New Mac Mini Delayed Because...

[Crosscreek]

This is my conclusion since late last year--there is a serious management issue at Apple.

They only have a dozen or so products. The corporation of Apple is gigantic! It's a huge-huge business with few products and giant revenues.... every product should be yearly improved or updated or addressed. There are no excuses!

Not hyping the lower-end devices isn't a big deal, but they should be doing minor upgrades yearly on everything. Even if they just change colors, change a logo, add options, Apple should be doing the job of selling products and fostering consumer confidence.

The mini is the serious canary in the coal mine.

I totally agree with you. The company has stagnated since the visionary of Jobs has been lost.

He was what always pushed Apple forward.

Apple rests on its laurels With refreshed Iproducts that do not inspire any longer.

I see no path at this time to restore that. A IWatch, ATV, Stretched out IPhone
or ..........

And one more thing.....................

 

[apfelmann]

AND Tim Cook said there would be product releases through all of 2014 ...

Well, when does 2014 for APPLE kick off after all???? Happy New Year, Apple!

 

[iMacFarlane]

AND Tim Cook said there would be product releases through all of 2014 ...

Well, when does 2014 for APPLE kick off after all???? Happy New Year, Apple!

And didn't Apple promise all the pros they would get their shiny new Mac Pro in 2013? And then they couldn't even PRE-ORDER the thing until the end of December? Ridiculous.

Agreed. All items should be on annual update cycles. Technology smells bad the longer you sell it as "new", like fish on ice at the grocer's counter.

 

[Sneakz]

It might sound crazy, but I think Apple has a new vision for the mini. I think they will switch to ARM CPUs. Think about it. We already know how powerful the A7 is. It's "desktop class" and doesn't have things like a RAM limitation that would previously hold it back. Companies like iSupply peg the A7 as having a $19 cost vs hundreds for an Intel CPU. We know the GPU in the A7 is fast as well, maybe not HD 5000 fast, but it's fast. And who knows how fast the A7 would be if it didn't have to be in a mobile device but in a desktop, it could be clocked higher, say 1.5, 1.6GHz.

Software wouldn't limit it either. Let's not kid ourselves and act as if Apple already isn't working on a ARM version of OS X in secret. If Apple rewrites all the core software and it's App Store apps (minus things like FCP which wouldn't run on ARM), it would work just like any other Mac with end users not knowing the difference. Pair it with say 32GB on the low end, and you could have a Mac Mini as small as an ATV that could ship for as little as maybe $199. I guarantee you Apple will sell a ton more of those than they do of $600 Intel Mac Mini and it will have a higher profit margin.

 

[Crosscreek]

It might sound crazy, but I think Apple has a new vision for the mini. I think they will switch to ARM CPUs. Think about it. We already know how powerful the A7 is. It's "desktop class" and doesn't have things like a RAM limitation that would previously hold it back. Companies like iSupply peg the A7 as having a $19 cost vs hundreds for an Intel CPU. We know the GPU in the A7 is fast as well, maybe not HD 5000 fast, but it's fast. And who knows how fast the A7 would be if it didn't have to be in a mobile device but in a desktop, it could be clocked higher, say 1.5, 1.6GHz.

Software wouldn't limit it either. Let's not kid ourselves and act as if Apple already isn't working on a ARM version of OS X in secret. If Apple rewrites all the core software and it's App Store apps (minus things like FCP which wouldn't run on ARM), it would work just like any other Mac with end users not knowing the difference. Pair it with say 32GB on the low end, and you could have a Mac Mini as small as an ATV that could ship for as little as maybe $199. I guarantee you Apple will sell a ton more of those than they do of $600 Intel Mac Mini and it will have a higher profit margin.

I don't think it sounds crazy at all. ARM with DDR4 will be powerful and fast. ARM with OSX is coming. It's just when.

 

[fredr500]

Will a 2012 refurb do this?

I'm currently running 4 displays off of my Mac Pro 1,1, because I can.

What I really need is a 27"1440p and a 22" 1080p. The main use is Photoshop and Lightroom with about 7TB filled with images.

I know I can drop a couple 4TB drives on USB3 and be good with storage, but will a 2012 drive the 2 displays at full resolution at 60hz?

