Apple's Latest Mac Mini Turns Four Years Old Ahead of 'Pro-Focused' Refresh Expected Later This Month

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

Too little too late for me. I’ve already moved on.

Then why are you here? Regretting that decision?

Not surprised.
[doublepost=1539844331][/doublepost]

About three years ago I wanted to upgrade -- I looked at the Mac Mini, waited 8-9 months, and after nothing being released, I decided to switch to a PC.... and yeah, I'm glad I did. Can't believe it's been 2 years or more since then and they still haven't released a new model... it's such a joke.

I was such a fan of Apple and happily paid a premium for using OS X, and whilst I still think the OS is great... the hardware situation is just horrendous.

No it's not.

Other than the Mac mini and Mac Pro (both of which are (finally) being updated), Apple's hardware is solidly "in the herd" with other OEMs, and in some metrics (WiFi speed, SSD Speed come to mind), are generally ahead of the pack.

 

[hagar]

So they have a great OS but no decent, affordable hardware to run it on. That’s a sad state of affairs for a hardware maker.

The only decent Mac nowadays is the iMac. Still no Mac Pro or Mac Mini. And the MacBook line is not only confusing, but grossly overpriced, the touch bar is a failure, users are still in dongle hell, reading a memory card is impossible, can’t charge my iPhone without yet another dongle and the next big thing will undoubtably be... the removal of the headphone jack.

Sad.

 

[crsh1976]

No matter how much I want to see an updated Mac Mini hit the shelves, I'll believe it when they release it.

Not only has Apple clearly shown they don't give a damn about Macs in general, especially not the Mini, but we're also still waiting for the new Mac Pro that is due in 2017 2018 2019?

That, or a "Pro"-focused Mac Mini only means they will jack the price like there's no tomorrow.

 

[opeter]

So they have a great OS but no decent, affordable hardware to run it on. That’s a sad state of affairs for a hardware maker.

The only decent Mac nowadays is the iMac. Still no Mac Pro or Mac Mini. And the MacBook line is not only confusing, but grossly overpriced, the touch bar is a failure, users are still in dongle hell, reading a memory card is impossible, can’t charge my iPhone without yet another dongle and the next big thing will undoubtably be... the removal of the headphone jack.

Sad.

Why are you complaining? Every month you get at least once a new pack of emojis. Be happy!

 

[tomscott1988]

It's interesting how perceptions change.

Back in 2005-6 the mac was absolutely booming and it was the primary focus. The interesting thing is that there has been a steady growth in the mac line although they produced the iPad which was meant to revolutionise the personal computer experience. Here we are 9 years later and the iPad has barely matured at all. Photoshop is the first fully fledged app that will be available and its still not here yet.

The apple computing space has fallen almost to the same point it was in Q3 2010. Is this really because of the downturn in the PC market? I dont think so, apple has bucked trends for years. If apple made the updates people would buy them, it was around 2014 that Apple has started to slow the turn around. The wait for the 2017 iMac update was crazy too like a 2 year turn around on a yearly upgrade path machine.

What is interesting is this is still a billion dollar industry and to anyone else in the space would be a huge success and warrant full R&D yet apple has had such success with the iPhone that it pails in comparison which is such a shame. The mac is an epic product and apple has completely lost sight.

You have to remember its not just people on a 1 year machine path, people are on 3 and 5 year paths depending on what they are doing. Same with most companies, they will remove all machines on a 3 year basis and replace regardless of their condition.

If apple do not produce and option that is worth the apple tax premium and has tech that can serve that 3-5 year time frame then people wont buy. The fact is windows has got better and mac os has got worse theres been no real innovation and it really far less stable than it once was. HS bricked my mac pro and corrupted the firmware on update, apple wouldn't support it and because I used it as my primary work machine I had to switch it our for another machine (a windows workstation I had lying around) and fixed it when I had time to spend. Took me nearly 3 months to figure it out.

