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Apple to Launch New Mac Mini at Next Week's Media Event?

JAT said:
Curious, what do you get for speed? I'm using DSL at 40Mbps as it is cheaper than anything even remotely close on paper from cable. But some say the DOCSIS 3 cable modems will give higher speeds than advertised. I never really saw it when I had the "16Mbps" (20Mbps burst) cable connection, always topped out for long downloads at 16Mbps pretty much exactly. Speedtest's tests are small enough files to fit into the burst speed size limit, and for those I saw all sorts of wild speeds (20, 30, 60+), but not for big stuff and streaming.

My taxes on the ooma went to $4.35 or so. :(
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DSL in our area is about 1.5 meg on a good day and when there is a sports event on enough people are streaming stuff in the neighborhood it reminds me of good ole modem days.

Cable has similar network congestion issues but from a faster 30-100 meg base.

Can't get FIOS here and before they finally deployed DSL, dial up was the thing.

At another place we used to get cable modem speeds at times of about 250 and couldn't figure out why. Must have been near a main somehow.

Streaming in this world needs cache to be okay.

Rocketman
 
Which are the expected processors for that MacMini??

is the performance enough to replace an imac? How is the MacMini cooling system...?

Thanks!
 
Finally. I'm assuming the new minis will be QC down the line, not just in the server. Hoping a decent GPU CTO option is available. If so I'm all in.
 
nutjob said:
Why would they do that, no-one buys them.
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Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Nobody buys them because the only update they've seen in 4 years is a very minor speed bump. All the components are ancient yet it's priced like it sported exclusive technology that's been acquired by time traveling to 2018. The GPU is from 2009. Not a top model from 2009, a midrange one. The cheese grater enclosure is from 2003. I guess the Mexican standoff between the Mac Pro customers and Apple will continue until Apple pulls the plug on it.
 
KnightWRX said:
USB 3.0 provides backwards compatibility, has enough bandwidth and is cheap. What does Thunderbolt do better ? More bandwidth ? At the cost of a new port not compatible with old devices, and makes the devices more expensive, in turn making vendors only adopt it for higher end devices....
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Thunderbolt is backwards compatible. Backwards compatible with DisplayPort, which in turn is backwards compatible with VGA and DVI. And so backwards compatible with just about every display made in the last couple decades.
 
sweetbrat said:
I thought they pretty much already said that there wouldn't be a big update until next year? That's why there was the little tiny refresh earlier this year...
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They were pretty vague on that. It will probably be replaced by the mac mini pro.
 
redhawk87 said:
Who buys mac minis anymore? I dont see apple giving them much more than some spec bumps. I would think with the iPad out, Mac Mini sales have been steadily decreasing.
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What does the iPad have to do with the Mac Mini? They target two completely different market segments.
 
APlotdevice said:
Thunderbolt is backwards compatible. Backwards compatible with DisplayPort, which in turn is backwards compatible with VGA and DVI. And so backwards compatible with just about every display made in the last couple decades.
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That's not Thunderbolt, that's DisplayPort. Thunderbolt ports are just dual purpose in that they also have a channel for DisplayPort.

And last I checked, my keyboard, my mouse, my Wacom tablet, all my external drives (optical, disks, etc..), my flash memory, all of it is USB. That's what I meant by backwards compatible. Thunderbolt would require a Thunderbolt end point which would then feature a USB adapter. 2 controllers in a single adapter device which would make it costly. USB 3.0 has no such requirement, the host controller can convert between all the various revisions by itself and only use standard USB cabling.

Some of you guys really don't get why these technologies "fail" in the market. It's not that they aren't technically superior on paper, it's that they are marketably inferior in that other solutions are much more convenient for the consumer through sheer flexibility, backwards compatibility and low cost, all points more important than what Thunderbolt brings.

It's not about Specs. Didn't Apple teach you that ? Thunderbolt has superior specs to USB 3.0, but it's definately inferior for consumer experience. And the user experience trumps all... again as taught to us by Apple...
 
APlotdevice said:
Thunderbolt is backwards compatible. Backwards compatible with DisplayPort, which in turn is backwards compatible with VGA and DVI. And so backwards compatible with just about every display made in the last couple decades.
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Thunderbolt is lovely. The only letdown is the dinkiest connector imaginable. Can they even make a Thunderbolt thumb drive, and would it stay connected when you sneeze?
 
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KnightWRX said:
I wouldn't say "finally" just yet. Remember pre-WWDC '12 rumors guys, a week before WWDC, every Mac in the line up was rumored to get updated. This didn't really come true now did it ?
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Yeah, I meant as in "finally, some Mac mini rumors." Obviously nothing is anything until Apple announces. But there has been a dearth of Mac mini rumors, so gives me a glimmer of hope b/c I really can't deal with how obnoxious it is to get inside an iMac to do simple upgrades.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
Yeah, I meant as in "finally, some Mac mini rumors." Obviously nothing is anything until Apple announces. But there has been a dearth of Mac mini rumors, so gives me a glimmer of hope b/c I really can't deal with how obnoxious it is to get inside an iMac to do simple upgrades.
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The Mac Mini has always been a bastard child of rumors indeed. Remember when they silently updated the case design ? No parts leaks, no rumors, nothing, it just showed up one morning as a silent update, surprising everyone.
 
