New Mac Mini is out. Is (almost) everyone happy now?

[ShizPadoo]

So don't buy them. I bought a Logitech illuminated keyboard that has excellent typing quality for $60 and I'm on my 3rd Microsoft Intellimouse 5-button optical mouse (great for gaming and extra buttons that can be assigned to bring up mission control, etc. I've never liked Apple's keyboards or mice to begin with. I'd just move these over if I got a new Mini.

Yes, I have been looking at third party options 🙂

 

[bandits1]

Is that little white LED still supposed to slowly pulse while sleeping? Because mine doesn't. Any suggestions for a fix?

 

[George Dawes]

Disappointed that after 4 years they couldn't change the form factor. The mini was I recall originally based on a CD form factor and every one since seems to have followed that path which is ironic considering iTunes made Cd's redundant.

You'd think they'd be brave enough to radically alter the look and layout of it - maybe taking the atv as inspiration ??

Mac micro ?? maybe in another 4 years time ?

 

[StellarVixen]

Disappointed that after 4 years they couldn't change the form factor. The mini was I recall originally based on a CD form factor and every one since seems to have followed that path which is ironic considering iTunes made Cd's redundant.

You'd think they'd be brave enough to radically alter the look and layout of it - maybe taking the atv as inspiration ??

Mac micro ?? maybe in another 4 years time ?

Intriguing, you said that you are disappointed with the thermals in other thread, in this thread, you seem to be disappointed that Mac Mini isn't even smaller. Seems a little bit contradictory, doesn't it?

 

[George Dawes]

I would have thought after 4 years and the progress of tech they could make it smaller AND run cooler

Or is that too much to ask of a company spending $20bn+ a year on R&D ??

 

[StellarVixen]

I would have thought after 4 years and the progress of tech they could make it smaller AND run cooler

Or is that too much to ask of a company spending $20bn+ a year on R&D ??

They can spend 20 trillion on R&D, for all that matters, they are not gonna beat the physics.

Smaller Mac Mini with these processors would be huge fiasco. Even now it is pushing limits of performance without throttling, but it is running hot like stove.

 

[George Dawes]

Maybe it’s time for Tim and the crew to be brave and bring out an A series mac ?

Look at the iPad Pro and it’s form factor , imagine a mini with that kind of power !

 

[ShizPadoo]

I looked at the teardown and the power supply takes up a bit of space. Then there's two sticks of RAM which are also a certain size. I can't see how it could be much smaller without removing the power supply and having a power brick.

However, considering reports that the new iPad Pro is approaching MBP performance (not sure what configuration, maybe base), it is possible to have a powerful spec in a thin case.

 

[archer75]

God, I miss simple downvoting to express disagreement.... 🙁


The simple fact is WE (*REAL* computer users) were here FIRST. All these smart phone using, iPad playing members of the mass Joe Public came later (I've had a desktop home computer of some kind since 1981!). While welcome to the party, that doesn't mean they get to take over the party and then trash the flipping house! REAL computer users have a right to "whine" and not be pleased with what Apple does. They have a right to protest it and complain. How else can Apple ever get the news that we don't LIKE that crap if no one makes their feelings known? Your great idea is to either just bend over or walk away from an entire OS and whatever large library of commercial software and go "somewhere else." Nevermind that a simple SSD connector instead of soldering and a little access door for ram would clear up MOST of the problems with this thing. No, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. I am the great and powerful Oz! 🙄

Yeah, it's not quite as "simple" as you'd like us to believe because you don't actually think about what you're saying or to whom you're saying it. What you really mean is you are happy with it and you don't give a flying crap what anyone else thinks. And so you imagine that everyone just agrees with you and the 'few' on here that write scathing replies are the "fringe" elements of society. Well, I'd much rather be a flipping "fringe element" than another mass market consumer that spends all his time on Facebook and Twitter as most of the smart phone wielding public seems to do....

My god how far society has fallen....

Who’s here first is irrelevant. I just hear a lot of entitlement here. How does apple know you’re not happy with their product? Same as any company. Vote with your wallet. It’s the only thing they hear.
I simply understand the market. I may not like it but it is what it is. Apple isn’t going to change their business or their products for the minority. And you and I are in the minority. Like it or not. Whining or raging isn’t going to change that. So you adapt or move on. Or start your own company making computers the market has moved away from.

