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The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

Boyd01 said:
But there haven't been any rumors, which is odd since there haven't been many surprises recently...
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KLR was a bit of a surprise, though. Everyone assumed these would be CoffeLake chips due in 2018. Plus Mac Hardware in general gets little notice in the media.
 
Well keep on hoping. And even if there isn't a new Mini, those new watch bands and phone cases sound pretty exciting. 🙂
 
oneMadRssn said:
If there is a new Mac Mini announced on September 12, I will eat the box my 2012 came in. If it's a whole new form factor, more than just a spec bump, I will eat the entire Craig Kimbrell bobblehead sitting on my desk, in one bite, no chewing, and livestream it on youtube. That is how confident I am that there will be no new Mac Mini.
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I'll take that bet and let you use taco sauce if you like! You never know.... but we do know.....
 
CWallace said:
Well it would not be very "mini" if it was in the cMP case. 😛

And yes, I know people want an iMac 5K without the (5K) display, but Apple is not going to offer a headless Mac that directly competes with that so while yes a cMP case would allow 6/8 core i7s and dual Radeon Pro GPUs, it's not going to happen.

I do think if the Mini is updated, it will get quad-cores again - if for no other reason I believe Intel is going to make that the minimum core configuration in the near future now that we have Kaby Lake Refresh quad-cores with 15W TDPs.




I think our last, best chance to see a new Mac Mini is on the 12th because of the Kaby Lake Refresh CPUs launching. Their max TDP is 25W which is a bit less than the Haswell's currently in the Mini and Apple has three dual-core and three quad-core models to choose from. So they really need to do nothing to the case except swap the TB2 ports for USB-C/TB3 ones.
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I had a Mac Pro 6,1 it was really small considering it's CPU/GPU grunt-force. Like a Stack 'o' Mini's.
That mo' fo' had 3 Thunderbolt headers on it for 6 Thunderbolt ports. Plus dual GD Gb ethernet! That was impressive for my needs. If they'd made in fatter and BTO for NVIDIA, I think it would have still been in production.

A maxi-mini would be a 2012 cMP chassis with at least 2 Thunderbolt 3 headers, multiple PCIe slots with room for at least 2 double-fat GPUs, 6 USB-3, 6 internal 2.5" empty SSD bays, 2x Gb Ethernet, internal SATA6, and an Intel i7 6700. If they want to cut corners, leave out bluetooth, touchbars, and the solder or glue for the RAM and the CPU. BTO is really they only green solution here, because there has to be a warehouse full of those chassis.

You could probably do the same thing with the 6,1, as you say. Just dump the GPU and m2-type slot for two internal 2.5" SSDs. Onboard graphics are fine. Maybe a laptop-grade one, IDK. Whoa! Did I just design the Mini-mMP?

The benchmark of any new Mini will be against the 2012 i7 2.6GHz, SSD, 16GB RAM minimum spec.
 
Two things defined the size of the Mac mini we have today:
- optical drive
- mechanical HDD

Once you remove the optical drive and the HDD, the Mac mini should have the ability to become much, much smaller. Look at the Intel NUC for example. Except that all the NUC's I have seen still have memory slots. 😉
 
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Yvan256 said:
Two things defined the size of the Mac mini we have today:
- optical drive
- mechanical HDD

Once you remove the optical drive and the HDD, the Mac mini should have the ability to become much, much smaller. Look at the Intel NUC for example. Except that all the NUC's I have seen still have memory slots. 😉
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As with iPhones, I'm ok with a larger footprint if we get added functionality. I'm curious about this new technology you call "slots"? Sounds intriguing, maybe Apple can adopt it after all the technical kinks are worked out.
 
Yvan256 said:
Two things defined the size of the Mac mini we have today:
- optical drive
- mechanical HDD

Once you remove the optical drive and the HDD, the Mac mini should have the ability to become much, much smaller. Look at the Intel NUC for example. Except that all the NUC's I have seen still have memory slots. 😉
Click to expand...
I think that might be what the next mini is, if there is one - basically a MacBook (Y series fanless cpus, tiny enclosure) without a screen.
 
