A physical redesign would “break” all purpose built racks the Mini is used in. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
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Imagined Mac Mini Redesign Argues Apple Should Borrow From Mac Studio
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Making the MacMini the size of the Apple Tv device would be a novel idea. Does that mean the MacPro would be the size of the Time Capsule
It wasn't originally intended for Mini to be used like that in the first place, but it happened. Will they accept that new reality and refuse to change design out of consideration or will they say "tough luck" remains to be seen.
Apple 'canceling' the Mac Studio (or just the Ultra model) because the Mac Pro has no reason to exist otherwise, leaving a huge price gap between the Mac Mini (or Studio Max) and a Mac Pro 'Ultra', is a bit silly. The Mac Pro really needs (and deserves) a raison d'etre at its price point. Photoshop the location of the ports anyway you like, but Apple realigning the Mac Mini and Mac Studio lineup to be more consistent from one model to the next does make sense.
Slow news day? This isn't a re-imagining of the Mac mini so much as it's simply "imagining" what a shorter Mac Studio would look like- there is no reason for this at all. (On an unrelated note, I really wish apple would shave off just enough from the studio height that it fits completely in a 2U space). The Mac mini is a fantastic, classic design- sure it will /eventaully/ be updated but it should definitely not be made any larger and there is no need to make it even more similar to the Studio- Apple is already "struggling" with a crowded and overlapping product portfolio.
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LOL, when did Apple give any sort of consideration to the customers when making design choices?
This is a cheap, tried and true form factor for them and why change it. it was very empty with the M1 mini, but the M2 Pro fills it up much better.
Actually if Apple merged the MacMini and MacStudio design it would fit in the same dimensions thus not aggravating volume customers and it would improve on cooling that an M*Ultra can be accommodated alongside the 3nm reduction in power/heat.
Same vented grill design that is in the rear can be used in the front along with the same amount of I/O except place it in the center on the front. The little vented disk stand cover can be removed as active cooling has better placement. It would share a minor resemblance to the MacPro grated front. For additional cooling add the same perforated venting system to the top and sides and this thing will be able to run cool even in a server farm setting thus lowering room temperature control.
The funny thing is, an upgraded M2 Pro-equipped Mac Mini is awfully close toi (if not over) the price of the base Studio - thanks Apple for the confusing pricing.
Don't get me wrong, the M2 Pro Mini is very enticing.
Here is my concept of a Mac Studio Mini.
Strangely enough, I made this a few days ago and sent it to the Basic Apple Guy from Twitter. I think he stole my idea and twisted it. I think RickRoller IS Basic Apple Guy. Mine and RickRoller's concepts even have the same number of ventilation holes in the back!
Don't believe me? Here's proof that I made that a few days ago. Last modified Feb 19 and today is Feb 23.
STILL don't believe me? Here is the email I sent to Basic Apple Guy. I sent an email to him as I don't have Twitter.
I am not offended nor am I asking for credit. It actually excited me that what was possibly my idea ended up on MacRumors.
Strangely enough, I made this a few days ago and sent it to the Basic Apple Guy from Twitter. I think he stole my idea and twisted it. I think RickRoller IS Basic Apple Guy. Mine and RickRoller's concepts even have the same number of ventilation holes in the back!
Don't believe me? Here's proof that I made that a few days ago. Last modified Feb 19 and today is Feb 23.
STILL don't believe me? Here is the email I sent to Basic Apple Guy. I sent an email to him as I don't have Twitter.
I am not offended nor am I asking for credit. It actually excited me that what was possibly my idea ended up on MacRumors.
Why? Neither Apple nor the end user would benefit from a redesign.
In fact if you look inside the M2 Pro Mac mini, there’s little free space left.
With the Mac mini's current design dating back over a decade, one MacRumors forums user has imagined what a redesign could look like if Apple was to take hints from the Mac Studio.