 

[Sneakz]

I don't think it sounds crazy at all. ARM with DDR4 will be powerful and fast. ARM with OSX is coming. It's just when.

Sooner than we may even think. I know this is the Mac Mini forum but the 12" MacBook Air rumour has nothing to suggest that its even powered by Intel.

- Thinner than current models
- No fan
- Buttonless trackpad
- Higher resolution Display

Intel's power efficiency has really improved but I don't think to the point where Apple could make something thinner while removing the fan. Sounds like something that could be A7 or A8 powered and pull off 12+ hours of battery life.

 

[762999]

I totally agree with you. The company has stagnated since the visionary of Jobs has been lost.

He was what always pushed Apple forward.

Apple rests on its laurels With refreshed Iproducts that do not inspire any longer.

I see no path at this time to restore that. A IWatch, ATV, Stretched out IPhone
or ..........

And one more thing.....................

this is insane, just because there is a delay in product cycles is not a sign of failure or doom. They are actually preparing updates to current products and new products in entirely new categories. They already launched their 'apple in car' initiative and more is to come (iWatch,...).

new products doesn't make things right. Check the S5 reviews, saying it's a minor refresh and there is nothing special. Apple is improving the software and work to give a great user experience. They work a lot on their cloud application and soon the hardware will be updated.

They are busy and still hiring like crazy. I'm positive about it. I prefer a major refresh than a minor update.

 

[Crosscreek]

this is insane, just because there is a delay in product cycles is not a sign of failure or doom. They are actually preparing updates to current products and new products in entirely new categories. They already launched their 'apple in car' initiative and more is to come (iWatch,...).

new products doesn't make things right. Check the S5 reviews, saying it's a minor refresh and there is nothing special. Apple is improving the software and work to give a great user experience. They work a lot on their cloud application and soon the hardware will be updated.

They are busy and still hiring like crazy. I'm positive about it. I prefer a major refresh than a minor update.

I did not say failure or doom.

I said stagnation. All tocks and no ticks. And very slow tocks at best.

You think the IWatch is "the next big thing"? I say so what.
Car Play? So what.

Where is the true innovation at. Apple has to stretch out the IPhone just to keep up with the competition. By the way I will be buying one.

How about upgrading the Mini and why was it not upgraded last year with Haswell? Oh you say it would just be a bump. Well I wanted a bump and I will want a bump with Broadwell and I will want a bump with the next processor just like the MBP get. I don't see the problem.


The creative innovate Apple that I knew is no more or at the least not now.
They still have a great OS and quality products.

 

[Capt Crunch]

It might sound crazy, but I think Apple has a new vision for the mini. I think they will switch to ARM CPUs. Think about it. We already know how powerful the A7 is. It's "desktop class" and doesn't have things like a RAM limitation that would previously hold it back. Companies like iSupply peg the A7 as having a $19 cost vs hundreds for an Intel CPU. We know the GPU in the A7 is fast as well, maybe not HD 5000 fast, but it's fast. And who knows how fast the A7 would be if it didn't have to be in a mobile device but in a desktop, it could be clocked higher, say 1.5, 1.6GHz.

Software wouldn't limit it either. Let's not kid ourselves and act as if Apple already isn't working on a ARM version of OS X in secret. If Apple rewrites all the core software and it's App Store apps (minus things like FCP which wouldn't run on ARM), it would work just like any other Mac with end users not knowing the difference. Pair it with say 32GB on the low end, and you could have a Mac Mini as small as an ATV that could ship for as little as maybe $199. I guarantee you Apple will sell a ton more of those than they do of $600 Intel Mac Mini and it will have a higher profit margin.

Then you have developers having to code for two OSes. The entirety of the App Store would have to be duplicated. I'm not sure if it could be made to be a simple recompile, but looking at Windows RT and Windows Standard, it would probably suck.

 

[corvus32]

Current Mini owners that do nothing but boring stuff with their computer would probably be ok using the 2012 model for the next 10 years. What Apple is apparently afraid of is attracting new customers that would take an updated Mini and make a budget gaming PC out of it. You know that would happen and in droves too.

Apple is probably fine with people using their competitors products and services on other Macs because they charge a hefty premium for them - the Apple tax. But, exponentially more people doing the same on a low margin device like the Mini? Hell no, so they delay updating as long as possible. Apple could have kept to a yearly update with the Mini, but they chose not to.

