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Early Impressions and Benchmarks on Apple's 2012 Mac Mini

WTF is up with the 2012 6,1 model? Was that just a failed product? It's slower than the previous model by a lot...

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MacintoshMan said:
Don't insult us with Xserves and say that the two are comparable. Does the new Mac Mini support ethernet bonding? oh wait, it only has one ethernet port.
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They are comparable. The Mac mini makes a decent server, especially because it has no dedicated GPU to increase the price with no benefit for server usage. Thunderbolt allows for extra ethernet port(s?).

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Cockney Rebel said:
... when you don't buy it from Apple ;)
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Yeah, Apple really gouges you for the RAM. What a ripoff. And that's one of the reasons why I'd be least likely to buy a MBPR.
 
So if the Mac Mini can be configured with 16GB of RAM then why can't the 13" rMBP have this much RAM too?

At least the RAM in the Mac Mini is upgradeable. The rMBP memory cannot be upgraded later.
 
Possibly switching to mini from iMac

While I was originally planning to replace my 2006 iMac with the new low-end iMac before it was announced, I'm thinking the new Mac mini may actually be the better system for me.

I typically like to max out my RAM, and the entry-level iMac has no user accessible memory (not interested in paying Apple markup for RAM.) In addition, the $100 price increase and elimination of the optical drive further diminished the overall appeal of the iMac for me.

I'm leaning toward the Core i7 configuration of the Mac mini with the Fusion Drive. I'll buy a $50 external DVD drive for occasionally archiving video projects. I just hope that with the Ivy Bridge integrated graphics on the mini, I won't be regretting this decision after a couple of years and a few Mac OS upgrades.
 
justinfreid said:
I wanted to know whether or not Fusion Drive required a new build of OS X. Looks like it does. 10.8.2 12B2080.
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Almost certainly. It is not entirely clear to me whether there are two separate physical drives which are seen as a single virtual drive or whether the SSD is merely non-volatile cache, but there was discussion about moving the most frequently used data, apps and so on to the SSD so there has to be some sort of software to manage this. The laptop hybrid drives which have been for some time used rather smaller SSD caches and, of necessity, juggled things around because of the limited capacity of the SSD.

It appears that the fusiondrive interface is SATA, which is unfortunate as this is a missed opportunity for Apple to use a PCIe controller (not merely a SATA controller on a PCIe connection) which would really shake things upl That would be "speed to burn".


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HDMI Support > 1920x1200?

I was really hoping for two thunderbolt ports. I wonder if the HDMI port will be able to output 2560x1440 using SwitchResX. People claimed the older Minis would do that, though I never had the chance to see it in person.
 
840quadra said:
Just wished they put good graphics chipsets inside these things. The mini being the faceless iMac, it should at least be available with an nVidia GPU in the higher end models.
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Agreed. Otherwise I love this.
 
Mac Mini probably cost $5-10 a month to own...

mdriftmeyer said:
Ignorance is bliss I see. Sorry, but with FCP X's latest upgrade it's quite clear the Mac Pro arriving will be thee box to buy for one looking to work and I mean do serious work.
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yeah, and in 3-6 months or so when the Mac Pros are released... They will probably start around $2500-$3000... for base model.

Meanwhile i can buy a Mac Mini now for $800 and get some work done now. Then I can sell it on EBAY for $750 when I want to shell out money for a new Mac Pro....

Mac Mini's hold their value incredibly well.
 
faroZ06 said:
WTF is up with the 2012 6,1 model? Was that just a failed product? It's slower than the previous model by a lot...
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There are two entries for 2011. Compared to the one on the left... I'm guessing the entry level model... it actually appears slightly better.
 
johnmarshall4 said:
I was really hoping for two thunderbolt ports. I wonder if the HDMI port will be able to output 2560x1440 using SwitchResX. People claimed the older Minis would do that, though I never had the chance to see it in person.
Click to expand...

Hdmi should be able o display Anything that a dual link dvi can unless you're using a dvi to hdmi adapter.
 
