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Apple Announces New Mac Mini Starting at $499
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At home I was hoping to get a new Mini with 4K support. But this won't work either.Maybe the next iteration 2 years from now...
From the Mac Mini - Tech Specs:
The Thunderbolt/DisplayPort section doesn't list 4K support, but I don't know why not - the Intel HD 5000 or Intel Iris graphics both support 4K over DisplayPort. (Although the Haswell-U series chips, as these appear to be, only support 4K/30 Hz, not 4K/60 Hz.)
Awful? Hardly. It's not great news though, granted. But certainly not awful.
It's not exactly been a major hindrance to iPads, iPhones, 21" iMacs and MacBook Air's etc.
It's 2014.. All computer devices, especially at the consumer level are becoming more and more integrated. And it's not specific to Apple either.
Time to get used to it.
I have one of those. And a 2012 i7 Mini.(2.6gHz, 16GB, 1TB Fusion) Night and day. I used to use the Macbook for development, but it got to be a drag. I still occasionally use the Alu Macbook for development if I'm away from home. For emergencies.
The new Mini gives me no reason to upgrade. I'll probably upgrade my notebook next, as I suspect it will drop-off the OSX support list soon. Glad it made the cut for Yosemite.
See if you can find a used 2012.
Sigh, it will be hard, but guess I just wait patiently for it to pop up. Yup I agree for the next osx iteration, the alu MacBook will be obsolete I guess. These are really tough machine, no issues whatsoever for the past 5 years cept for the battery which is expected. And RIP mini
Anything regarding storage? $220 to get a BTO hybrid or 256GB SSD upgrade in there to replace the 5400RPM hdd... I'd like to just put my own drive in there down the line.
insulting
There really should be a desktop Mac with a quad core i7 processor, Iris Pro or discrete graphics, SSD or pcie storage, and thunderbolt 2 to drive 4k monitors in the $1500-$2000 price range. Call it what you want: Mac Mini, Mac Mini Pro, Mac Mini quad, Mac Pro, Mac Pro mini, Mac Pro lite. NOT a freaking iMac! C'mon Apple stop constantly alienating graphics artists, amateur video types, architects, photographers, part-time gamers, etc., many of which are loyal Apple fans. Some of us need multiple computers at our offices and can't afford to make all of them Mac Pro's and we don't always want (or ever in my case) iMacs.
We don't all want your glossy, all in one, iMac Apple (for a variety of reasons). We can't all use a dual core Mac mini with weak graphics. We won't all pay $2999 for a quad core Mac Pro. There is no upgrade path for our existing quad Mac Minis. iMac is not an upgrade path many of us want. We aren't all made of $$$ to just throw down and be forced into the new Mac Pro. Soldered in RAM is just insult to injury.
Annoying, arrogant, lame, offensive, and downright insulting are my thoughts of this "upgrade." It really has been too long that I have stuck with this company. Lets hope Windows 10 is a viable OS.
There really should be a desktop Mac with a quad core i7 processor, Iris Pro or discrete graphics, SSD or pcie storage, and thunderbolt 2 to drive 4k monitors in the $1500-$2000 price range. Call it what you want: Mac Mini, Mac Mini Pro, Mac Mini quad, Mac Pro, Mac Pro mini, Mac Pro lite. NOT a freaking iMac! C'mon Apple stop constantly alienating graphics artists, amateur video types, architects, photographers, part-time gamers, etc., many of which are loyal Apple fans. Some of us need multiple computers at our offices and can't afford to make all of them Mac Pro's and we don't always want (or ever in my case) iMacs.
We don't all want your glossy, all in one, iMac Apple (for a variety of reasons). We can't all use a dual core Mac mini with weak graphics. We won't all pay $2999 for a quad core Mac Pro. There is no upgrade path for our existing quad Mac Minis. iMac is not an upgrade path many of us want. We aren't all made of $$$ to just throw down and be forced into the new Mac Pro. Soldered in RAM is just insult to injury.
Annoying, arrogant, lame, offensive, and downright insulting are my thoughts of this "upgrade." It really has been too long that I have stuck with this company. Lets hope Windows 10 is a viable OS.
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The service manual states the memory is non user-accessible and integrated into the logic board and also that there is only one hard drive bay.
Additionally, there is only one hard drive connection on the logic board, other than the flash ssd connection.
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Did the service manual for the previous generation also point to one hard drive bay?
Old news. Higher volume (i.e. 4 KB sector) 5400 rpm HDDs have comparable throughput to previous year's 7200 rpm HDDs.
And really, if you need performance, the 1TB 2.5" form factor SSDs from Crucial or Sammy are real bang-for-the-buck bargains. Unfortunately, we won't know for certain if those a direct swap in the minis until we see an iFixit tear down.
The Late 2012 model is referenced as having a Lower Bay Hard Drive and an Upper Bay Hard Drive.
Looks to be serviceable, just a standard SATA laptop drive held in with a sled. Note that there will be a full disassembly required, but it appears to be dead simple.
from the support files:
Do Not Make Repairs Yourself
Your Mac mini doesnt have any user-serviceable parts.
Do not attempt to replace or repair any components inside your Mac mini. If your Mac mini needs service, consult an Apple Authorized Service Provider or Apple.
