I don't even know what an OptiPlex is but it sounds like garbage.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Mac mini 2018 Reviews Roundup: Long-Awaited Update Should Impress Fans and Pro Users, But Upgrade Options Can Get Pricey
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
LOL just to let you know that I'm Apple fan but obviously, it's getting really expensive to stay loyal with Apple's product for these days due to the price increase every year.
Not likely, now that Apple has support for external GPU’s in macOS. Probably one of the reasons why they have 4 x TB3 ports on this thing, and as somebody else pointed out, any internal GPU will likely be rendered obsolete long before the rest of the guts will. That’s not a concern with an external GPU.
I need to order one right now and will probably go for the i5 model. I just hope these early reviewers aren't all screwups/paid shills.
I do not disagree with that assessment at all...I think I have been replying to people with blinders on to context. For that I apologize.
The pricing of Macs always seems to amaze a lot of people that I see contributing on the MacRumors forums, but I grew up, supported and purchased during the time of $2499 Radius and SuperMac Thunder video cards, RasterOps monitors, FWB Hammer hard drives and so none of these prices really phase me all that much when I sit down and get into the nitty gritty of configuring them and trying to save some money myself. I am no longer in need of something like an iMac Pro, but even the 18-core is not that bad, if you can benefit from that many cores. I still think Intel artificially inflates the prices of some of the lower core count CPUs, but its not as bad as when the CPU to have was the 5960X.
I admit that Apple charges more than I would like for DRAM and SSD upgrades, because basically, you are paying full price for the upgrade on the DRAM and the SSD while receiving ZERO credit for what is not going in there. Ironically enough, the CPU upgrades on most of Apple's computers are very reasonable. $200 to go from a Core i5 to a Core i7 on the 27" iMac and the Mac mini.
I am interested to see the niches where the Mac mini works best. For me, I would use it for Audio Production, which does not seem to need a powerful GPU unless one is viewing a large number of tracks at once, which I do not do.
Hopefully, more concrete data and uses will be reported on by users as the mini works its way into the wild.
$799 used to be the top of the line cpu version.
FFW 2018 $799 is now the base model, still needing to pay $200 extra for another 8 gb ram and another $200 for a bit of storage headroom ... so it would be a bit future proof and match my upgraded system from SIX years ago!
Not happy and not upgrading at those prices.
FFW 2018 $799 is now the base model, still needing to pay $200 extra for another 8 gb ram and another $200 for a bit of storage headroom ... so it would be a bit future proof and match my upgraded system from SIX years ago!
Not happy and not upgrading at those prices.
Last edited:
I ordered one of these, but as I do a fair bit of design work, I'm worried that the internal graphics card won't be up to the task. And I'll lose the wide gamut of my MBP. I wish Apple would hurry up and release an official P3 display, but I suppose this card wouldn't support it anyway.
Unfortunately, Apple hit new buyers with a 3-year cumulative sticker shock instead of nudging the price up $100/year per other hardware they sell.
The reality is those who buy (including me), will simply unbox our new purchases, fire them up, and be on our merry way while the rest of the people continue to debate the pros and cons...
The reality is those who buy (including me), will simply unbox our new purchases, fire them up, and be on our merry way while the rest of the people continue to debate the pros and cons...
Match?
[doublepost=1541541783][/doublepost]
The Mac mini has to have more than 65W cooling or the users of the 10Gb Ethernet will experience throttling. 10Gb Ethernet chips run hot.
[doublepost=1541542038][/doublepost]
It's a Dell.
My first foot into Mac products was back in 2010 when I bought a cheap Mac Mini just to see if I could get used to the OS. I learned to like it and eventually bought a 2011 iMac and a 2011 MBP (that was replaced with a 2016 MBP). I would not have ever made the leap into the OS if it was $799 (especially with 128GBs of storage).
Like you said, they didn't make a lot of money on me from the Mac Mini purchase, but with the future Mac purchases, the app store purchases like Final Cut, they have made a lot off of getting me in the door. In fact it made their entire ecosystem (including iOS) more sticky for me. Obviously, they don't think that part of the market is worthwhile, but I think it could be argued that it is.
I know some will say that Mac laptops are filling that role now, but the thing that made the Mac Mini ideal is that it could be used as a server for Plex, iTunes, etc. and I knew I would have a use for it if I didn't like the OS.
Since I am already sold on MacOS, I will eventually get a 2018 Mac Mini. I will just wait for the refurbs to save some money.
Last edited:
And there you have it. That's the one deal-killer for me with the new Mini. There's no way I'm going to spend a couple thousand for a decent processor and sizable hard drive, only to have to shell out another thousand for a decent external graphics card.
