Apple has already done that: it's called iMac. Duh!
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M4 Mac Mini to Become Apple's Smallest Ever Computer With Complete Redesign
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Less materials + smaller packaging + more units per flight trip... = Apple saves money
Guarantee buy for me to replace my Macbook Air. I brought a new iPad Air to take with me on the road.
Will it keep the internal power supply, or did they make is so small that it needs an external power brick?
I wonder if they're going for the old Time Capsule aesthetic - thin and tall. Incidentally, that was around the width of a modern Apple TV.
"Half the volume, twice the performance" incoming for the M4 Pro vs M2 Pro model. You're gonna love it.
Nice… but what is the point of shrinking the mac mini to the limit and offer it with ridiculously high SSD prices, that means freaking USBC cables, notoriously sloppy cables that tend to detach, running on the desk?
A reasonable size, with a good range of connections ports and SSD offered at honest prices is too much?
A reasonable size, with a good range of connections ports and SSD offered at honest prices is too much?
The size does matter because with a bigger case, and thus bigger vents, you can get the same airflow using a lower velocity, thus reducing wind noise. And you can also use a larger, slower fan, thus reducing fan noise.
Further, a larger case provides room for a larger heatsink (though the current Mini's heatsink may be small enough that it can still fit into the new case).
The current case is 7.75" x 7.75" x 1.41" = 85 in^3. Gurman said the new case could be ≈ 4" x 4 " x someting a bit thicker than the current case, so call it 1.5". That's ≈ 24 in^3. So if they put the M4 Pro in a case with <1/3 the volume of the current Mini, that will cause it to be noiser and/or throttle more than it would if they kept the current case.
To put it another way: By your argument, the 14" and 16" MBP's, both of which are actively cooled, should have the same cooling capacity. Yet they don't. Apple probably could give the 14" the same thermal dissipation capacity by allowing the fans on the 14" to spin much faster, but decided not to as that would make the 14" machine too noisy.
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I suspect they will go for the same sort of Ethernet on the brick that the new iMacs have.
At the same time, USB-C power is desirable as an option.
Maybe they will be able to run on USB-C-only but need to use a power brick to get wired Ethernet? (Or a totally separate third-party USB-C to Ethernet adaptor.)
Ideally, you would still be able to tuck the Mac mini underneath the studio display. So not too high.
Apple Imagines Mac-Inside-a-Keyboard Device Evocative of 80s Home Computers
Apple is exploring the possibility of integrating a fully functioning Mac within a keyboard, reminiscent of home computers of the 80s, such as the...
www.macrumors.com
Apple should finally make an affordable Mac mini with an affordable monitor to go with it. This could actually make them a lot of money as they would sell huge numbers and increase the dominance of their ecosystem. More people means more subscriptions.
I hope not, Gurman’s leak says it will be slightly taller than the current mini, not obnoxiously taller…
I doubt they release an affordable monitor, but now that I think about it, this would be a good time to release a new Apple Studio Display, maybe with mini LED technology?
If you look at what’s behind a current Pro Mini, there is no way they would be able to put the same ports on a smaller enclosure. So, yes, for sure they will either reduce the number of ports, or put ports on every side ( very unlikely).
I wasn't planning on upgrading my base M1 Mini, but this has me intrigued. And I already have a buyer lined up for my current one if I opted to upgrade. Price will be the biggest factor for me.
I really hope its not an external powerbrick combo, thats just faking small IMHO
I think we'll lose USB-A ports completely, retain the ethernet, HDMI and headphone jack and perhaps a move to Micro SD, which would be more useful to the "majority" of Prosumer folk who are transferring data from Action Cameras / Drones etc.
Honestly I'm surprised they didn't make the Mini Apple TV sized when they moved to M1. Quadruple rack space for data centers.
Can you imagine a Mac with a keyboard that you could rest on top of your lap?
Thanks goodness they don’t do anything like that. Madness.
Jokes aside, a screenless laptop is a terrible idea.
There are many examples on the market running Windows, and they are all terrible.
Nobody want all their peripherals connected to the back of their keyboard.
I'd much rather it have more room for ports and perhaps a SD card slot. In fact (but this will never happen), just put a CFexpress card slot in the thing since you could use that for fast storage expansion.
If they just make this very small and remove ports then I am going to be MAJOR disappointed. Maybe they were worried that if they retained all of the current ports it would compete too strongly against the Mac Studio. Of course, they've already "down" graded the M3 Pro (fewer cores than the M2 Pro) so I guess maybe this trend will continue on the low end of the Mac lineup.
If they just make this very small and remove ports then I am going to be MAJOR disappointed. Maybe they were worried that if they retained all of the current ports it would compete too strongly against the Mac Studio. Of course, they've already "down" graded the M3 Pro (fewer cores than the M2 Pro) so I guess maybe this trend will continue on the low end of the Mac lineup.
I’ve never realised that until now the Ethernet port was included free of charge.
I must write a thank you letter to Tim.
What does that even mean, though? There is no regular Mac any more. If you took the screen off an iMac, would it be the mac you're talking about? What size would that be, because clearly it doesn't need the volume of that case? Would it be a Macbook? That's even thinner than what you're saying we don't need. The Mac Mini is the basic mac, whatever size it ends up being.
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