Surprised Apple isn’t calling this the “Magic Mouse inspired Magical Power Button!”.
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M4 Mac Mini's Power Button Has New Bottom Location
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I wonder if the fan will stay on even in sleep mode, pulling in dust, like my Intel iMac does. I shut it down to minimize dust ingestion. I’ve seen videos where they opened them up and the fan is encased in fine dust, slowing the machine to a crawl.
You could still do that, just mount it with the 'bottom' facing out. Probably better for airflow.
I'm sure there's a valid engineering reason for this, but you'd think that the company with the world's best industrial design team could figure something else out.
Waiting for the folks from the mouse thread to come in here stating this is a non-issue
Well, Apple is known for doubling down on dumb decisions. Just be glad they didn't redesign it as a Notch.
This has nothing to do with intelligence if you don’t know where to turn a device on. Wouldn’t it be odd if the power button of the macbook would be in the back or on the bottom? The obvious choice would be in the front. Never understood Apples choice. Also with iMac. It’s only a design thing. When you have to lock the macs to tables, a power button on the bottom is uhm pretty unpractical.
Yes. And they think you’re gonna love it.
Shoving it sideways in a shelf hole would not block ventilation any more than when it sits horizontally on a desk. Having to physically tilt it away to reach the button is the issue.
If they pay our electricity and ISP bills, fine. Otherwise they're going to be in a lot of legal troubles.
or crazy idea, don't power it off. Just put it into sleep mode when not in-use.
Someone please add up the average cost increase for energy use for a base Mac mini (highest seller) in sleep mode vs off for a year.
Why defend Apple though? The most generous take should be that it's a dumb move that fortunately won't impact too many people. Why not acknowledge that and then move on?
I used a mac mini for a decade in my entertainment center. Having power at the rear was annoying enough when I needed it, bottom would be worse. Others rack mount the mini, find a third party VESA adapter for mounting behind monitors or lock them to a desk in retail settings. Bottom button placement, in combination with ports on two different sides, is going to create genuine challenges for some people, and be a minor annoyance for many more. This thread would die out it people didn't insist on mounting an unnecessary defence of a poorly located button.
Well if we're talking in the context of world hunger, I agree. But in terms of industrial design, this really is about as bad as it gets. Easily on par with the mouse.
Happy to see 'skeuomorphism' return and come to a whole new level in hardware terms. You can now literally TURN a mac on.
No. In my studio we power off the whole room at end of the night and power everything up again when we return. Leaving it on pulls in dust even in sleep mode (it’s an Intel mini, like my Intel iMac, so the fan stays on even in sleep).
Since you are so vocal on this issue, why don't you do the math yourself? Numbers are readily available.
In sleep a year, one mini will use 3,5 kWh more than one mini that is shut off but connected to the powergrid.
I feel like you can slide a fingertip under there and turn it on.