$799 was the base price for the mid-2012 2.3GHz quad-core model, which was not the top of the line model, that distinction belonged to the 2.6GHz quad-core, which cost $200 more as a BTO option, IIRC. It also only shipped with 4GB of DRAM, not 8GB, which was another $100 extra. The based model had a 500GB 2.5" drive and upgrading to the 256GB SSD was an additional $300. It was a decently priced computer, but there's an awful lot of mythologizing about it's price
Based on my math, a Core i7 2.3 with 8GB of DRAM and the 256GB SSD would have cost $799+$100+$300 for a total cost of $1199, yet the 2018 base model with the Core i3, 8GB DRAM and a BTO 256GB SSD is $999, with the Core i5 model costing $1099 and the Core i7 BTO model costing $1299 for 8GB DRAM and a 256GB SSD or $100 more than the mid 2012 2.3GHz Core i7 and $100 less than the 2.6Ghz Core i7 model with the equivalent DRAM and SSD sizes.
So, actually, those prices are not really bad at all.
I think this one has been the most interesting I've found so far:
ASUS XG Station Pro is now officially compatible with macOS. After working closely with Apple to meet rigorous standards, we are pleased to offer designers (and gamers) certified compatibility on Thunderbolt™ 3 capable Macs with select AMD Radeon™ graphics cards.
https://www.asus.com/Graphics-Cards-Accessories/XG-STATION-PRO/
You make fair points, and I can't say you are wrong. I'd remind people, though, that $499 4-6 years ago is not the same purchasing power today. Check out the link below. It let's you enter what you paid for something in a give year, and see what it costs today... given inflation.
We are a family of five, and I do most of the shopping, for food and other things. And it’s amazing how much more stuff cost now than it did just a few years ago. Groceries are getting so expensive. Look at the price of chicken and beef compared to what it was a few years ago. People talk about the price being $499 four years ago is if that existed in a vacuum, and nothing has changed and that the price should be the same today. But that’s not the case. It costs Apple more to do business today than it did four years ago. Labor costs are higher, component costs are higher… There’s a lot that goes into it. And on top of that they’ve made this a much better performance wise machine then what you were getting for your dollar with the last mini.
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
Yes, it is a full desktop Core S-Series CPU with a 65w TDP. It is not a crippled CPU, it is a CPU that you would see in any number of PC OEMs computers or that a user could purchase for themselves to use in a PC build where the Core i7-8700K would not be practical due to heat or power constraints. Would you tell me that the Core i7-8700K cannot handle the bandwidth of those ports? I do not think so.
Also, the Mac Mini hasn't had discrete graphics since about 2011 - even the loved and lamented 2012 models. Maybe one of the G-series processors with semi-discrete Vega M would have been a good option - but they top out at quad core and that hex-core i5/i7 jobbie is going to be perfect for some things, like music and development (shame about the price of the 32GB RAM upgrade...) - as long as that iGPU has enough legs to run the Mojave UI smoothly.
I think the acid test would be running a 4k display in scaled "looks like 2560x1440" mode which is about the sweet spot for a 27" display and makes it look like 5k unless you have the eyeballs of a 20-year-old. If the iGPU can't deliver that smoothly, there's a problem.
Despite my issues with the mini, I am tempted. I just wish using an egpu with bootcamp wasnt such a hellacious pain in the ass.
I would have to agree with you 100%. I find true Retina on a 4K display (1920x1080@2x) way too big, even on my Dell P2415Q, and definitely on my BenQ SW271. Running macOS in scaled mode is something Apple defaults to now on the 12" MacBook, the 13" MacBook Pro, the 15" MacBook Pro and probably on the 13" MacBook Air. It needs to be smooth.
I would buy third party DRAM and save the $300 bucks off the price there. I always keep the Apple RAM just in case of issues at least through the end of the AppleCare warranty.
I love the option of 6-cores or 6-cores/12-threads.
My response was in regards to thermal constraints ruling out dedicated GPU in the Mac Mini. It was not a price comparison. I simply showed what I put together in a similar sized box without thermal constraints, which happened to only cost $550. I put that little box together myself with a dedicated GPU and don't have thermal issues. So if Apple wanted to they can easily put a dedicated GPU in there.
A 128GB NVMe SSD is $29. I paid $20 for the 2.5". Samsung 970EVO is $90. Who needs Thunderbolt if there was a GPU in there? And yes I have experimented with eGPU on an Intel NUC7, which to my surprise worked with hackintosh.
And what you listed above is not a Mac Mini replacement as it's a good sized tower. I can build a box in my sleep, been doing it for years
I just sold an mITX build in a 9" wide x 7" tall x 11" deep case with a full sized GTX1070 and i7-7700K in it. No thermal issue there either.I never criticized Apple's pricing on the new Mini. It is not completely out of this world for not having to putz around with hackintoshing. My only criticism is the inability to add a 2.5" drive. Having dual physical drives in any desktop regardless of size is a must for me. I've also built even smaller PCs based on mini-STX sized motherboards, still with dual 2.5" drive bays.