Gurman: M2 Pro Mac Mini and no further Studios ?

[ProgRocker]

The consensus on these boards seems to indicate there may not be an M2 Pro Mac Mini yet Gurman
recently came out claiming he believes it will happen. He has a good track record, I'm hoping he is
right.

Gurman expects Apple to introduce two new versions of the Mac mini this fall. These will include M2 and M2 Pro versions of the boxy Mac that was first introduced in 2005. The current Mac mini, one of the best Macs on the market, and Mac Pro are the final two Mac products with Intel inside, although Apple also offers an M1 version. These will be replaced by M2 and M2 Pro versions, respectively.

About the Mac Studio, Gurman suggests the first-gen 2022 model will be the only version of the premium Mac ever produced. He explains, "The bigger question for me is if the Mac Studio will ever get updated. It gives the impression—and this is just a gut feeling—of being a short-lived Mac because of its price and niche market. I don't see the purpose of having both a Mac Studio and Mac Pro."

Major Mac mini upgrade could come at the expense of the Mac Studio's future

Two new Mac mini models could launch in October.

www.imore.com

 

[Slartibart]

usually there is that you can point to reasons based on facts… but the point here is that “Gurman” believes that’ll happen…

btw. who is Gurman? Is she working at Apple? 🥹

 

[Bodhitree]

Hmm, not so sure. The Mac Studio is about expandability through ports, whereas the Mac Pro has traditionally been a box which you stuff full of add-ons. Perhaps they serve different needs.

 

[ProgRocker]

who is Gurman? Is she working at Apple? 🥹

Mark Gurman​

By MacRumors Staff on August 15, 2022
Mark Gurman is a tech reporter for Bloomberg who has a long history of accurate reporting on Apple's product plans. With well over a decade of Apple coverage, his reports are closely watched due to their accuracy, and his claims frequently set expectations for upcoming products as they often appear early in the rumor cycles.

Mark Gurman on MacRumors

Mark Gurman articles on MacRumors.com

www.macrumors.com

 

[Slartibart]

Mark Gurman​

By MacRumors Staff on August 15, 2022
Mark Gurman is a tech reporter for Bloomberg who has a long history of accurate reporting on Apple's product plans. With well over a decade of Apple coverage, his reports are closely watched due to their accuracy, and his claims frequently set expectations for upcoming products as they often appear early in the rumor cycles.

Mark Gurman on MacRumors

Mark Gurman articles on MacRumors.com

www.macrumors.com

So he was/they¹ were in hindsight »frequently« right…? Like… ehm… Nostradamus? "Hindsight bias for 100", anyone?

I apparently missed the survey on MR²… any relevant links to the »consensus« here that »there may not be an M2 Pro Mac Mini«?


And for the protocol: the »may not« for the Gurman "hypothesis" really kills it… 🤣😂😄




¹ did want to be rude, simply do not know them.
² when was it?

 

[richinaus]

So he was/they¹ were in hindsight »frequently« right…? Like… ehm… Nostradamus? "Hindsight bias for 100", anyone?

I apparently missed the survey on MR²… any relevant links to the »consensus« here that »there may not be an M2 Pro Mac Mini«?


And for the protocol: the »may not« for the Gurman "hypothesis" really kills it… 🤣😂😄




¹ did want to be rude, simply do not know them.
² when was it?

He has been often right or close in most instances, although sometimes totally wrong.
It's part of the fun.

Despite using a Mac Studio every day, I would have preferred to buy a Mac Pro M, purely for GPU upgrades [if they manage to work this out....]

 

[MacsRgr8]

I do agree that the Mac Studio and Mac Pro are targeted to largely a similar audience. Especially as the Studio has an M1 Ultra option, and is on sale for almost half a year now, which has pushed presumably many Apple Silicon Mac Pro prospects over to the Mac Studio Ultra already.

The Mac Studio is kinda the "xMac" lots of us on this forum were hoping for... a headless Mac with great performance, but not as expensive as a Mac Pro.

So, now we have the Mac Studio, I wonder how Apple will position a Mac Pro as a product.... sure, something like a Dual Ultra M2 ("Optimal", or "Extreme") CPU, RAM configurable up to 512 GB, 128 Core GPU etc.

But won't that fit in a Mac Studio enclosure?
What should justify a large tower?
I cannot imagine Apple adding an AMD / nVidia grfx card in there... i think Apple let that ship sail away.
More storage?
... Cooling?
If course they did already hint at a Mac Pro is coming. Would be strange if they did not launch it soon.
So, yeah.... maybe the > Ultra M2 needs more cooling (?)... maybe that justifies a new and bigger enclosure. And once it's there, add options like up to 4 storage drives, dual 10 Gb ethernet, etc.

