16GB/1TB/Ethernet/HDMI2.1 full spec/Support for 10bit 5k2k displays at 144hz.
99$ plzkthxbai
99$ plzkthxbai
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Must haves for the new Mac mini (what are your minimum specs?)
- Thread starter deaglecat
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The 10gbe is more for internal bandwidth and transferring gobs of data between my 20TB NAS. In this regard, my current 2.5gbe setup is "slow".
My Synology NAS has 10gbe, going to 10gbe switch, but my MacBook dock only has 2.5gbe. I could either buy a $350 dock with 10gbe or put the money towards a Mac Mini/Mac Studio with 10gbe. Going with the latter and probably sell existing M1 Mac Mini.
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As an owner of a 2016 MBP I'm fine with TB/USB-C as the only ports, even more so for a desktop Mac. I just bought cables that are USB-C to whatever I need on the other end, and a few USB-C to A adapters for things I rarely use. If they're essential and you'll use them all the time, just invest a little more into the dedicated cables and enjoy a clean setup.
I’m probably in the minority, but I want to use mine as my desktop machine most of the time, and then use it as a mini pc for the sort of things I’d normally use my raspberry pi for (for example, for Halloween I run a window display using my projector and videos from a company called AtmosFX, it’s really cool)
And finally, I would like it to be possible to power the thing using a usb c port, so I could plug it into my power bank for on the go use, and it’d be amazing if I could use an iPad Pro keyboard, mouse and screen to control it for when I need a desktop machine on the go. Not sure if this is already possible with sidecar?
God, this is so kids before Christmas going through their wishlists with each other.
And I feel this is just as much a recipe for disappointment. 🥲
I won't be thinking about this and rather just distract myself until the new minis drop next week.
..especially since I fear that the new mini will be the most MacBook Air mini ever in terms of ports, specs, and lack of internal cooling. And that it's main selling point will just be M4 at a very low price.
I can already see the whole "M4 is so efficient it don't need no active cooling or much of anything at all!" spiel that they're probably going to do.
If Apple does put out the smallest and most decked out Mac mini ever without a major price increase then I'll certainly be surprised.
My prediction remains it'll be the smallest, cheapest and worst I/O-ed Mac mini ever, almost only focusing on how amazing M4 is, and how thankful you should be to get it in a Mac as cheap as the new M4 mini and not forced to buy a MacBook or iPad.
And I feel this is just as much a recipe for disappointment. 🥲
I won't be thinking about this and rather just distract myself until the new minis drop next week.
..especially since I fear that the new mini will be the most MacBook Air mini ever in terms of ports, specs, and lack of internal cooling. And that it's main selling point will just be M4 at a very low price.
I can already see the whole "M4 is so efficient it don't need no active cooling or much of anything at all!" spiel that they're probably going to do.
If Apple does put out the smallest and most decked out Mac mini ever without a major price increase then I'll certainly be surprised.
My prediction remains it'll be the smallest, cheapest and worst I/O-ed Mac mini ever, almost only focusing on how amazing M4 is, and how thankful you should be to get it in a Mac as cheap as the new M4 mini and not forced to buy a MacBook or iPad.
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I would certainly hope that 10gbe be available as an option on the new Minis, as you are example of someone who does make use of it. I suspect that the 2.5gbe port would be cheaper and less power hungry as the standard port.
Agreed
I’m expecting an anemic machine that thermal throttles whatever chip they put in it
I too wouldn't be surprised if it was just a desktop base MacBook Air. The same internals and ports without a keyboard, trackpad and mouse.
Upgradeable NVME storage through a nice 3rd-party hub such as the Satechi hub I have right now for my Mac Mini M2 Pro. I basically got an additional 2 TB for $400 CAD, and today it would be like $300 OR you would get 4 TB 
I think the new Mini's going to be pretty small for this though. I'm not getting my hopes up.
I think the new Mini's going to be pretty small for this though. I'm not getting my hopes up.
