Apple Releases New Sandy Bridge Mac Minis and Thunderbolt Display

[RBR2]

Which would do nothing for those of us who want an integrated machine. more importantly for those of us who would like to backup Photography, movies and more to Blu-Ray for distribution.

Apple is trying to stop BD here as well. millions of people use it.

m

Every professional photographer I have spoken with, save one, quit using DVDs to backup their images quite some time ago. They all use multiple HD backups because of the quantity of images they accumulate.

The one who uses still uses DVDs is actually doing thing rather differently. He only uses 4 GB CF cards so that he can burn each card to a single layer DVD before he does any post processing...just in case something happens. He then uses a HD when he is done.

Most of the rest either just copy them to a backup drive immediately or mirror the separate drive that they are stored on rather than on the system disk. Mirrors have their own risks though.

 

[Westyfield2]

I am thinking of getting the faster configuration.
What would be the fastest Mac mini for 3d rendering/model work?

2.7GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7 with AMD Radeon HD 6630M

or

2.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 with Intel HD Graphics 3000

We need to wait for the Geekbench scores, but my gut feeling is on the 2.7GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7 with AMD Radeon HD 6630M - as lots of programs these days (heck even h264 playback) are GPU accelerated and will thus benefit from the GPU.

 

[wizard]

Good questions.

Interesting that Apple pictures the mac mini with a 27" cinema display.

What do you expect an HP display?

Why would you buy a mac mini and 27" cinema display though ? The UK prices are £599 for the lowest config mac mini and £899 for the display.

This is easy, in two years you can update the Mini again and keep the monitor. The Mini is Apples lowest power desktop solution.

Surely you'd just buy a 27" iMac with keyboard and mouse/trackpad for less money ?

Some would but then again the Mini can do things the iMac can't do reasonably. For example drive an HDTV,

I've never really understood the value of a mac mini though. Ridiculously overpriced in my opinion.

Not really overpriced. Seriously try to find similar hardware, operating at the same power point and at the same price level. Mind you in a similarly compact form.

 

[Eidorian]

We need to wait for the Geekbench scores, but my gut feeling is on the 2.7GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7 with AMD Radeon HD 6630M - as lots of programs these days (heck even h264 playback) are GPU accelerated and will thus benefit from the GPU.

That was only under nVidia GPUs that supported VP4 or later.

 

[mdelvecchio]

Well you can't use it for DVD's which is what I think most people would use it for, especially as the Mini is so well suited as an HTPC.

i use my mini for a media center PC. i, too, cant remember the last time i used the optical drive. my content is all digital... so to me its no big deal. im probably not alone.

 

[RBR2]

<snip>

The people clamoring for a completely-digital-distributed future apparently don't have the foresight to acknowledge bandwidth limits.

Despite the expenditure of so-called stimulus money that was supposed to bring broadband to rural and other areas without it, there are a great many people who simply do not have access to broadband internet connections at all. And then there is the matter of the quality of the broadband connections that are available. The truth be told, most are still rather slow compared to what is available in other parts of the world...and expensive, too, if you actually use them much. It looks like this situation is not likely to get any better any time soon, especially considering that the ISP cable companies are frequently the very same company selling cable TV services that are in direct competition with the streaming services.

 

[KnightWRX]

That was only under nVidia GPUs that supported VP4 or later.

Apple updated VDA recently to support both ATI and Intel GPUs to also decode h264 video frames in hardware, so that isn't true anymore.

 

[bobm3]

Anti glare screen?

Will the new display have a non glare option?

 

[Eidorian]

Apple updated VDA recently to support both ATI and Intel GPUs to also decode h264 video frames in hardware, so that isn't true anymore.

I take it there is documentation for this now?

 

[RBR2]

<snip>
there should be a quad core with discrete graphics. It would sell. Im certain of it.

:d

 

[oxigeno5]

The new Mac Mini's are very cool. It's a shame they couldn't get the AMD card and the Quad-Core into the high end model...too much heat I guess.