 

[MikeDr206]

If true, it is amazing to me how often Apple puts significant resources into chassis development and then lets it wither on the vine. Trash can Mac. Studio.

 

[richinaus]

I do agree that the Mac Studio and Mac Pro are targeted to largely a similar audience. Especially as the Studio has an M1 Ultra option, and is on sale for almost half a year now, which has pushed presumably many Apple Silicon Mac Pro prospects over to the Mac Studio Ultra already.

The Mac Studio is kinda the "xMac" lots of us on this forum were hoping for... a headless Mac with great performance, but not as expensive as a Mac Pro.

So, now we have the Mac Studio, I wonder how Apple will position a Mac Pro as a product.... sure, something like a Dual Ultra M2 ("Optimal", or "Extreme") CPU, RAM configurable up to 512 GB, 128 Core GPU etc.

But won't that fit in a Mac Studio enclosure?
What should justify a large tower?
I cannot imagine Apple adding an AMD / nVidia grfx card in there... i think Apple let that ship sail away.
More storage?
... Cooling?
If course they did already hint at a Mac Pro is coming. Would be strange if they did not launch it soon.
So, yeah.... maybe the > Ultra M2 needs more cooling (?)... maybe that justifies a new and bigger enclosure. And once it's there, add options like up to 4 storage drives, dual 10 Gb ethernet, etc.

the Ultra M1 in the studio runs like a dream though, like they over engineered it......

I think a M2 Mac Pro is going to be in a different cost league again over the studio and there is room for both.

 

[CWallace]

I am sure Apple has a Mac mini in their labs with M1 Pro and maybe even M1 Max and I am sure someone has leaked this to Mark. Just as someone leaked to Mark that Apple has a Mac Pro in their labs with an "M1 Extreme" and an "iMac Pro" with a larger than 24" display.

But that "M1 Extreme Mac Pro" will never ship per Mark. And I am confident that Mac mini with the M1 Pro / M1 Max will not ship, either.

Does that mean we'll never see a Mac mini with an "Mx Pro" SoC? I think that depends on how the Mac Studio evolves and at what price Apple charges for the base configuration. If the next Mac Studio has an M2 Max and stays at $1999, then I think "no".

 

[grouch]

The studio should die and Apple should move back to imac, mini & pro. It was a fantastic desktop lineup for a long time.

 

[richinaus]

The studio should die and Apple should move back to imac, mini & pro. It was a fantastic desktop lineup for a long time.

was it? mini and iMac too slow, and pro too expensive. the studio fills the perfect gap.

 

[CWallace]

Many criticized Apple for only offering an AIO (the iMac 5K) as their "main" desktop because the display's useful life was so much longer than the compute and graphics components and people were annoyed they had to replace the entire thing when they outgrew the CPU or GPU.

Yet when Apple dropped the powerful AIO and instead released the display separately alongside a powerful desktop, many now criticize Apple for dropping the AIO because it costs almost twice as much as the old iMac 5K - though they ignore that if you configured an iMac 5K with the i9, 5700XT, 512GB SSD and 32GB RAM to match the base Mac Studio in performance and configuration, you were close to double what the base iMac 5K did.

So now many clamor for a return of the "power AIO" model, though if Apple ever does bring it, it's going to be much closer to $2999 than the $1999 of the old Intel iMac.

 

[richinaus]

Many criticized Apple for only offering an AIO (the iMac 5K) as their "main" desktop because the display's useful life was so much longer than the compute and graphics components and people were annoyed they had to replace the entire thing when they outgrew the CPU or GPU.

Yet when Apple dropped the powerful AIO and instead released the display separately alongside a powerful desktop, many now criticize Apple for dropping the AIO because it costs almost twice as much as the old iMac 5K - though they ignore that if you configured an iMac 5K with the i9, 5700XT, 512GB SSD and 32GB RAM to match the base Mac Studio in performance and configuration, you were close to double what the base iMac 5K did.

So now many clamor for a return of the "power AIO" model, though if Apple ever does bring it, it's going to be much closer to $2999 than the $1999 of the old Intel iMac.

Also it wouldn’t be very silent I imagine. I am far happier with a studio ultra and studio monitor than any of the iMacs I have had previously (inc the pro which wasnt that pro).

 

[profH]

The Studio seems great, I hope to eventually get one (but will wait until at least I'm confident it's a product line that will be around for a while). I've never owned an iMac I didn't ultimately come to hate -- I just can't stand the compromises of the desktop all-in-one format.

 

[chikorita157]

I highly doubt they will kill off the Mac Studio since Apple spent quite a bit of money on it and there is still a use case as not all pros need the expandability of the Mac Pro, which will obviously cost more. Also, some companies and people don't need the portability of the MacBook Pro 14 or 16, but still want the power in a cheaper and desktop form factor. Not to mention, some might want more power than what the M1 Max provides. Also, Mac Studio might make a good headless development machine for testing or rendering.

