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It comes down to cost vs size. You want more speed, but don't mine paying a little more, go with SSD. You want a larger drive at a lower price, go with 5400rpm.

LITTLE more?? have you seen upgrade costs for new mac mini? base model - no upgrade possible, so to get fussion drive, you have to pay almost twice the price... i know, you get better cpu and more ram, but, all i need is some kind of ssd (which is standard now)...
 
The Apple upgrade configs aren't grotesquely expensive for the purchaser, although it's a pretty obscene markup when you consider that Apple get to 'keep' the base memory.

If Apple guarantee to replace defective soldered memory at cost price for the lifetime of the computer, regardless of the computer's warranty, then I'd be more happy to buy into the soldered model.
Seriously?
You realize the common reason for replacing RAM is upgrading, right?
Sorry, you've lost me. Especially in combination with your response to another post complaining about the soldered memory:
You won't need more RAM, unless you're planning to edit videos and then you'll need a whole new machine ,not only RAM
Are you saying that memory should be user-replaceable/upgradable, or are you saying the complete opposite?

My points were simply that:

a) the incremental price charged by Apple for additional memory isn't *that* much more than replacing all the memory with a third party alternative (where possible :)), and

b) Apple should provide a free lifetime warranty on their soldered memory. Crucial and a few other manufacturers offer a lifetime guarantee on their top end lines, and that's stuff you're actually allowed to install yourself...
 
Regardless of anyone's personal views on making a Hackintosh, I don't think anyone can deny that this "new" Mac Mini will make a lot of people consider building a Hackintosh that otherwise would not have considered it.

I really hope this was a "quick" just for the sake of "releasing some kind of an update" while an all new Mac Mini is being designed and readied for Broadwell & Skylake.

Side Note: When the heck will we see an updated AppleTV too!?!
 
its really pathetic watching people on this forum blindly defend apple on this issue.

apple told us the soldered-in ram in the rMBP was for reducing the overall thickness of the device.

there is no excuse or justification WHATSOEVER to have soldered-in RAM on the latest mini.

and to top off the ridiculousness of the latest mini, they removed the quad core option.

then there's people on here talking like this is a good thing! "well if you dont like it just spend another $2000 to get what you want"

what the hell is wrong with you people?

steve jobs wanted to make things thin. tim cook wants to....make money. i'm done with apple now. i sold my rMBP and ipad air a month ago. replaced it with a surface pro 3.

i had to laugh at the latest ipad announcement.

this modern skeleton of apple cant even give us a touch screen on a laptop, and wont give us OSX on a hybrid tablet.

the innovation is not happening at apple anymore.

if you think a higher res screen is innovation, no wonder you are cheerleading for apple without thinking critically.

if you think soldered-in ram on a non-portable device is a good thing, just stop pretending to be a computer enthusiast for any meaning of the term.


What's pathetic is you not realizing that in the post job era consumer isn't as important as profit margin
 
This isn't too surprising. The Mac mini has always been a notebook in desktop clothing. They have long used soldered RAM in the MacBook line.

And yes, Steve Jobs would have done this. His philosophy was that people shouldn't have to and should not tinker with his creations.

The Mac Mini has always been a machine to bring PC users to experience the Mac OS... All you need is the keyboard, mouse and monitor from your PC and you can try out a Mac for peanuts... (Ok, solid gold peanuts maybe, but still)

That said, making such a device non-user-upgradable hurts that intent. The Mini has never been big on upgrades, but to make even the most basic of upgrades a non-option feels like nothing but... the blinkered philistine pig-ignorance we've come to expect from you non-creative garbage...
 
Question:
If you would have a choice between the Mac Mini basel model 2012 and the basel model of 2014, both for the same price, which one would you choose?

Can anyone confirm that the 2012 model, in real life situation, doing some CAD, Photoshop and Indesign (No games, no video editing), is faster than the 2014 model?

any thoughts?
thanks

Define 'faster'. My 2008 MBP with 4gb Ram and a dual core processor handles photoshop and Indesign just fine... I can't notice any difference between it and my rMBP (max 2014 specs) in terms of speed.

So if you were buying the base model mini, there would be no noticeable improvement in performance (speed) at all. You might notice marginally faster app launch times if you upgraded to a fusion drive, but that would be barely a few seconds.
 