Yes, I’ve had desktops (Tandy)in the 80’s. We had the first pong console and I used to spend hours a BBS’s. I’m old school. I miss the old days too.
The world changes, the market changes, it’s not survival of the fittest it’s survival of those most able to adapt.
Has society fallen? No. It’s simply changed as all things do. And will continue to. And us old people who remember the “good ole days” will complain about kids these days. As our parents did about us and their parents did about them.

 

[pl1984]

I know the idea is shocking, but they could have made the darn thing just a tiny bit larger to solve most inherent issues (including room for a PCI graphics card even)...(heresy I know). It IS supposed to be a "desktop" after all.

The real question is whether this new Mac Pro coming out will have ANY internal expansion or if it will be some crazy Apple proprietary case stacker or something equally weird. Why Apple wants to reinvent the wheel just for looks instead of function is beyond me. I just want a functional reasonably upper end desktop without compromises that doesn't cost the price of small new car.

IMO the solution to the issue is not to change the Mini but to provide another offering for those where the Mini falls short. A medium sized tower (or desktop) system which permits upgrades / expansion.

I've been reading a lot about the new Mini and I've noticed a pattern: People asking what CPU and SSD to purchase. One thing most are not inquiring about is how much memory they should get. Why is that? Because it can be upgraded. People are faced with this dilemma because they have to get it right the first time.

A member started a thread about being undecided about getting the 256GB or 512GB SSD. Despite the much vaunted high speed I/O ports available on the Mini the consensus appeared to be the member should go with the 512GB drive.

Then there's the thread about SSD performance where, as is expected, the smaller capacity drives have lower performance. Not only is one stuck with the capacity they purchase the Mini with but they're also stuck with the performance.

I recently purchased an HP Z440 system. It has a quad core CPU, 16GB RAM, low end video card, 1TB SATA HD (non-SSD). As I wanted to install an SSD I purchased a 1TB Z-Turbo drive (NVMe SSD) and plugged it into one of the PCIe connectors. I also needed a media card reader which was easily installed.

Given the system is upgradeable I didn't have to go seeking one which already had the 1TB Z-Turbo drive and a media card reader. I merely had to buy what I needed and install it (Z-Turbo drive took all of 60 seconds, the media card reader a couple of minutes). If I want a faster CPU I can buy one and easily install it. If I need more memory I can easily install it (up to 256GB). If I want faster video I can easily install it. If I want Thunderbolt I can easily install it. It's a medium sized system that fits neatly on the floor right next to my desk. It's out of the way and the location makes it easy to turn on, insert USB drives and the various media cards (CF card for my digital cameras).

This is post is not intended to be a PC versus Mac post but rather to show the benefits a medium sized tower (or desktop) system can offer. For those who want compact size the Mini should be their choice. For those who need more or don't want to be locked into the initial configuration a medium sized tower / desktop offering would be their go to system.

I know Apple isn't going to go down this path but I find it interesting so many people are willing to adapt to Apple instead of expecting Apple to adapt to them.

 

[archer75]

I know Apple isn't going to go down this path but I find it interesting so many people are willing to adapt to Apple instead of expecting Apple to adapt to them.

If you know apple isn't going to go down this path why would you expect them to?
They made upgradable towers once upon a time. You could replace the drives, ram, video card. Though the video card had to be a much more expensive mac version. Some people got certain PC cards to work by flashing with a mac bios. But that market died out.

Most people don't have these debates, most people don't go to these forums. And most people don't have the first clue about if they can upgrade their computers or if they even want to and most certainly don't know how. They're content to call the geek squad for bad advice and get ripped off. They just buy off the shelf at the apple store, best buy, etc.
The enthusiast market like you and I is just super small. I wish that weren't the case. I wish apple would make something for us. But as you said, you know apple isn't going to go down this path. And so do I.
I guess the best bet for enthusiasts are hackintoshes. But that's what enthusiasts love.

 

[Stephen.R]

IMO the solution to the issue is not to change the Mini but to provide another offering for those where the Mini falls short. A medium sized tower (or desktop) system which permits upgrades / expansion.

They have one of those, it's called the Mac Pro.

 

[pl1984]

If you know apple isn't going to go down this path why would you expect them to?

