is every journalist bought by Apple that no one is writing any critical article about the Mac Mini and complete Mac line.
Why is every one so happy to get a one year old 8th gen i7 instead of a 9th gen i7 with 8 Cores.
If i spend thousands of euros or dollars, I want to have the newest hardware with a great dedicated graphic card.
The enthusiasm for the 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports, reminds me the articles of the Mac Pro in 2013. But at the end it was a dead end that is still sold for an incredible prize. For me that are just 4 USB ports - should be that standard for a desktop PC?
I really like macOS as an operating system, I love to use it, but unfortunately Apple destroying it with no strategy in the Mac line. Mostly old hardware for too high prices.
Because right now, a 9th Generation Core i7 w/ 8 Cores/8 Threads is a 95w TDP part and that is not going to work inside the Mac mini's chassis for at least three (3) different reasons. Cooling, power, availability.
A 65w TDP BGA (soldered) part has not been or even announced outside of confidential Intel roadmaps and a release will most likely not be until April of 2019. Intel can barely keep up with demand for 14nm parts now as it is and even halted production on the H310 PCH in order to make sure the other 14nm 300-Series chipsets (Z390, H370 and B360) would not be impacted.
At this price point ($1299 for the Core i7 BTO option), you are getting quite a bit of performance. I am sure that we will hear way more about the virtues and vices of the Mac mini moving forward from those who decide to go that route.
If you want a dedicated GPU, you can either get an eGPU or build yourself a Windows PC/Hackintosh.
The Late 2013 Mac Pro was dead end because the market pivoted from multiple GPUs working together to a single powerful GPU...Apple bet wrong and paid the price. Most of us here would agree that it was a low point in the life of the Mac Pro line and could have possibly been corrected WAY sooner. I wish it had been, but it is what it is.
Given that, there are still many happy 2013 Mac Pro owners out there, whose machines are happily chugging along, getting stuff done.
If the four (4) Thunderbolt 3 ports are just USB ports to you...well, that is your issue, not mine. Having access of up to 160Gbps of aggregate bandwidth, while still having the choice to repurpose a TB3 port as USB-C Gen 2 with 10Gbps of bandwidth for cheaper peripherals or if I need more than two USB 3.0 Type-A ports is of great value to me. So is the option of upgrading to 10Gbps Ethernet.
I am pretty sure that Apple is going to sell quite a few Mac minis moving forward.