Where have you been? Only the 27" can have the ram upgraded. Ive has put form over function for years now - at the consumers expense. I wish he was shown the door at this rate.
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New 2014 Mac Mini Has Soldered RAM, Not User Replaceable
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Where have you been? Only the 27" can have the ram upgraded. Ive has put form over function for years now - at the consumers expense. I wish he was shown the door at this rate.
I'm amazed at the number of people having such a big problem with non-upgradable RAM. If you're looking for performance, the Mac Mini is not what you want. I applaud Apple's choice for doing everything to keep power consumption low for these things. Not really because of the energy cost, but because less energy consumption means the thing doesn't get as hot. The Mac Mini sits on your desk or under the TV where fan noise just sucks.
I do however think that 4GB is not enough nowadays, especially if there's no SSD in it which makes swapping much faster. I like my hard drives to be accessible just because they sometimes die on me and I like to be able to just throw a new one in there.
I do however think that 4GB is not enough nowadays, especially if there's no SSD in it which makes swapping much faster. I like my hard drives to be accessible just because they sometimes die on me and I like to be able to just throw a new one in there.
No, it is worse on multi-core aware software, which is why people who use that software want quad core Minis. But Apple says they can eat cake...LOL.
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There are plenty of people doing high performance work with 2012 quad i7 Minis, so that statement was false in the past. That is also, however, almost certainly the reason Apple discontinued them.
Exactly. You're just paying for the Apple brand. Honestly anybody that really needs a Mac Mini should consider building their own Hackintosh. There is this website called TonyMac where they have a list of parts that work seamlessly on OS X. They also have guides for a cheap build, or a budget build or even premium builds.
Might as well put your money to good use. You'll also learn about computer parts in general.
I agree with you there. But like some people have said, the Mini does (or did) a decent enough job acting as a surrogate for a mid level headless Mac. It's not the best of the best, but it's the only option some people have if they want a sub-$2000 OSX machine that isn't housed behind a monitor.
you'd be an idiot to spend more on RAM when you could spend the difference on more important things, like clothes.
Nice upgrade, Apple. Same body, slightly better specs, and RAM that can't be upgraded except through 
for a very high premium. It's only a matter of time before all Apple products are completely disposable thanks to parts that can't be upgraded or fixed and fully embody the concept of planned obsolescence.
for a very high premium. It's only a matter of time before all Apple products are completely disposable thanks to parts that can't be upgraded or fixed and fully embody the concept of planned obsolescence.
It's always a consideration. Thing is, Hackintoshes are kinda flaky when it comes to updating, aren't they?
One of the big things about getting an Apple product (and why most people pay the premium) is that you get the slick hardware, the software, and the customer care. Hackintoshing gets you the software, and it can get you faster hardware for cheaper, but it's not always stable, and you don't get any warranty whatsoever. There are a few plusses, but also a few big negatives you wouldn't have to deal with if you went Apple all the way.
The 16 gig upgrade I was going to put in from OWC is around $200 so Apple charges $300 and drops the price of the machine by $100. It's a wash. Will the quad core i7 - the old server - outperform this new guy? PowerMax has quad core i7 2.3 ghz machines for $700.
Dale
Dale
So why buy an Apple at all? I could get a Mac Mini equivalent for under $200 if I went with a different brand. Wouldn't that extra $300 I saved be better spent on food and clothes, rather than an entry level computer with an aluminum shell. Hey, if 4GB is good enough for everyone, so's plastic, right?
Hell, why'd I buy an iPad? I don't need it! I could've bought a Nexus 7, and saved $300! That's like two weeks worth of groceries!
I COULD'VE SAVED $600 BY NOT BUYING APPLE! OH GOD! WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING WITH MY LIFE! THERE ARE KIDS STARVING OUT THERE, AND I'M BUYING FASHIONABLE COMPUTERS! I HATE MYSELF AND I WANNA DDDIIIIEEE!
Indeed!
I was thinking the same thing about product releases, always the same whining & criticism about Apple's Doom. Or, how they "abanded me" attitude.
Let's not forget my favorite comment, "that wouldn't have happened under Steve's watch". I'm sure there's a few things Steve would have done different, but I really believe the products would be going in the same directions.
He left Tim Cook in charge for a reason, and I also believe we are seeing things that he envisioned. I remember reading how their was 5 years of S.J's idea's in the pipeline for them to work on.
Tim Cook was Steve Jobs right hand man for almost 10yrs, I think S.J really believed in him and he's done a good job so far!
We won't see a another Steve Jobs for a long time, maybe never, he was incredibly gifted and such a stage presents. I only hope that he really left his DNA in Apple. Jony Ive is still there so a lot of the magic remains intact!
As far as the soldering in of the Ram on the new Mini, I'm sure there will be a fix for that in the aftermarket. I've never owned a Mac Mini and, actually didn't ever pay much attention to them, but is it true that the older Mini had a quad core and the new version is only dual core?
If in fact it went from a quad core, to a dual core would be, very confusing to me, I hope there's a logical explanation.....???