I don't, for the reason I provided:

"...so many people are willing to adapt to Apple instead of expecting Apple to adapt to them."

They made upgradable towers once upon a time. You could replace the drives, ram, video card. Though the video card had to be a much more expensive mac version. Some people got certain PC cards to work by flashing with a mac bios. But that market died out.

Most people don't have these debates, most people don't go to these forums. And most people don't have the first clue about if they can upgrade their computers or if they even want to and most certainly don't know how. They're content to call the geek squad for bad advice and get ripped off. They just buy off the shelf at the apple store, best buy, etc.
The enthusiast market like you and I is just super small. I wish that weren't the case. I wish apple would make something for us. But as you said, you know apple isn't going to go down this path. And so do I.
I guess the best bet for enthusiasts are hackintoshes. But that's what enthusiasts love.

Most people do not but if this forum is any indication there are people who are concerned with longevity. The people who don't end up buying off the shelf and then, in a few years, end up tolerating a computer which does not adequately meet their needs. Or spends more money on a new one which does. Even these people can benefit from upgradability. They tend to know someone who is computer literate and can perform upgrades for them. I'll be doing just that this weekend.

IMO if people demanded such a system from Apple then Apple might give it to them (they're supposedly doing that with the Mac Pro). Instead people just accept what Apple offers. I like to think Apple users are the goldilocks of computer users: They either have a system that's inadequate (skimping on cost), too much (paying too much for what they need), or just right for their needs.

 

[archer75]

I know Apple isn't going to go down this path

If you know apple isn't going to go down this path why would you expect them to?

I don't, for the reason I provided:

"...so many people are willing to adapt to Apple instead of expecting Apple to adapt to them."

Ummmmmm
[doublepost=1541866342][/doublepost]

Most people do not but if this forum is any indication there are people who are concerned with longevity. The people who don't end up buying off the shelf and then, in a few years, end up tolerating a computer which does not adequately meet their needs. Or spends more money on a new one which does. Even these people can benefit from upgradability. They tend to know someone who is computer literate and can perform upgrades for them. I'll be doing just that this weekend.

Most people are either pros, who need a Mac Pro and pay out the ass for it thus apple caters to them(money talks), or they're moms and grandparents. My moms iMac is a 2009 and showing it's age. It's needs to be upgraded. However, even if that was a 2009 PC there's still no good options to upgrade it. Even if I could find a CPU to fit that old motherboard it would cost a fortune. Even old ram gets really expensive.
Hell my current desktop with a Asus x99 board is very expensive to upgrade now and it's not that old. Ram for it costs a fortune(I was looking recently as I was running some VM's and was thinking of getting more). Sure it could be done. It's up to the person to decide if the cost is worth it over buying a new one. For me I'd build a new one.

 

[Martyimac]

I'm happy a new mini is out, just bought one. My nMP is also going strong. That being said I figure it gives me 6 more years in the  closed wall environment. My age, >60 also is starting to play a role. If by the time the new  cpu's come out and prices don't get more reasonable, I will shift back to Windows.
Here is why, just bought the wife this computer: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/del...JZCI6NywiT3B0cyI6W3siSWQiOiJEUlYxNTM1In1dfV19
FAR more power than my mini and UPGRADEABLE.
And Windows 10 is finally fairly decent. The one thing I lose is the  icloud where messages, contacts etc sync across all my computers but I can probably live with that, especially as I age.

 

[pl1984]

Most people are either pros, who need a Mac Pro and pay out the ass for it thus apple caters to them(money talks), or they're moms and grandparents.

Then how do you explain all the people in this forum making inquires as to what configuration they should choose? If they're simply moms and grandparents the base configuration would easily meet their needs. Even the 2014 base configuration would meet their needs.

My moms iMac is a 2009 and showing it's age. It's needs to be upgraded. However, even if that was a 2009 PC there's still no good options to upgrade it. Even if I could find a CPU to fit that old motherboard it would cost a fortune. Even old ram gets really expensive.

