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The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

SpacemanSpiffed said:
Hopefully it goes well for you.

You know it's something when you can drop in on a thread, see posts you made almost exactly a year ago, and know that nothing's changed. :)

Did you decide to go with something small, or just doing the full desktop route?
Click to expand...

I bought a mid tower Corsair case, ordered an ASUS motherboard, and picked up a power supply. I am in no hurry to get it done but it's going to be a full on build. I'd like to make it a decent build with a Gen 8 i7, and at least 16gb DDR4 ram. I have not decided on the video card yet.
 
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SpacemanSpiffed said:
You know it's something when you can drop in on a thread, see posts you made almost exactly a year ago, and know that nothing's changed.
Click to expand...

Its a Testament perhaps:

* The 2012 Mini is still meeting our needs albeit not our wants - while still whipping the 2014 Mini with one hand tied.
* Mini users here are transfixed by Apple's audacity and in denial about the Mini's future.
* The same people who have the guts to open the box have the tenacity to prevail.
* Lost souls who persist in static environment according to some...
* Mini users experienced the "pride" in Apple's quality, versatility and functionality thus they go forth with expectation from a company that no longer caters to expectation and standardization - they break glass now and disrupt rather than extend and innovate.
 
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bopajuice said:
I bought a mid tower Corsair case, ordered an ASUS motherboard, and picked up a power supply. I am in no hurry to get it done but it's going to be a full on build. I'd like to make it a decent build with a Gen 8 i7, and at least 16gb DDR4 ram. I have not decided on the video card yet.
Click to expand...
If you remember, please give us details including cost when you get er done.
 
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bopajuice said:
I bought a mid tower Corsair case, ordered an ASUS motherboard, and picked up a power supply. I am in no hurry to get it done but it's going to be a full on build. I'd like to make it a decent build with a Gen 8 i7, and at least 16gb DDR4 ram. I have not decided on the video card yet.
Click to expand...

A new generation of nVidia cards are said to be coming by end of summer. If you're anything like me, you'd swear manufacturers hold off on releasing their latest stuff until they got confirmation that you just bought the about-to-become-previous generations parts :)
[doublepost=1527093358][/doublepost]
Martyimac said:
If you remember, please give us details including cost when you get er done.
Click to expand...

If anyone is wanting to get a Windows PC with decent GPU but would love the Mac Mini form factor - I have been delighted with the 'tall' Mac Mini sized Zotac EN1060 that I posted purchase pics of here in this thread about a year ago, and would recommend it. There's a model on sale right at Newegg now with 8GB and a dinky SSD included for $699. I picked up a second EN1060 and replaced the CPU in it as well with an i7-7700T and it rocks.

Ok, so I'm wishing Apple would take note of what's happening in the Tiny PC space.... I'd like a pony also.
 
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That Zoltac box looks like a great little Windows equivalent. If it had a 16 GB RAM option or barebones kit I'd consider it. I already have a Windows PC (mostly) for gaming. I just like having two separate computers - one with my personal files and another for gaming and stuff. The MacMini using 6W of power & running dead silent was perfect...
 
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Rye2d2 said:
That Zotac box looks like a great little Windows equivalent. If it had a 16 GB RAM option or barebones kit I'd consider it. I already have a Windows PC (mostly) for gaming. I just like having two separate computers - one with my personal files and another for gaming and stuff. The MacMini using 6W of power & running dead silent was perfect...
Click to expand...

You can get it barebones if you like they have several versions. It's like our 2010-2012 minis - the bottom plate unsnaps and and you can add RAM up to 32GB, or a M.2 or laptop drive. Since I knew I would upgrade the CPU I just went for the cheapest SKU. The closest thing near that size in the Windows PC space is the just now shipping Hades Canyon NUCs, but the GPU w/ 4GB in slower - somewhere around a GTX 960/970 I think vs the Zotac GTX 1060 w/ 6GB.