Like many others, I would like the base model to have a 16/512 config at $699-799.
But more than that, I'm hoping they've kept the mini with generally the same design, albeit smaller. Being a desktop machine, it serves absolutely no purpose to make it tiny like Apple TV at the cost of a crippled thermal output.
That said, I'm just getting a bad feeling about some rumors calling it a "iPad Pro without a screen". A super thin, fanless M4 mini is just the worst thing imaginable to me, and it's also entirely possible given how Apple marketing operates these days.
But more than that, I'm hoping they've kept the mini with generally the same design, albeit smaller. Being a desktop machine, it serves absolutely no purpose to make it tiny like Apple TV at the cost of a crippled thermal output.
That said, I'm just getting a bad feeling about some rumors calling it a "iPad Pro without a screen". A super thin, fanless M4 mini is just the worst thing imaginable to me, and it's also entirely possible given how Apple marketing operates these days.
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Reading that made me sad because I can picture Apple doing exactly that. Releasing a crippled, fanless base m4 mini so they can sell the mini "Pro" at a much higher markup. Otherwise, the pro model would only serve a small fraction of the users and that's not good for business.
This is the truth: Since Apple didn't upgrade the base mini to 16 GB RAM years ago, they've lost me as a mac customer, so I don't care what the specs are any longer.
For the Mac mini to be reasonable value, the current 8GB RAM/256GB SSD model needs to jump to 16GB without the price increasing at all. Will that happen? I highly doubt it. Actually, it should jump to 16GB/512GB for the current base price. I can dream. I'll keep my M2 mini until the M5 or M6.
Agreed. That will be very poor value if so. I still can’t believe the M2 Pro starts at £1400.
Yes to all this, my old iMac has a 1 TB Fusion Drive and am looking forward to all SSD - will probably double it and I installed 16 GB RAM after purchasing the iMac and agree 32 GB would be better. No way would 256 work for me and I want external storage as a last resort...
Specs or design as well?
Assuming a 2x stacked Apple TV design with two front and 3 rear USB-C ports plus the power lead/brick it wouldn't bother me about using a rear port for video out and they could steal the power adaptor from the iMac with its built-in Ethernet. How much is that costing to make?
Cloud offloading takes care of most storage requirements so 256GB would be enough. M4 and 16gb RAM take care of the rest.
Assuming a 2x stacked Apple TV design with two front and 3 rear USB-C ports plus the power lead/brick it wouldn't bother me about using a rear port for video out and they could steal the power adaptor from the iMac with its built-in Ethernet. How much is that costing to make?
Cloud offloading takes care of most storage requirements so 256GB would be enough. M4 and 16gb RAM take care of the rest.
Current: M2 Pro, 32GB, 500GB
Upgrading/adding: M4 Pro, 128GB, 1TB (I hope)
Basically I need more of everything to run local LLMs.
Upgrading/adding: M4 Pro, 128GB, 1TB (I hope)
Basically I need more of everything to run local LLMs.
Agree, no delusions about my wishlist being realistic in any way. Apple is going to Apple, and while that used to mean occasional delightful surprises, these days I know to expect predictable iteration and simplification.
Not only can I see it ... I'd make a small wager that's exactly what's coming
"Crippled" might be a little strong, but I take your overall point
I suspect there are many who will appreciate a fully fanless base model for a variety of usage scenarios
I will buy one if they can come with M4 Max/Ultra with 256 GB RAM.
A desktop machine with an ultrafast SOC like the M4 without active cooling is essentially that, crippled.
You never hear the fan on a M1 mini unless you’re really pushing it, so I don’t see any real benefit of removing active cooling. It makes sense on an ultraportable like the MBA, but it serves zero purpose to release fanless desktop machine, other than making some silly marketing spiel. And of course, upselling your “pro” model with active cooling.
A fanless, port starved base M4 mini would be a huge downgrade than the current base M2 mini, no matter how Apple tries to spin it.
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