High-End Mac Mini Said to Feature Thinner Design With 'Plexiglass' Top, Magnetic Power Port

[gusping]

Separating the power supply may keep it fan-less. Which is a huge plus for some applications.

I have no problem with a separate power brick for two of my applications.

Lmao. The M1X won’t be fanless….

 

[jerryk]

I loathe power bricks. That’s why I have a PoE switch. My WAP is powered by PoE. A few Raspberry Pi’s powered by PoE. I doubt Apple would do it, but I’d love a Mac Mini powered by PoE.

With POE you still have an external to the Mini power supply. It is just in the switch or POE injector. It makes sense for Access Point, Survalience cameras, and such that are connected with the Ethernet cable. But is the power is limited to 13w and would place limitations on what you could do with the mini.

 

[Stephen.R]

But is the power is limited to 13w

I mean, there are higher-power standards than that.

would place limitations on what you could do with the mini.

If it were 13w, one of those limitations would be "you can't turn it on"

 

[Lemon Olive]

Plexiglass (Like)...Nope...scratches too much, must be glass then, but....why, just use aluminium.
There is no reason to make the top of Plexiglass like material.

I like the idea of it from an aesthetic perspective.

But the mini could really use this kind of change...it's bluetooth performance is awful.

 

[NYC Russ]

An M1 mini draws 39W at CPU max. I have to assume that is without any accessories drawing bus power. TB3 from memory allows up to 15W per port, so for a four port device allow another 60W. USB-A ports I think are up to 7.5W (excluding USB-PD), so thats another 15W. No PoE standard supports that level of power, and even if it did, the cost of a switch to provide it, is prohibitive for the benefits (which I still don't really see).

Excellent point!

 

[Lemon Olive]

Separating the power supply may keep it fan-less. Which is a huge plus for some applications.

I have no problem with a separate power brick for two of my applications.

Oh I don't think so. The MacBook Pro will not be fanless and neither will this mini using the same chip.

Separating the power supply means more room for a better internal design that includes fans.

 

[Wackery]

I'm holding out for one with a bigger chin.

Aluminium champfered bezel chins.

What I just said makes complete sense in Apple Lingo

 

[archimacpro]

YES! YES! YES! ..... Nooooooo!. So close, but so far.
No power brick.

 

[NightFox]

Hmmm... Ordered new M1 Mac Mini a couple of days ago - delivery date is 7th June. I hope we get an announcement at WWDC so I can decide if I need to return it.

 

[Stephen.R]

Aluminium champfered bezel chins.

What I just said makes complete sense in Apple Lingo

At least you spelled aluminium correctly.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Hmmm... Ordered new M1 Mac Mini a couple of days ago - delivery date is 7th July. I hope we get an announcement at WWDC so I can decide if I need to return it.

JULY 7th? That's a long time. What was your config that it's over a month wait?

 

[Freeangel1]

YUMMY! I WANT ONE.
forget a laptop.
Mac mini is where it's at.
Hopefully the price is reasonable.

 

[passatgt]

I have one of those sitting on the shelf behind my desk. It's is unplugged and sitting in the box. Makes a since display piece, not so great as a computer.

If its the 2009 version, you could max out the ram(8gb), install an SSD and you could run Big Sur on it

 

[clith]

If it's got the same power brick as the iMac, why would it have an ethernet port *ON* the machine itself?

For 10 Gbps?

 

[Freeangel1]

slimmer design means easier and cooler to mount in the glove compartment of a Car!

 

[passatgt]

That isn't a render, it's an actual product. I had one. It was basically a Mac mini, with different software and ports.

This is a picture of the 1st gen Apple TV

 

[MvdM]

So you'd prefer that if a power component fail, the entire device is bricked/garbage? I'd rather replace a $50 transformer over a $1000 Mac Mini.

That’s not what he or she said. How often do Apple’s power bricks fail?

 

[MvdM]

If they are going to use the same external power brick as the iMac, which they would most likely do to cut down on cost, then there would be no need for the ethernet connector.

I would prefer to have the external brick and only 1(ish) cable to the mini vice at minimum 2 cables. This would also give them more room for USB ports (highly unlikely).

So you prefer an extra brick with an otherwise still small Mac mini? Why? Do you prefer an external power supply with your fridge and tv?

 

[DMinTX]

What if it is not marketed as a high end Mac Mini, and is called a Mac, placing it between the Mac Mini and Mac Pro?

 

[Stephen.R]

This is a picture of the 1st gen Apple TV

I know that. I HAD ONE. It was basically a Mac mini, with different ports and customised software.

 

[usagora]

Another Mac redesign with external power brick.

Who cares? It's a desktop machine. Just use some mounting tape or fasteners and mount it out of sight undernearth the desk/table. I'd much rather have a sleeker-looking machine and go through the extremely minor inconvenience of hiding the power brick.

 

[UK-MacAddict]

I would prefer they make it taller and more cube shaped. The current Mac Mini footprint in the desk is still too big I think.

 

[theluggage]

Even the M1 thermal throttles in a fanless machine. That's why the current Mac mini is faster than the MB Air despite having the same exact CPU.

If you look at the tests, the top-end i7 Intel Mac Mini uses something like 3x the power (and, hence, generates 3x the heat) of the M1 Mini. There is plenty of potential for the M1X/M2/whatever to "grow" without exceeding the thermal capability of the Mini design. Odds are it will be the same chip destined for the 16" MacBook Pro, so it's not going to be huge, or extra power-hungry.

...and if it matters: just. make. the. mini. bigger. It could easily get 50% thicker and still be asked to dance at parties.

 

[usagora]

Now if only there was a monitor besides the ridiculous $6k Pro XDR to plug this into.

You know Apple isn't the only one who manufactures high-end displays, right?

 

[usagora]

Agreed. It's a pretty design, but I *don't* want an easily-removable power cord for anything that isn't battery-powered. Phones, laptops, awesome choice. Desktop or monitor? Nope.

The point of MagSafe power cords isn't to prevent loss of power supply, but rather to prevent the connected device being pulled off its resting place and potentially becoming damaged if someone trips or yanks on the cord. Thus the "Safe" in MagSafe.

Also, I'm sure it's not going to disconnect with a super light pull, but would require more force so you shouldn't accidentally disconnect it.