Mac mini 2018 Reviews Roundup: Long-Awaited Update Should Impress Fans and Pro Users, But Upgrade Options Can Get Pricey

MilaMinute said:
If I file papers now, my divorce from Apple should be complete by 2020. Apple's fallen too short. No graphics card, the unforgiveable 128GB and the recent MacBook pro issues. It's been fun, but we're done.
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Just in time for the ARM switch... the final nail in the coffin.
I'll just be sticking with my 2013 MBA until its last breath, then PC it is.
 
so long apple. this machine, fully spec'd is MORE than my i9 9900 beast Hackintosh/Windows 10 Pro machine, including a 27" monitor. I'll plan on keeping my 2014 iMac around for nostalgia. **** storage space options, T2 lock down chips and other stuff. Bye.
 
dmylrea said:
Oh, after a painful disassembly, I'm sure that PCI-e card can be changed, but would Apple take the easy route and use an off-the-shelf NVMe PCi-e card that is already available and blazing fast, or will they spend the time and R&D money and develop their own proprietary connector PCI-e card that has the same performance as an off-she-shelf Samsung, for example, but cannot be swapped out with anything off-the-shelf, nor purchased anywhere?

I'll wager on the latter...
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they don’t need to go through all that trouble anymore. that’s what the t2 chip is for

it likely won’t boot without the original storage in place
 
BruceWmsbrg said:
$800 for an upgrade to 1TB storage, when I can buy an SSD for $150. Wow. That's impressive markup, even for apple. And the tax to upgrade from the silly base RAM is $200 instead of $100. It's not like a laptop where they could argue they need custom storage for the form factor. So to replace my 5yo iMac it would cost almost $2K. This really is an effort in seeing exactly how much people are willing to pay for Apple.
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If all you want is 1tb of storage and don’t care about speed / performance, run an external ssd. (I know. I’d rather have that be internal too and not hanging off the back of my machine). I would bet money, however, that your $150 won’t buy anywhere near the same level of performance as what Apple is using. Is Apple charging a premium? You bet— they're Still going to hit their margins. But the gap is not nearly as big as you might imagine once you look for comparable parts (Ie not just storage amount but also speed, etc).

Take the RAM for example. $1400 to upgrade to 64gb is crazy, right? Well, if you buy a kit aftermarket it’s still $1100 — and $300 might be nothing to sneeze at, but it’s evidence that, for what you’re getting, the price is not outrageous.
 
ruka.snow said:
In the lifetime the processor will be useful, the GPU will have been surpassed at least 3 times even if it was a top of the line RTX. The system with the minimal GPU needed to get it up with the fastest CPU they can shove in the space is the best use of the space. This way you can get a 580 and I can get a Vega 56 for instance. No compromises.
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That's voice of reason... external gfx is the way to go... if you're creating a build/dev/server machine then you don't care... if you do then you want a path forward...

My 12-core trash can MP is still a beast and since I'm doing development it has a lot of life left in it... had I been in a gfx use case I'd be cursing Apple right now for not being able to upgrade my gfx.

Looking forward to the next MP...
 
Amazing Ox Space Monkey said:
Seems like the base mini us a suitable candidate to replace my aging iMac 21.5” 2010. I don’t play games so the integrated GPU is not really an issue.
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I'm in the same boat (mid2011 iMac) and frustrated they did not update the iMac... considering a spec'd out Mini, and maybe connected to a good 4K TV for screen space.
 
Azeroth1 said:
Grateful for the upgrades and very happy they kept this around. But if any of the announced machines were going to be more user upgradeable it should have been this one. People love being able to upgrade their 2012 machines - it’s one of the reasons they are still kicking and people have loved them for so long (that and a quad core). With such an unchanged form factor it’s too bad they didn’t keep that very welcome “feature”.

People like to tinker. People want to tinker. People like the option to fix stuff on their own. Some devices I understand locking down, but this isn’t one of them.
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Apple does not have gigantic profit margins and are not able to sell you another model down the road if things are user upgradable. They don’t care about you wanting to tinker they want you to pay them as much money as possible upfront and then in another few years pay it again.

Why would they allow you to pay $20 to someone else to upgrade an ssd? when they could lock it down and make you pay them $200 to upgrade it. and if you don’t be forced to just buy another machine in the next few years.
 
MandiMac said:
Any info about temperature / fan noise? Deciding between i5 and i7 and I‘m curious how much further the i7 comes to the 65W thermal limit than the i5.
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Do any of the reviews discuss thermal issues or power draw at idle or under load? The couple I looked at read like typical Apple PR statements. Where are the real reviews from the people who know what to test and what to look for?!?
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emulajavi said:
Was it so difficult to include a dedicated graphics card inside this?
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I think the logic board address lines between the graphics chip and CPU might burn out under load.
 
Really love my mac mini and wanted the new space grey! But at that price, come on!! 128gb is dirt cheap but Apple continues to juice. Once my 2012 mini runs out, I'm out of the mini circle. Too expensive to continue, the value isn't there.
 
Did any of these reviewers try to stick 4 LCDs onto the back of this thing? I knew AppleInsider would do it's usual 4.5 stars before reading their "review". These articles are a joke.
 
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