I'm surprised 16 GB is the max amount of RAM for the Mac Mini. These days most computers can handle 32 or 64 GB or RAM.
 
I'm on the fence about the soldered RAM...

On the one hand, I've upgraded the memory in every computer I've ever owned, so this move to soldered memory annoys me.

On the other hand, I'll bet most consumers probably replace their computer before they upgrade their memory.

Apple (and other computer manufacturers) apply a lot of brainpower and market research when they make these moves. Sometimes they get it wrong but they usually get it right.

Anyway, this is not a place to gather consumer opinion data. I've been on this forum for ten years and new product releases are almost always greeted with whining and criticism all out of proportion to what the sales figures say.

Indeed!

I was thinking the same thing about product releases, always the same whining & criticism about Apple's Doom. Or, how they "abanded me" attitude.:cool:

Let's not forget my favorite comment, "that wouldn't have happened under Steve's watch". I'm sure there's a few things Steve would have done different, but I really believe the products would be going in the same directions.:apple:

He left Tim Cook in charge for a reason, and I also believe we are seeing things that he envisioned. I remember reading how their was 5 years of S.J's idea's in the pipeline for them to work on.:apple:

Tim Cook was Steve Jobs right hand man for almost 10yrs, I think S.J really believed in him and he's done a good job so far!

We won't see a another Steve Jobs for a long time, maybe never, he was incredibly gifted and such a stage presents. I only hope that he really left his DNA in Apple. Jony Ive is still there so a lot of the magic remains intact!:apple:

As far as the soldering in of the Ram on the new Mini, I'm sure there will be a fix for that in the aftermarket. I've never owned a Mac Mini and, actually didn't ever pay much attention to them, but is it true that the older Mini had a quad core and the new version is only dual core?:confused:

If in fact it went from a quad core, to a dual core would be, very confusing to me, I hope there's a logical explanation.....???
:apple::cool:
 
The Mac Mini has always been a machine to bring PC users to experience the Mac OS... All you need is the keyboard, mouse and monitor from your PC and you can try out a Mac for peanuts... (Ok, solid gold peanuts maybe, but still)

That said, making such a device non-user-upgradable hurts that intent. The Mini has never been big on upgrades, but to make even the most basic of upgrades a non-option feels like nothing but... the blinkered philistine pig-ignorance we've come to expect from you non-creative garbage...

It's not about upgrades, it's about replacing bad parts. RAM fails. And it does so fairly regularly compared to many components.

If soldered ram fails, the entire logic board must be replaced - by apple.

It makes the entire product disposable. And generally disposable products are cheap crap made to be thrown away.

Like it or not, that is how apple chooses to define itself.
 
well ......

friend bought it, so I sent him this article and he cancelled. :D lets see how many they will sell.
 
"Dear consumer - don't worry about the complicated, `technical` task of plugging a card into a slot - we did the hard part for you, to ensure your (already) numb mind remains that way"

There therrrre, don't you worry your little head over it - Apple's taken care of it alllllll...

Image

Sure, I get it. I recently upgraded the RAM in my MacPro. I'm a "prosumer" as it were. In 2007 I convinced my dad to get an iMac. I told him it was the last computer he'd ever need. "I sure hope so" I remember him saying. Be fore he got that machine, he went through a PC about every 18-24 mo. His iMac is still running solid. I might put some RAM in it for him some day, but probably not. There's really no need. The thing is still more than he'll ever need. If they had soldered the RAM in that thing it never would have made a difference to this day. Eight years later. It will probably be running fine in another eight years. That's the target market. It's a large one. It will not get a lot smaller. Apple knows that. In school I didn't have time or money to replace RAM. I barely have time to now. When I'm 66 will I want to be replacing RAM in my Mac? Probably not. At least that's how I see it.
 
I'm surprised 16 GB is the max amount of RAM for the Mac Mini. These days most computers can handle 32 or 64 GB or RAM.

Most average Joe's do not need 16 GB of RAM let alone 8 GB of RAM. And we're talking about the Mini. People shopping for the Mini most likely do not need more than 16 GB of RAM.
 