For personal stuff, like you have your MacMini for, the closest PC competition I found is coming from the Intel NUCs - Specifically the Kaby Lake i5 or i7 models- I'll try and come back and post a pic of the Multiplayer test rig I have that consists of a small round table with 4 gaming stations - in the middle of the monitors is tower made out of Legos(!) holding 4 Intel NUCs. They have the Iris Plus Graphics, M.2 SSD, USB-C and HDMI 2.0 in a smaller than Mini volume. Intel got finally their act together and shrunk the NUC power supply down to just a couple of inches and ounces.

For anyone reading this and wondering about benchmarks, here's the Passmark scores for my 2012 2.6 Quad Core Mini

https://www.passmark.com/baselines/V9/display.php?id=102797158431 (overall rating 2631)

And here is the benchmarks for the Zotac EN1060 with the i7 swapped in.

https://www.passmark.com/baselines/V9/display.php?id=99350311202 (overall rating 5967)

You can see the 2012 Quad Core holds its own except for the 2 known areas - the switch from SATA 3 to M.2 SSDs, and of course the GPU. CPU clock speeds have crept up, but the difference isn't anywhere as huge as GPU or Disk.

I'll try and run the benchmark on the i5 NUC to see how it compares.
 
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The other point that will go against the 2012 model is sheer age and eventual component breakdown. The GPU is the weakest point but I, like many here, will be looking to see how a Thunderbolt 3 equipped Mini (should one show up) stacks up against an iMac or MacBook Pro. Thunderbolt 3 should solve both SSD and GPU gripes leaving just the CPU to wonder about but it's been so long since the 2014 Mini's release that just about any modern Intel CPU will be better than the Haswell ones in the 2014 Mini.
 
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Apple may end up like Ford with only 2 noteworthy lines of business (models). Cars are ending up like computers whereas you could drop a Chevy engine into many other non-Chevy vehicles (changing the CPU) you can no longer easily do that - "increased control via the chip and software". Really these two industries are conceptually merging; in fact your car will become a bit of information on a real digital highway - once your car talks to the next we will have joined the network.

You can see where this is going - ownership has it's disadvantages as your whereabouts becomes everybody's business - so why own the car (ride the Bus) - why own the computer when eventually the capability will be not-so-freely hosted as a form of ultimate control built into everything. Intelligence and presence will eventually be integrated into most things where the centralized repository (privacy) is out of our control. Autonomous vehicles coexist best with autonomous vehicles which tends to lead to more autonomous vehicles and more control. Once Apple gets you into the iCar they've got you inside the box!

The thought may become "computing" is everywhere in everything - why do you need options for a desktop?
 
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masterbaron said:
Apple may end up like Ford with only 2 noteworthy lines of business (models). Cars are ending up like computers whereas you could drop a Chevy engine into many other non-Chevy vehicles (changing the CPU) you can no longer easily do that - "increased control via the chip and software". Really these two industries are conceptually merging; in fact your car will become a bit of information on a real digital highway - once your car talks to the next we will have joined the network.

You can see where this is going - ownership has it's disadvantages as your whereabouts becomes everybody's business - so why own the car (ride the Bus) - why own the computer when eventually the capability will be not-so-freely hosted as a form of ultimate control built into everything. Intelligence and presence will eventually be integrated into most things where the centralized repository (privacy) is out of our control. Autonomous vehicles coexist best with autonomous vehicles which tends to lead to more autonomous vehicles and more control!

The thought may become "computing" is everywhere in everything - why do you need options for a desktop?
Click to expand...


I like some privacy. My own desktop home sever setup does that. But I have been in pc's for a long time. So I do distrust some aspects of cloud computing.

I decided to try an amd build I just purchased this cpu/gpu

YD2400C5FBBOX AMD Ryzen 5 2400G Quad-Core 3.6GHz Socket AM4, Retail - AMD Ryzen - SuperBiiz.com

cost 153 after coupon.
I grabbed this mobo

Amazon.com: ASRock Mini-ITX Motherboards X370 GAMING-ITX/AC: Computers & Accessories

this case

Amazon.com: Thermaltake Core V1 Snow Edition SPCC Mini ITX Cube Computer Chassis CA-1B8-00S6WN-01: Computers & Accessories

cost after coupons 180

so 333 out of pocket.

