The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

[DesertSurfer]

As I think back on this topic, there have definitely been some mood swings. In the beginning there was a lot of excitement and positive anticipation. People were pretty happy with the 2012 mini and expected the new one, which was almost certainly coming, to be even better. Then, for quite a while, it didn't come, and pessimism crept in. Then the 2014 mini was announced, and the mood tended toward rage, and has stayed negative overall since then, with good reason as the next mac mini, which is almost certainly coming, but not until sometime in 2018, and probably not early 2018 either. Three years with no update to the generally panned 2014 mini and going on four years, it isn't too hard to see why people have run out of patience. That's my overall recollection, feel free to correct me if you don't remember things this way.

Was fortunate to be able to replace my 2011 MacBook Pro with a 2012 Mac Mini for very little money (all into 16 gb of RAM and an SSD, the mini itself was a gift), and I'm really happy with it. I can afford to keep using it until the next new mac mini, or whatever takes it's place, comes out in 2018. I will be curious to see what it is, and to decide if it makes sense for me.

 

[dogslobber]

I can afford to keep using it until the next new mac mini, or whatever takes it's place, comes out in 2018. I will be curious to see what it is, and to decide if it makes sense for me.

You can pretty much guarantee a few things with the 2018 Mini. It'll plunge us all into depression when we see the specs and 2014 Minis will become the new gold standard as their price goes shooting through the roof.

Apple likes to punish us but we take it.

 

[philipma1957]

2018 will bring death to the iMac and new life to the ballsier Mac mini @ COOK YOU KNOW I AM RIGHT JUST ANNOUNCE IT! (one can dream)

 

[Micky Do]

Tim's comments in that email were:

• Apple loves Mac mini
• Apple plans to have Mac mini be an important part of their product line going forward.

Basically those two comments do not bode well for the mini because:

• Apple already loves the mini right where it is
• Apple already deems the mini as an important part of their product line right now.

The new Mac mini will remain the turd it's intended to be. For all intents & purposes, the Mac mini is dead. It may remain available to buy. But .... yuck

For many imperious cynics who vent their spleen here, Apple may not produce the Mac Mini that ya'll lust after for whatever reason, thus it is a turd from your point of view. But does that make it dead as a product?

Nope. For many simple folk such as myself, a basic Mac Mini is all the computer we need. Apple execs have indicated that it remains an important part of their lineup, with potential for consumer and professional application, thus a new Mac Mini is almost certainly coming. The Mac Mini is very much alive.

 

[xylitol]

Look, matey, I know a dead computer when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.

 

[Crosscreek]

For many imperious cynics who vent their spleen here, Apple may not produce the Mac Mini that ya'll lust after for whatever reason, thus it is a turd from your point of view. But does that make it dead as a product?

I enjoy flowery verbose as this but the Mini is in a lonely place............

 

[leo-tech]

A question for Mac mini experts and amateurs alike: in a sane world, where computer companies are actually interested in making their customers happy by designing and offering them what they need, where Mac mini development, manufacturing and sales continued unmolested, including update cycles—at present time, what normal, modern Mac mini 2017 specs and main features might look like?

 

[Crosscreek]

A question for Mac mini experts and amateurs alike: in a sane world, where computer companies are actually interested in making their customers happy by designing and offering them what they need, where Mac mini development, manufacturing and sales continued unmolested, including update cycles—at present time, what normal, modern Mac mini 2017 specs and main features might look like?

The 2014 refresh was a downgrade from 2012 so you should expect not to much and nothing to cannibalize any of the other product line.

 

[leo-tech]

The 2014 refresh was a downgrade from 2012 so you should expect not to much and nothing to cannibalize any of the other product line.

I keep hearing about this "cannibalization of other product lines" ad nauseam, but any product is supposed to serve its own market niche or customer group, so in reality this so called "cannibalization" means intentional artificial distortion of existing market realities on the side of Apple, a typical monopolist-abuser, by limiting customer choices, rather than serving them products they really need.

 

[Trusteft]

I keep hearing about this "cannibalization of other product lines" ad nauseam, but any product is supposed to serve its own market niche or customer group, so in reality this so called "cannibalization" means intentional artificial distortion of existing market realities on the side of Apple, a typical monopolist-abuser, by limiting customer choices, rather than serving them products they really need.

LOL
That was rich. Now Apple has a monopoly on the desktop PC world.

 

[leo-tech]

LOL
That was rich. Now Apple has a monopoly on the desktop PC world.

FYI: Apple has a monopoly on Macintosh hardware and macOS.

 

[Trusteft]

FYI: Apple has a monopoly on Macintosh hardware and macOS.

The same way Lancia has a monopoly on Lancia cars. What's your point? They dare to do as they please with their own product lines because they have a monopoly on their own brands? Are you trolling or just out of touch with reality?

 

[leo-tech]

The same way Lancia has a monopoly on Lancia cars. What's your point? They dare to do as they please with their own product lines because they have a monopoly on their own brands? Are you trolling or just out of touch with reality?