On the discussion of company purchases, I work for one of the largest media companies in the UK and they have used macs since the early 90s. Most people were on high end iMacs or mac pros. 2 years ago the mac pro was 3 years old and the 2015 iMac was 18 months old and they didnt replace it at the October event. We were on our 3 year cycle, in the end we went with Dell workstations. They ended up with dual xeon machines with quadros for animators, 3D renderers and videographers which literally quadroupled productivity for those people and i7 machines for graphic designers and photographers which were ideal and the chipsets can be upgraded down the line.

The fact we got one machine with the same design but supported i and xeon processors across the board saved money and ensured the tech was suitable for the right people. It also meant nobody was unhappy and these machines could be looked after by the tech team made them a no brainier. We also had a lot of ACDs for older mac pros which just attached and people were happy.

The other benefit is with dell we got 24/7 on site service anything happens dell come remove the machine replace it with an equivalent and work continues. No need to buy reserve products like we had to with apple while you wait 7-10 days for a repair. Having to buy back up machines was expensive but a necessary step to ensure work didnt stop.

Windows has been great too with the business version there is no bloat or random game downloads and pop ups etc. We managed to get the correct hardware for each application, with apple you are stuck with what they deem necessary. Bang middle of the range graphics cards etc instead you can get quadros with full support and get cuda supported cards for other applications etc

Apart from the iMac 2017 and the iMac pro which took another year after we purchases we are in the same situation so really it was a good decision. We are up for another round of upgrades next year. Will the mac pro be around by then? If they release the iMac this year it will be a year old by that time and similarly the iMac pro 2 years old...

Back to the iPad the sales figures of them arent exactly incredible, too expensive and dont do enough. For most people apart from the iPad having a bigger screen its still no different to an iPhone they need to fully embrace it.

I still think for most people a laptop is a better option and allows far more flexibility and generally cheaper having to spend another £179 for a keyboard on top of £1000 for a 512 10.5" iPad pro. Madness.

For any professional they are nothing more but a gimick. To say that tech is moving over to tablets just isnt true, we have had 10 years nearly and the transition would have happened by now.

 

[barmann]

Why?

Even if they just do a processor and I/O refresh, it will be a FAR better computer than what is currently available in those models.

Always Remember: Apple didn't get their well-deserved reputation as industry-leaders by simply aping what everyone else is doing. They may not ALWAYS get it exactly right (see, G4 cube, cylindrical Mac Pro); but more often than not, they do.

...and then the OTHERS have to follow (again!).

Apple is not, and never has been, an industry leader .
They have very appealing product designs, and used to have a great OS .
That's about the sum of it .

Today they make most of their money with a decade old smartphone they keep putting lipstick on, related random peripherals , and some content and user data management .

Tablets never took off as predicted by Jobs, another major strategy failure , yet here we are stuck with an iOS centric company trying to copy and catch up with other gadget makers - and not winning that battle either .

Macs and OSX peaked in the early 2010s, it's been downhill since ; relevant software for Mac gets more rare by the day, Mac hardware gets more crippled with every update .
Apple then tried to pull a fast one with the iMP - a slap in the face for everyone waiting for a replacement of the ill conceived tcMP for ages .

 

[tbhockey]

Between Apple's recent heinous neglect of the Mac and the unspeakable status of Apple Support in recent years, I am becoming more and more compelled to look elsewhere. If only macOS wasn't the only sane OS...

 

[zen]

Sell the MAC computer division.

Macs are held hostage by Apple who clearly do not want to spend any resources on them. Look at an iPhone and look at a 15" Macbook Pro.

Which has the higher profit margin?

Put a $499 Mimi next to an iPhone and it's worse.

Macs are dead unless they are broken off and sold to a Dell or HP who would be thrilled with their profit margins.

Sell... or licence macOS again. That way we can all use macOS and build the most amazing hardware we need. It's such a simple solution.

 

[Hitrate]

Oh well, too late. Throttling MBP and a later than forever mac mini refresh and still no 2018 iMac ? Glad I've already successfully built my own desktop instead of waiting any longer like a sucker.