I have the following in house due to my gpu mining setup

WD Black NVMe M.2 2280 1TB PCI-Express 3.0 x4 3D NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) WDS100T2X0C - Newegg.com

Amazon.com: Kingston Technology HyperX FURY White 32GB 2133MHz DDR4 CL14 DIMM Kit of 2 (HX421C14FWK2/32): Computers & Accessories


So this pc will be 1tb pcie ssd
32gb ram

Should be nice and while the ssd is maxed and the ram is maxed I can still add a 1180ti to it down the road.
and if I choose any size large hdd.
 
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Been a few months since I checked in to see if the new Mac Mini has arrived but alas I see after more than 500 pages the saga continues. LOL:rolleyes:
It's been a couple of years now and the hack continues to preform along with some GPU mining.

I'll check back in a few months again. Happy posting and good luck.:)
 
masterbaron said:
@Crosscreek - well I hope you won't have to come here to find out because that'll more than likely mean Apple made an announcement nobody cares about ... I hope the front page is a far as you get!
Click to expand...
Oh I do watch the twitter for this site. I use my 12 inch iPad pro and iPhone since IOS security is fairly solid. If the iPad pro had a pointing device such as a touch pad or mouse I wouldn't even bother with macOS, Looking forward to the rumored Arm Mac for that.
My go to heavy lifting goes to Windows 10 disk though since macOS just does not have the versatility.
 
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masterbaron said:
Its a Testament perhaps:

* The 2012 Mini is still meeting our needs albeit not our wants - while still whipping the 2014 Mini with one hand tied.
* Mini users here are transfixed by Apple's audacity and in denial about the Mini's future.
* The same people who have the guts to open the box have the tenacity to prevail.
* Lost souls who persist in static environment according to some...
* Mini users experienced the "pride" in Apple's quality, versatility and functionality thus they go forth with expectation from a company that no longer caters to expectation and standardization - they break glass now and disrupt rather than extend and innovate.
Click to expand...

I don't know how many of those I check off. As a professional game developer (I guess I'm a "professional" since it is what pays the bills), I've got a vested interest in gaming on the mac and making games for both PC and OSX. Between that and just being a techno-geek, what's bugging me the most is how Apple basically just forgot about the Mini about 5 years ago and the segments of users it serves, especially as a gateway for PC users. (Remember "Just bring your PC's keyboard and monitor?")

From 2006 through 2012 we had annual updates for the Mac Mini (none in 2008, but 2 in 2009) and Apple at least tried to have the Mini's capabilities keep up with what was possible at that price point and size+power+thermals at that moment in time. Then... they lost the plot... Any coincidence that this happened once Steve Jobs had left us? I don't know how much he cared about the Mini's place in the product mix, but since the post Jobs changes all we've had was the 2014 refresh which was basically a cost-reduction compared to the prior year's attempts to move the Mini ahead (the 320m, 6630 dGPU, quad core, etc vs soldered RAM, etc)

Now the small PC competition has not only caught up to the Mini, but it leaving it in the dust.

Recent developments have not been kind to the neglected OSX platform. Current nVME disk speeds smoke the Mini's, iGPUs have gotten way better, and low TDP Quad Cores CPU are smoking it. 4K displays need HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.3 which are AWOL here. 2018 and it's the only Mac that can't drive a 4K monitor. USB 3.1 and USB-C? *cough* *cough* *cough*

Here's a few of the Tiny PCs I have:

favx1Mn.jpg


4 of these can do 4K @ 60FPS - Guess which one doesn't​

[Back L-R] Zotac EN1060 ( i7-7700T, 6GB GTX 1060, 32GB), Zotac EI751 (i7-5775C 65w, Iris Pro 6200, 16GB)
[Front L-R] Skylake i5 NUC (i5-6260U, Iris Pro 540, 16GB), 2011 Mac Mini (i7-2620M, 16GB, AMD 6630), Kaby Lake i5 NUC (i5-7260U, Iris Plus 640, 16GB)

I just threw the rest of the size comparison pics up at https://imgur.com/a/xXbw3fs

The Mini has lost ground to the much smaller Intel NUCs, and the slightly 'larger' Tiny PCs in the back row run all over it.