Upgradeable ram is a must. I have lots of computers and I swap ram between them. That is the beauty of it. I am not forking up the cash up front for ram I might need in the future. Thats utter BS.

Ya it sux..

Gone are the days, even on my Retina 2013, u must anticipate "even if u think u dunno"

that's an extra $100+ bucks i could have used for something else.

I don't think i even use 8 Gig either, but I got it, "just in case" ...... I can't plan that far ahead.....
 
It's not about upgrades, it's about replacing bad parts. RAM fails. And it does so fairly regularly compared to many components.

If soldered ram fails, the entire logic board must be replaced - by apple.

It makes the entire product disposable. And generally disposable products are cheap crap made to be thrown away.

Like it or not, that is how apple chooses to define itself.

I'm not dismissing the fact that this move by Apple is evidently both a money-grabber and makes the device a throw away item...

But with regards to replacing bad parts... I've only owned Apple computers since my first in 1992, and aside from a bad-cap eMac, and 1 hard drive that failed after about 4 years, I've never had to replace bad components...

Certainly, as a member of a society that places value on consumer protection, I know if my Apple product fails within a reasonable time period, I have the right to have it repaired for free, so bad components really don't concern me when I'm buying Apple tech.
 
Why don't you read the tech spec on the Apple store, or look at the upgrade options on the mid and high level model then, or watch the keynote for that matter. There is a PCIe option.
I'm referring to Phil's remarkable price-cut on the base model. You mean the Fusion Drive (it's a half-baked PCIe solution) which adds 50% to the price of the base mini?

Why buy that, when for another $250 you get that drive, 8 Gigs of memory, and a processor that's twice as fast.

In fact, why not just add the 3.0 i7 Dual Core and another $100 of RAM ($300 in Apple Dollars) and an ACTUAL PCIe Drive and end up with a $2200 Mini? There's a real entry level solution!

The $499 base unit is a crippled rip-off, that Apple should be ashamed to offer. The "High-end" Minis are just overpriced steps backwards.
 
The 2009 Mac mini came with 1 GB Ram. For general use and maybe the occasional heavier use it can still be used today and many years in the future. It would be a shame if the ram in this mini could not be upgraded. With 8 GB of ram and a cheap 50$ Ssd(used in fusion) an upgraded 5 year old mini would give the base 2014 a run for its money in basic use.
 
Got an open box i7 Mini at Best Buy today for $620 with tax :cool: YES. Warranty is not even activated yet.
 
I'm interested in the low end mac but only at the right price and with this bit of news, that's $300, not $500. Looks like my i7 mac mini (which is pretty sluggish these days and I'm not sure why really) is my last mac unless I opt to spring for a 5k imac.
 
Yes, it is.

What woud be the reason for this, and does it perform overall better then is predecessor? How many configurations can you buy from Apple?

Another question off topic but, I have an extra 27in Dell HD monitor from my collision shop and wondering if I can use this with a Mac Mini? I want to set up another Apple computer at home, and until Apple comes out with a new Cinema Display I wouldn't mind using this Dell monitor.

I'm thinking of replacing my iMac with the new 27in Retina iMac. But I'm going to wait and play with it at an Apple Store. And I just got my on new 6+ on launch day and I just pre ordered the iPad Air 2. So I'll get my Apple fix for a couple weeks first.:apple::cool:

I'm selling my iPad Air if anyone is interested, send me a message. It's in like new condition. 32GB Space Gray with LTE/4G Cellular comes with Apple black Leather smart case and 1 more year Apple Care Plus.
It's listed on eBay as well.
:apple::apple::apple:
 
What kind of idiot upgrades ram instead of getting it all in the first place?

Probably the same kind of idiot that upgrades the CPU, Hard Drive, and graphics card when they upgrade the ram, thus completely validating Apple's point that computers are appliances that you don't upgrade, but instead use as full devices.

Besides, what kind of moron doesn't know how to sell their old computer when they upgrade to a new computer?

Only the nerdiest of nerds with no life actually cares about upgrading RAM. Meanwhile, the rest of society happily uses their computer as is, and when it becomes slow, they sell it off/donate it and buy a new one.

They buy clothes each season that are more expensive than the cost of this.

Clothes are more important than RAM.
 
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