According to your logic, "Apple dare to do as they please with their own product lines"—which is exactly what I was talking about (as certain instances of Apple's "dare as they please" are indistinguishable from typical monopolist-abuser practices). For some reason, we do not hear much about Intel or AMD or Gigabyte in a similar fashion opting "not to cannibalize their other product lines".

 

[Trusteft]

According to your logic, "Apple dare to do as they please with their own product lines"—which is exactly what I was talking about (as certain instances of Apple's "dare as they please" are indistinguishable from typical monopolist-abuser practices). For some reason, we do not hear much about Intel or AMD or Gigabyte opting not to cannibalize their other product lines.

Oh man, I am not going to waste my time with you.

 

[kazmac]

A question for Mac mini experts and amateurs alike: in a sane world, where computer companies are actually interested in making their customers happy by designing and offering them what they need, where Mac mini development, manufacturing and sales continued unmolested, including update cycles—at present time, what normal, modern Mac mini 2017 specs and main features might look like?

Speaking only for myself, upgradable RAM at the very least. But I'd love a decent dGPU*, SSD standard, a variety of ports. *Or the option of hooking up an eGPU via Thunderbolt. If Apple wanted to, they could create a powerful Mini, and not leech into iMacs.

Some folks had the great idea of the Mini being the base or prosumer version of the Mac Pro.

Realistically though, I bet everything will be soldered. Me, I would like a capable Mac for less than $2k that I can hook up to my aging 2013 27" iMac here. I'll use Windows for the job, but I will leave it at work.

 

[Boyd01]

Tim Cook says a new Mac Mini is almost certainly coming

Well he didn't say much but at least this implies they don't plan to discontinue the Mini, so that's a good thing.

 

[Partron22]

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/10/19/tim-cook-mac-mini-important-product/

Is MacRumors a reliable site?
Sounds kinda dicey.

-Good news!

 

[Cape Dave]

Look, matey, I know a dead computer when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.

I will never forget the first time I saw this in the movie theatre. I thought I would never stop laughing

 

[Count Blah]

I keep hearing about this "cannibalization of other product lines" ad nauseam, but any product is supposed to serve its own market niche or customer group, so in reality this so called "cannibalization" means intentional artificial distortion of existing market realities on the side of Apple, a typical monopolist-abuser, by limiting customer choices, rather than serving them products they really need.

When Apple did include a descrete GPU in the Mac Mini, they put in an artificially low amount of VRAM, compared to any other offering of the same gpu, anywhere else. As soon as Apple could release an iGPU, they never looked back.

If those are not signs of artificially downgrading capabilities, compared to other Mac offerings, I don’t know what else is.

 

[jpietrzak8]

Tim Cook says more or less that a new mac mini is coming, people still complain.

Vaporware doesn't garner much support from fans, especially after the way Apple has treated the Mini over the last five years.

I remember having my first ST for 5 years before upgrading to a MEGA STE and we are talking about minimal upgrade at a time when there were huge advancements in computing.

Ah, I still have both a 1040ST and a Mega ST sitting in my attic. Great machines. But there's no point waiting for an upgrade to those guys, is there? At some point, you simply have to face facts and move on...

 

[Trusteft]

Vaporware doesn't garner much support from fans, especially after the way Apple has treated the Mini over the last five years.



Ah, I still have both a 1040ST and a Mega ST sitting in my attic. Great machines. But there's no point waiting for an upgrade to those guys, is there? At some point, you simply have to face facts and move on...

wtf are you talking about?

Tim Cook said there are going to be more Mac Mini models.
If you or anyone wants to just moan about it, go for it. I am out of this thread till there are more news on this. Knock yourself out if that's what you want.

 

[jpietrzak8]

wtf are you talking about?

Tim Cook said there are going to be more Mac Mini models.
If you or anyone wants to just moan about it, go for it. I am out of this thread till there are more news on this. Knock yourself out if that's what you want.

I'm talking about having both of my minis (a 2007 and a 2010 model) develop hardware issues earlier this year. Looking at the available options, and seeing that the best replacements for them would still be using five year old hardware. Looking at non-Apple desktop computers, and realizing that the rest of the world has passed Apple by.

Apple's desktop offerings today are inferior to the competition. I can't say it any more plainly than that.

 

[Sam Luis Obispo]

So... the new Mac Mini will be running an A11x ARM processor (or whatever name they cook up)? Would it make more sense to trial that in the Mac Mini before releasing it for a MacBook?

 

[Count Blah]

wtf are you talking about?

Tim Cook said there are going to be more Mac Mini models.

link? All I read was lip service to a technologically ancient product still being sold(see iPod touch, iPad mini), with no promise of a new version coming out.

If you or anyone wants to just moan about it, go for it. I am out of this thread till there are more news on this. Knock yourself out if that's what you want.

Bye

 

[EightyTwenty]

Tim Cook said there are going to be more Mac Mini models.

Technically, he didn't say that at all. It's fairly reasonable to assume that is what he meant to say, but he never confirmed there would be another Mac Mini after the 2014 model.