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Hands On With Apple's New M4 Mac Mini
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Why not look for a new or used wireless Magic Keyboard, examples at MacSales. Obviously there are other online places to buy also.
The new Mini is so much cooler than the old Mini (got my new one sitting on top of my old one, for now) - not to mention far more powerful. The original Mini was cool, when people started building their "mini towers", but the later, flatter ones, were just, well, flat lol. These new ones have pizzazz!
Got my m4 pro today.. does run a tad warmer than my base m2. Biggest complaint is all my m2 backups with time machine and CCC don't install everything properly. I so wish you could backup like macrium reflect on windows.
I still have one of these. No plans to change it as I use 3x USB-A extender cables so that I can operate from the sofa to the TV (3m away).
It will be interesting to see the difference in performance between the internal drive and the external - I wonder if it would make sense to put the system on an external 2TB SSD and use it as a boot drive.
Agreed. The 2024 Mini recaptures some of the charm of the original design. My first Mac was the first Intel Mini that I found irresistible at the computer store in 2006. My 2018 Mini is hidden from view, and is overkill for its server function, but count me among those who are fighting the temptation to replace something perfectly adequate with something more appealing.
I've just bought a Dell A2722QC 27-in monitor as a second display driven off my 27-in iMac. I'm using QuickRes to configure both displays at 3200x1800 and am very happy with the result.
The U2723QE is slightly better in some respects so you should be fine, see https://www.rtings.com/monitor/tools/compare/dell-s2722qc-vs-dell-u2723qe/28689/31782
It’s a headphone jack, hence the position!
This. For years Apple put the headphone jack on Macs in location that did not make any sense in an ergonomic manner (i.e. on the right side of the MacBooks and the back of the iMac and the Mac mini). It belongs on either the left side or the front, else wise the wire just intersects with mouse and keyboard.
That headphone jack alone will inspire a few workstation reconfigurations as well as some nice headphone purchases.
Agreed. However having now seen the teardown I understand why it's on the front. There just isn't space among the row of ports at the back and placing it above the row of ports isn't an option either as the logic board is tightly packed in there.
I think about it as like the MacBook Air which I'm typing on now. It has two USB ports on the left and an audio jack on the right. And that's how they sit on the mini, just on the front face. I suppose it's also more convenient if you are using headphones, however at a cost to those who have speakers and other audio equipment.
It's a small trade off for having the machine as small as it is.
It's an audio jack, not just for headphones. If I want to plug in some speakers I now either have to get a dongle and use up a Thunderbolt port or have a wire poking out of the front. And I thought Apple had spent the last decade on a crusade against wired headphones?
Have a hard time swallowing the upgrade prices. While the entry level model sure is a good value, just going up a little in specs make the price rocket away and suddenly the good value isn’t so good anymore.
From a review at MacWorld.com:
www.macworld.com
I think this scares away some potential customers who would like a bit more than the base specs and I don’t think this is what Apple wants, or? 🤔
I don’t get it. The prices don’t have to be as low as the separate PC components you can buy, but it gets ridiculous when the prices are several times that of what you would pay if buying similar components separately.
From a review at MacWorld.com:
Get this: The entry-level M4 Mac mini, with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, is $599. Boosting that to 32GB RAM and 512GB SSD is an additional $600.
M4 Pro Mac mini review: Remarkably small and incredibly powerful
It’s easy to love Apple’s powerful little desktop computer, as long as you can avoid buying more RAM or storage.
www.macworld.com
I think this scares away some potential customers who would like a bit more than the base specs and I don’t think this is what Apple wants, or? 🤔
I don’t get it. The prices don’t have to be as low as the separate PC components you can buy, but it gets ridiculous when the prices are several times that of what you would pay if buying similar components separately.
Apple just can't seem to get off the "drug" or absolutely GOUGING people on component upgrade pricing
The prices are easily double what they should be to still allow a very healthy margin for Apple
More power to y'all buying all these. I just refuse to support this level of flat out rip off and I can't go the "put it all on externals" route as Apple has made it so iCloud won't sync to an external drive.
(not to mention, I just don't really want a "desktop" that needs external drives hooked up full time)
The M4 Mac mini is my favorite Mac so far! I got the M4 Mac mini (not M4 Pro) and adding a 4TB SanDisk PRO-G40 External Thunderbolt 3 SSD, and am using that as my Startup Drive instead of the 256GB Apple internal SSD. I now have a $499 (with Education Discount) M4 Mac Mini with 16GB RAM and a 4TB SSD drive (paid $275 for it) very capable Mac computer for such a low cost. This Mac Mini is so fast that it is making me want to get rid of my Mac Studio M2 Max in favor of it!
as said many times before the power button on the bottom is just wrong
ok just an idea - setup the mini on its side - its a joke
ok just an idea - setup the mini on its side - its a joke
Not sure where you saw this, but USB 3.0 does not support more than 5 Gb/s bandwidth.
Hmmm, seems the fruit is claiming 10 Gb/s. BUT in all the marketing I saw, they say USB 3.0. I think the 10Gb/s came with USB 3.1 Gen 2.
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Since it just says ”USB 3” and up to 10 Gb/s maybe they actually mean USB 3.1 Gen 2 without actually writing that out. I would have been more worried if it said ”USB 3.0” on Apple's home page, but I agree it would be better if they typed out the exact USB 3 version.
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Or plug your speakers into your main monitor. If your monitor has a USB or 3.5mm port (most do).
You can also use USB-C connected speakers where you can control the volume via keyboard. Most Mac desktops/laptops do have the 3.5mm jack in a forward accessible area mostly for headphones and cheaper speakers usage. Apple only removed the 3.5mm jack from mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads, not Macs.
This thread may interest you!
DIY 5k Monitor - success :-)
My "latest Macs" are a heavily upgraded 2009 Mac Pro (6c CPU, M.2 SSD, USB 3, RX580...) and more recently a 12c 2013 Mac Pro with an eGPU (Vega 56) - both machines with more than enough CPU power, GPU power and RAM for my needs, but I long aspired to upgrade to a nice 5k monitor to replace my...
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