biker4mac
macrumors member
I'd like to see a scale-able modular system - at the low end the basic component(s) would basically be a Mac Mini and from there you could add what you needed up into the Mac Pro range.
The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming
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I'd like to see a scale-able modular system - at the low end the basic component(s) would basically be a Mac Mini and from there you could add what you needed up into the Mac Pro range.
Count Blah
macrumors 68040
There are two competing groups, when it comes to the mac mini. Well, three actually - the third being the ever present "Apple can do no wrong" group.
The other two are ...
- Whatever the new Mac Mini is, it can't possibly be small enough. They want SOME updated specs, with near zero expandability. These types would have been A-OK with the 2014 Mac Mini release, IF it were 1/4-1/2 of the size.
- An improved 2012 Mac Mini. User upgradable with a more powerful CPU than the laughable 2014 mac mini downgrade.
What you are asking for, is more of the mid-range option. You would need a tower, or some sort, to make your way from a mini to a pro. Graphics cards alone, would require more support and power, than any mini has offered in a long time.
I just don't see that happening, not if Apple uses the "pro" name. Look at the iMac Pro which STARTS at $5000. IMO, $500 is not going to get you any more than an empty box at Mac Pro prices.
People should stop thinking that a "modular MacPro" has something for them when they're really looking for a Mini.
I have no idea why that keeps coming up.
The Pro most likely has:
- Dual CPU support
- ECC RAM
- PCIe slots
- NVMe drive slots
- support for very high end GPUs (NVIDIA Tesla etc), which you primarily need for ML/KI stuff anyway
Or at least, it should have else people will not even look at it.
A new Mini would not need anything of that, because most of its potential buyers wouldn't need anything of that either.
I'm still looking forward to Apple releasing a new Mini. Though not necessarily on Tuesday.
I could see myself buying an iMac (5k), but I could also see myself buying a Mini that can drive a 5k display (anything less and it's a pass), though three displays would be great.
I have no idea why that keeps coming up.
The Pro most likely has:
- Dual CPU support
- ECC RAM
- PCIe slots
- NVMe drive slots
- support for very high end GPUs (NVIDIA Tesla etc), which you primarily need for ML/KI stuff anyway
Or at least, it should have else people will not even look at it.
A new Mini would not need anything of that, because most of its potential buyers wouldn't need anything of that either.
I'm still looking forward to Apple releasing a new Mini. Though not necessarily on Tuesday.
I could see myself buying an iMac (5k), but I could also see myself buying a Mini that can drive a 5k display (anything less and it's a pass), though three displays would be great.
Does the Mac Pro really need dual CPU though with so much horsepower coming from single CPU configurations and Apple's admission that high power computing is moving towards GPU?
With Apple's secretive and capricious attitude to top end pro hardware would any video professionals really lay down 5 figures for a Modular Mac Pro with dual CPUs at today's prices now if they didn't trust Apple after recent failures in the pro arena? Admittedly they might but this would really be the last chance for Apple to get it right.
More important is the fate of FCPX, performance of Adobe software on the new hardware, and the perception that quality control where macOS is concerned isn't where it should be.
For me, a Mini can come with a Coffee Lake CPU with extra cores but we're still looking at some form of product differentiation in terms of GPU via eGPU. Apple really do need to see if they can do something with the i5-8305G in a headless computer, especially if the Mac Pro is going to be even further out of reach of hobbyists with decent investment in their own input devices and monitors.
With Apple's secretive and capricious attitude to top end pro hardware would any video professionals really lay down 5 figures for a Modular Mac Pro with dual CPUs at today's prices now if they didn't trust Apple after recent failures in the pro arena? Admittedly they might but this would really be the last chance for Apple to get it right.
More important is the fate of FCPX, performance of Adobe software on the new hardware, and the perception that quality control where macOS is concerned isn't where it should be.