I still think the best solution here is if Apple doesn’t want to support the non-appliance desktop market (non-iMac), that they be more open to third-party options for this market. Work with the Hackintosh community to make it easier to host macOS on non-Apple hardware, and allow licensing so people can make and sell computers running macOS. Make the license read such that people aren’t allowed to impinge on the iMac market if they are afraid of competition in that sector. If Apple puts out anything in the non-pro headless Mac category I see them going even more towards an appliance, something like a server blade in a sealed-shut pancake box. The ultimate in use-and-toss computing. They’ll even supply a shipping label to return the computer to home base for recycling after it’s all used up.
 
Yvan256 said:
Two things defined the size of the Mac mini we have today:
- optical drive
- mechanical HDD

Once you remove the optical drive and the HDD, the Mac mini should have the ability to become much, much smaller. Look at the Intel NUC for example. Except that all the NUC's I have seen still have memory slots. 😉
Click to expand...

The one downside to the NUCs is the external power brick which I would hope a new Mac Mini wouldn't adopt. I love my built in PSU.
 
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Smaller than the NUC: If you give up the optical and HDD another form factor is the Intel Compute Stick. Plugs into your TV's HDMI port. Has a power brick that is also a USB hub.
 
jasnw said:
I still think the best solution here is if Apple doesn’t want to support the non-appliance desktop market (non-iMac), that they be more open to third-party options for this market. Work with the Hackintosh community to make it easier to host macOS on non-Apple hardware, and allow licensing so people can make and sell computers running macOS.
Click to expand...

Authorized Clones almost bankrupted Apple Computer back in the day due to offering better performance for lower pricing.


jasnw said:
Make the license read such that people aren’t allowed to impinge on the iMac market if they are afraid of competition in that sector.
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So how do you do that, exactly? I posit that the All-In-One form factor is not the only reason one would buy an iMac - some probably buy it because of the CPU and dGPU options it offers that the Mac Mini does not. So while the easy answer is to not allow All-In-Ones, if you allow them to use the same CPUs as the iMac and also allow discrete GPUs (especially if you are allowed to offer nVidia options), then you will probably have a direct and strong impact on iMac sales and we're back to the above situation Apple had with Authorized Clones.

Apple has generally ignored the Hackintosh market because it's focus is for more technical users who are willing to put in the work to set-up and maintain them. And while sites like tonymacx86 help streamline the process, it's still nowhere near "simple". And should it ever become "simple" and start to seriously impact Mac sales, I expect Apple to take action.
 
saulinpa said:
Smaller than the NUC: If you give up the optical and HDD another form factor is the Intel Compute Stick. Plugs into your TV's HDMI port. Has a power brick that is also a USB hub.
Click to expand...

I've got a couple of the Compute Sticks. They look cool, seem cool, and are really neat at the start. Then you find the back of your screen is an octopus of usb hubs and devices and you find out that it's not powerful enough to really do the things you want (such as stream 1080p video). On top of that, they're really expensive for the power you get

The better idea for Apple would be just to segment their Mac lineup into something like a "signature" line with their big 3, then something like a "legacy" line for the stuff they really don't want to do but it's needed to round out the Mac lineup

Then just farm out the new Mini to Intel; a NUC Mini. Put them out as 3-4 different types of sealed units (to reduce inventory) but with a replaceable lid with usb-c underneath. With a replaceable lid, you could have different colors, lcd screens, inductive cell phone chargers, 2.5" drive bay(s), etc

Keep it cheap, let Intel do the work, and only sell it at Apple stores/website. Minimal work for maximum return and the customers are happy for something new
 
CWallace said:
Authorized Clones almost bankrupted Apple Computer back in the day due to offering better performance for lower pricing.
Click to expand...

