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Constrained Supplies Suggest Mac Mini Server and Mac Pro Server Headed for Refresh

AidenShaw said:
Hasn't Lion Server been eliminated?
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No, I beleive in the beta it is an optional install and it sounded like it was going to be an app store app in the final.

The "server" version is mainly a GUI for options that are already in the OS with a few bits added in. It would actually be perfectly suited as an app.
 
Mr Rogers said:
If Apple put low end 15 Quad and decent graphics chip - I'd be out to get server model and link to a large RAID 1 system.

Come on Apple if you want my cash.
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I think you should expect a dual core i5 with Intel HD 3000 IGP for graphics. The prior 13" MBP, MBA, MB, and Mm all shared the same graphics chipsets and CPU type. If past considerations are to be followed we should expect the same basic computer as the 13" MBP... too bad really.

It sure would be nice to have a real GPU, even a low-end discrete GPU would blow away Intel's IGP. More important than a quad core CPU in my opinion. I own the current server Mac mini, and the Nvidia 320m rocks. Sure would be nice to have the successor to the 320m, hypothetically speaking.
 
Review the keynote

It was stated that Lion will be available from the App Store alongside server components. There should be no need to have separately listed hardware. Just BTO. It would simplify inventory. I'm just sayin'.
 
Should i wait

Hey guys, i need to get a Mac Pro for work. should i get one at the end of the month, or wait till they update. i cant really wait and i dont care much about thunderbolt. will there be anything worth the wait?
 
For Mac Pros, Best Buy is sold out online with discounted pricing.

Amazon is low on stock and discounting what they do have.

To me, this is another reason there will be updates in the next month or so, even if incremental. I'm optimistic.
 
Anonymous Freak said:
Except the Mini still uses mobile chips - and the mobile quad-cores are i5-and-up-only. Unless they swap in desktop chips. Which is possible, they do have low-power quad-core i5 desktop chips now, whereas the low-power Core 2 quad-cores were either insanely expensive mobile chips, or mildly expensive desktop chips. The low-power i5 desktop chips aren't much more than the regular-power models. The space constraint is still an issue, though. Mobile chips are still much smaller packaging than desktop chips.
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The Core i7 2630QM is the entry level mobile quad core at a lovely 45W TDP.
 
It is possible that the shortage does not indicate a hardware update because with the release of Lion:

Mac Pro + Lion Server app ($50) = Mac Pro Server. Add RAM and second HDD to the base model to get the server spec. No need to sell a dedicated server model if the OS is not a separate version.

Mac Mini + Lion Server app ($50) = Mac Mini Server. Not an exact replacement due to not having dual drives.
 
RafaelT said:
No, I beleive in the beta it is an optional install and it sounded like it was going to be an app store app in the final.

The "server" version is mainly a GUI for options that are already in the OS with a few bits added in. It would actually be perfectly suited as an app.
Click to expand...

The server has been in all Lion DP's an "add-on" app, and will be like that in the final release.

Available through the Mac App Store once Lion has been installed you can run it.

It basically is the same idea as the Server Pref app from 10.6 Server (an app to make the services very easily configurable, no need for system admins).
You can separately download Server Admin and Workgroup Manager akin 10.6 server, but you'll find out that some services are not configurable in them....

This time Apple really wants the Server to be a simple app. In 10.6 server you could configure it that way, but in Lion server it really is the only way to go.

Wouldn't surprise me to find out that the "server hardware" might get discontinued all together like others have mentioned instead of waiting for an update.
 
LarryC said:
One of the things that I don't understand (and there are a bunch) is why does Apple limit the potential of these machines by using laptop components? Yeah, I do realize that it is small, but why is it that small. ....
stop hobbling these computers for the sake of style over substance.
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Beyond style - Apple really doesn't want computers to look like computers. People saw an iMac and asked "where's the computer?". People see a Mac Mini and say "that's the computer?". iPhone, iPad, MBA, iMac, Mac Mini... the only computers they have that look like a computer are the Mac Pros, and they don't look like dells and HPs etc either.

They'll need to redesign the iMac soon, people are starting to realise that's a computer.