Either way it's a great update. I'll likely get the Server with 256SSD/750HDD model because the purpose if for media, FCP-X and such. I think the Quad Core chip, even though it has the HD3000 will serve me better than the Dual-Core i7 + AMD card.

You might as well get the entry level Imac, you would only spend $100 more and get better graphics and better hard drive, and 100 worth of keyboard and mice. the mac mini in its current form is a rip off.

 

[oxigeno5]

finally the new mac mini and macbook air is just released, and which one is better? mac mini or mba?

i cant get both of em

Mba no doubt, mac mini is really over priced for a desktop that is going to seat on your desk, that has no keyboard or mice. Is a big rip off compare to the iMac

 

[wizard]

I'm not super cool at all but recognize the idiocy in these comments.

To all the super-cool people not needing an optical drive, because they are so super-cool that they happen to live in a super-cool area with super-cool high speed internet, just downloading everything with super-cool DRM build in:

Actually if I want close to high speed internet I have to go to the local library. Otherwise most hotspots are very wanting. Read that to mean no internet at all at home, which honestly isn't cool at all but it is much cheaper.

As to DRM you need to wake up. For software I have Homebrew, and various other apps that I've gotten from various web sites. You don't have to use Mac App Store. However I do use Mac App Store and frankly try to get all my software from there.

Why you may ask, the answer is simplicity. The App Store tells me when I have apps ready for updating in one place. While it might not be a package manager like some Linux distros have, it is a vast improvement over the old way of doing things.

As to media software, who says I have to buy everything from Itunes? It is called shopping around.

Could you please lend the last 3 movies you bought on iTunes to a friend? Oh wait, you can't. Unless of course, all your downloads are illegal.

Well I wouldn't lend to somebody with your attitude anyways.

Digital distribution is all about DRM and killing the used-market, and you are even happy that this is happening.

As a software developer I'm happy that Apple is slowing down theft. That is really the big issue, especially for people that want to make a few bucks off a product.

 

[cfurlin]

Nice. The minis are now up-to-date without all that legacy crap.

Apple, you just sold me on the mini. Good job. Picking one up ASAP.

 

[wizard]

There are many types of servers.

Why would a server need discrete graphics? More cores and more memory are what a server needs.

Could be a media server, or an OpenCL computational server.

More importantly many of the people interested in the server are interested due to the quad cores. It isn't likely they will be running server duties on it.

 

[LimeiBook86]

My company bought the Mac Mini to manage our video CDs/DVDs so I'm very glad we have the version with a built-in disk drive. I'm guessing the newer CPUs maybe were too hot to put a optical drive in there??

Oh well, at least with the cost of the new Minis plus the USB Superdrive optical drive equals the cost of the older machine, actually a bit less. And then you can even buy a faster external burner or even a Blu-Ray burner instead of of getting Apple's option.

 

[oxigeno5]

Why not? What does an optical drive have to do with a media center? Everything's streamed now.

What about playing your movie collection from the last 15 years, what about ripping your CD's, what about that is a product that costs 600 bucks? You guys forget that this is not free, that is consumer we should demand the most for our money.

 

[wizard]

RedBox!

Or those places where you can rent a movie on tangible media, what's it called....

A store?

Or just go to wally world and pick up a disk or two from their huge discount section.

The problem here is that people get all emotional over Apple when there are many alternatives out there.

 

[RBR2]

A store?

Or just go to wally world and pick up a disk or two from their huge discount section.

The problem here is that people get all emotional over Apple when there are many alternatives out there.

You are so right!

One box or cable or two on a desktop become an unholy war.

I readily admit that the current packaging is vastly superior to having things coming out all over the place like an Apple II, but that was a very long time ago in computing years and an entirely different environment.

Cheers!