The idea mainly comes from MacRumors forums user "Rickroller," who shared basic images of the concept earlier today. They suggest that a Mac Studio-like design could bring significant thermal improvements to the Mac mini to enable better performance, and even add some simple quality-of-life enhancements such as front-facing USB-C ports and an SDXC card reader.
Leaker Jon Prosser shared renders of a complete redesign for the Mac mini in early 2021, thought to be destined for an M1 Pro or M2-series model. The design depicted a smaller chassis with a "plexiglass-like" top, but did not emerge with the latest M2 and M2 Pro Mac mini models last year.
The unibody design of the Mac mini, 2010-present.
In 2022, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo warned that the next Mac mini models would have the same design as prior models. Looking to the future, Kuo again believes that the new Mac mini models in 2024 will have the exact same design as their predecessors.
The Mac mini currently features a silver aluminum unibody design that Apple introduced in 2010. It has used this design for every Mac mini, other than offering a Space Gray colorway in 2018. By the time the next-generation Mac mini models launch in 2024, this design will be 14 years old – becoming the longest continuously used Apple design in the company's history.
Proposed Mac mini redesign, rear.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently suggested that Apple has no plans to update the Mac Studio with the M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips in the near future. The main reason for the decision seems to be the change in direction of the Apple silicon Mac Pro, which will now have the M2 Ultra chip as a top-tier option and offer limited modularity. Apple may leave the Mac Studio without a hardware refresh for some time and could even discontinue the product line, similar to 2017's iMac Pro, which served as a stop-gap device until the release of the 2019 Mac Pro.
The M2 Pro Mac mini's rear and selection of ports.
If the Mac Studio is indeed discontinued sometime in the next several years, a post-2024 Mac mini may be even more likely to adopt a Mac Studio-like design, since there would no longer be a risk of further cannibalizing the Mac Studio with a similar design. Apple often introduces new designs and features on its high-end devices before slowly trickling them down to other products in the lineup, such as the squared-off industrial design of the 2018 iPad Pro, which finally came to dominate the whole latest-generation iPad lineup upon the release of the 10th-generation iPad last year.
What is in store for the Mac mini's design after 2024 is unclear and likely has not even have been firmly decided upon by Apple yet, but considering how long the company has stuck with the aluminum unibody design, a redesign sometime in 2025 or beyond is highly plausible.
Article Link: Imagined Mac Mini Redesign Argues Apple Should Borrow From Mac Studio
I like it.
It's got a beat, and you can dance to it.
I hate to say this, but the Mac mini case will probably never change. It is the least expensive computer Apple sells, and I’m including iPhones (ok, I guess the iPad is a little cheaper but you get the idea), so there’s no extra margin for design and retooling.
How is it lazy? It wants to be minimal and inconspicuous and it accomplishes that. Industrial design shouldn’t add details or crazy shapes just for the sake of it.
Color seems a great option for milking this form factor even further. Kind of surprised the Mac mini and iMac aren't similarly styled (via color) as they are similar targets (ish).
I've been really impressed with my M2 Mac mini. If they made that thing in colors, safe bet they'd fly off the shelves. People like colors. I'll take midnight, please. 😁
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Are companies really buying these things in bulk still? I remember a flirtation with that about 10 years ago. But I know several large enterprises that balked at the idea and passed on the Mac in the server room offering. Besides there weren’t many server specific applications that required Mac OS to necessitate hosting it centrally.
I mean they’ve gotten the OS to remove even the most basic server tools since then.
If you know I’d genuinely like to know.
Aside from that I do think they have an incentive to keep housing the same since the fabrication process is always expensive to retool and they might have a surplus of parts from prior intended Mac mini launches.
Yes. It’s not the same Apple under Tim Cook as it was under Steve Jobs.
Under Jobs, Apple executives would tout how they (Jobs, specifically) weren’t afraid to cannibalize their own product lines in favor of introducing a new innovative one.
Agreed. I feel like Apple Mac Pro Trash Can design was much better.
It really was/is. I still have one. And with a bit of lovely hacking you can even get fully functional Ventura running on it. (If only Apple wouldn’t ditch good designed like this one.)