 

[MKevin3]

And Xcode will probably run on other OSes next

Honestly they should pair up with IntelliJ and or some other IDE vendor and let them take over or replace Xcode. It is an OK IDE but could use some actual love. Of the IDEs I use it is my least favorite, has the least amount of features and has the worst version control integration. Really using Git with Xcode is nearly pointless so all the iOS devs I know use SourceTree or another 3rd party app.

 

[gwaizai]

"professional-focused upgrade"
I bet this means "get ready to pay a lot."

 

[norbinhouston]

What would Steve do. Come on Tim, you're turning Apple into the IBM of the 80's which Steve hated.

 

[Naimfan]

Apple's entire computer lineup is a sad joke. Over-priced, under-specified, and unreliable.

So sad.

 

[MythicFrost]

No it's not.

Other than the Mac mini and Mac Pro (both of which are (finally) being updated), Apple's hardware is solidly "in the herd" with other OEMs, and in some metrics (WiFi speed, SSD Speed come to mind), are generally ahead of the pack.

My comment (which may not have been clear) was directed towards the Mac Mini and to some extent the Mac Pro.

It is horrendous that, for 3-4 years, Apple has completely neglected the Mac Mini and Mac Pro. They don't offer any other system that comes without a screen, so this alienates a part of the user base like myself which need such a solution.

 

[doctor-don]

If you're running your business on a Mac Mini, you've got bigger problems.
[doublepost=1539783664][/doublepost]Apple sold the Mac Plus for nearly 5 years. Nothing new here people, move along.

Really? But you have no idea what that business might be. It takes very little to maintain a client database and orders / invoice / billing forms.

 

[WannaGoMac]

It's interesting how perceptions change.

Back in 2005-6 the mac was absolutely booming and it was the primary focus. The interesting thing is that there has been a steady growth in the mac line although they produced the iPad which was meant to revolutionise the personal computer experience. Here we are 9 years later and the iPad has barely matured at all. Photoshop is the first fully fledged app that will be available and its still not here yet.

The apple computing space has fallen almost to the same point it was in Q3 2010. Is this really because of the downturn in the PC market? I dont think so, apple has bucked trends for years. If apple made the updates people would buy them, it was around 2014 that Apple has started to slow the turn around. The wait for the 2017 iMac update was crazy too like a 2 year turn around on a yearly upgrade path machine.

What is interesting is this is still a billion dollar industry and to anyone else in the space would be a huge success and warrant full R&D yet apple has had such success with the iPhone that it pails in comparison which is such a shame. The mac is an epic product and apple has completely lost sight.

You have to remember its not just people on a 1 year machine path, people are on 3 and 5 year paths depending on what they are doing. Same with most companies, they will remove all machines on a 3 year basis and replace regardless of their condition.

If apple do not produce and option that is worth the apple tax premium and has tech that can serve that 3-5 year time frame then people wont buy. The fact is windows has got better and mac os has got worse theres been no real innovation and it really far less stable than it once was. HS bricked my mac pro and corrupted the firmware on update, apple wouldn't support it and because I used it as my primary work machine I had to switch it our for another machine (a windows workstation I had lying around) and fixed it when I had time to spend. Took me nearly 3 months to figure it out.

On the discussion of company purchases, I work for one of the largest media companies in the UK and they have used macs since the early 90s. Most people were on high end iMacs or mac pros. 2 years ago the mac pro was 3 years old and the 2015 iMac was 18 months old and they didnt replace it at the October event. We were on our 3 year cycle, in the end we went with Dell workstations. They ended up with dual xeon machines with quadros for animators, 3D renderers and videographers which literally quadroupled productivity for those people and i7 machines for graphic designers and photographers which were ideal and the chipsets can be upgraded down the line.

The fact we got one machine with the same design but supported i and xeon processors across the board saved money and ensured the tech was suitable for the right people. It also meant nobody was unhappy and these machines could be looked after by the tech team made them a no brainier. We also had a lot of ACDs for older mac pros which just attached and people were happy.

