Mac Mini to Lose Its USB-A Ports Later This Year

[ric22]

Soldered in SSDs? Well that behaviour is a little harder to defend.

That's extreme level bull💩 that certainly should be criticised more regularly. That's the kind of crap the EU should legislate against.

 

[cult hero]

If true, 5 ports would be great. I would need to purchase one USB-C hub to replace an old USB-A hub. No big deal at all.

No you wouldn’t. You can just use USB-C to A adapters. I have an old Satechi combination USB 3 hub and stand (it was for iMacs, but still works great with my Studio display) and the hub is still going strong. It gives me front facing ports for USB sticks, audio devices, etc.

 

[cult hero]

That's extreme level bull💩 that certainly should be criticised more regularly. That's the kind of crap the EU should legislate against.

I really hate this. Nothing extends the life of an older machine more than storage upgrades.

I used to feel the same way about RAM but… at 16GB I’ve not been running the same amount of RAM for a decade. That’s so strange.

 

[HuskerNKS]

Desktop Macs form a very very niche market. This isn't changing anything.

Agreed 100%, but it would make a difference for those vendors that tend to partner with Mac more often. LG, Lacie, and many others. It may entice them to include USB-C more (most of which already do). Apple doesn’t care about the rest of the accessories IMO.

 

[redheeler]

The iMac ships with a 143 W power supply (15.9 V at upto 9 A), so a Mac Mini with no screen, speakers or webcam should presumably use less power (a display typically uses 50-60 W).

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The iMac isn't available with the Pro chips which consume more power. Hence why I specifically said M4 Pro. For the regular M4, I do believe USB-C power delivery could suffice just fine. Whether an Apple display which only outputs 96W could successfully power it is another matter though.

 

[Chuckeee]

Apple needs the courage to remove all but one USB-C port.

Haha, imagine, a desktop without a single port

Maybe just a single port.

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Cupertino where the Shadows lie.
One port to rule them all, One port to find them,
One port to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them

Sorry just couldn’t help myself

 

[citysnaps]

Show me the Logitech type C Bolt dongle. I’ll wait. Bluetooth is not encrypted.

Who is the demographic for the mini? It’s supposed to be the cheapest option if you need a Mac. Now out the box it requires a bunch of adapters to even hook up a keyboard and mouse.

Just about any wireless mouse and a keyboard will work fine. That's what I use on my Mac Studio. I recharge them around every two months or so. Bluetooth range for my keyboard and mouse is intentionally limited via being low power. Most people just need 2 to 3 feet of BT range.

The huge bonus is I don't have to deal with wires on my desk going to my keyboard and mouse. That's a huge plus.

The Mini demographic is wide. I use mine for my home automation and multiple security cameras. It's been running 24/7 for more than 5 years. Never a hiccup. It's solid. Looking forward to migrating from my Intel Mini to an AS Mini when the new one comes out. That'll save a bunch of AC power.

 

[Chuckeee]

Just about any wireless mouse and a keyboard will work fine. That's what I use on my Mac Studio. I recharge them around every two months or so. Bluetooth range for my keyboard and mouse is intentionally limited via being low power. Most people just need 2 to 3 feet of BT range.

The huge bonus is I don't have to deal with wires on my desk going to my keyboard and mouse. That's a huge plus.

Only if Apple fixes the BT reception with the Mac mini update

 

[Corefile]

Good. There’s no excuse for USB A ports in modern computers.

Say wha?

 

[mrr]

Apple has dongles in its DNA.

Way back when the Mac was released. It only had one disc drive when every other PCs back in the day, came with two.

The first thing you had to buy was an external disc drive or it was basically unusable.

 

[lkrupp]

Apple has dongles in its DNA.

Way back when the Mac was released. It only had one disc drive when every other PCs back in the day, came with two.

The first thing you had to buy was an external disc drive or it was basically unusable.

" It only had one disc drive when every other PCs back in the day, came with two."

And those PC makers are gone, in the dust bin of technology. Apple is the only original generation PC maker still in business.

 

[Chuckeee]

Dongles from the past.

Am I the only one with a couple of these bad boys still my drawers:

 

[ellpee]

Gurman also said his “sources” said the iPhone event was Sept. 10. Then when it wasn’t not a peep out of him that I’m aware. If you’re going to further this guy’s career you should at least follow up with his predictions which IMO are nothing more than educated guesses most of the readers here could also come up with. I honestly don’t understand how he’s gotten away with this for so long. If Apple had changed the day of the iPhone event at the last minute then his “sources” would surely have been as aware of that as they were the original date.

 

[sleeptodream]

" It only had one disc drive when every other PCs back in the day, came with two."