HD4000 is probably as good as Apple wants to go here for the foreseeable future, but at some point Intel will have very good GPUs that come free with their processors. On the flipside of that, Apple's own iOS and ARM processors keep getting better and better, and are within the Mini's price range. IMO, the Mini dead. It may see another refresh, but for all intents and purposes it's living on borrowed time.

tl;dr

2014 iPad > Mac Mini

 

[Crosscreek]

Then you have developers having to code for two OSes. The entirety of the App Store would have to be duplicated. I'm not sure if it could be made to be a simple recompile, but looking at Windows RT and Windows Standard, it would probably suck.

Just to put some thoughts out here with no dog in the fight but Apple has said they have no interest in combining OSX and IOS. That being said I think that is just a line of BS in a nice way until it works in their favor to combine them.

Apple has the sharpest software engineers in the world and I would almost bet they could build a compiler to merge the two operating systems if they haven't already. It may take time to perfect but IMHO I think it's coming and it won't be a disaster like Windows.

 

[Sneakz]

Then you have developers having to code for two OSes. The entirety of the App Store would have to be duplicated. I'm not sure if it could be made to be a simple recompile, but looking at Windows RT and Windows Standard, it would probably suck.

Some apps could be a simple recompile, others would be a little more complex. Package apps as a universal binary so only one app needs to be in the App Store for both Intel and ARM.

Just to put some thoughts out here with no dog in the fight but Apple has said they have no interest in combining OSX and IOS. That being said I think that is just a line of BS in a nice way until it works in their favor to combine them.

My guess is that they are right and that they have no intention to merge them, and OS X on ARM for Mac (not iPad) suggests just that.

 

[Cape Dave]

I did not say failure or doom.

I said stagnation. All tocks and no ticks. And very slow tocks at best.

You think the IWatch is "the next big thing"? I say so what.
Car Play? So what.

Where is the true innovation at. Apple has to stretch out the IPhone just to keep up with the competition. By the way I will be buying one.

How about upgrading the Mini and why was it not upgraded last year with Haswell? Oh you say it would just be a bump. Well I wanted a bump and I will want a bump with Broadwell and I will want a bump with the next processor just like the MBP get. I don't see the problem.


The creative innovate Apple that I knew is no more or at the least not now.
They still have a great OS and quality products.

Yup. More action on the items we know and love. And more innovation on stuff we love too. Like he said, Iwatch, Icar, who cares?

Tick and tock please. They have the money to do this!

 

[762999]

Yup. More action on the items we know and love. And more innovation on stuff we love too. Like he said, Iwatch, Icar, who cares?

Tick and tock please. They have the money to do this!

the guy that is working on the iwatch is probably never going to work on the mini. The absence of a new mini doesn't imply they're doing nothing. They will probably announce something big at WWDC. They're alreadying talking about 10.10 and iOS 8. Their timeline is also impacted by Intel.

 

[imageWIS]

Heh. 'It's in the can'?

Maybe: Yes, it is a can!

 

[majkom]

the guy that is working on the iwatch is probably never going to work on the mini. The absence of a new mini doesn't imply they're doing nothing. They will probably announce something big at WWDC. They're alreadying talking about 10.10 and iOS 8. Their timeline is also impacted by Intel.

So what? Updating mini to haswell would not cost many resources, there is no excuse for selling two year old tech.. Good old apple used to make minor bumps every half year, todays apple cant update once a year when new tech/cpu generation arrives? Wtf?

 

[iMacFarlane]

It might sound crazy, but I think Apple has a new vision for the mini. I think they will switch to ARM CPUs. Think about it. We already know how powerful the A7 is. It's "desktop class" and doesn't have things like a RAM limitation that would previously hold it back. Companies like iSupply peg the A7 as having a $19 cost vs hundreds for an Intel CPU. We know the GPU in the A7 is fast as well, maybe not HD 5000 fast, but it's fast. And who knows how fast the A7 would be if it didn't have to be in a mobile device but in a desktop, it could be clocked higher, say 1.5, 1.6GHz.