Perhaps it gets really expensive but does it cost more than buying a new system? My Z440 system just replaced my daily driver from 2007. That system came with 2GB of RAM but I upgraded it to 8GB (at the time it was dirt cheap to do so), added a video card with a DVI connector when I bought a DVI monitor (onboard graphics only had the DB15 connector), and threw in a four port USB 3.0 card (system shipped with USB 2.0). I had considered installing a 500GB SATA SSD to replace the 400GB SATA spinner but never got around to it. I was able to get 11 solid years out of that system because I wasn't stuck with its initial configuration (2GB or RAM definitely would not cut it today). Only reason I replaced it is because I got a great deal on the Z440.

 

[archer75]

Then how do you explain all the people in this forum making inquires as to what configuration they should choose? If they're simply moms and grandparents the base configuration would easily meet their needs. Even the 2014 base configuration would meet their needs.

A huge minority.

Perhaps it gets really expensive but does it cost more than buying a new system? My Z440 system just replaced my daily driver from 2007. That system came with 2GB of RAM but I upgraded it to 8GB (at the time it was dirt cheap to do so), added a video card with a DVI connector when I bought a DVI monitor (onboard graphics only had the DB15 connector), and threw in a four port USB 3.0 card (system shipped with USB 2.0). I had considered installing a 500GB SATA SSD to replace the 400GB SATA spinner but never got around to it. I was able to get 11 solid years out of that system because I wasn't stuck with its initial configuration (2GB or RAM definitely would not cut it today). Only reason I replaced it is because I got a great deal on the Z440.

That's up to the person to decide. Sometimes it's just not cost effective. Cheaper than a new system? Perhaps. Worth doing so? It really depends. I wouldn't buy more ram or a faster CPU for my current PC as I don't believe it would be worth it or cost effective. And I only built it a few years ago. A minor speed bump for a large price tag. I'd rather spend a little bit more on something new which would also be much faster. But I also do more with my computers than most people do anymore.

 

[pl1984]

A huge minority

Do you have any data to support this? Or are you merely stating it as fact?

That's up to the person to decide. Sometimes it's just not cost effective. Cheaper than a new system? Perhaps. Worth doing so? It really depends. I wouldn't buy more ram or a faster CPU for my current PC as I don't believe it would be worth it or cost effective. And I only built it a few years ago. A minor speed bump for a large price tag. I'd rather spend a little bit more on something new which would also be much faster. But I also do more with my computers than most people do anymore.

Not when it comes to Apple products. You make your decision at the time of purchase and live with it until it's time to replace it. Which might have been unnecessary if the system could be upgraded. Or you end up over buying in attempt to future proof.

 

[ElectronGuru]

They made upgradable towers once upon a time. You could replace the drives, ram, video card. Though the video card had to be a much more expensive mac version. Some people got certain PC cards to work by flashing with a mac bios. But that market died out.

I worked Mac IT in the 90's. I had several G3 and G4 towers, all of them locked away in the server room. Walk around the offices and most people had PowerBooks. Had Apple looked at our purchases as a group, they would not be motivated to make more towers. And over time, the things those towers provided, including email, have moved to the cloud. Someone wanted a tower at home, they benefited from sales numbers they themselves did not generate and that have disappeared.

Much of the savings of self built machines comes from the discounted labor. The skills I have (and learned then) are still useful to me. But like a mechanic without a garage full of expensive equipment, those skills are worth less today. Friends and family are happy to ask for free help, but would rather buy a turnkey setup than pay a professional hundreds to set up a new machine.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

I don't have a problem with them doing that.

But server farms with hundreds or thousands of Minis might not be so happy as they will have to modify their existing mounting racks, which could be quite costly and disruptive.

I'd like to see all these massive supposed business server farms.... 🙄

If Apple actually truly cared about server farms they wouldn't have gotten rid of the Xserve and said some trash can shaped Mac Pro was a perfectly good replacement or gotten rid of the server version of the Mac Mini the last cycle. 😉

IMO the solution to the issue is not to change the Mini but to provide another offering for those where the Mini falls short. A medium sized tower (or desktop) system which permits upgrades / expansion.

Ah, yes the fabulous "Xmac" PowerMac and other real desktop fans have been hoping and praying for since the PowerMac was discontinued and replaced only with the Mac Pro and then the Trash Can Mac Pro with no internal expandability what-so-ever. It hasn't happened in over a decade. It will most likely NEVER happen. Apple sees no market in "traditional" computers, especially with Tim Cook behind the wheel who doesn't even like Macs at all (just iPads and iPhones). Frankly, I think we're more likely to see an Apple smart purse or microwave than a traditional tower ever again.