And those PC makers are gone, in the dust bin of technology. Apple is the only original generation PC maker still in business.

preach 🙌🏻

 

[JonYo]

I think it's time to get rid of the USB-A ports. If you need one, you can get an adapter to turn 1 USB-C port to 1 USB-A port. You don't need to buy the Apple one for $19 either, they have 3rd party ones that work fine for like $7. If you need more than 1 USB-A port, get a bus-powered small hub that'll give you like 3 or 4 USB-A ports from 1 USB-C port. I got one of those for my sister who still has older peripherals than I do, works fine. It was from Satechi (I think?) for like $20.

 

[Shirasaki]

On the other hand, this is what actually allows the migration away from USB-A, without cables and ports all having to become more expensive. For example, this makes it possible to still have a low-cost monitor with built-in USB hub for keyboard and mouse, without that hub having to support 40 Gbps.

They could have come up with a better color/marking scheme though, like the blue for USB 3.

Well, I guess what I want more is USB consortium raises the floor of USB-C cable and port Quality so that at least customer can have a feeling that USB-C is better, and not just because of a unified port shape. It doesn’t have to support 40Gbps for all cables, maybe let’s say they have to support USB3 speed Minimum For data transfer And a few of mandatory features? The way I see it, current USB-C standard is so messy customers are having an even harder time than before to pick the right cable for their use, especially those who want those extra features USB-C can provide but considered optional in the standard.

 

[Carrotstick]

We should not be accepting this on a desktop computer!

What are we doin' here!?

USB-C is better than USB-A. It’s supports far more and is more versatile.

 

[Carrotstick]

The way I see it, current USB-C standard is so messy customers are having an even harder time than before to pick the right cable for their use, especially those who want those extra features USB-C can provide but considered optional in the standard.

It’s the same mess for USB-A

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Then don’t buy it. If you’re plugging a million devices into the thing you probably aren’t the target market anyway. Buy a Mac Studio or *Gasp* a windows machine

"Up to 4-6 devices" is a LOT less than "a million devices."

But let's praise reducing 4-6 ports to 2-4 ports as if there is some victory for us consumers... or better, let's DEFEND it like there is some prize for us.

 

[Carrotstick]

Yes, why exactly aren't all the "get rid of the USB-A ports" folks advocating for only USB-C/TB ports?
Dongle$ for EVERYTHING!

Really?
Dongles for everything is a lie. The redesign is only getting rid of USB-A. Enough with your hyperbole, you do this so much it’s annoying.

The M4 Mac mini still has HDMI,Ethernet and a headphone jack. Why? Because these are useful for TVs, servers and musicians.

USB-A is subpar to USB-C. USB-C is next the evolution to the USB standard. Whereas HDMI, Ethernet and headphone jack are not part of the USB group. These remain because USB-C is a supplement to these ports, not a total replacement.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I would rather have more USB-C ports than old USB-A ports because I do not use USB-A ports at all.

Too bad that's NOT what is expected to happen. The rumor is subtraction, not substitution.

• Current Mac Mini has 4-6 ports as 2 or 4 Thunderbolt + 2 USB-A.
• Rumor Mac Mini (Junior) has 2-4 ports as 2 or 4 Thunderbolt ports + 0 USB-A.

Maintaining 4-6 ports of a higher quality/capability would be a net value WIN for consumers. Too bad that's NOT the rumor.

 

[IvyKing]

It’s the same mess for USB-A

It's a rather different type of mess. A simple visual inspection can differentiate between a USB 2.0 cable and a USB 3.0 cable - pretty much any USB 2.0 cable can handle any kind of USB 1.x and USB 2. I just bought an 8' USB-C cable for charging things for $15, but it in no way would be suitable for a Thunderbolt connection. The Apple Thunderbolt cable is much more expensive due to what's involved in supporting a 20 or 40 Gbps data transfer.

 

[Carrotstick]

"Up to 4-6 devices" is a LOT less than "a million devices."

But let's praise reducing 4-6 ports to 2-4 ports as if there is some victory for us consumers... or better, let's DEFEND it like there is some prize for us.

How is it getting reduced to 2-4 ports? The M4 Mac mini will only lose 1 port in total.

M4 series Mac mini will have up to 5 USB-C ports, HDMI, Ethernet, headphone jack.

The current one has 4 USB-C port and 2 USB-A, HDMI, Ethernet and a headphone jack.

I’d say that’s pretty good considering it’s getting much smaller.

 

[Carrotstick]

The Apple Thunderbolt cable is much more expensive due to what's involved in supporting a 20 or 40 Gbps data transfer.

You don’t have to get Apples TB cable, there are other that are just as good for much cheaper.

 

[barfingclouds]

These are desktop computers
There is no need to be removing a port that is still highly useful

Why are we trying to even further "shrink" and "port constrain" a desktop computer?

What's that accomplishing?

It should have an sd card slot too!