The other benefit is with dell we got 24/7 on site service anything happens dell come remove the machine replace it with an equivalent and work continues. No need to buy reserve products like we had to with apple while you wait 7-10 days for a repair. Having to buy back up machines was expensive but a necessary step to ensure work didnt stop.

Windows has been great too with the business version there is no bloat or random game downloads and pop ups etc. We managed to get the correct hardware for each application, with apple you are stuck with what they deem necessary. Bang middle of the range graphics cards etc instead you can get quadros with full support and get cuda supported cards for other applications etc

Apart from the iMac 2017 and the iMac pro which took another year after we purchases we are in the same situation so really it was a good decision. We are up for another round of upgrades next year. Will the mac pro be around by then? If they release the iMac this year it will be a year old by that time and similarly the iMac pro 2 years old...

Back to the iPad the sales figures of them arent exactly incredible, too expensive and dont do enough. For most people apart from the iPad having a bigger screen its still no different to an iPhone they need to fully embrace it.

I still think for most people a laptop is a better option and allows far more flexibility and generally cheaper having to spend another £179 for a keyboard on top of £1000 for a 512 10.5" iPad pro. Madness.

For any professional they are nothing more but a gimick. To say that tech is moving over to tablets just isnt true, we have had 10 years nearly and the transition would have happened by now.

What do you think the iPad Pro with Adobe Photoshop CC will do for the industry? Will that group of folks move to iPads if they're fast enough over running a complete computer?

 

[JRobinsonJr]

Well, since you haven't stated what your needs ("video business" could mean a LOT of things), there is no way to know whether you have a point or not.
[doublepost=1539797229][/doublepost]
Except for the undeniable fact that Intel hasn't been REALLY "updating" much of anything in the way of MEANINGFUL performance improvements for about the past 5 years (especially on the CPU-side. Their GPUs are getting a little better); so why waste R&D efforts and go through the hassle of "Agency Approvals" in a zillion countries (that ALONE is a strong motivator not to just "update for update's sake!).

Just to be clear, you're seriously telling us that there haven't been any 'meaningful' updates to CPU's in ... FIVE YEARS?

If that really is the case - and it's debatable at best - then why update now? If the newest Mac models are so much faster than previous models, what is the difference?

 

[doctor-don]

Got the 2.6Ghz/8GB Ram version, replaced the 1TB with a Samsung SSD in 2015. Think that was the only time I turned it off and restarted it in nearly 4 years! Not the fastest (or anywhere near!) but does the jobs of Plex, iTunes, downloads, file storage, PS4 remote play, occasional encodes (set it off converting and come back in a few hours). For me it has been rock solid hardware. Also was a bonus I got it before the UK Brexit price hike, a refresh in this country will probably be 40% higher cost than today's pricing!

Even though I still like mine, we are in 2018 and the world of desktop computing has moved on. For me the next version needs have Dual/Quad and Hexa options, 8/16/32GB RAM options, Thunderbolt 3 and absolutely no hard drives on any model, SSD or PCIe storage. Could even eliminate the base model.

Base 499 Dual core 8GB RAM 256GB SSD
Mid 899 Quad Core 8GB RAM 256GB PCIe
Pro 1299 Hexa 16GB RAM 256GB PCIe

Bought a Mac Mini for my son-in-law in 2013, upgraded the RAM to 16GB. He gave it to my daughter (his wife) because he wanted a 'gaming' computer - which he bought. If that's what people want to do with their desktops and time, they should remain single - and GET A JOB.

 

[JRobinsonJr]

If I were an average user (like virtually no one here) I probably wouldn’t know the difference. Haswell shmaswell. Mainstream consumers aren’t affected by platter speeds either. The people who do care aren’t shopping for a Mini. The current Mini is fine. I do a lot of video transcoding, which is why I kept my 2012 i7 quad, and why I’m hoping for a beefy new Mini soon. If I did a lot of browsing, emailing, consumer level photo/music playing, and cooking recipe storage, I’d never know or care what was under the hood, and I’d think $499 was fine for a Mac that did that stuff.

You can’t have it both ways, combining someone who doesn’t know any better (most consumers) with someone who both knows about and needs high-end parts.