For me, a Mini can come with a Coffee Lake CPU with extra cores but we're still looking at some form of product differentiation in terms of GPU via eGPU. Apple really do need to see if they can do something with the i5-8305G in a headless computer, especially if the Mac Pro is going to be even further out of reach of hobbyists with decent investment in their own input devices and monitors.
Maybe 1 CPU is enough. I thought HP's Z-line workstations had dual CPU, but it looks like the latest line doesn't, except for the Z8. Platin Xeon 8180 has 28 cores. Though it looks like you can expand the Z6 to a 2nd CPU.
http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=c05527761
I'd guess a MacPro would be something between the Z4 and the Z6.
You really have to think of the MacPro as the "Edition"-edition of the Mac, like the Apple Watch with that name.
If you have no business-case (and don't want to burn 10k-20k on it), there's no point in wanting it, the same as there's no point in wanting a 250k car if all you do is commute an hour to a 65k job and drive 250km to your mother every couple of weeks.
http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=c05527761
I'd guess a MacPro would be something between the Z4 and the Z6.
You really have to think of the MacPro as the "Edition"-edition of the Mac, like the Apple Watch with that name.
If you have no business-case (and don't want to burn 10k-20k on it), there's no point in wanting it, the same as there's no point in wanting a 250k car if all you do is commute an hour to a 65k job and drive 250km to your mother every couple of weeks.
jasnw
macrumors 65816
The new Mini, if it ever surfaces, should be the technological evolutionary descendant of the 2012 Mini. Give it CPU options that match the market about where the 2012 Mini matched the 2012 market, make it DIY upgradable, put in SSD storage, and give it a decent set of ports. The much-vaunted superior Apple design folks should be able to swing this and hit a decent price point. If they can't, they're just over-paid, over-qualified, and self-absorbed fashion designers. If they try to patch it on as a bottom end of a line of modular computers that tops out with a $5,000+ pro machine it will cost too much and will have highers specs than necessary for what the Mini should be. This should be a no-brainer, and the fact that Apple hasn't been able to get this product out the door in almost six years now (ignoring the failure that is the 2014 Mini) is what makes me think that, after all, the Mini may not be most certainly coming. So Apple, FYYFF.
biker4mac
macrumors member
I just don't see that happening, not if Apple uses the "pro" name. Look at the iMac Pro which STARTS at $5000. IMO, $500 is not going to get you any more than an empty box at Mac Pro prices.
I realize that my wishes are a bit naive - particularly considering that Apple seems to have become enamored of the iPhone model where hardware seems to be replaced every two years. But my thought was twofold:
- “Pro” means different things to different people. Someone working with audio is going to have different requirements from someone working with video is going to have different requirements from etc… As such, the modular format makes sense for a “pro” computer - being able to bulk up on graphics, processing, storage, or whatever else you need. The other side of that is not having what you don’t need - heavy GPUs for audio processing for example. As such, have a scalable system - and possibly that if you don’t bulk up on any of the components you have the Mac Mini.
- That you do have something that you can adapt to meet your needs as your needs change. Perhaps your initial needs are relatively modest and you can enter the modular system at the base level (the Mini), but after a year or two you find yourself needing more. Rather than start over from scratch, you can add to your system as required and that Mini becomes more pro-like.
DIY upgradable may be a thing of the past.
If it isn't then I would suggest that Apple offer upgradable standard slots for memory and storage but pre-populate them with generous amounts of Apple supplied memory and PCIe. SSD storage as standard. You'd have to forget the $499 Mini and start looking at $1399 but at least the upgradability would be there for people who intend to keep the machine for a decade.
For example, Apple release a upgradable Mini with 16Gb RAM and 512Gb SSD priced at the aforementioned £1399. People wanting more can buy their own but Apple will by default have made a machine which can be serviced by the end user relatively easily in the event of a hardware fail. Anyone wanting to add their own 1-2Tb SSD just swaps the part out but Apple will already have made more profit per unit.
