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Apple to Debut Low-Cost MacBook Air With Retina Display, Revamped Pro-Focused Mac Mini in 2018

HobeSoundDarryl said:
I actually think you may be onto something here. I've had the same kind of thoughts and this rumor opens the door for that to pan out a bit wider.

"Modular" (external) power supplies? Buy how much power your "stack" needs?

I'll differ with the "connect via thunderbolt" idea. Modern Apple would almost certainly roll out a new "pro-link" or other (proprietary) way for modules to connect so that anyone wanting to build a traditional pro from modules must buy Apple modules and/or third part modules have to pay Apple licensing fees. I don't Thunderbolt would be as profitable for Apple.
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Yeah I added a bit to my post after you quoted it. I also wonder if Thunderbolt 4 would be fast enough for the highest end GPUs in a professional workflow. Perhaps the reason they've been waiting all this time is for Thunderbolt 4 to materialize.
 
Rogifan said:
So it’s going to be a cheaper MBA but have a retina screen? Also a MBA with retina screen makes the rMB pointless. Sorry not buying it.
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No, it’s not cheaper than the MacBook Air. The rMB will be getting a price cut. And also consider storage.
This report is true, but I can understand the confusion.
 
macduke said:
I had this crazy theory that what Apple meant by modular for the Mac Pro was starting off with a Mac Mini-like base. I wonder if this is what that is or something else entirely. Basically you would have a base "box" which is the processor, RAM, and logic board. It would have Intel integrated graphics and an small SSD blade so it could run on it's own. Then you can stack components on top of this: GPU(s), SSDs, HDDs, capture cards and similar components for both video/audio production. It could all connect with a series of Thunderbolt 4 connectors (perhaps a variant that allows the components to stack together like lego bricks. The thing I'm not sure about is how the power supply would work, such as needing a larger one with multiple GPUs.

It could start with a six core processor and 256GB or maybe 512GB SSD and you built it up from there. Starting at $1499. Add on bits as you like. I'm also not sure if they would allow CPU upgrades. Surely a modular machine would have a RAM access door.
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Ultimate (minus one) wishful thinking!


:)
 
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LeeW said:
Well actually they do, there are a lot of people who just want a desktop for basic tasks and the current mini is still perfectly good for that purpose.
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Are you contradicting yourself? You called the current size perfect while saying we need an Apple TV sized one. Nothing wrong with current size, like I said, it’s an Apple TV sized one that isn’t needed.
 
About people complaining about Mac mini users who are whining about the lack of Mac mini updates...

They have every reason to complain (although they should not hijack other threads). After all, it's the only Mac that hasn't been updated since 2012 (we count 2014 as a downgrade).

Next in line for people with the right to complain is the Mac Pro users, which haven't had new Mac Pros since Apple ditched the big tower design.

And in third place for complaints is the MacBook Air users, with the problems being the huge bezel and the lack of a higher resolution display which is now needed because AFAIK Mojave completely dropped font anti-aliasing, the lack of CPU upgrades (now what... four if not five generations behind?), the lack of a 16GB RAM option (we're not in 2008 anymore) and the price of the laptop not having dropped at all all these years despite using really old tech.
 
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KPandian1 said:
Ultimate (minus one) wishful thinking!
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I think they'll instead push a mac mini with a processor that will be thermally limited by the enclosure with an eGPU (that according to some videos doesn't improve performance of macbook pros) it will be the mac mini "pro"
 
macduke said:
Yeah I added a bit to my post after you quoted it. I also wonder if Thunderbolt 4 would be fast enough for the highest end GPUs in a professional workflow. Perhaps the reason they've been waiting all this time is for Thunderbolt 4 to materialize.
Click to expand...

Unless Apple "owns" Thunderbolt 4, I would still imagine a new proprietary connection for modules. The modules may have standard complements of jacks (like Thunderbolt & USB) but I bet they interact with each other through something proprietary.

Else, one buys the core unit (perhaps that's this Mac Mini "pro"?) and then cheaper third party modules than what Apple's equivalent modules would cost. I suspect one of the reasons there is no mid-sized Mac tower- in spite of seemingly endless demand- is that Apple knows that people would buy the base model and then load it with products from third parties to make their super Mac (practically an Apple-endorsed Hackintosh).

This modular idea pretty much begs for modern Apple lock-down... so I imagine proprietary, where licensing will make the third party module cost about as much as the Apple-branded equivalent. But I'll be happy- no thrilled- to be wrong about that. If modules can connect via a standard like Thunderbolt, GREAT for consumers!
 
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Appleaker said:
Why would the 12” MacBook be called a MacBook when the Air is already well known as the thin and light notebook?
I don’t think that’s a valid argument for retaining the name.
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The Air is the lightest 13-inch notebook in Apple's portfolio. Apple needs to retain "Air" in the name to identify it as such.

MacBook is a 12-inch notebook.
 
Mac Fly (film) said:
Are you contradicting yourself?
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Not at all, like I said, the current Mac Mini is still perfectly good, performance wise for a what I expect would be a sizeable number of current users and even if it was smaller, which could be done it would still appeal to a lot of people. But, if this rumor is true it is not going smaller.
 
macduke said:
I had this crazy theory that what Apple meant by modular for the Mac Pro was starting off with a Mac Mini-like base. I wonder if this is what that is or something else entirely. Basically you would have a base "box" which is the processor, RAM, and logic board. It would have Intel integrated graphics and an small SSD blade so it could run on it's own. Then you can stack components on top of this: GPU(s), SSDs, HDDs, capture cards and similar components for both video/audio production. It could all connect with a series of Thunderbolt 4 connectors (perhaps a variant that allows the components to stack together like lego bricks. The thing I'm not sure about is how the power supply would work, such as needing a larger one with multiple GPUs. I'm also not sure about whether Thunderbolt 4 would be fast enough for professional, highest-end GPU work. Isn't it supposed to be around 100Gbps? Perhaps the reason it has taken this long is they've been working with Intel on that standard (or building their own?).

It could start with a six core processor and 256GB or maybe 512GB SSD and you built it up from there. Starting at $1499. Add on bits as you like. I'm also not sure if they would allow CPU upgrades. Surely a modular machine would have a RAM access door.
Click to expand...

I've suggested something similar in the past, and came up with the name Mac Stack.

Upgradeability is important as flexibility is needed in a working environment.
 
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