While you're arguments is fine, your basic premise is flawed.

If *YOU* were buying a new machine TODAY, would you really not mind paying full price for 4 year old technology?

If that's the case, I've got a beautiful 50" plasma TV I'll sell you for only $5000.

See... real people like to spend their hard-earned money on current technology. THAT is why the 4 year old Mac Mini is a problem.

 

[cmaier]

Sell... or licence macOS again. That way we can all use macOS and build the most amazing hardware we need. It's such a simple solution.

And it almost killed the company when they tried it before.

 

[JRobinsonJr]

If access to Apple's ecosystem is all you need, a 21" iMac is a better deal. For $1,099 you get a computer (with four USB-3 ports, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, an SD card slot, and gigabit ethernet) and, a nice display, keyboard, and mouse (which are not included with a Mini).

You might be right, except that I - the consumer with the $$ to spend - don't want an all-in-one. I already have a full setup. Just need the core components.
[doublepost=1539871665][/doublepost]

Here we go again with the anti-emoji argument. They are really really popular with the general public and a fantastic way to get non-technical people to perform OS updates. Emoji are part of Unicode. In order to fully support Unicode, emoji must also be supported. Apple has always paid attention to graphic design and actually care what OS elements look like. The graphic designers aren't doing hardware development, nor should they.

Emoji are beautiful, take minimal time to to create, and keep Apple in line with unicode. No one is seriously complaining about that, except people (apparently like you) who can't seem to grasp complex arguments.

The issue is that there are too few announcements of real products. If Apple was both announcing - and SHIPPING - new products on a regular basis then no one would even care about emoji.

 

[citysnaps]

My comment (which may not have been clear) was directed towards the Mac Mini and to some extent the Mac Pro.

It is horrendous that, for 3-4 years, Apple has completely neglected the Mac Mini and Mac Pro. They don't offer any other system that comes without a screen, so this alienates a part of the user base like myself which need such a solution.

How large is that headless-Mac user base, as a percentage of Apple's customer base? Therein lies the answer as to why the Mini gets little attention. I suspect the number is very small.

 

[ICEBreaker]

Apple choosing not to update the Mac mini is one thing. I understand that this is not a priority. However, at least do decrease the price! There is no way I am spending $500 today on something I could have gotten for the same price 4 years ago. It's just too big a risk to buy a Mac mini now, when they could be releasing a new model in future. I wish Apple would just stop with the unnecessary suspense and say, "Right, we are done with the Mac mini line. Get it now if you want one, because we will stop production in 2 years. And we are doubling the RAM for the same price as an added incentive." That would be fine with me. I'd buy it today and in 4-6 year's time, when it gets unbearable, I will switch over to a PC. Right now, I have a 2011 Mac mini and I keep waiting endlessly every year for an "imminent" upgrade. I can't be the only one in this quagmire. APPLE: PLEASE BE A BIT MORE TRANSPARENT WITH YOUR INTENTIONS.

P.S.: I wish articles would stop using using "invite" as a noun. Yes, I might be nitpicking, but "invite" is for informal invitations, like a party invite through Facebook. While 99% of Americans probably don't give a rat's arse about it, it's something that my British colleagues and friends whinge about.
[doublepost=1539873977][/doublepost]

Here we go again with the anti-emoji argument. They are really really popular with the general public and a fantastic way to get non-technical people to perform OS updates. Emoji are part of Unicode. In order to fully support Unicode, emoji must also be supported. Apple has always paid attention to graphic design and actually care what OS elements look like. The graphic designers aren't doing hardware development, nor should they.

And you have highlighted exactly what is wrong with the current corporate-consumer relationship. When giving consumers emojis or giving them better hardware produces the same utility, a company would always choose to go with the lower production cost option for the sake of greater profit margins. The fact that the society is now mindlessly excited about the most unproductive things (emojis, candy crush, instagram features and filters) simply means that companies can get away with giving the consumers electronic opiates instead of meaningful and productive products and features. We can sit here and whinge about the Mac mini all day, but Apple is not going to care when for every one of us, there are 100 or more people caring more about selfies, bokeh and emojis instead.

