably prefer to have a 3rd Thunderbolt port than an ethernet port.

I'd wager that if you need a third thunderbolt port, you probably also need wired ethernet.

 

[mdelvecchio]

no quad core option
no user-upgradable ram
low-end model ridiculously crippled

i'll bet anything the internal changes to allow for the PCIe Flash storage also means you cant put two drives inside of it anymore

another mac line ruined.

no thanks

it's a low-end machine for low-end computing. what do you expect? grandmas don't need the crap you're complaining about. if you want a high-end or configurable machine, get one of those.

 

[Goftrey]

Losing FireWire should not be seen as a bad thing, IMO -- especially with the addition of another Thunderbolt port. Just toss on the $29 Thunderbolt to FireWire 800 adapter and move on.

Yes, it would've been better for Apple to somehow have left on FireWire 800 *and* added a Thunderbolt port. But that's not going to happen anytime soon.

In all honesty, I wonder just how long the gigabit ethernet port has left to live on modern Macs. The Thunderbolt gig-e adapter is minimally obtrusive (I leave mine connected to the ethernet cable at work) and for some people, they would probably prefer to have a 3rd Thunderbolt port than an ethernet port.

Adapter upon adapter upon adapter. I hate adapters. That's why I absolutely LOVE the old pre-unibody MacBook Pro's, and haven't dropped my Mac Pro for a newer laptop. The old MBP's are still, even by today's standards thin machines, and have the IO for literally everything under the sun. Apple is cutting it's nose off to spite it's face by shoving Thunderbolt down everyone's throats. It's the most expensive form of expansion in the world and even after all of these years the adoption is minimal at best. At least FireWire has 'been there' and 'done that'. There's a GIGANTIC catalogue of accessories made for FireWire, far more than IMHO there will ever be for Thunderbolt. It's a great technology but it's just excruciatingly expensive.

 

[Devie]

Aghhh God dammit its a pos. Apple, PLEASE, make a i7 Mac Pro with a GTX 970. not that fricken hard is it!?

 

[Cole Slaw]

According to Apple site, the Mini appears to have soldered RAM since it says it is upgradeable only at the online Apple store.

Really?
Bad news there. I definitely wouldn't buy if that's the case.

 

[DJsteveSD]

Also, for the time being you can still get new ones. Get them while you can!

I was waiting on the new mini but decided on the 2012 model, which I was able to get today at the Apple store for the same price.

 

[dandeco]

Wow! I was considering buying a Mac Mini as a desktop computer for my room. I had planned on the $599 model from the previous generation, but now I think I'll opt for the $699 model instead, as it's processor would be closer to that, and it also comes with 8 GB of RAM and a 1 TB hard drive as standard.

With the old model, since I still use FireWire-based camcorders for some projects, I figured I would get a FireWire 400-to-800 adapter. Now I guess I'll also be getting a FireWire-to-Thunderbolt adapter as well!

I already have an Apple Magic Mouse (use it with my MacBook) and a regular Apple USB keyboard, but as for the monitor I don't think I'll be going for that big Thunderbolt display; I might simply get one of those older aluminum Apple Cinema displays, except I'll still need a DVI adapter as it's not included anymore! Or maybe I'll go for a MiniDisplayPort display instead?

 

[SmileyDude]

I'd wager that if you need a third thunderbolt port, you probably also need wired ethernet.

All I am saying is that given Apple's current trend, I think at some point we are likely to see a Mac mini (or some other Mac) with nothing but Thunderbolt and USB ports on the back of it. A machine with 2 TB ports and a gig-e port is useful to less people than a machine with 3 TB ports, given that any TB port can be converted into a gig-e port with an adapter.

Apple could even provide a TB->USB adapter, but I don't see them giving up on having USB ports on a Mac anytime in the near future.

But FireWire and gig-e are already gone off their laptop line. So it's not a stretch to see that happening on the desktops eventually as well.

 

[magicMac]

So I can still add a 2nd drive while I'm upgrading my RAM?..

I don't think you can upgrade the RAM anymore? looks like they've gone with the soldered low power DDR3 RAM (LPDDR3) like the whole macbook line.