There's only two problems with this Mini. One is the poor graphics, but that can at least be remedied with an external GPU. The other is the soldered internal hard drive. Yes, you can go external, but if you want a Windows boot drive, you've got a bit of a mess as it needs some space and 256GB isn't going to cut it between macOS and Windows both. ALL the upgrade drives are insanely overpriced. A simple connector would have fixed this. They chose to solder instead on purpose to maximize profits. It's a human POS move and yet there it is like so many other bastard companies that would sooner sacrifice their first born than do the morally right thing.

The worst part is the hoards of people that love to argue and argue about how Apple made the RIGHT DECISION when it's so clear they could have avoided this with a simple connector. But they chose to create a situation on purpose. They chose to be greedy bastards. Watching Mr. Cook talk about things that supposedly matter to him in terms of human rights while simultaneously catering to markets like Saudi Arabia that don't believe in any kind of human rights (especially for any other gender than straight male) and then crapping all over my right to change out of my hard drive...well it sounds like the most common form of Forbes 500 hypocrisy. Let them eat cake.

Who’s here first is irrelevant. I just hear a lot of entitlement here. How does apple know you’re not happy with their product? Same as any company. Vote with your wallet. It’s the only thing they hear.

I'm sorry, but that's an utterly illogical statement. Apple doesn't care if I buy another Mini or I don't buy another Mini. They don't get the message unless MILLIONS change their buying habits and even THEN they won't know why because they don't care what consumers want (Jobs taught them that one since he thought he knew better than everyone else what they wanted their desktop to look like, for example).

Whining or raging isn’t going to change that

And yet here you are doing just that (whining) to me because you don't like the fact I don't like the soldered connector and seem to think I have NO RIGHT to complain about it to anyone. Either just buy it or go away. My god.... 🙄

 

[Wie Gehts]

Thought the whole digital electronics/computer business was predicated on further miniaturization, faster cpu, and commensurate lowering prices, lol

 

[harriska2]

I’ll be back next week with my opinion on whether I’m happy with the new mini 😉 What I am happy with is our 2013 imac running on my 40” Samsung 4k uhd monitor (broken lcd). I got a Mini DisplayPort to hdmi 2 adapter to try for the old mini and saw that that was the same cable the imac needed. I didn’t know it would work and it looks rather stunning running a 2k resolution. Surprised the heck out of me.

 

[HuskerHarley]

I’ll be back next week with my opinion on whether I’m happy with the new mini 😉 What I am happy with is our 2013 imac running on my 40” Samsung 4k uhd monitor (broken lcd). I got a Mini DisplayPort to hdmi 2 adapter to try for the old mini and saw that that was the same cable the imac needed. I didn’t know it would work and it looks rather stunning running a 2k resolution. Surprised the heck out of me.

Were you Happy?

 

[georose]

I have a 2011 Mac Mini that I was and am using with a 4K HDR 70 inch TV. I knew I needed something better even though I also have an Xbox One for streaming and 4K HDR movies. I am a niche user when it comes to needing a computer for home entertainment. Because I share entertainment with photos, YouTube videos, downloaded 4k HDR movies and downloaded Hi Def music, I need a computer with a better graphic interface than an Xbox. I was considering a new Mac Mini but was put off by the SSD and memory tax as no one should have to buy more than they need but also shouldn't be insulted by price gouging and the lack of an economical alternative for a graphics card.

So my new computer is an Intel NUC VR that fits in the palm of my hand. You have the option to buy bare bones and add your own preferred memory and SSD. It has a middle of the road AMD graphics card that is integrated with the CPU so it's not upgradeable but is far more powerful than the integrated Intel graphics. I do miss my Apple Track Pad and am forced to use a Logitech trackball due to a confined area for a keyboard and mouse. My Apple Keyboard that I bought with my Mac Mini 2011 is working well with Windows 10, not so for the trackpad which I do miss. I added a high end 512 GB Samsung 970 Pro SSD card and 32 GB of Hyper X Ram for much less than Apple would charge ($450 at Amazon). The Black Friday price for the whole thing was around $1150 as I didn't need the Win 10 OS.

