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

[chetzar]

i have a lot of these

thanks for the additional e-waste apple

ONE usb a port would go such a long way lol

This. ONE sole USB-A port would be FANTASTIC (two would be an absolute god send).

Yet some folks think it would be the end of the Apple World if their portable computers had a port that is still extremely common for portable peripherals.

 

[toobravetosave]

This. ONE sole USB-A port would be FANTASTIC (two would be an absolute god send).

Yet some folks think it would be the end of the Apple World if their portable computers had a port that is still extremely common for portable peripherals.

in the the same breathe they will say the hdmi connector is ACTUALLY USEFUL so duh apple was smart to keep it

but usb a is part of a brave ideological shift in peripherals led by our bravest company that isn’t mostly MBA’s squeezing these fools for the pennies in their grandmother’s couch

 

[Jamie0003]

To not require a hub wasting space on your desk in addition to the computer.

Buy a monitor with a built in hub, or use adapters

 

[toobravetosave]

Buy a monitor with a built in hub, or use adapters

“yOuRe HolDInG it WronG”

 

[Gloor]

This is amazing news. USB-A is dead so great to see this moving forward. Also 5x USB-C ports? Wow, thats more than I thought as I was expecting only 4. Even better news.

Looking forward to this. I think it will be amazing machine. Hope the Pro won't have problem with noise/heat.

If it looks like a mini studio (design wise) then even better. It will be a cute little box

 

[Jamie0003]

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.

Hit the nail on the head, cheapest option. So you can afford adapters right?

 

[P-DogNC]

We’re at 9 years and counting with USB-C on Macs and crying about USB-A ports going away is hilarious. Go buy a $50 hub and move on with your lives. So much gnashing of teeth over old ports...

Supposedly this forum is full of tech enthusiasts and early adopters and once again the clinging to old tech around here is like old men and their ‘76 Mustang.

Well, the MacRumors forum has always had a penchant for bringing out complaining hate bags.

 

[toobravetosave]

additionally wild that aesthetically minded apple fans are so comfortable with “just use adapters and docks” to FIX connectivity problems that don’t need to exist

 

[Jamie0003]

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

…..What?

 

[Gloor]

Its not stupid. The only thing stupid would be to keep the USB-A. USB-C is the new standard and move forward. The sooner its eliminated the sooner we all jump onto it and for the rest we have a dongle or a hub.

Not to mention that most monitors these days have USB-A too so a solution is always there.

Don't cripple progress just because you have limited view.

This is stupid. I get removing ports on Macbook because compromises sometimes needs to be made to get the desired chassis but there is objectively no reason to do this to a desktop computer other than hubris.

Lots of multi-platform periphery used with Macs still uses USB-A by default because USB-C is not a standard in PC world. I don’t even care about additional money spent on a dongle or a hub that much. I just think it’s stupid having all those dongles sticking out of your computer because Apple was too arrogant to include what is a basic port.

 

[azentropy]

Lightning was just idiotic. It's USB 2.0 with a proprietary plug because Apple wanted to collect royalties on every cable.

True Apple made money, but also Lightning was a much superior connector than the more widely used micro/mini usb connectors everyone was using at the time. Apple had lightning on the iPhone 5 4 years before Samsung had USB-C on the Galaxy for example. In many ways it still is a better connecter than USB-C. I NEVER had a lightning port break on me and the dozens of products I've owned (cable yes, port no). I've had several USB-C ports break on me with the USB-C devices I've owned. The problem was that everyone else adopted USB-C connectors (including Apple for many things) and they were not able to improve the throughput of lightning past a certain point.

why don’t you just say

“im making all this up and have 0 facts or statistics”

There are many surveys out there and statistics on NEW accessories on how they connect. Also you don't think Apple has internal usage numbers? (I know for a fact they do because I've been surveyed by them).

