SSD as standard on upcoming Mac Mini?

[addictive]

How likely is it that Apple will introduce as standard a Mac Mini with a SSD? The Mac Mini is now the only computer sold by Apple that has a spinning HDD and any upgrade to the SSD is expensive. The Mac Mini is such an uncompetitively priced computer given it's internals. For the same price ($899) of a Mac Mini with a SSD you can buy a Macbook Air (Mini has a larger SSD and more RAM).

It seems Apple doesn't want the Mac Mini to succeed. It redesigned the Mini to make it significantly more difficult to upgrade the machines to allow for a more rapid obsolescence. We all know the single greatest performance upgrade anyone can make for a computer is to replace a spinning HDD with a SSD; so why does Apple continue to install a spinning HDD? It is handicapping it's own product's performance.

How long can Apple go on using a spinning HDD? It is an embarrassment for a company that prides itself on performance.

Are there sales figures for the Mac Mini? Is it such a niche product that Apple just doesn't care about it anymore?

I want to buy a Mac Mini and probably will once it gets a boost with Skylake but I'll be loathed to pay the extra money for the SSD. It is only Apple reluctance at making the Mac Mini a competitive machine (and making it more difficult to upgrade the machine) which has stopped me buying it already.

 

[iPhil]

@ $899 you could get mini with 2.6 i5 256 GB ssd and 8 GB ram vs 11" air 1.6 i5 4GB ram and 128GB SSD ...

 

[adam9c1]

The Mac Min is Apples gateway drug, they want it there for basics to get a user to try out os x and then switch picking up iMac or mbp.

The higher mode minis are "replacements" for servers,

 

[Andres Cantu]

How likely is it that Apple will introduce as standard a Mac Mini with a SSD? The Mac Mini is now the only computer sold by Apple that has a spinning HDD and any upgrade to the SSD is expensive. The Mac Mini is such an uncompetitively priced computer given it's internals. For the same price ($899) of a Mac Mini with a SSD you can buy a Macbook Air (Mini has a larger SSD and more RAM).

It seems Apple doesn't want the Mac Mini to succeed. It redesigned the Mini to make it significantly more difficult to upgrade the machines to allow for a more rapid obsolescence. We all know the single greatest performance upgrade anyone can make for a computer is to replace a spinning HDD with a SSD; so why does Apple continue to install a spinning HDD? It is handicapping it's own product's performance.

How long can Apple go on using a spinning HDD? It is an embarrassment for a company that prides itself on performance.

Are there sales figures for the Mac Mini? Is it such a niche product that Apple just doesn't care about it anymore?

I want to buy a Mac Mini and probably will once it gets a boost with Skylake but I'll be loathed to pay the extra money for the SSD. It is only Apple reluctance at making the Mac Mini a competitive machine (and making it more difficult to upgrade the machine) which has stopped me buying it already.

Actually, the Mac mini is not the only computer that Apple sells with a spinning HDD. They also sell some iMacs with them, which is even more embarrassing.

At this point, I only see SSDs as standard if they redesign the Mac mini next year.

 

[adam9c1]

I thought the vintage 13" mbp has a spinner drive too.

Apple loves their 5400 rpms or upsell to ssd

 

[addictive]

I thought the vintage 13" mbp has a spinner drive too.

Apple loves their 5400 rpms or upsell to ssd

I don't want to be pedantic but the Classic MBP is no longer sold by Apple but maybe available as a refurb. I had forgotten that iMacs are still sold with a spinning HDD which I think is even more embarrassing move by Apple considering the iMacs are a far more expensive and advanced machine.

Yes, Apple does love to upwell to a SSD but the point I was making in my original post is that Apple need to move on from spinning HDDs, it's 2015 and with their purchasing power Apple can put SSDs in all their machines and its just stubbornness on their part and done to make the consumer purchase a more expensive machine. And as a consumer I'm making the choice to not purchase the Apple machine I want until a SSD is installed at a reasonable price.

 

[Andres Cantu]

I don't want to be pedantic but the Classic MBP is no longer sold by Apple but maybe available as a refurb. I had forgotten that iMacs are still sold with a spinning HDD which I think is even more embarrassing move by Apple considering the iMacs are a far more expensive and advanced machine.

Yes, Apple does love to upwell to a SSD but the point I was making in my original post is that Apple need to move on from spinning HDDs, it's 2015 and with their purchasing power Apple can put SSDs in all their machines and its just stubbornness on their part and done to make the consumer purchase a more expensive machine. And as a consumer I'm making the choice to not purchase the Apple machine I want until a SSD is installed at a reasonable price.

Perfectly fair point and I totally agree with it. HDDs as standard for base models in 2015 is a crime. Granted my Mac mini has one, but I can tolerate its speed. Plus, I got it for only $349

 

[redheeler]

The Mac Mini is now the only computer sold by Apple that has a spinning HDD

Not even close. Plenty of iMac configurations are HDD-only, including the $1999 Retina.

