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

KnightWRX said:
Some professionals just don't have pro-level needs out of computers sometimes.
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Or, your perception of what constitutes pro-level in relation to computing is skewed to only one segment of a diverse range of needs.

JabbaII said:
If you do ....
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How so? Most professional video media is filmed at higher resolutions than 1080.

IPS displays that are used in professional settings and included with an iMac are still pricey.

Even if it is a benefit, most users don't care about specs related to USB3 as long as peripherals work. USB2 is compatible and I am sure Macs will get USB3 in the future.

In terms of moving with the times, I think Apple is way ahead in providing the average consumer with easy to use cloud based services.
 
munkery said:
If the inclusion of USB3 mattered to the average consumer, then why is Mac market share growing?

If the inclusion of a BD drive mattered to the average consumer, then why is Mac market share growing?

Why does it have to be limited to current movie releases? Most users also consume video media not defined as such. Youtube provides video media up to 4k!

If the necessity to watch current movies in 1080 on a laptop mattered to the average consumer, then why is Mac market share growing?
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Quote: "If the inclusion of USB3 mattered to the average consumer, then why is Mac market share growing?" Apple charges a high premium on their products, I think that everyone here can agree on that one. I have read that the cost of using USB 3.0 is the same or less than 2.0. I believe that if apple is going to put USB on their products then they should be giving us the best that they can and apple simply isn't doing that. I don't really care if someone knows why their computer is much slower than their friend's computer at performing the same task. Should the less tech-savvy consumer be charged more for less simply because they don't know any better? That doesn't seem too ethical to me.
 
With intel eventually natively including both TBolt and USB3, it sounds like both technologies will become quite ubiquitous in the future.

Until then, given that the USB standards are cross compatible, the inclusion of USB3 really is not that important to the average consumer.

Who knows, with the support of intel behind it, TBolt peripherals may not even be that expensive or uncommon. I do think that it will not be the technology most used by average consumers.

Seems like TBolt is more of a competitor for eSATA than USB3.

LarryC said:
I believe that if apple is going to put USB on their products then they should be giving us the best that they can and apple simply isn't doing that. I don't really care if someone knows why their computer is much slower than their friend's computer at performing the same task. Should the less tech-savvy consumer be charged more for less simply because they don't know any better? That doesn't seem too ethical to me.
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I agree. But, what anyone believes and what the average consumer cares about are two different things.
 
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And just to stay on topic, my search of BB online shows ZERO Mac Pros in online inventory, has been the case for over one month. There are none available for in store pick up either. Today I discovered that the base mini is "on backorder". There are remaining units in some local stores for in store pickup, but BB online orders are projecting 1-2 weeks to ship date. Not to dispute the 'experts' here... obviously if these products are updated now, there will be some compromises since the new chips from intel can not possibly be ready. It still may be enough of a bump to open my wallet. Or maybe BB isn't going to carry any models but the imac and laptop macs now that geniuses are moving into every store.:confused:
 
Mac Mini & eSATA

Please make a Mac Mini with eSATA so it can run a fast Media RAID array.

Thank you! ~Leo
 
diamond.g said:
Not gonna happen, TB will fulfill that requirement (from Apples point of view).
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...because Apple never considers the effect of their choices on your budget.

A TBolt drive array will probably cost much more than an eSATA array (because of the tiny volumes, not solely because of the technology).

However, if somebody comes out with a $29.99 TBolt to 4 eSATA port dongle with PM support - everyone could be happy.

(four port SATA PCIe card for $24.99)
 
munkery said:
Or, your perception of what constitutes pro-level in relation to computing is skewed to only one segment of a diverse range of needs.

How so? Most professional video media is filmed at higher resolutions than 1080.
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I am not talking about professional editing. Even home videos nowadays are at 1080. You ingest it, edit it and burn to BD to show to your friends and family on their HD TV.

Only solution is to get a external BD drive. I think the only reason for not sticking in a BD drive is cost + mac os. Apple will put in BD only when "it just works". Right now people are doing it al la carte (BD drive, Roxio, VLC, Windvd from bootcamp).
 