Apple obviously made a Mac Studio as they believe the Mac mini cooling isn't sufficient to cool the M1 Max chip. Also, M1 Pro will just come too close to the cost as a Max version. Since the M2 uses a little bit more power than M1, I doubt that the Mac mini M2 will get a M2 Pro version and instead only have a M2 version only.

Also, I believe that the AIO are bad for the environment since if your computer dies or becomes obsolete, you will most likely throw away a perfectly working screen. After all, Apple doesn't allow you to turn it into a monitor and using software to achieve this will use more power than a regular monitor. While AIOs like the iMac are consumer friendly as it offers a clean all in one solution, Pros may want a better display than what the iMac provides. By separating the computer from the monitor, the user can get a display that fits their needs. If they need to upgrade, they can simply transfer the data replace the computer without having to replace the display. Displays usually last 10+ years.

 

[Boil]

Killing off the Mac Studio after a single generation would truly make it the successor to the G4 Cube...! ;^p

 

[Strider64]

I personally like the Studio as I don't need all the options as the Mac Pro and while some say it's "expensive" that isn't true compared to the Mac Pro. Taking the Studio out of the line up leaves a niche for people who want the choice of buying their own external monitor(s) without be force into an all-in-one design of iMac Pro or forking over $$$.

 

[CWallace]

I've never owned an iMac I didn't ultimately come to hate -- I just can't stand the compromises of the desktop all-in-one format.

I have loved every iMac I have ever had - especially the 5Ks - but I admit that the AIO form factor is now a dead-end for me in the Apple Silicon world because macOS is my "evening and weekend OS" and I need x86 Windows with two monitors for my "day job". The Intel iMac 5K with Boot Camp was (and is) perfect for that, which is why I bought a 2020 model a year ago to last me for the next few years, but when it comes time to replace it, it will be with a dedicated Windows gaming workstation and a Mac Studio or Mac mini.

So even if Apple does come out with a new 27"-32" iMac with Pro/Max class SoCs, it will not be for me.

I highly doubt they will kill off the Mac Studio since Apple spent quite a bit of money on it and there is still a use case as not all pros need the expandability of the Mac Pro, which will obviously cost more. Also, some companies and people don't need the portability of the MacBook Pro 14 or 16, but still want the power in a cheaper and desktop form factor. Not to mention, some might want more power than what the M1 Max provides. Also, Mac Studio might make a good headless development machine for testing or rendering.

Agreed. I expect the Apple Silicon Mac Pro will be an "edge case" machine like the 2019 model is - for those workflows that need all the CPU, GPU and RAM you can throw at it as well as support for things that are only available via PCIe expansion card or for what PCIe expansion card is by far the optimal option compared to connecting via TB4.

Mac Studio will take the place of the high-end iMac in terms of CPU/GPU/RAM performance and for those who desire/demand Retina, the Apple Studio Display and Apple Pro Display XDR will be the choice and for those who do not, there are a wealth of display options to choose from.

 

[bearcatrp]

Apple should kill off the mini and make the studio the super mini/studio. More ports on the studio. Apple can put a M2 basic chip for entry level. Then expand up to ultra for the power users.

 

[GDF]

Apple should kill off the mini and make the studio the super mini/studio. More ports on the studio. Apple can put a M2 basic chip for entry level. Then expand up to ultra for the power users.

I hope they don’t kill it off. I like the size of the mini much better than the Studio.

 

[loby]

I hope they don’t kill it off. I like the size of the mini much better than the Studio.

Mac mini has always been the entry level into the Mac ecosystem if you are coming from Windows. With the iphone, the mac mini makes a tempting buy with its cost for those that might switch.

Mac Mini will probably still be with us, but I don’t see a mac mini Pro or a higher end Mac Mini coming..does not make sense while you have a Mac Studio for an option if you want more power and ports.

As far as the Mac Studio, we got the impression from Apple during the launch (and especially with the discontinuation of the 27” iMac) that the larger iMac might be gone for some time. Apple has the sales numbers, so if 27” iMac was selling great, they would not D.C. it. They make more $ on Mac Studio along with a sell of one of their displays, so I don’t see Mac Studio leaving soon, especially with the current high demand right now for it and the two to three month wait to receive it after purchase still..

 

[grouch]

I hope they don’t kill it off. I like the size of the mini much better than the Studio.

Agreed 100%

 

[CWallace]

I hope they don’t kill it off. I like the size of the mini much better than the Studio.

I honestly see no reason for Apple to kill off the mini. It's stuck around for so long because there are so many use cases for it and while each use case may be a niche one, in combination they generate enough sales to continue to justify the models existence, if they don't justify regular updating.