AidenShaw said:
I would never call "daisy chaining" an advantage, especially for storage devices.




Remember this?


Dude, you're getting the Dell with that T-Bolt erector set monster!
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Haha. I actually had that top spec dell xps in 2006, it was 2400 without even a monitor. But it did have a cable tv jack in the rear and a built in dvr.
 
guillemn said:
Which are the expected processors for that MacMini??

is the performance enough to replace an imac? How is the MacMini cooling system...?

Thanks!
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Processors will be pretty much the same as the chips in the 13" Macbook Pro. The server version should have the 2.1GHz quad-core i7 (mobile chip) based on what they did with their 2011 models. Maybe it'll get the 2.3GHz (45W) chip but I doubt it.

If the midrange version keeps discrete graphics, it'll be something like a GT630M.

The 2011 server has a better cooling system (all that means is the fan runs faster). Mine barely gets warm to the touch under heavy load, so no problems. It's great as a primary desktop.
 
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Rocketman said:
DSL in our area is about 1.5 meg on a good day and when there is a sports event on enough people are streaming stuff in the neighborhood it reminds me of good ole modem days.
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Unless it's changed DSL lines are dedicated circuits. Cable is the only one running shared that I know of.
 
Mackan said:
Overdue according to what criteria? It's clear since long that Apple does not update all their products lines anymore when the new technology arrives. They update them one by one, clearly separated by many months, in order to somehow differentiate their products for maximum profitability.

With even more products launched by Apple, you'll see new CPU's from Intel at around June year, but won't find their way into some Apple hardware until Christmas. It's ridiculous.

Apple's business strategy never cease to amaze. Or, I meant, their greed.
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I don't think it's about greed.

Probably more a function of priorities based on market share by product/sales numbers.

Say the MBP's rank number 1 and the Mini is number 20 of all Apple devices, what would you make sure is more up to date?

The mini is not the top of the line product, so why try to make it THE Apple beast of a machine with everything in it that is technically possible?

Also, a personnel issue. They may not want to hire an entire staff just for the mini.
All that work is probably assigned to certain groups within Apple and then explored by priority.

Then there is money involved of course. If a new faster chip comes around, they may just wait until it is available in volume to get the price they deem okay for their cost of goods.

Same for latest technology. Apple doesn't always include the latest available, but they make things work as a combo of hardware and software that delivers pretty good machines.

And, not everybody updates their equipment regularly if everything works just fine. 450 days is barely over a year old. That's not good enough if you have a 3 year long Apple Care deal?

Being of an older generation I am still patient enough to wait, something younger people with instant gratification needs can't seem to do.

There is way more that goes into these updates than people want to see.
 
mwhities said:
Unless it's changed DSL lines are dedicated circuits. Cable is the only one running shared that I know of.
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That's why I opted for it there. In practice the last link may be dedicated but the trunk line is shared and Verizon notoriously under provisions neighborhoods. Also DSL is length limited and I suspect there are conditions when it performs less well but can't say with expertise, just experience.

I have had DSL and Cable at different times and places and overall cable is faster. DSL slows to a crawl pretty often. That doesn't sound dedicated to me.
 
JAT said:
Curious, what do you get for speed? I'm using DSL at 40Mbps as it is cheaper than anything even remotely close on paper from cable. But some say the DOCSIS 3 cable modems will give higher speeds than advertised. I never really saw it when I had the "16Mbps" (20Mbps burst) cable connection,
always topped out for long downloads at 16Mbps pretty much exactly.
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My cable bursts to 120-140 Mbps - had to upgrade my router to GbE to see it, though.


mganai said:
Hence me saying it will take time before optical becomes mainstream.
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Currently optical T-Bolt has almost no advantages for almost everone. A much more expensive cable that does the same thing as the cheap cable probably won't become mainstream.

If T-Bolt survives and evolves to have higher bandwidth on optical than on copper, then optical could become mainstream. Of course, this T-Bolt 2.0 probably wouldn't be compatible with any T-Bolt 1.0 devices or systems.
 
Rocketman said:
That's why I opted for it there. In practice the last link may be dedicated but the trunk line is shared and Verizon notoriously under provisions neighborhoods. Also DSL is length limited and I suspect there are conditions when it performs less well but can't say with expertise, just experience.

I have had DSL and Cable at different times and places and overall cable is faster. DSL slows to a crawl pretty often. That doesn't sound dedicated to me.
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Verizon - BlAh. ;) That's Verizon's fault and I can't argue with you when you say it like that.

I prefer cable but, I pay a premium for business class cable at home. (I'm OCD and need fast speeds and fast response times from my provider. :p)
 
Please Advise....

So, I just bought a refurb Mac Mini Server from Apple's online store and it just arrived last week but I have not taken it out of the box. It's nothing special (2x500gb 7200 Hard Drives and 4GB memory...no dedicated graphics...$849 plus tax.)

I bought it to get quad core processing power for Logic - I run a lot of virtual instruments.

If you were me, would you return it? I'd rather have a quad core without the potential complications of a sever implementation.
 
APlotdevice said:
Okay, but you said never. Implying there are no possible advantages to daisy chaining.
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Actually, I said "I would never call "daisy chaining" an advantage" - not "there are no advantages whatsoever".

In my opinion, daisy-chaining is a net liability - especially for storage devices.
 
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