Does anyone know if this can indeed support 3 monitors?
By all logic it should be able to (2 thunderbolt, 1 HDMI)
This would be more a single desktop type set up - I need 3 wide displays for work. I think the specs are fine for what I do and while I'm really upset about the soldered RAM, I think it may still give me a few years of Apple goodness for a reasonable price
By all logic it should be able to (2 thunderbolt, 1 HDMI)
This would be more a single desktop type set up - I need 3 wide displays for work. I think the specs are fine for what I do and while I'm really upset about the soldered RAM, I think it may still give me a few years of Apple goodness for a reasonable price
from the support files:
Do Not Make Repairs Yourself
Your Mac mini doesnt have any user-serviceable parts.
Do not attempt to replace or repair any components inside your Mac mini. If your Mac mini needs service, consult an Apple Authorized Service Provider or Apple.
Yea, Yea.
For regular consumers I get it. But anyone that's ever installed a hard drive in a computer can do it in these new macs if they don't care about warranty.
i'm amazed how little press this got.
MOst of the keynote was under the 5K iMac, and new iPad's.
The Mac mini announcement was all done in 15 seconds... Maybe Apple thought it wasn't that important ?
"oh ya, and by the way, Mac mini got a update......... <time for the next thing>"
MOst of the keynote was under the 5K iMac, and new iPad's.
The Mac mini announcement was all done in 15 seconds... Maybe Apple thought it wasn't that important ?
"oh ya, and by the way, Mac mini got a update......... <time for the next thing>"
Just picked up a previous gen mini (2.5 GHz i5) for $419 on the Apple Store (refurbished).
For my needs having a better CPU at less cost is more important than the better IO and graphics performance of the newer machines. Win-win. Or, more like, "Better price better performance than the insultingly bad new Mac Mini"
I know the new mini has an updated processor architecture, but a 1.4 GHz new chip vs. 2.5 GHz old chip still leaves the older chip with the advantage (there hasn't been a huge performance jump between generations this time... it appears to be more of a performance per watt improvement).
Anyway. For the time being the refurbished low end minis are available in the store (and are cheaper than the new low end minis) so if anyone was holding off on the previous gen waiting for this update... you might be better off jumping on one of the older machines and getting better cpu performance AND saving about $80.
For my needs having a better CPU at less cost is more important than the better IO and graphics performance of the newer machines. Win-win. Or, more like, "Better price better performance than the insultingly bad new Mac Mini"
I know the new mini has an updated processor architecture, but a 1.4 GHz new chip vs. 2.5 GHz old chip still leaves the older chip with the advantage (there hasn't been a huge performance jump between generations this time... it appears to be more of a performance per watt improvement).
Anyway. For the time being the refurbished low end minis are available in the store (and are cheaper than the new low end minis) so if anyone was holding off on the previous gen waiting for this update... you might be better off jumping on one of the older machines and getting better cpu performance AND saving about $80.
The Intel Iris does not support 4K@60Hz over displayport. You can get 4K@30Hz (or 50Hz with some hacking) due to pixel clock limitation. I am using my 13" rMBP with a 4K display right now at 50Hz because of this. Unfortunatelly OS X optimization (scrolling, window moving etc.) seems to disregard the actual refresh rate of the display and is hard locked to be smooth at 60Hz, so anything other than 60Hz will result in an inferior desktop experience (visible judder).
I couldn't wait and bought the last model's base mac mini from BB for $499 back in July (upgraded it since); but for entry price of $499, the new base model is VERY compelling!
But at the same time, the top-line mode made me feel disappointment; I was hoping for a quad-core/8 threads CPU for $799 like the previous line up.
But, maybe its a good thing, the old stocks of the old quad-core $799 may see a clearance sale? Maybe I can find some place that sells it for $599? I don't care for GPU and updated IO. I was looking at a fast yet small and energy efficient compiler box.
Something to install CentOS6.X (minimal) with gcc/developers tools, add 16GB RAM, setup 8GB ramdisk, and upgrade the HDD to SSD, have a script to copy source code to ramdisk, and run parrallel compilers.
But at the same time, the top-line mode made me feel disappointment; I was hoping for a quad-core/8 threads CPU for $799 like the previous line up.
But, maybe its a good thing, the old stocks of the old quad-core $799 may see a clearance sale? Maybe I can find some place that sells it for $599? I don't care for GPU and updated IO. I was looking at a fast yet small and energy efficient compiler box.
Something to install CentOS6.X (minimal) with gcc/developers tools, add 16GB RAM, setup 8GB ramdisk, and upgrade the HDD to SSD, have a script to copy source code to ramdisk, and run parrallel compilers.
Nope, it'll be another hackintosh before I buy one of these Minis. It'll be a little bit bigger but a lot more powerful.
If anyone is interested in a new previous generation Mini, Fry's recently dropped their prices. The base is now $499 and the quad core i7 is now $699, both with free shipping and no tax. Limit 1 per household.
Apple refurbs are also a nice deal. $419 sounds good to me for the base model, and the quad core i7 shows up now and again for $589, but tax is normally added, depending on where you live.
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Quick update. The quad core i7 is now available only in store at Fry's. Earlier this afternoon, they still had stock to ship. Looks like these are being snapped up. The base model is still in stock.