Well, Steve did have his doubts about Tim Cook and now it is painfuly obviously why. Steve said that Cook is not product person. And guess what? Products are not what they use to be. Now is nicle and dime saving time and taking every penny from consumers (extort costumers might i add), yet feeding some Dre and blubbery chick insane amount of money. Beats for 3 billions? Really? They throw money with shovels for some stupid things and now they charge us 200$ for 8G of RAM?
Not to mention yes-no-update on iPad mini 3. Only person without respect and care to products would do this. Cook clearly don't care about apple.
I really believe Apple should get new CEO. It can hardly be any worse than this. It is the same as Gil CEO apple era...Many products that makes no sense really (iMacs with 1.4 soldered ram, butt-ugly and useless apple watch, old and slow mobile graphics cards on 2k+ iMacs (laptops for 900$ have nvidia mobile 870.....yet iMac for 2k+ have nvidia755? wow)iPad mini 1, iPad mini 2 and iPad mini3, soldered ram on mac mini for no obvious reason other than extorting money from customers).
Wel I hope it was a joke, but his comment that the "movement to LCDs" was bad might make the iMacs they were working on even older and therefore more prone to issues? No idea.
I only had one issue with my 2009 iMac before I sold it (the HDD failed). But thanks to AC, it was replaced and everything at no extra cost. I even later upgraded the HDD to 3 TB and also maxed out the RAM to 8GB and it was a fantastic machine.
Anyway, if I was given 5 grand and I could spend it on computer stuff, then I would buy an older Mac Pro and a 30" ACD. Yes. And then I would have money left over for maxing pout RAM, HDDs (SSD) for the boot drive, crazy awesome externals and peripherals, and then I would also go and buy a new iPad. Yeah, that's what I would do and it would be awesome. I might also buy a PB G4 17" 1.67GHz DL with 2GB RAM and just have fun with that beautiful machine. I might even still have money left over after all of that.
Hackintosh has been the best way, since OSX started running on Intel.
Desktops: Hackintosh
Laptops: MBA/MBP
Their margins on Mini's and Mac Pro's is ridiculous and their business practices have forced many to build their own.
My last Mac desktop was a Mac Pro 1,1, you know, back when they were affordable. 2006, I think.
Been hacking the tosh's since 2009
Love my MBP though.
Can you or anyone else here that has a Hackintosh (or has done it in the recent past) point to what you would consider to be the best resource online for knowledge on setting them up? I've never considered venturing into that field before, but after this ridiculous "update" and the way Apple has been managing their product lines as of late, I'm seriously considering it.
I have a Hackintosh that I built probably 3 years ago now. It was a PITA to build, even though I'm a techie of sorts, although IIRC a lot of pain was caused because I'd bought a super cheap mouse that wasn't recognised. Building a Hackintosh (at least when I did it) is no mean feat; it's pretty complicated and not an experience I want to repeat. The problem is in finding combos of mobos and graphics cards etc. that work with particular flavours of OS X.
Also you're right, it's a PITA because updating OS X breaks the Hackintosh. So you end up staying on the same OS X version. And that would be fine except in the Macintosh world when software vendors upgrade their software they seem to make the upgrades only compatible with the most recent versions of OS X, which is completely different to the Windoze world in which most software is compatible with Windows going back to XP.
That really is a PITA of the highest degree.
I think there are a ton of people like me who built a Hackintosh years ago, and have been waiting for a new mac mini for ages to migrate to, to avoid the hassle of building a new hackintosh box, and who are now going, uh, what a load of crap, I've been waiting ages for this and it's just overpriced rubbish, which is the reason I built a hackintosh box in the first place.
So I dunno, looking at the contempt that Apple are showing for the mac mini and the bottom end of their market, it might be time to just get hackintoshing again. I guess the more you do it the easier it gets, so that eventually upgrading to new OS X versions becomes just a minor chore. At least you can give it a go, it's cheap and if all else fails you can turn it into a windows box anyway. And the joy of avoiding the cynical Apple tax is really quite something.
http://www.tonymacx86.com/374-unibeast-install-os-x-mavericks-any-supported-intel-based-pc.html
Hackintoshes are great. Apple still makes great products but it's no fun for the techies out there. I like to replace my own parts and still need Windows. Upgrading to Yosemite was a breeze.
I was being sarcastic. you are missing the context.
anyway making these things un-upgradeable appliances is all fine, *if* they didn't charge exorbitant prices for the upgrades at the same time. I may get the mid-line mini with an SSD if I need a mac for iOS development, but I'll fill my other computing needs with PCs.
no judgement either way, but that's the definition of the "apple tax"... before the last couple years of soldering and (now) downgrades, i'd tend to dispute that really existing in any pertinent way. now i'm not so sure.
i'm not poor, but i don't just throw money into sewer drains. and this whole mini deal is definitely a POS
Sorry. It's so hard to tell if people are serious or not around here.
I said the exact same thing earlier. If I could upgrade the HDD and ram at roughly equivalent to the aftermarket prices, I wouldn't mind in the least. Hell, I could even accept a small markup. But the prices they're asking are ridiculous. And it's not like you're paying more for that tried and true Apple Quality. You're just paying more because you don't have any other option.
I can understand Apple wanting to court the average consumer, but they don't have to do it at the expense of their users with higher end needs.