 

[zauriel]

To upgrade or not to upgrade

I'm torn ... I have a 2011 Mac Mini with 2.5 GHz i5, 16GB RAM, an AMD Radeon HD 6630M, and a 1TB HDD with 8GB onboard flash memory. I've been waiting for a MM update for a long time now, and am underwhelmed with the update. Nevertheless, I was mainly looking for a decent upgrade in GPU. I know integrated isn't preferred over dedicated, which I have now, but given the timespan, is it possible that Iris 5100 performs better than the 6630M? I generally play casual adventure games (like TellTale's games, Broken Age, Broken Sword, Monkey Island, etc.) but from time to time I dabble in higher-end stuff like Bioshock Infinite or Borderlands.

Anybody think it's worth it jumping to the 2.6 GHz i5 Haswell with Iris graphics? I don't mind the soldered RAM so much as I have 16GB now and that's probably what I'd BTO anyway, and as long as it's still possible with the 2014 MM, I'd eventually get an SSD in there at some point. Just wondering if it's worth it or not. I suppose I could hold out for another year to see if they do a decent refresh, but given the treatment they gave the Mini this time around, I'm almost afraid they're trying to phase it out entirely.

 

[hvfsl]

They're really blurring the line for performance -- should I get a new Mac Mini or a new iPhone 6 ?

And, no Server edition anymore. Now, they don't market any device WITH Server OS X any longer. I wonder how much longer there will even be a OS X Server?

Well TBH, Apple should just sell a version of OSX Server that is licensed to run on ESX (running on hardware by other manufacturers). This is what I am hoping no Server mini means.

But I can't see them getting rid of Server altogether, I know too many companies and schools that would be forced to switch to Windows or try out Chromebooks if they could no longer manage their Macs properly.

 

[SmileyDude]

Adapter upon adapter upon adapter. I hate adapters. That's why I absolutely LOVE the old pre-unibody MacBook Pro's, and haven't dropped my Mac Pro for a newer laptop. The old MBP's are still, even by today's standards thin machines, and have the IO for literally everything under the sun. Apple is cutting it's nose off to spite it's face by shoving Thunderbolt down everyone's throats. It's the most expensive form of expansion in the world and even after all of these years the adoption is minimal at best. At least FireWire has 'been there' and 'done that'. There's a GIGANTIC catalogue of accessories made for FireWire, far more than IMHO there will ever be for Thunderbolt. It's a great technology but it's just excruciatingly expensive.

I loved FireWire as much as the next guy, but given today's machines, I can't see any reason I would use it over USB 3 or Thunderbolt. In fact, even with Thunderbolt, I really only use it as a docking solution for my MBP. I have had three Macs with Thunderbolt (2011 iMac, 2012 mini and 2014 MBP) and I've only used Thunderbolt with the MBP. Before the MBP, the Thunderbolt ports were glorified Mini-Displayports.

Honest non trolling question -- what are people using FireWire for these days? Storage options are more plentiful and faster with USB 3, both Thunderbolt and USB 3 have way more bandwidth, and if I'm shooting some video, it's not likely to be on a device with FireWire these days (consumer space -- I have no idea on the pro side, which is partially why I'm asking).

It would be different if FireWire had been getting upgrades, but since we got FW 800 (I think my first Mac with FW 800 was a PowerMac G5), there has been nothing. The last time I even used my FW port on any Mac was before USB 3 hit and that was just for storage.

 

[jettredmont]

How have they fitted another Thunderbolt port on? It must have lost something. Maybe FireWire?

Thunderbolt is more versatile. If you need to connect a FireWire drive / device, get one of these and suddenly you have your FireWire port back instead of that second Thunderbolt port: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD464ZM/A/apple-thunderbolt-to-firewire-adapter

 

[RayMac]

One of the BTO options is the 3.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz) with 4MB on-chip shared L3 cache.

It looks like it's the Intel Core i7-4578U Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.50 GHz). More details here: http://ark.intel.com/products/83506

I found it on this list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_Core_i7_microprocessors

Can someone tell me the exact model number of the top option of the quad-core chip from the previous Mac mini?

I'd like to have both models for reference and to compare...

Edit: I think I found it. Was it this one?: http://ark.intel.com/products/64891/Intel-Core-i7-3720QM-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_60-GHz

Edit 2: Found this comparison between the two chips: http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/27...M_(PGA)_vs_Intel_Core_i7_Mobile_i7-4578U.html

Edit 3: Another comparison: http://www.game-debate.com/cpu/inde...2-core-3-0ghz-vs-core-i7-3720qm-4-core-2-6ghz

 

[waveboreale]

After a major disappointing Mac mini update, the idea of a Hackintosh is really tempting...

 

[Gudi]

A Core2Duo at 2.5 isn't the same as an i5 at 2.5, there's a good 100% increase in performance at near the same clock speed.

