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The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

toke lahti said:
https://9to5mac.com/2017/05/10/interview-what-pros-want-apple-modular-mac-pro-display-specs/
Some nobody called Paul Haddad: "On top of that upgradability is key, I don’t want to have to buy a new $5k machine because Apple decides some new feature requires BT 6.0 and I can’t swap in a $100 replacement card to test it… Personally I’d be super happy if Apple just sold a couple “blessed” motherboards, one that used Dual Xeons and one that could handle any normal Desktop class (1151) processor and stopped trying to make something fit to show at the MoMA…"
We need to make movement to push this...
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That's why 3rd party vendors such as NVidia have started releasing MacOS drivers for running their products in non-Apple hardware, and Apple hasn't been chasing anyone for breaking MacOS EULA by doing so.
 
Hater said:
That's why 3rd party vendors such as NVidia have started releasing MacOS drivers for running their products in non-Apple hardware, and Apple hasn't been chasing anyone for breaking MacOS EULA by doing so.
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We are just waiting for those few blessed motherboards, which would keep working as normal after any and all macos updates...
(Really small active effort from Apple, instead this passive status quo.)

Once again, if there were a Mac company, there wouldn't be these problems...
 
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The new Mac Mini (it will be released, at the end of a veeeeeeeeery long cycle) certainly won't be modular.
That's the business of the new MacPro - for a price, of course.

I believe we'll get some sort of iMac without a dedicated GPU, no display and everything soldered. Most likely even a fan-less design based on 12" MacBook hardware. If they spec the SSD with enough spare cells, the whole thing will have no moving parts and thus no reason to take it apart except for recycling, at the end of a five-year lifespan (when it will no longer receive macOS updates).
 
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MRrainer said:
The new Mac Mini (it will be released, at the end of a veeeeeeeeery long cycle) certainly won't be modular.
That's the business of the new MacPro - for a price, of course.

I believe we'll get some sort of iMac without a dedicated GPU, no display and everything soldered. Most likely even a fan-less design based on 12" MacBook hardware. If they spec the SSD with enough spare cells, the whole thing will have no moving parts and thus no reason to take it apart except for recycling, at the end of a five-year lifespan (when it will no longer receive macOS updates).
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You are like Stephen King. That is the stuff nightmares are made of. S l o w.:)
 
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5w CPU and no moving parts due to SSD would make an interesting design if Apple created a decent massive heatsink arrangement to cool it - I'd call that innovation :)

I think an Iris Graphics capable CPU is most likely because of Apple's move towards VR and 4k external monitors requiring better performing graphics than Intel native non-Iris. With the iMac Pro at $5k I think the Mac Pro slots in below that.
 
Count Blah said:
Link?
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Here:

160265-Good-Night-And-Sweet-Dreams.jpg
 
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MRrainer said:
I believe we'll get some sort of iMac without a dedicated GPU, no display and everything soldered. Most likely even a fan-less design based on 12" MacBook hardware. If they spec the SSD with enough spare cells, the whole thing will have no moving parts and thus no reason to take it apart except for recycling, at the end of a five-year lifespan (when it will no longer receive macOS updates).
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I couldn’t imagine a Mini without a spinner internal. It just seems so wrong and unApple-esque.
 
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dogslobber said:
I couldn’t imagine a Mini without a spinner internal. It just seems so wrong and unApple-esque.
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Nostalgia. Bah, humbug.

Cost is the only advantage spinners have over SSDs.

In fairness it is still a very big advantage, and will be for a while yet.

But I certainly won't be sorry to see the last of spinners. Can't happen soon enough.
 
SSD prices are at a point where Apple can put it even at the entry point. So is the price of enough RAM. $499 for a slimmer/smaller, fanless, sealed Mac Mini with 256GB SSD and 8GB for the masses. 4K video and TB3.

I wouldn’t buy it, but I could see people who would.
 
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Miat said:
Nostalgia. Bah, humbug.

Cost is the only advantage spinners have over SSDs.

In fairness it is still a very big advantage, and will be for a while yet.
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True. But not such an advantage, IMO, that any machine sold in 2018 and beyond shouldn't have at least a 250 GB SSD, even if the rest of the storage is on spinner. Just having the OS on an SSD is a huge game-changer.
I doubt that at the Mini's price point, it will be all-SSD except as a higher-cost custom build. But I do think if a new one is coming, there should be at least a 250 GB SSD in all models. IMO, the Fusion drive was a transition technology which becomes less attractive as SSD prices fall to consumer levels.

I can easily see a Mini with a 250 GB SSD and a 1 TB spinner. Though in reality, with USB 3.1 and TB3, assuming those make it into the next iteration if there is one, I'd just as soon not have the extra internal spinner and add more external storage if/when needed.
 
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MRrainer said:
The new Mac Mini (it will be released, at the end of a veeeeeeeeery long cycle) certainly won't be modular.
That's the business of the new MacPro - for a price, of course.

I believe we'll get some sort of iMac without a dedicated GPU, no display and everything soldered. Most likely even a fan-less design based on 12" MacBook hardware. If they spec the SSD with enough spare cells, the whole thing will have no moving parts and thus no reason to take it apart except for recycling, at the end of a five-year lifespan (when it will no longer receive macOS updates).
Click to expand...

And then the Mac Pro will start at such a high spec/price the gap between the Mini and the Pro will be even bigger than it is today, with nothing in between other than an iMac, which buyers of neither the Mini or the Pro want. Joy!
 
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ziggy29 said:
True. But not such an advantage, IMO, that any machine sold in 2018 and beyond shouldn't have at least a 250 GB SSD, even if the rest of the storage is on spinner. Just having the OS on an SSD is a huge game-changer.
Click to expand...

I agree. A 250GB SSD for the boot drive is the minimum these days.

ziggy29 said:
I can easily see a Mini with a 250 GB SSD and a 1 TB spinner. Though in reality, with USB 3.1 and TB3, assuming those make it into the next iteration if there is one, I'd just as soon not have the extra internal spinner and add more external storage if/when needed.
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I quite like having a clone backup on board. Ditching the spinner form and instead having two M.2 slots would be good.

But having only one drive slot is not a deal breaker if it also has USB 3.1 and TB3.
 
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Crosscreek said:
Too under powered to do anything useful. My as well get an iPad which will do as much.
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With CPU performance similar to the MacBook, a TB3 port for eGPU, macOS, a big monitor, full size keyboard and mouse/trackpad, it would do a lot more than an iPad!

But I doubt it would be priced at 599$...
 
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