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gigapocket1

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Mar 15, 2009
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Just wondering if you all think a mini update is coming around the corner? A lot of retailers are running low on stock or sold out completely. And it’s not like these things are flying off the shelf.. (I would think not)
 
A Mini "update"?
Definitely coming.
About 24 months... certainly in 36!
 
hahaha.. Just wondering.. I mean.. my local apple store is out and a few across the country is out. Bestbuy is sold out and amazon has low stock.. thats why im wondering..
 
As others have mentioned besides a better internal GPU i.e. AMD or Nvidia there's not a whole lot to improve on the current Mini. Wishful thinking on my part replaceable (standard M2 Storage). I bought the i5 Mini and it boots in under 7 secs. The i3 base Mini is twice as fast as the 2012 quad core i7 Mini which many are still using and don't want to part with.

I think in about 3 yrs we might see another upgrade and that's if Apple sees the Mini selling well enough to warrant the resources to do another refresh. Apple these days are more about cellphones, watches, gadgets, Hollywood, subscription services than they are about prioritizing the Mac line.

So we'll see what the future holds but if you want a new Mini, I'd buy one now or when they go back on sale. I bought the base i5 Mini for $929.
 
I don't see a dedicated GPU any time soon. I think a more likely update would be 9th gen CPUs - perhaps adopt the i5/i7/i9 range, to give 6 / 8 / 16 (with HT) cores respectively, up from the current 4 / 6 / 12 (with HT) cores.
 
I don't see a dedicated GPU any time soon. I think a more likely update would be 9th gen CPUs - perhaps adopt the i5/i7/i9 range, to give 6 / 8 / 16 (with HT) cores respectively, up from the current 4 / 6 / 12 (with HT) cores.

hmmmmmmm.. im just mostly worried about the GPU...
 
It’s not worth it to invest in the latest CPUs. I’m a mid-2011 MacMini owner with an i7 and Radeon graphics ... and it’s an unsupported machine. The most CPU intensive game I have is Civ VI and it’s a dog. Runs faster on my iPad.
 
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I'd love an updated Mini with a discrete GPU. Or a better Intel GPU. I don't really need one - I was considering getting one or two to save desk space but I bought a few MacBook Pro vertical monitor stands and I have lots of desk space now.
 
So get an egpu. It’s been years since any Mac mini had dedicated graphics.


Good stuff 👍

Screen Shot 2019-09-27 at 9.25.00 PM.png
 
I'd love an updated Mini with a discrete GPU. Or a better Intel GPU. I don't really need one - I was considering getting one or two to save desk space but I bought a few MacBook Pro vertical monitor stands and I have lots of desk space now.
Intel don’t make desktop CPUs with “better” integrated graphics because they expect the vendor to use a dedicated graphics card.

I am honestly surprised no one has yet introduced mini-sized TB3 expansion cases. For plenty of people (me included) a half-length “basic” dGPU in a case would be plenty to just run some 4K screens at scaled resolutions. I’m currently looking at what the minimum Radeon I can buy (and will be supported) because I don’t need gaming or even rendering abilities. I need the ability to render desktops at not quite @2x.


Having said that I am likely to swap to a new-series Mac Pro next time I refresh my desktop, so I guess I’ll end up with whatever minimum GPU they will sell it with
 
the integrated graphics on my 2014 MacBook Pro is a lot better than the integrated graphics on my 2008 Dell XPS M1330.
I’m not sure I see the relevance? The MacBook Pro uses mobile processors, which do have more powerful integrated options available from Intel
 
Newer processors often have better graphics.

(a) Those are mobile processors you're talking about, where, as I said, Intel already provides more 'high end' (for integrated) graphics options, and thus is more likely to provide improvements more quickly. Intel desktop CPU's have had at best UHD630 for several releases.
(b) your "2008" Dell, was using a 2007-released CPU, while the 2014 MBP used just-released CPUs. So you're comparing CPU's 7 years apart. The 2018 Mac mini used late-2017 released CPUs, and guess what's available now? late-2018 to mid-2019 released CPUs. One year difference.
(c) the processors Apple could use for a 2019 update to the mini are already out - they were released anywhere from late-2018 to Mid 2019... have a guess what integrated graphics they offer. GUESS.
 
(a) Those are mobile processors you're talking about, where, as I said, Intel already provides more 'high end' (for integrated) graphics options, and thus is more likely to provide improvements more quickly. Intel desktop CPU's have had at best UHD630 for several releases.
(b) your "2008" Dell, was using a 2007-released CPU, while the 2014 MBP used just-released CPUs. So you're comparing CPU's 7 years apart. The 2018 Mac mini used late-2017 released CPUs, and guess what's available now? late-2018 to mid-2019 released CPUs. One year difference.
(c) the processors Apple could use for a 2019 update to the mini are already out - they were released anywhere from late-2018 to Mid 2019... have a guess what integrated graphics they offer. GUESS.

I'm aware of all that.
 
OK. Looking at this graphics chain as a labeled block diagram, with an eGPU as the last block, what would we see each block doing to drive our display ?

Why do we even need that internal GPU ? Can we bypass it ?

Just learning here. a2
 
Ice lake processors have much better integrated graphics than all previous gen thanks to a new process. You can check youtube reviews, people playing on the new 2 in 1 Dell XPS 13 fortnite at 60fps
 
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All we need to know is whether threre will be enough chips supply, apparently intel is having problems again.

They will eventually.

I don't need a Mac Mini. But it would make life a little easier. And I wouldn't have to worry as much about my 2014 and 2015 MacBook Pros becoming obsolete.
 
Ice lake processors have much better integrated graphics than all previous gen thanks to a new process. You can check youtube reviews, people playing on the new 2 in 1 Dell XPS 13 fortnite at 60fps

What are you taking about? That Dell uses an 8th gen CPU with UHD620 graphics - slightly worse than the 2018 Mac mini.

Ice Lake is 10th gen CPUs.
 
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