 

[WhisperingBobcat]

My current Mac Mini 2018 is in a cabinet with a 10-ft thunderbolt cable connected to my new-ish 34" 5k2k monitor. I have a UPS battery, SSD and HDD data drives, CD/DVD/Blue-ray drive, 2 HDD Time Machines, and a Logitech Receiver connected through monitor. I can certainly lose HDD data drive with some data management and will get a bigger internal drive due to cloud drives having to be hosted on the internal drive. Using 2 USB-A and 2 USB-C/TB ports right now. (Edit: And speakers hooked up via headphone jack because audio dropouts connectiog through monitor/TB)

I would love to upgrade to an Apple keyboard with touch ID when I move to Apple Silicon so my biggest challenge will be to get my keyboard, mouse, and touch id to just work. Bluetooth on my mac minis (2011 and 2018) have never worked over 4 ft through cabinet door with USB things attached and I've always had to have a logitech USB-A receiver. I also prefer a non-apple, non-touch mouse. Maybe I'll have to put the mini on my desk, or mount it to the back of my monitor and a cable to the cabinet with the drives.

 

[nutmac]

This is just the inevitable future, if we are to go USB-C then we should just start going all the way with it. No more figuring out which way is round on both ends.
Of course, now that USB-C is beginning to become standard, something else will come out and screw up the Usb standard again I'm sure. LOL!!!
Actually shocked at the number of usb hubs that only have one usb-c port. I guess that will change now.

Yes, USB-C came out 10 frigging years ago.

I realize many still have USB-A devices. But the workaround is getting a cheap legacy USB-to-USB-C cable.

 

[rm5]

USB-C is not necessarily the future. Most (consumer) audio interfaces, MIDI controllers, keyboards and mice, and even some external drives still use USB-A. So now we'll have to use dongles to adapt to USB-A on the Mac mini, too, got it.

My ideal Mac desktop (whether an iMac, Mac Studio, or Mac mini) would have four USB-A ports, and four USB-C ports.

 

[Jamie0003]

Tech didn’t move on though.
Go search for USB Flash drives, the majority of them are still USB type A.

Go find me a low profile USB-C thumb drive that I can pop into my MacBook and it’s no bigger than a wireless keyboard adapter….oh wait, you can’t.

Yes, a lot of stuff is avail in USB-C, but USB-A has been around for 25+ years, it’s not going away anytime soon (probably another 5-10 years).

And when I travel, having to ensure I’m bringing along “dongles” and “adapters” makes my MacBook a LOT less portable.

Now you get to have all that **** hanging out in your desk, dumb.

SanDisk 128GB Ultra Slider USB Type-C flash drive, USB stick, memory stick with fast performance, up to 400 MB/s read speeds, USB 3.2 Gen 1, retractable connector, keyring, Black

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amzn.eu

Sure it’s bigger than a wireless adapter but Sandisk and co can’t bend the rules of physics

 

[klasma]

I think the core problem is when USB-C standard was introduced, the consortium didn’t enforce a much higher standard as a minimum. Like, what’s the whole point of USB-C port at USB2 speed ONLY? I don’t know why they refuse to keep the standard high, but here we are. The only thing USB-C change is they have unified the physical port shape, and virtually nothing else, which actually makes the port situation much worse since customers can no longer identify different flavour of USB cables and ports by looking at it.

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.

 

[211]

Does this mean that Apple will finally ditch lightning for all its products? Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, keyboard and AirPods Max I think are the only ones left

 

[Sippincider]

If companies don't remove them we will carry these legacy ports around forever.

Except like RS-232, USB-A is going to be in regular use for at least the next century.

Be careful when designing what could be a mainstream hardware standard: good chance your great-grandchildren will be using it!

 

[klasma]

What about the Ram and storage???

Won’t support USB-A either.

 

[displayblock]

I think they should remove all but one port. According to these comments dongles and hubs are thing, so no problem right?

 

[deconstruct60]

....