With Mac minis I can tolerate the HDD base models somewhat, as they are low-cost and I often use them for tasks where some slowdown is ok. But a $2K Retina iMac which will feel slower than a 5-year-old Mac with an SSD upgrade or $899 MacBook Air is simply unacceptable.

and any upgrade to the SSD is expensive.

Agreed, the SSD upgrade prices need to come down for both the Mac mini and iMac. It's not 2011 anymore, Apple.

------​

I don't want to be pedantic but the Classic MBP is no longer sold by Apple but maybe available as a refurb.

They're still sold new, but at this point the most appeal is likely to education/business rather than the general consumer.

 

[2457244]

I like my 2.6GHz 16GB mini - yes it has a spinning slow HD but I don't need the speed of an SSD or any other fancy specs when I'm only working in a code editor or doing some very light photo editing.
You'll only noticed the slow HD when you restart your Mac and it takes 5 weeks to login.

I bought this Mac in the beginning of this year and I expect it to last at least 5 years. At a price of 850,- EURO, spread over 5 years I think that's an extreme solid deal.

 

[throAU]

I think it is very likely within the next 18 months.

Spinning disk is dead. Most people can get by with 500 GB and SSD prices are falling pretty hard. Spinning hard drive prices seem to bottom out around 50 dollars... sooner or later the "$70-100 for disk" mark will be well within the realms of "enough" space in the mini.

 

[Cape Dave]

I like my 2.6GHz 16GB mini - yes it has a spinning slow HD but I don't need the speed of an SSD or any other fancy specs when I'm only working in a code editor or doing some very light photo editing.
You'll only noticed the slow HD when you restart your Mac and it takes 5 weeks to login.

I bought this Mac in the beginning of this year and I expect it to last at least 5 years. At a price of 850,- EURO, spread over 5 years I think that's an extreme solid deal.

People can say what they want, but a spinner has no place inside a computer these days. Dinosaur. Let me get out my 5 1/4 inch disk drive to get a file.

 

[tibas92013]

One "happy camper" here; as last June I bought my 2nd Refurbished i5 Mac Mini(Late 2014) 2.8GHz,8GB Ram, 256SSD from the Apple Store for around $1000 which included AppleCare and Texas State Sales Tax!

My first Refurbished is a i5 MM(Late 2012), 2.5GHz,4GB Ram, 500HD in which I upgraded to 16GB Ram last January and plan on adding a SSD in the very new future.

I now will not buy any type of Mac/PC without an SSD from the "get-go"!

 

[Micky Do]

How likely is it that Apple will introduce as standard a Mac Mini with a SSD?

It seems Apple doesn't want the Mac Mini to succeed. It redesigned the Mini to make it significantly more difficult to upgrade the machines to allow for a more rapid obsolescence.

How long can Apple go on using a spinning HDD? It is an embarrassment for a company that prides itself on performance.

So what you are saying is that you want SSD in a base model $499 Mac Mini……

Well, SSD is a no extra cost option on the the top of the range, $999 Mac Mini. You can have a 256 GB SSD installed in place of the 1 TB Fusion Drive, so it is there if you need it. If you simply desire it but are too tight to cough up; tough.

Will SSD come as the standard configuration for the base model Mac Mini? Sooner or later, almost certainly, but not for a generation or two, I reckon. For storage of late amounts of data, HDD remains more cost effective at this stage.

The Mac Mini has been around for more than 10 years now, which seems relatively successful to me. Mac Minis built today may not be cutting edge in a few years time, but I am sure they will carry on doing what they were designed to do for at least as long as any other computer.

 

[addictive]

So what you are saying is that you want SSD in a base model $499 Mac Mini……

Well, SSD is a no extra cost option on the the top of the range, $999 Mac Mini. You can have a 256 GB SSD installed in place of the 1 TB Fusion Drive, so it is there if you need it. If you simply desire it but are too tight to cough up; tough.

Will SSD come as the standard configuration for the base model Mac Mini? Sooner or later, almost certainly, but not for a generation or two, I reckon. For storage of late amounts of data, HDD remains more cost effective at this stage.

The Mac Mini has been around for more than 10 years now, which seems relatively successful to me. Mac Minis built today may not be cutting edge in a few years time, but I am sure they will carry on doing what they were designed to do for at least as long as any other computer.

Nope, you're wrong! I'm not too stingy to pay and I am not saying I want a 256 GB SSD in a base model for $499. What I said is I don't want Apple gouging its customer's on SSD prices when they choose the option to upgrade from the base model.

I don't see why Apple can't install a 128GB SSD in a Mac Mini like they use in the base Macbook Air model. Tell me a reason Apple doesn't do this? They have the parts to do this. It's choice on Apple's part. Just increase the base model's cost by $100 or so and have a Mac Mini which runs as standard with a SSD. You know everyone that uses one would be impressed by the performance difference between the SSD and a spinning HDD. For people that say 128GB is too small, well it is what Apple install on the base Macbook Air. Apple could then offer an upgrade from 128GB to 256 or more as an option.

A previous poster said spinning disks are dead and I agree. Apple is still being cheap and installing them though. As the whole world eventually migrates to saving everything in the cloud (and yes this will take time (years/decades) the hard drives computers use will be only SSD.