They should switch this system up... either it needs a dedicated GPU or they should switch it to ARM SOCs (multiple) to make a little workhorse.
 
I used to buy Mac Mini's at home for my kids. They would do homework and play Warcraft III and other games. But since they have moved to strictly onboard Intel video crap.... no more Mac Mini's for our home.
 
I'm going to upgrade my Early 2005 G4 Mac mini to the new US$799 model.

Looks like it will be a nice speed boost. :D

That said, other than support for the latest OS X versions, I have nothing at all to complain about with my G4 Mac mini. It's still working perfectly as a file server, TV recorder, mail server, usenet download box and webapp server. It's almost a shame to upgrade, there's nothing wrong with it.
 
Looking forward to getting one. Haven't properly used a Mac since about 2007 with the eMacs in university. Couldn't really afford one up until about now. It seems like a nice little machine.
But is the Mac Mini essentially a laptop-component computer? Does it have the longevity of an iMac?
 
zombierunner said:
I think for the prices apple charge for their macs, a ssd should come as standard across the board.
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People are already bitching, whining, and complaining about the lack of a higher end GPU. The use of a standard magnetic media hard drive keeps the price down. SSD would would mean less storage and people would complain. They'd bitch about the increase in price because of it. It'd also mean less user upgradable options likely because they'd likely goto the kinda SSD they use in the MBA rather than a removable SSD drive like you see from third party makers.

Remember that the mini is a entry level machine. People want something that offers the lowest price and they don't want the fastest option. For 99% of those that are looking to buy this kinda machine, a standard hard drive gives them more than what they need without the extra expense and lower storage capacity that an SSD would offer.
 
Upgrading from 1 HDD to 2

jowie said:
Considering the price gap between the 6,2 and the 6,3, the only differences I can see are OS X Server and an extra HD. I don't need OS X Server, but I could do with the two hard drives.

I'm guessing it'll still be possible to upgrade the 6,2 with an iFixit kit to the hardware spec of the 6,3 and save about a ton in the process...
Click to expand...

So it's possible to DIY add another HDD to the 6,2? Is there another HDD connection available to do so? That would save quite some money if that's possible.
 
RBR2 said:
Almost certainly. It is not entirely clear to me whether there are two separate physical drives which are seen as a single virtual drive or whether the SSD is merely non-volatile cache, but there was discussion about moving the most frequently used data, apps and so on to the SSD so there has to be some sort of software to manage this. The laptop hybrid drives which have been for some time used rather smaller SSD caches and, of necessity, juggled things around because of the limited capacity of the SSD.

It appears that the fusiondrive interface is SATA, which is unfortunate as this is a missed opportunity for Apple to use a PCIe controller (not merely a SATA controller on a PCIe connection) which would really shake things upl That would be "speed to burn".


.
Click to expand...
It's certainly appears to the user as a single drive.
Checkout the Ars Technica rundown on Fusion Drive:
http://arstechnica.com/information-...le-fusion-drive-wait-what-how-does-this-work/
and the Apple Support doc on the same:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5446?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
 
jowie said:
Considering the price gap between the 6,2 and the 6,3, the only differences I can see are OS X Server and an extra HD. I don't need OS X Server, but I could do with the two hard drives.

I'm guessing it'll still be possible to upgrade the 6,2 with an iFixit kit to the hardware spec of the 6,3 and save about a ton in the process...

yellowjacket said:
So it's possible to DIY add another HDD to the 6,2? Is there another HDD connection available to do so? That would save quite some money if that's possible.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Sooo... difference between same spec mini and mini Server =~ $200

iFixit dual drive kit cost =~ $70
1TB 5400 RPM SATA drive =~ $100
Sweat equity to install without munging it up =~ $30

Sooo.... where is this mega-savings to make it worth DIY???
 
Are people here over exaggerating about the lack of a gpu? I'm in the market for a new computer. $600 tops and most desktops I see don't have a gpu
 
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