If they want to hit the cheap price point - and iPad still isn't quite the replacement of the sub-$1000 PC yet - then they should just let the base 2014 Mini hang around for a bit longer.
masterbaron
macrumors 6502
There ... without ever mentioning any short-comings - as it should be - "we" should be able to continue work - fun and life irrespective of the "device". Suggesting "hope" for Apple to innovate again indicates some fluidity to leave Apple and come back when it's right - in the meantime life goes on!
All this loyalty to Apple is a bit over-placed. The best place is having choice which apparently is achievable.
jasnw
macrumors 65816
I am not hoping for Apple to get it's collective act together and put out a decent range of headless desktop computers because of some misplaced loyalty. Switching from macOS back to Linux Desktop or Windows means relearning how all the tools I use work all over again, yet again. I've lost track of how many times I've made this transition over the years, and I'm tired of spending my diminishing amount of remaining time learning how to use tools rather than using those tools to do what I want to do. So, rather than flee I'm staying in place and fighting like hell to get Apple to either do right by their computer lines to spin them off to a separate company that will. I do understand that this is a 'tilting at windmills' sort of exercise, but it helps me with my advanced degree in Old Curmudgeon.
Partron22
macrumors 68030
Some of the weirder, more obscure tools will be impossible to find, so I have to go on workaround searches.
The terrible search engines inside all the walled garden App stores are not helpful, and the stores themselves are damping down independent work outside the walls. Linux freeware excepted of course, but it looks to me like they need another few years to fully mature.
masterbaron
macrumors 6502
Not trying to minimize the importance of "individual flow and the tools that facilitate the task" but clearly the paradigm of more (power, speed) for less has been diminished by closed ecosystems and increased control over software which presents a challenge for those who rely solely on one platform (as I do currently).
"Queue to music"
Truth is however... once I'm challenged with not finding the solution within Apple (a year or two) ... I will find a solution!
"Queue to music"
Truth is however... once I'm challenged with not finding the solution within Apple (a year or two) ... I will find a solution!
Neodym
macrumors 68030
Now put that abomination in a decent looking case, add a proper CPU and I might be willing to at least argue about it ...
Karnicopia
macrumors 6502
Here's hoping they announce something today. They supposedly have a low cost iPad and a low cost MacBook Air there sure is a nice spot in that lineup for a low cost desktop and 4k monitor that could be used with a mini or the MacBook Air. I'm pulling for it I really like a mini type computer.
The point is, at least SOMEONE is breaking new ground with mini computers. Certainly not Apple.
Neodym
macrumors 68030
I wouldn’t call that groundbreaking - industrial tinker toys are nothing new, really. Most wannabe mini competitors lack in one department or the other when it comes to home use: Silent, powerful CPU, user-friendly OS/UI, nice design, support ...
The Mint mini is just another of those, lacking in OS, CPU power and design (and you could argue about (the lack of modern) ports such as USB-C/TB). Quasi a Raspberry Pi on steroids.
staleygreg
macrumors newbie
The new mac mini is almost certainly coming
Silent, price point, excellent connections, free OS. I am not saying it is a DIRECT competitor. That would be what the Intel NUC i7 is for
dogslobber
macrumors 601
Where is the new mini? I can't see it on apple website so maybe a bug in my browser (running high sierras)
Partron22
macrumors 68030
Sorry if you hoped for a new Mini in today's show.
But I can see why people won't want to read close to 500 pages of comments on why that was rather unlikely to happen.
My 2014-bought 2012 is now already almost four years old. Still working OK, for what I do.
And I'd need to buy a top-of-the-line i7 iMac to double the geekbench-score of that 2012 i7.
But I can see why people won't want to read close to 500 pages of comments on why that was rather unlikely to happen.
My 2014-bought 2012 is now already almost four years old. Still working OK, for what I do.
And I'd need to buy a top-of-the-line i7 iMac to double the geekbench-score of that 2012 i7.