Software wouldn't limit it either. Let's not kid ourselves and act as if Apple already isn't working on a ARM version of OS X in secret. If Apple rewrites all the core software and it's App Store apps (minus things like FCP which wouldn't run on ARM), it would work just like any other Mac with end users not knowing the difference. Pair it with say 32GB on the low end, and you could have a Mac Mini as small as an ATV that could ship for as little as maybe $199. I guarantee you Apple will sell a ton more of those than they do of $600 Intel Mac Mini and it will have a higher profit margin.

It's not just the core Apple apps that would need to be re-compiled to run in the new ARM OS X though. All of the current software on the MAS would be rendered incompatible with the new processors. Unless, Apple could somehow write a software emulation layer directly infused into the OS, and a program compiled for Intel would happily run at top speed and 100% functionality on top it. That would be sheer poetry and fitting of Apple's design and forward thinking. Then, in two years, for no reason whatsoever, they can remove the layer from the next iteration of OS X. Rosetta, by any other name, would smell as sweet . . .

Sounds like a plan.

 

[jklps]

Current Mini owners that do nothing but boring stuff with their computer would probably be ok using the 2012 model for the next 10 years. What Apple is apparently afraid of is attracting new customers that would take an updated Mini and make a budget gaming PC out of it. You know that would happen and in droves too.

Apple is probably fine with people using their competitors products and services on other Macs because they charge a hefty premium for them - the Apple tax. But, exponentially more people doing the same on a low margin device like the Mini? Hell no, so they delay updating as long as possible. Apple could have kept to a yearly update with the Mini, but they chose not to.

HD4000 is probably as good as Apple wants to go here for the foreseeable future, but at some point Intel will have very good GPUs that come free with their processors. On the flipside of that, Apple's own iOS and ARM processors keep getting better and better, and are within the Mini's price range. IMO, the Mini dead. It may see another refresh, but for all intents and purposes it's living on borrowed time.

tl;dr

2014 iPad > Mac Mini

I only do boring stuff with my computer, but since I know this site I'm trying to avoid buying a new Mac Mini then having the update come out a month later. It is kind of frustrating, but I'm being patient. Currently I'm using a MBP from 2007 that really is on it's last legs.

 

[Cape Dave]

So what? Updating mini to haswell would not cost many resources, there is no excuse for selling two year old tech.. Good old apple used to make minor bumps every half year, todays apple cant update once a year when new tech/cpu generation arrives? Wtf?

I absolutely totally positively AGREE with this statement!

 

[CptSky]

[...]Unless, Apple could somehow write a software emulation layer directly infused into the OS, and a program compiled for Intel would happily run at top speed and 100% functionality on top it.[...]

Rosetta was able to emulate a G4 CPU, not a G5 and it wasn't at full speed nor fully complete (some functionalities were missing). They could do it because Intel's CPUs at the time were fast enough to emulate a slower PowerPC CPU. It's not the case with ARM at the moment. For sure, at some point, I think Apple will move some Macs to ARM. An emulation layer ? Probable, but not at top speed. Anyway, the move to ARM won't be as big as for PowerPC for most apps as the endianness is identical. It'll be a problem for apps using really low-level code like ASM or optimization (SSE, etc).

 

[Crosscreek]

So what? Updating mini to haswell would not cost many resources, there is no excuse for selling two year old tech.. Good old apple used to make minor bumps every half year, todays apple cant update once a year when new tech/cpu generation arrives? Wtf?

We need to update this thing.

 

[patent10021]

unfortunately this thing is forever going to have integrated GPU and limited 16GB RAM.

I would so love for the mini to be able to install 32GB

 

[dewthedru]

You won't be sorry.

hooked it up last night and it's....a mac. it recognized everything on my network right away and i think my family will love it.

i did notice it being considerably slower to boot up than my rMBP and i'm assuming that's the difference between the SSD and regular boot drive?

thanks for your recommendations. i've bookmarked them and will likely be adding a HD if it bugs me enough. i'm sure my family won't notice though.

 

[Crosscreek]

hooked it up last night and it's....a mac. it recognized everything on my network right away and i think my family will love it.

i did notice it being considerably slower to boot up than my rMBP and i'm assuming that's the difference between the SSD and regular boot drive?

thanks for your recommendations. i've bookmarked them and will likely be adding a HD if it bugs me enough. i'm sure my family won't notice though.

The SSD will really speed it up. Good luck.