 

[-LikesMac-]

Mac Mini either has good CPU or good GPU

DISCLAIMER: I do not care about the optical drive as I rarely ever use it in my life. Last time I used it was to install an HP printer driver, and even at that it could be downloaded from HP's website.

The base version has 2GB of RAM?? Low standard, even if it IS supposed to be the beginning-level mac. How much does it cost for apple to get 4GB of ram?

The Mac Mini has a good GPU (AMD Radeon 6630M), but it has lackluster CPU power (A dual-core i7). That's bad..........

Now the Mac Mini SERVE has a good CPU (quad-core i7), but it has lackluster GPU power (Intel HD3000?!?!). Funny that either one or the other happens

This came probably due to the fact that quad-core and Radeon GPU had heat issues if put together.
The Mac Mini should get scaled up a bit, IMHO. Become a "bigger square".

When the Mac Mni gets torn down by iFixit, we'll see if there was any space for an optical drive or not.

 

[djsukebe]

Quote from the Mac Mini's product page:

"Mac mini is designed without an optical disc drive. Because these days, you don’t need one. It’s easier than ever to download music and films from the iTunes Store. And you can download apps from the Mac App Store with a click."

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL... Yeah, right Apple. The Mac Mini is a 'hub' with HDMI, yet it can't even play DVD's? Rip CD's? And whats the point of having Boot Camp when you can't use a Windows disc?

Epic. Fail.

Dude, if you are still playing DVD's and Ripping CD's then you are the Epic Fail. LOL.

Hurry up, it's 2011.

 

[MH01]

do you know how long it has been since i've used a CD to set up Windows? years. USB stick and network share iso files all the way

Probably a long time. Windows now comes on DVD.

Though you have a bit of an issue here mate, you need a computer with a DVD to rip the installation onto a USB.

Details eh.....

And the average user would have no idea how to setup a bootable USB. Yup epic fail

 

[AidenShaw]

Probably a long time. Windows now comes on DVD.

Though you have a bit of an issue here mate, you need a computer with a DVD to rip the installation onto a USB.

Details eh.....

And the average user would have no idea how to setup a bootable USB. Yup epic fail

ISOs are available online, DVD is not needed.

It takes about 5 commands to setup a USB thumb drive in Windows, and probably even less using Disk Utility.

You can copy the files from the ISO (not the ISO file itself - mount the ISO and drag-n-drop everything onto the thumb drive).

Instructions for setting the drive bootable from Windows at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd535816.aspx .

It should be possible to do it from OSX, zero the first few MiB of the key (to zap any possible partition and hidden boot info). Format a new FAT32 partition, and mark it "active". Then drag and drop the files.

 

[dgalvan123]

Which one should I get?

I've been waiting on this update so I can decide which I'm going to use for my HTPC:
the 2010 mac mini or the brand new one. I'll be using it to output to two LCD TVs in different rooms (using an hdmi splitter and a cable through a wall).

Main use will be as a DVR (using eyeTV and an HD Homerun tuner, both of which I already own), and for web streaming of cable TV shows (via Plex). I might use it for some ripping, but my MBP on my desk does that well already, so I don't mind not having an internal optical disk drive. (I'd want a blu-ray reader anyway, so I'll consider that for a later optional addition.)

Cost is an issue, so I want to get the entry-level model. I plan to upgrade the RAM via crucial or some other non-Apple company.

So which one should I get?

specifically:
Will the new i5 processor run Plex and EyeTV faster than the last year's Intel Core 2 Duo? I've heard rumors that the Intel GPU on the new one is slower than the ATI GPU on the 2010 version. But what matters to me is the end result: Will Plex/EyeTV displayed on my TVs run faster on the 2010 mac mini, or the 2011 mac mini?

 

[djsukebe]

Guys Guys.. it's not like it's a new idea, macbook air ring a bell??? There's a reason why there's an optional external optical drive. For people like you who still use DVDs/CDs, it's not the end of the world.


Thank you apple for forcing people to embrace innovation and get out of their optical drive shell.