High-End 'M1X' Mac Mini With New Design and Additional Ports Expected to Launch in the 'Next Several Months'

[MacRumors]

Apple can be expected to launch an updated high-end Mac mini with a new design and a faster "M1X" Apple silicon processor in the "next several months," Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.

In the latest publication of his Power On newsletter, Gurman writes that a new high-end Mac mini, which has previously been reported to feature a new design with additional ports, can be expected to replace the current Intel Mac mini in "the next several months." This presumably means the new Mac mini may launch alongside the redesigned 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros this fall. As Gurman writes:

Last fall, as part of its trio of initial Macs to transition over to Apple Silicon chips, the company updated the older Mac mini design with the M1 processor. The Mac mini is used for more basic tasks like video streaming, but many people use it as a software development machine, as a server or for their video editing needs. Apple knows that, so it kept the Intel model around. Well, expect that to go away in the next several months with a high-end, M1X Mac mini. It will have an updated design and more ports than the current model.

Apple leaker Jon Prosser in May shared renders of what the upcoming Mac mini may look like, and according to those renders, allegedly based on images from internal Apple sources, the new Mac mini will feature a "plexiglass" top and a magnetic power port. The new Mac mini is also rumored to feature additional ports.

This fall, Apple is preparing to launch several new products, including the iPhone 13, Apple Watch Series 7, a new iPad mini, an updated baseline iPad, new AirPods, and completely redesigned 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros. With Gurman's new reporting today, Apple may launch its new MacBook Pros alongside the new Mac mini at a fully focused Mac Apple silicon event. Apple last year held an event focused on the M1 Apple silicon chip in November.

Article Link: High-End 'M1X' Mac Mini With New Design and Additional Ports Expected to Launch in the 'Next Several Months'

 

[DinkThifferent]

Why does Apple want to turn its 'entry level' Mac into a high end one?

 

[dantracht]

So a "Mini Pro" with the M1 Mini sticking around? My uneducated guess tells me the fall releases are for the MBPs so they get the spotlight. Everything else Mac wise is early next year.

 

[GubbyMan]

I really hate that Mark Gurman has switched to ******** claims like "in the next several months" when he's too afraid to give an exact date.

 

[TVreporter]

Seems bizarre to boost the cost of their so-called entry level Mac.

That said I may go Mini next as opposed to an iMac if there are additional ports - I’ll find a decent monitor to pair with it.

 

[jterp7]

I really hate that Mark Gurman has switched to ******** claims like "in the next several months" when he's too afraid to give an exact date.

lazy journalism, imagine if you tried that at work, hey i'll turn in the report in the next several months lol

 

[adamw]

This is what I have been waiting for! Mac Mini M1X!

 

[Khedron]

Why does Apple want to turn its 'entry level' Mac into a high end one?

Because Apple started defining ‘Pro’ machines as having 1 port so now ‘high end’ just means ‘practical’

 

[TCMercury]

Goodness me I hope so. My poor 2013 MacBook Pro has been glued to its charging cable for the last three years and could only just barely handle a 4k display at idle, let alone while editing photos. I can't wait to work with some speed again.

 

[vagos]

Why does Apple want to turn its 'entry level' Mac into a high end one?

Seems bizarre to boost the cost of their so-called entry level Mac.

The simple answer is that they'll do it because they now can. Apple silicon is quiet and heat efficient enough that now they can put it in a small package. It was an entry level mac because it could not be anything else (until now).

 

[svish]

More powerful mini for those who need it ?. However, launch date is very vague. Next several months can very well mean early next year.

 

[EvilEvil]

So there are going to be yearly refreshes of Mac Minis now? ?

 

[alexe]

Why does Apple want to turn its 'entry level' Mac into a high end one?

Who said anything about "turning into"? They are just adding a higher-end version, not getting rid of the lower-end version. What's not to like about that? More choice is always better.

Seems bizarre to boost the cost of their so-called entry level Mac.

Why bizarre? If you can still buy the low-end M1 Mac Mini, what harm does it do if there is also a higher-end Mac Mini version? They aren't "boosting the cost", just adding another version. It's the same as before when there were different Intel configurations.

 

[HappySponge]

Sometime in the future there will be new products! These type of articles dont offer anything.

 

[Dimwhit]

I'd really love to get this, but my M1 Mini really does everything I need it to do, and it does it very well. And extra port or two would be nice, but not critical, so I don't think that's enough to justify it.

 

[JippaLippa]

If they're announcing this alongside the new macbooks, I'm definitely getting it.
The savings I could have by not having to purchase an expensive mini-led display could be invested in more ram (64GB) and storage.

 

[Metrosey]

The bigger questions is, will this be based on A14 or A15?

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗]

I thought Mac Mini was delayed and now it’s bound to launch?

Gurman: Changes his statements every week now.

 

[4jasontv]

Why does Apple want to turn its 'entry level' Mac into a high end one?

The mini isn’t Apples entry level, the iMac is. Unless you mean based on price, in which it’s still the iMac. Once you account for the iMac display and peripherals what’s left over is less than a mini.

What I’d like to see is for the mini to go on a diet. They need to fit the mini in an Apple TV shell.

 

[SW3029]

So there are going to be yearly refreshes of Mac Minis now? ?

I think there will be yearly refreshes of every Mac now that Apple doesn't have to work to Intel's timeline. I suspect Apple will update M-series chips every year just like they do A-series. And Apple will put those new M chips into every Mac. While every Mac won't see design changes every year, they will see chip spec-bumps to encourage people to upgrade their Macs more frequently.

 

[jaster2]

Absolutely what I've been waiting for!

 

[velocityg4]

Who said anything about "turning into"? They are just adding a higher-end version, not getting rid of the lower-end version. What's not to like about that? More choice is always better.



Why bizarre? If you can still buy the low-end M1 Mac Mini, what harm does it do if there is also a higher-end Mac Mini version? They aren't "boosting the cost", just adding another version. It's the same as before when there were different Intel configurations.

People expect a new model to replace an old model at the same price point or close to the same. As is generally what happens with model updates.

 

[jlocker]

Ports could also mean interfaces, maybe Apple has found a way to use PCI slots, or add storage like a Xbox X can do and add M.2 interface for more memory if you need more ram with an interface to SOC system. If a Sony and Microsoft can figure it out Apple should be able to do also.

 

[mansplains]

I really hate that Mark Gurman has switched to bullsh*t claims like "in the next several months" when he's too afraid to give an exact date.

More powerful mini for those who need it ?. However, launch date is very vague. Next several months can very well mean early next year.

Sometime in the future there will be new products! These type of articles dont offer anything.

We could all just as easily get on this scheme, this is how rumor reporting tends to go. When you throw so many things at the wall you're bound to get something right, and that's "credibility". There's a lot of regurgitation too, someone starts one rumor item, and it's posted on multiple sites, then those sites can reference each other instead of a real source because truth is, it's a rumor and there's really no credible source.

 

[Putzytart]

It's not that I need more power, just more storage than 2TB. The performance with the current M1 machines has been perfectly fine for what I do (High end Photoshop) but my 2TB is full already and I want more. M1X with bigger storage specs and more RAM will be spot on.