'Back in the day' Apple was dependent on its computer sales. Today, not so much. They'll never let iOS out of the bag, but macOS isn't their Sugar Daddy an more, nor are non-iMac/non-laptop computer sales.

CWallace said:
So how do you do that, exactly? I posit that the All-In-One form factor is not the only reason one would buy an iMac - some probably buy it because of the CPU and dGPU options it offers that the Mac Mini does not. So while the easy answer is to not allow All-In-Ones, if you allow them to use the same CPUs as the iMac and also allow discrete GPUs (especially if you are allowed to offer nVidia options), then you will probably have a direct and strong impact on iMac sales and we're back to the above situation Apple had with Authorized Clones.

Apple has generally ignored the Hackintosh market because it's focus is for more technical users who are willing to put in the work to set-up and maintain them. And while sites like tonymacx86 help streamline the process, it's still nowhere near "simple". And should it ever become "simple" and start to seriously impact Mac sales, I expect Apple to take action.
Click to expand...

I'm saying that the AIO (and the laptop) are the only computers Apple cares about, basically the computer-as-appliance market. Apple clearly doesn't worry about the users who want freedom from the AIO computer, or care for that matter. The best face to be put on it is that Apple does not care what this particular user class wants or needs, and is also unwilling to provide them a way (other than the Hackintosh route, which they do little to support) to get what they need from elsewhere in order to protect their bottom line. I see this as very short-sighted, but that appears to be where Apple is these days.
 
jasnw said:
'Back in the day' Apple was dependent on its computer sales. Today, not so much. They'll never let iOS out of the bag, but macOS isn't their Sugar Daddy an more, nor are non-iMac/non-laptop computer sales.



I'm saying that the AIO (and the laptop) are the only computers Apple cares about, basically the computer-as-appliance market. Apple clearly doesn't worry about the users who want freedom from the AIO computer, or care for that matter. The best face to be put on it is that Apple does not care what this particular user class wants or needs, and is also unwilling to provide them a way (other than the Hackintosh route, which they do little to support) to get what they need from elsewhere in order to protect their bottom line. I see this as very short-sighted, but that appears to be where Apple is these days.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Apple doesn't care, and I don't blame them. This Mini-fetish-thing (because that is what is it) is so niche that it is ridiculous. But I am confident that, long after the Mini is officially killed-off, this thread will continue because those who perpetuate it are addicted to it.
Oh well, it's either that or unicorns, I guess...
 
jasnw said:
'Back in the day' Apple was dependent on its computer sales. Today, not so much. They'll never let iOS out of the bag, but macOS isn't their Sugar Daddy an more, nor are non-iMac/non-laptop computer sales.
Click to expand...

It's still a $25-35 billion a year business for them.
 
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imanidiot said:
Absolutely. Apple doesn't care, and I don't blame them. This Mini-fetish-thing (because that is what is it) is so niche that it is ridiculous. But I am confident that, long after the Mini is officially killed-off, this thread will continue because those who perpetuate it are addicted to it.
Oh well, it's either that or unicorns, I guess...
Click to expand...


I was going to slam this statement but it's just a perspective which you're entitled to and Apple probably shares your thoughts from a profitability standpoint. Form-factor and price / performance however have never been empty fetishes but clearly an addiction of "value" acquired from the 2010 Mini that won't be cured with current day product-offerings at the same price-point.

Once the Mini is discontinued the expectation that Apple will focus on a desktop to segue Windows users will come to an end along with this thread. Clearly though, if Apple offers a headless desktop with potential for growth and serviceability these fine folks here will intelligently make the transition to the next thread where we continue to benefit from open discussion and the pursuit of suitable solutions.
 
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We know that the iMac Pro will launch in December. It could get an event in November and they can talk about the Mac Mini update as filler for that iMac Pro event. Apple would like to show off those 18 cores and VR stuff to the pros along with the Thunderbolt 3 Mini.
 
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