My choice may not be as easy for many as I already had a copy of Win 10 on my MacBook Pro that was free to transfer to the new Intel NUC VR. It would be best for many to just have an Apple TV or whatever for streaming entertainment but I have additional uses that are better suited for a compact desktop with HDMI output to a high end AVR audio system and TV.

And yes, I had to install Windows 10 and some additional Intel drivers for Win 10 as well. It was easier than installing an SSD in my Mac Mini a couple of years ago. Swapping the hard drive out was more of a pain than adding the SSD and memory to the Intel Kit computer. I will say Time Machine was great at restoring everything to the new SSD. I realize what I did is something that Apple is not interested in offering consumers, the help or the hardware as it is what is called a niche product beneath their profit motives.

For most users the main downside would be the lack of a good trackpad with its excellent scrolling and if in close quarters the fan noise. The fan is of no consequence in a large room. The text looked nicer on the Mini as it would only run with the proper text and icon size at 720p. It wouldn't work well for photos or Google Earth, etc at that resolution. I still don't know if the new Mac Mini would adjust to the 4K resolution as well as Windows does as the old Mini would only go to 1080p and the text and icons were too small on a 70 inch TV at full resolution from 10 feet away. Windows works at 2K or 4K much better than the Mini did under those conditions.

I am at home with the OS whether on a Mac or a Win 10 machine. My preference is a Mac but I am more than happy so far with the Intel NUC VR as it is a good niche product that Apple ignores.

 

[HuskerHarley]

I have a 2011 Mac Mini that I was and am using with a 4K HDR 70 inch TV. I knew I needed something better even though I also have an Xbox One for streaming and 4K HDR movies. I am a niche user when it comes to needing a computer for home entertainment. Because I share entertainment with photos, YouTube videos, downloaded 4k HDR movies and downloaded Hi Def music, I need a computer with a better graphic interface than an Xbox. I was considering a new Mac Mini but was put off by the SSD and memory tax as no one should have to buy more than they need but also shouldn't be insulted by price gouging and the lack of an economical alternative for a graphics card.

So my new computer is an Intel NUC VR that fits in the palm of my hand. You have the option to buy bare bones and add your own preferred memory and SSD. It has a middle of the road AMD graphics card that is integrated with the CPU so it's not upgradeable but is far more powerful than the integrated Intel graphics. I do miss my Apple Track Pad and am forced to use a Logitech trackball due to a confined area for a keyboard and mouse. My Apple Keyboard that I bought with my Mac Mini 2011 is working well with Windows 10, not so for the trackpad which I do miss. I added a high end 512 GB Samsung 970 Pro SSD card and 32 GB of Hyper X Ram for much less than Apple would charge ($450 at Amazon). The Black Friday price for the whole thing was around $1150 as I didn't need the Win 10 OS.

My choice may not be as easy for many as I already had a copy of Win 10 on my MacBook Pro that was free to transfer to the new Intel NUC VR. It would be best for many to just have an Apple TV or whatever for streaming entertainment but I have additional uses that are better suited for a compact desktop with HDMI output to a high end AVR audio system and TV.

And yes, I had to install Windows 10 and some additional Intel drivers for Win 10 as well. It was easier than installing an SSD in my Mac Mini a couple of years ago. Swapping the hard drive out was more of a pain than adding the SSD and memory to the Intel Kit computer. I will say Time Machine was great at restoring everything to the new SSD. I realize what I did is something that Apple is not interested in offering consumers, the help or the hardware as it is what is called a niche product beneath their profit motives.

For most users the main downside would be the lack of a good trackpad with its excellent scrolling and if in close quarters the fan noise. The fan is of no consequence in a large room. The text looked nicer on the Mini as it would only run with the proper text and icon size at 720p. It wouldn't work well for photos or Google Earth, etc at that resolution. I still don't know if the new Mac Mini would adjust to the 4K resolution as well as Windows does as the old Mini would only go to 1080p and the text and icons were too small on a 70 inch TV at full resolution from 10 feet away. Windows works at 2K or 4K much better than the Mini did under those conditions.

I am at home with the OS whether on a Mac or a Win 10 machine. My preference is a Mac but I am more than happy so far with the Intel NUC VR as it is a good niche product that Apple ignores.

Well, after reading what ya wrote...I want a Track-Pad!...Hint!-Hint!