Mak47 said:
I'm hoping we see Apple embrace the concept of the Mini as a home media system. With the Mac App Store, all they need to do is tweak up the graphics and develop an awesome looking game controller and the Mac opens up a whole new platform. There are so many possibilities with that machine.
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Isn't the AppleTV their home media system though?
I would like to see some App Store action with the AppleTV though.
 
nuckinfutz said:
if rumors are correct we could see some nice iCloud integration from the AE/TC running iOS.
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I really liked Steve's slide saying that the computer was now the same as any other device. Unfortunately iCloud really doesn't replace your master iTunes library, they work in an odd parallel to each other.

I'd like a TimeCapsule with all my iTunes and photos on it. Then I'll sync a subset to my MBP, iPad, iPhone. Free up space on my laptop.

Hopefully eventually we'll pick where our master library lives - on a TimeCapsule, Server, or iCloud (paid).
 
I'm interested in this, the Mac Mini server, particularly with energy prices going up. I have to see how much energy my Tranquil PC Windows Server box is giving out idle and under load to see if its worth changing or not. I'd wait till Lion comes preinstalled though. All the iCloud integration and sync would be swish. :)
 
Phooto said:
You already can, although instead of iCloud, read iDisk.
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Yeah but the iDisk is very, very, slow and it'll be dead by this time next year. Unless Apple finally realizes that it's web gallery and site hosting features of MobileMe were what 80% of their customers used and bring them back in some way or another for a "Pro" or paid iCloud service. :rolleyes:
 
Mak47 said:
I'm hoping we see Apple embrace the concept of the Mini as a home media system. With the Mac App Store, all they need to do is tweak up the graphics and develop an awesome looking game controller and the Mac opens up a whole new platform. There are so many possibilities with that machine.
Click to expand...

I'm afraid you didn't get the memo -or- you didn't fully understand the concept behind and the implications of iCloud. Home servers are dead in Apple land. You are supposed to use iCloud when it is publicly available; for Apple, your computer at home is no longer your digital hub -- iCloud is.

As for the game controller: It's already there, even in different versions: iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad...
 
kdisjubjub said:
Hey guys, i need to get a Mac Pro for work. should i get one at the end of the month, or wait till they update. i cant really wait and i dont care much about thunderbolt. will there be anything worth the wait?
Click to expand...

Depends really what you're doing for work and how desperate your need is. I've been doing FCP and Motion projects on a 2009 iMac - OK when it comes to rendering HD, I go climbing for the day LOL (I need to update if things get more complex!). But seriously if your need is urgent then buy what you need, you won't regret it - there's a fair few refurbs on the UK Apple Store, sure there is in the US or where you are. Sounds like this may be your best option.

Or hold off until the new models and get reduced price on 'old' stock :)
 
A new model?

I know this won't happen, I'm just thinking about what I would like to happen.

Mac mini - I'd like and SSD option and at least an i5 CPU. If it had that I'd buy one now. BTW Apple, it's not a server just because you put a server OS on it!

Mac Pro Server - Reduce the size a little so say 1U ;o) That aside I think the whole Mac Pro platform needs a rethink. There is no offering between an iMac and a Mac Pro. I don't need something that is physically so big, nor do I need multiple graphics cards or slots for FC HBA's, I just need a machine that can house multiple drives, and a single i7 would do. An iMac 27" with an external thunderbolt array should do it, but that's messy.

For a very small home/small office server a tall version of the mini that has 4 x 2.5" hotplug drive bays wold be fantastic. Put in a decent CPU and 8GB (maybe more) of RAM and that would be great as a small sized application/file server or a workstation if you start populating the bays with SSD's.

Just my two pennies worth. If you could have apple build it what would you have them do? I know it's slighly off-topic, but it's friday ;)
 
They will both be discontinued as any Mac can now easily be converted into a server with Lion Server from App Store for 49$... No need to have separate models.
 
Hellhammer said:
They will both be discontinued as any Mac can now easily be converted into a server with Lion Server from App Store for 49$... No need to have separate models.
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Agreed.
Mac OS X Server could always be installed on any Mac. The only different server model was the Mac mini server. Buying the server license with the hardware is in Lion ridiculous.
The only question is what will happen to the dual-internal HD Mac mini?
 
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