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JabbaII said:
I am not talking about professional editing. Even home videos nowadays are at 1080. You ingest it, edit it and burn to BD to show to your friends and family on their HD TV.

Only solution is to get a external BD drive. I think the only reason for not sticking in a BD drive is cost + mac os. Apple will put in BD only when "it just works". Right now people are doing it al la carte (BD drive, Roxio, VLC, Windvd from bootcamp).
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Not many average consumers have BD burners. Most users that want BD burners have non OEM burners. So, even most Windows users have to resort to those methods.

There are other ways to accomplish viewing the media on a TV if the TV has a USB port or if a peripheral attached to the TV has a USB port. Or, any other connectivity solution will suffice as well.

Some Mac users have a Mac mini connected to their TV as a media server. No need for BD to view home movies in 1080 if you do so.

The data can be transferred to friends and family by setting up secure file sharing over the Internet with those individuals instead of sending a BD disk via the mail.

There are always alternative solutions to accomplish any task related to viewing 1080 video media. Many of these other solutions are a lot cheaper than buying writable Blu-ray disks. I suspect the cost of BD is the reason most users still burn video media to DVD given the cost of writable DVDs.

But, the average consumers typically doesn't use BD in this manner nor any of the alternative solutions. They just use the web to pay bills, check Facebook, and send email.
 
LarryC said:
I think that the Mac Mini has a lot of potential. I used to look down on them until I started reading a lot of the posts here at MR by owners. 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. This is a desktop computer. Why not make something the size of the G4 Cube and use some real and less expensive components? I read a comment recently where someone was talking about the current iMac and making suggestions on how they could make the iMac 50% thinner! I don't know why it is as thin as it is now. These are desktop computers, they do not need to be so small that they can fit into a woman's purse! These are desktop computers and desktop computer buyers want as much performance as possible. So stop hobbling these computers for the sake of style over substance.
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I think the big reason they use laptop components is because they try to keep a low footprint. One of the things they talk about is the mac mini not consuming a lot of electricity. I bought my mac mini in 2009 and just sold it so I can upgrade to a newer model when they are released in the next month or two. They are awesome computers and I would like the next one to have a Core i7 processor however I don't know if they can maintain a low power consuming computer with that processor however we shall find out soon.
 
Blu Ray

munkery said:
Not many average consumers have BD burners. Most users that want BD burners have non OEM burners. So, even most Windows users have to resort to those methods.

There are other ways to accomplish viewing the media on a TV if the TV has a USB port or if a peripheral attached to the TV has a USB port. Or, any other connectivity solution will suffice as well.

Some Mac users have a Mac mini connected to their TV as a media server. No need for BD to view home movies in 1080 if you do so.

The data can be transferred to friends and family by setting up secure file sharing over the Internet with those individuals instead of sending a BD disk via the mail.

There are always alternative solutions to accomplish any task related to viewing 1080 video media. Many of these other solutions are a lot cheaper than buying writable Blu-ray disks. I suspect the cost of BD is the reason most users still burn video media to DVD given the cost of writable DVDs.

But, the average consumers typically doesn't use BD in this manner nor any of the alternative solutions. They just use the web to pay bills, check Facebook, and send email.
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I think its one of those things that other than steve jobs saying blu ray is "A bag of hurt" I don't think that as many people would use it yet. Even DVD Burners and CD Burners are getting to be an optional device and not as much of a necessity. Everything is going digital with flash drives and hd movie services like Netflix and even iTunes lets you purchase digital copies of hd movies. Think about your laptop - as often as you use your laptop; how often do you use your dvd drive? 1 out of 10 times? 1-30 times? I do like to burn discs and plan on buying an external blu ray drive just to be able to burn a lot of data as a backup to archive however I think it is not necessary and like you said the average customer doesn't use BD. Personally, I don't care for the firewire 800 slot, unless you do a lot of video or actually have a firewire 800 drive you won't ever use the port. Hopefully the new thunderbolt port will open up a lot of options for various hubs and other high-speed connections.
 
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