And 100% is just not enough. Core2Duos from 2009 are actually very powerful, where they lack is parallel computing speed. An i7 quad-core provides eight virtual cores to the OS, that's four times as many cores as the C2D dual-core, which does not have this virtual core technology. So instead of a 300% increase in number of virtual cores, it's now just a 100% increase. Two thirds of the benefit of upgrading to a new computer is lost.

 

[Mal67]

Yay!

Yay! Finally its here. A low 1.4 ender as expected with a nicer price and a couple of specced up models. I for one are happy. And a few nice words about the machines popularity to boot. Hopefully this means it will be around for some time to come.

 

[Kar98]

"Apple raises price of entry level Mac mini by $100, introduces new sub-entry level Mac mini. Apple fans rejoice!"

 

[Judas1]

The product description has got to be wrong. I don't think Intel makes dual core i7s. Isn't that the difference between i5 and i7, dual core versus quad core?

 

[Gudi]

The product description has got to be wrong. I don't think Intel makes dual core i7s. Isn't that the difference between i5 and i7?

No it isn't.

 

[Count Blah]

My 2011 mini was a decent gaming machine, I still play Skyrim on it regularly. I was really hoping to get a new mini, but seeing this "upgrade", I think I'll pass. Time to save for a 21 inch iMac :S

You just made Tim VERY happy, as that is the ultimate goal of this pathetic update, not actually giving Apple customers what they want.

 

[John.B]

Thunderbolt is more versatile. If you need to connect a FireWire drive / device, get one of these and suddenly you have your FireWire port back instead of that second Thunderbolt port: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD464ZM/A/apple-thunderbolt-to-firewire-adapter

Lots of complaints about bus-powered FireWire drives that don't work with that adapter.

 

[zap2]

it's a low-end machine for low-end computing. what do you expect? grandmas don't need the crap you're complaining about. if you want a high-end or configurable machine, get one of those.

It's it possible configurable doesn't need high end?

I want a computer I can upgrade myself, certainly in a desktop. My last Mini(the model before this upgrade) wasn't easy to upgrade(compared to most PCs) but it was totally doable for RAM and SSD.

Sure it's not required for all users. But it was nice for those who wanted it.

Also in what world is $999 low end? It might not be top of the line, but it's hardly a cheap computer.

 

[cult hero]

Adapter upon adapter upon adapter. I hate adapters. That's why I absolutely LOVE the old pre-unibody MacBook Pro's, and haven't dropped my Mac Pro for a newer laptop. The old MBP's are still, even by today's standards thin machines, and have the IO for literally everything under the sun. Apple is cutting it's nose off to spite it's face by shoving Thunderbolt down everyone's throats. It's the most expensive form of expansion in the world and even after all of these years the adoption is minimal at best. At least FireWire has 'been there' and 'done that'. There's a GIGANTIC catalogue of accessories made for FireWire, far more than IMHO there will ever be for Thunderbolt. It's a great technology but it's just excruciatingly expensive.

They really aren't. Thunderbolt—or something like it—is where things are going. When the bandwidth gets up higher (perhaps when it's optical rather than copper as originally intended) it's going to more or less supersede PCIe or onboard interfaces for a lot of things. This means that I can have my super thin laptop and hook it up to a real video interface when I need the brawn.

Ignoring that entirely, the reason Firewire is vanishing is because the number of people using it is not exactly expanding on a daily basis. I happen to actually be one of those people but the Firewire over Thunderbolt works... like Firewire.

And the old MBPs have connections for everything? Really? Like USB 3? Or how about we go back: I want my serial and parallel ports. How on earth will I ever connect my MacBook Air to a Cisco router with a serial interface!? (Oh wait, I have an adapter for that too.)

I do not get the freak out over adapters. When I need to pack light, my Air is super thin and awesome. I'm gonna be honest, my USB to serial adapter doesn't come with me everywhere because when I need that, I generally know ahead of time.

The number of people who need to connect to "everything under the sun" is becoming more and more insignificant and even then, between Thunderbolt and USB, I can pretty much connect to everything under the sun. If you work in IT, carry a few adapters in your bag. My Air + adapters is probably still lighter than your Pro and is faster and gets substantially better battery life.

----------

Man. I was initially excited by the price drop on the base model... and then I looked at it. Ugh. Here's top hoping new models drive the prices down a bit in the used market because I'm definitely looking to replace this original Core Duo (yeah, no "2" in there) Mac Mini I have sitting around the house.