Last month, Gurman reported that the next-generation Mac mini with the M4 and M4 Pro chips will feature the first major design change to the machine since 2010. The new Mac mini will apparently approach the size of an Apple TV, but it may be slightly taller than the current model, which is 1.4 inches high. It will continue to feature an aluminum shell. Individuals working on the new device apparently say that it is "essentially an iPad Pro in a small box."

In the 2020-2021 era Gurman went on for multiple accounts of "half sized Mac Pro" that never appeared. Perhaps, his source was trying to describe the Mac Studio as a "half sized Mac Pro" at one point. But that source has fundamental spacial reasoning skills deficits in that case. The Studio is smaller but it isn't near 'half' the size. And the M-series Mac Pro is resoundingly incorrect as being described as being 'half sized'. It is the same size. Gurman was WAY off in the weeds on that one.



From the description of front ports matching the Studio , there is decent chance the AppleTV reference is more so about the more cube-ish the AppleTV is compared to the much wider&deeper classic Mini's 7.7" square footprint
The Mini and the Mac Studio share the approximately same 7.7" square footprint. Since loosing sockets here, it is pretty likely that part of the width across the box is disappearing also. So, like the AppleTV, the updated chassis will be less wide (and deep) just as the AppleTV is. But probably not starting from the AppleTV box and making it slightly bigger. Decent chance that this is starting from the Mac Studio baseline design and making it smaller. Dump the SD card on the front. Dump the USB-A sockets on the back. Make it less wide ( e.g., 1" , maybe 2" ). Reduce the air exit vent on the back (don't have to cool an Ultra at all) and shave 1" - 1.5" off the height.

If largely remove aluminum top and throw some colored (recycle .. saved from the ocean) plastic on top and the top would be plastic-like material matching the AppleTV , but not really AppleTV baseline design. ( can move the radio Wifi/BT antennas to the top. Instead of the bottom of the device and probably get better signals out).


In short, I suspect the "AppleTV" is probably at best misguided ( and decent chance just plain wrong) of a notion to connote here. A 6" x 6" footprint isn't going to be "like a AppleTV" sized footprint. But 6" would be much closer to a 1.85-2.5" height ( approx 3:1 ) than 7" is to 1.41" height ( approx 6:1 ). [ Apple TV being 3.66" to 1.2" , so an approx 4:1 the width to height ratio would be closer to AppleTV's. Not the actual size. ]

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Nice long post, but here's the extremely inexpensive solution ($5.99 for three), so that your gear doesn't hold back our technology:

USB C to USB Adapter 3-Pack USB C Male to USB 3.0 Female Adapter Compatibllity for iMac 2021 for iPad Pro 2021 for MacBook Pro 2020 for MacBook Air 2020 and Other Type C or Thunderbolt 3 Devices gray​

USB C to USB Adapter 3-Pack USB C Male to USB 3.0 Female Adapter Compatibllity for iMac 2021 for iPad Pro 2021 for MacBook Pro 2020 for MacBook Air 2020 and Other Type C or Thunderbolt 3 Devices gray
www.amazon.com

Lovely, downgrade what will probably be a Thunderbolt 4 port to a single connection USB-A vs. having BOTH Thunderbolt 4 ports AND a couple of USB-A. What a bargain!

 

[spritle]

Are we talking the original 400 or 800? I could understand your rage if it was the former

Original 400 or nothing!

 

[sdf]

If this turns out to be true, then no Mac mini for me,

I got an adapter for $15 that includes two USB ports and HDMI. It even includes VGA, which you might find useful. That’s just one option, though, there are hundreds.

(Edit: I did a brief search online and found seven port USB-C to USB-A hubs for $15. No HDMI or VGA, but perfect for desktops. I bought the one I did to be an everything I’d need on the road dock for my MBA.)

But if being stubborn about USB is something you enjoy, don’t let the abundance of options stop you.

 

[klasma]

I think they should remove all but one port. According to these comments dongles and hubs are thing, so no problem right?

They could go portless and sell a wireless hub. Clearly wireless is the future. They could call it AirPort.