You also seem to appreciate the use of incentives (emojis) to get consumers to upgrade their OS. What is the point of updating an OS? It is just a way to make machines run slower and to force changes on the consumer for the benefit of the company. It was not so long ago when security updates and serious bug-fixes were rolled out separately so consumers can choose not to update the Mac OS. Moreover, in most cases, it is possible to update apps without updating the OS itself, but companies now choose to bundle them together. The end game is to slow down machines and get consumers to ditch their 2-year old devices.

Finally, have you ever wondered how ridiculous it is that emojis are governed by the unicode? This was just a simplistic hack back when emojis were first started. Given its popularity, emojis should no longer ride on the unicode. Not only does every device interpret the unicode differently, but when people want new and exciting emojis on a daily basis, it is nonsensical for a formal global body to govern it and only release those candidates that they approve once a year! Emojis should be a freely evolving thing on the internet like memes, that are not centrally controlled and rolled out with OS updates. If I want a new font on my Mac, I don't need to download the latest Mac OS!!!
[doublepost=1539874589][/doublepost]

You might be right, except that I - the consumer with the $$ to spend - don't want an all-in-one. I already have a full setup. Just need the core components.
[doublepost=1539871665][/doublepost]

Emoji are beautiful, take minimal time to to create, and keep Apple in line with unicode. No one is seriously complaining about that, except people (apparently like you) who can't seem to grasp complex arguments.

The issue is that there are too few announcements of real products. If Apple was both announcing - and SHIPPING - new products on a regular basis then no one would even care about emoji.

No one is complaining about the existence of emojis. What some people are saying is that emojis (given their low production cost) is used to draw attention away from the lack of real features (that are costly to produce). The analogy is a husband getting his wife a Big Mac for their anniversary dinner. Sure, the wife enjoys Big Mac (no one is complaining about Big Macs), but something is wrong when she gets so excited about the Big Mac that she doesn't care if he isn't taking her out to fine dining. P.S. Yes I quoted your message, but I am not directly replying to you specifically. Just in general to the forum.

 

[Sabelonada]

Sell... or licence macOS again. That way we can all use macOS and build the most amazing hardware we need. It's such a simple solution.

I have been thinking perhaps they should do this or open it up and become stewards of the code base.

And it almost killed the company when they tried it before.

Back then, all Apple had was the Mac. Today, the Mac and macOS are not as vital to revenue.

The problem for Apple would be that such an action would decimate the Mac product line. They have demonstrated an unwillingness or inability to keep up with the rest of the computer market in the desktop arena. They focus on the laptop market and it shows.

I wish, and I don't think I am alone in this, that the pro lineup didn't have the obsession with thin at all costs. I would prefer at least one USB-A and SD card slot. I would also like to be able to remove and replace the SSD and memory. None of that is going to happen.

I don't need an AIO computing appliance like the iMac. I have a great monitor setup and the fact that I have to special order a VESA iMac is annoying. I get that historically Macs have come with monitors. The iMac fills that role. I am frustrated that they appear to have skipped the 8th generation of Intel chips. That was a very significant upgrade thanks to the competition from AMD.

However the neglect of the headless Mac hardware is disgraceful. I am not expecting any new hardware from Apple to be upgrade friendly. I would like it to be modern.

I have, and continue, to show my disapproval by not purchasing any Mac hardware. I am even considering ditching my iPhone since I have a perfectly functional Intel NUC in my home. iTunes and AppleID juggling is a through mess.

 

[w5jck]

Volvo sold the 740 line virtually unchanged for 6 years, and HOW many DECADES was the Volkswagen Beetle sold, virtually unchanged?

Not everything has to be "updated" every whipstich.

Having said that, it is certainly "time" now.

Useless analogy: Cars don't have mechanical components that double in effectiveness every 18-24 months. Computers do have CPUs and components that double in speed every 18-24 months. Also cars have a completely different set of purposes from computers.