Apple Unveils New Mac Mini Powered By M1 Chip, Pricing Now Starts at $699

[Apple Desktop Bus (ADB)]

Bandwidth cannot be increased by hubs ;-)

You didn't get full TB3 bandwidth across all 4 ports on the previous mini. As if it could handle such anyways. Bandwidth is unchanged from TB3 to TB4 so the number of ports there isn't issue, at least as relates to total bandwidth.

 

[Ethosik]

Ha ha ha. Show me how arm will miraculously do matrix algebra with matrices that don't fit in RAM, will you? Not everyone just browses the web / processes video / photos on their computers. I have 16 GB of RAM in my mac mini 2012 and MBPro 2011.

Max. 16 GB of RAM in 2020 is just ridiculous. And, by the way, this will mean a very short lifetime of these machines compared to the old models. So much for the proclaimed environment-friendliness.

:-(

Then these systems are not for you. This is like complaining about a $200 Dell laptop not having 128GB of RAM when you need it. Get an iMac, Macbook Pro 16", or Mac Pro for that much more RAM. These are the entry level systems.

 

[BrianM_CAN]

True, no explicit support that I can see. But with official TB3 support, shouldn't eGPU be supported, by default?

In other words, is there ever a scenario where the TB3 protocol wouldn't support eGPU? By nature TB3 should provide a PCIe interface to the necessary components on the host machine.

eGPU support was only added recently on Intel based Macs with TB3 - it was possible before that with Windows on TB2, but not macOS (not officially supported at least, there were some hacks). Running graphics over an external interface that could be pulled out is different than things like storage at a very low level.

 

[MikeZTM]

True, no explicit support that I can see. But with official TB3 support, shouldn't eGPU be supported, by default?

In other words, is there ever a scenario where the TB3 protocol wouldn't support eGPU? By nature TB3 should provide a PCIe interface to the necessary components on the host machine.

We does not know about GPU drivers.
It might be recognized but no driver and not working.

 

[Gudi]

https://photos.reportinglive.com/p/2020-11-10/f1605033246.jpg

What we’re seeing here is not only half the USB ports we were used to, they’re also asymmetric USB-A.

 

[BeatCrazy]

eGPU support was only added recently on Intel based Macs with TB3 - it was possible before that with Windows on TB2, but not macOS (not officially supported at least, there were some hacks). Running graphics over an external interface that could be pulled out is different than things like storage at a very low level.

Fair enough I'll be happy to report back when I receive the new mini. I currently have a Razer Chroma X w/5700XT Anniversary to test with.

 

[gikku]

wow, so tempting to dive in.

 

[C00rDiNaT0r]

No more 10GbE, apparently.

 

[CarlJ]

Why does apple not change case when a massive shift occurs with internal changes? This was obvious when Apple flipped to intel. Update the case! Or is it bad for the environment?

Even Microsoft and Samsung get this concept. Make it new looking so it's exciting to the masses.

Yep, they totally should have gone with the triangular design, instead of something practical and tested.

 

[ktecac]

Well, shouldn‘t have gotten an iMac Pro a few months ago.

Fml

Depending on your line of work / the timing of when you absolutely needed a new computer - then you prob did what you had to do which is fair. Why did you get an iMac Pro though ? (to me its the least flexible / value for dollar / thermal constrained desktop - could be wrong / generalizing here though)

 

[Axemantitan]

I don't like that it only has two USB ports. On my 2014 Mac Mini (which is still going strong), I am using all four.

 

[MikeZTM]

I don't like that it only has two USB ports. On my 2014 Mac Mini (which is still going strong), I am using all four.

It have 2 USB4 and 2 Type A USB3 so 4 in total.

 

[BeatCrazy]

I find it odd how they laid out the "Buy" page on Apple.com.

It's confusing how they have two identical CPU/GPU ASi minis with the $200 price difference only related to storage. It should just be the $699 model, with all the storage options available to add. Then of course the Intel version to configure.

 

[Branmonkey]

I’m pretty sure apple dropped the bundled keyboard and mouse a LONG time ago. My last mini I bought in 2009 didn’t come with a keyboard and mouse.

Odd, I thought I saw in the Space Grey Mac Mini last week it included it in the box? Very odd... could be wrong though.

 

[cocky jeremy]

I think it has to do with a limitation on the chip. It looks like all the Mac that were updated only have 2 TB ports. Im sure the next wave will be the Macs with more ports ie. iMac, higher end MBPs

Hopefully, otherwise my Mac desktop days are over. I don't mind it on a MacBook because I only use them for browsing anyway but on a desktop it's worthless. Mouse, keyboard, then you're done without a hub.

 

[Ansath]

No space grey option? wtf.

I just noticed this, that's annoying, as I tend to always go for the Space Grey devices.

 

[Razeus]

Well I wanted a Mac to attached my my Dell monitor instead of my 16rMBP, so this will do. Is 8GB enough?

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

For those who missed the guts...

 

[Samuel Sosa]

Hopefully, otherwise my Mac desktop days are over. I don't mind it on a MacBook because I only use them for browsing anyway but on a desktop it's worthless. Mouse, keyboard, then you're done without a hub.

Yeah they are taking care of the lower end one first. Good tactic to see what happens in the real world. You send the pawns out first

 

[warp9]

No but you don't need all that data in your ram. It is different architecture and you still thinking X86. For example if their claim of 3.6 GB/s on the new SSD is true, the whole OS will load in 3 second or so. Apple specifically said that you can have more plugins opened in Logic Pro how this will be possible with less ram? But it is possible. Welcome to ARM.

DDR4 2666Mhz runs at 21.3GB/sec and the LPDDR5-5500 on the M1 runs at 44GB/sec, so about 2x. That's 800% faster than even the 3.6GB/sec SSD claim. Engineers are not going to just pool it all together and pretend it's the same thing. The system would take a huge latency hit.

Storage will never be the same speed as dram until they can get non-volatile cells on-die, so don't expect any miracles here.

EDIT: M1 Mac uses LPDDR4X.

 

[cardfan]

Ok guys, so buy it and please share some benchmarks next week
I will decide after seeing that

Apple said it’s up to 3x faster than an i3 quad core 3.6ghz. Converting a 55sec 4k video or something.

 

[andrewxgx]

True, no explicit support that I can see. But with official TB3 support, shouldn't eGPU be supported, by default?

In other words, is there ever a scenario where the TB3 protocol wouldn't support eGPU? By nature TB3 should provide a PCIe interface to the necessary components on the host machine.

One word: drivers.

 

[LeeW]

For those who missed the guts...

Looks pretty empty in there

 

[PortoMavericks]

Maybe the Mac numbers Cook mentioned increased because people are buying those Intel machines before the Mac becomes a toy.

 

[BeatCrazy]

One word: drivers.

Understood. But since (obviously) Big Sur has Intel drivers for eGPU, it just seems weird they'd exclude Apple Silicon drivers from the same OS.