 

[iPhil]

I think it is very likely within the next 18 months.

Spinning disk is dead. Most people can get by with 500 GB and SSD prices are falling pretty hard. Spinning hard drive prices seem to bottom out around 50 dollars... sooner or later the "$70-100 for disk" mark will be well within the realms of "enough" space in the mini.

So you're saying by 4/2017 the low end macs will come with standard SSD, no more spinner?

 

[toddzrx]

You'll only noticed the slow HD when you restart your Mac and it takes 5 weeks to login.

Uh, no.

SSD's are noticeable all the time. Launching apps for example: way faster from an SSD.

 

[Crosscreek]

Apple SSD are PCI and much faster than SATA SSD. If you price Samsung PCI replacement SSD from Amazon you will find they are much more than a SATA SSD.

That's somewhat of the price that Apple charges although they could reduce that except they expect 20% profit off anything they sell.

The SSD is a great addition to a BTO not only for resale value but for elimination mechanical failure.

When PCI SSD comes down to the price of spinners in a couple of years they may come to the Mini just to be able to reduce the size of the enclosure.

 

[throAU]

So you're saying by 4/2017 the low end macs will come with standard SSD, no more spinner?

I'm saying it would not surprise me to see 128 (or even 256) GB SSD standard across the entire mac lineup, with 256-512GB being very affordable - within 12-18 months.

The intel X-point tech will maybe even mean a lot more storage, cheap.


edit:
most of the enterprise storage vendors (e.g., Netapp, EMC) have been saying spinning disk is dead/dying for several months now. The consumer grade stuff will follow suit in due course.

 

[scotttnz]

Apple SSD are PCI and much faster than SATA SSD. If you price Samsung PCI replacement SSD from Amazon you will find they are much more than a SATA SSD

Which is why they should offer a SATA SSD option in the base model. Still a night and day difference in performance (and user experience) compared to a 5400rpm hard drive, and a price that would be acceptable to most entry level buyers. A happy middle ground.

 

[adam9c1]

Indeed. My 2010 13" c2d MBP boots up to a clean install of El Capitan under 10 seconds with a Crucial SSD inside.

 

[Crosscreek]

Which is why they should offer a SATA SSD option in the base model. Still a night and day difference in performance (and user experience) compared to a 5400rpm hard drive, and a price that would be acceptable to most entry level buyers. A happy middle ground.

Agreed but anything that lowers their profit margin will not happen.

 

[OldGuyTom]

The new iMacs come with Fusion setups that still use HDDs. One of the Macbook Pro's, unless it's been discontinued, still comes by default with an HDD. It's years old but they're still selling them. They all have options for SSDs and with newer models SSDs on MacBook Pro's are the only option. Some people need terabytes of storage and as long as that's the case, the HDD will be alive.

 

[dogslobber]

How likely is it that Apple will introduce as standard a Mac Mini with a SSD? The Mac Mini is now the only computer sold by Apple that has a spinning HDD and any upgrade to the SSD is expensive. The Mac Mini is such an uncompetitively priced computer given it's internals. For the same price ($899) of a Mac Mini with a SSD you can buy a Macbook Air (Mini has a larger SSD and more RAM).

It seems Apple doesn't want the Mac Mini to succeed. It redesigned the Mini to make it significantly more difficult to upgrade the machines to allow for a more rapid obsolescence. We all know the single greatest performance upgrade anyone can make for a computer is to replace a spinning HDD with a SSD; so why does Apple continue to install a spinning HDD? It is handicapping it's own product's performance.

How long can Apple go on using a spinning HDD? It is an embarrassment for a company that prides itself on performance.

Are there sales figures for the Mac Mini? Is it such a niche product that Apple just doesn't care about it anymore?

I want to buy a Mac Mini and probably will once it gets a boost with Skylake but I'll be loathed to pay the extra money for the SSD. It is only Apple reluctance at making the Mac Mini a competitive machine (and making it more difficult to upgrade the machine) which has stopped me buying it already.

The Mini will have a spinner in the cheapest model for many years to come. It's classic marketing 101. Entice the punter with the cheaply priced base model then up sell them when their credit card is ouT. I recall reading somewhere that Apple sells very few low end and makes most sales in mid level Minis. Now that minis are even less upgradable I think sales will slide even more at the low end as techies won't buy the cheap model if it can't be upgraded.

 

[dogslobber]

People can say what they want, but a spinner has no place inside a computer these days. Dinosaur. Let me get out my 5 1/4 inch disk drive to get a file.

Apple doesn't sell minis with spinners to actually sell them to customers though. They're simply for hooking a customer then up selling.

 

[troy14]

Which is why they should offer a SATA SSD option in the base model. Still a night and day difference in performance (and user experience) compared to a 5400rpm hard drive, and a price that would be acceptable to most entry level buyers. A happy middle ground.

Yes, that would go over well. Give consumers purchasing a Mac Mini (read: basic consumer) a choice between a SATA SSD and PCI-e SSD. When has Apple ever differentiated that kind of difference and let the consumer pick? Probably never, that's not their style.