Oh what the heck.. I'm preaching to the choir here.. Apple should either get the Mini 'back into the game' so to speak, or kill it off. If nothing else, Intel probably is probably ending Haswell CPU production any day now.
 
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SpacemanSpiffed said:
I don't know how many of those I check off. As a professional game developer (I guess I'm a "professional" since it is what pays the bills), I've got a vested interest in gaming on the mac and making games for both PC and OSX. Between that and just being a techno-geek, what's bugging me the most is how Apple basically just forgot about the Mini about 5 years ago and the segments of users it serves, especially as a gateway for PC users. (Remember "Just bring your PC's keyboard and monitor?")

From 2006 through 2012 we had annual updates for the Mac Mini (none in 2008, but 2 in 2009) and Apple at least tried to have the Mini's capabilities keep up with what was possible at that price point and size+power+thermals at that moment in time. Then... they lost the plot... Any coincidence that this happened once Steve Jobs had left us? I don't know how much he cared about the Mini's place in the product mix, but since the post Jobs changes all we've had was the 2014 refresh which was basically a cost-reduction compared to the prior year's attempts to move the Mini ahead (the 320m, 6630 dGPU, quad core, etc vs soldered RAM, etc)

Now the small PC competition has not only caught up to the Mini, but it leaving it in the dust.

Recent developments have not been kind to the neglected OSX platform. Current nVME disk speeds smoke the Mini's, iGPUs have gotten way better, and low TDP Quad Cores CPU are smoking it. 4K displays need HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.3 which are AWOL here. 2018 and it's the only Mac that can't drive a 4K monitor. USB 3.1 and USB-C? *cough* *cough* *cough*

Here's a few of the Tiny PCs I have:

favx1Mn.jpg


4 of these can do 4K @ 60FPS - Guess which one doesn't​

[Back L-R] Zotac EN1060 ( i7-7700T, 6GB GTX 1060, 32GB), Zotac EI751 (i7-5775C 65w, Iris Pro 6200, 16GB)
[Front L-R] Skylake i5 NUC (i5-6260U, Iris Pro 540, 16GB), 2011 Mac Mini (i7-2620M, 16GB, AMD 6630), Kaby Lake i5 NUC (i5-7260U, Iris Plus 640, 16GB)

I just threw the rest of the size comparison pics up at https://imgur.com/a/xXbw3fs

The Mini has lost ground to the much smaller Intel NUCs, and the slightly 'larger' Tiny PCs in the back row run all over it.

Oh what the heck.. I'm preaching to the choir here.. Apple should either get the Mini 'back into the game' so to speak, or kill it off. If nothing else, Intel probably is probably ending Haswell CPU production any day now.
Click to expand...

There's a potential prospect of high end Mac users seizing on a Thunderbolt 3/USB-C equipped Mac Mini buying their own eGPU (despite PCIe GPUs costing a relative arm and leg although prices are coming down slightly), bringing their own monitor, keyboards and mouse, and not buying an iMac or MacBook Pro.

Unless Apple go totally deranged with choice of CPUs it's virtually certain that anything they pick in a 2018 refresh will outperform a 2014 Mac Mini on Geekbench. And it'll have a iGPU and connector that can support 4k video.

So while the MacBook Pros have questionable keyboards, the iMacs have their own screen issues, and the modular Mac Pro is both absent for upwards of another year and potentially way out of the budget of even the most ardent Mac fan, any 2018 Mac Mini buyer may be able to bring their own replaceable screen, keyboard and mouse combination. People spending $499 will go cheap on the monitor etc, but what about a product that started at $1999 or more?

Ok, the days of upgrading your own RAM may be over (especially if all SKUs of a top spec Mini came with 16Gb RAM, removable or not) but adding external directly connected storage drives should be possible and a pricey eGPU wipes out any weakness from the onboard GPU for those who can afford it.

The only issue for Apple now is delivering a machine that will make them profit and I believe that a well specified Mac Mini Pro (in space grey) will do it.

I've mentioned before but retaining 1-2 SKUs of the current 2014 Mini - perhaps price re-aligned - and bring in the Mac Mini Pro - fully loaded and priced accordingly. Build in an iMac sized profit margin on iMac sized revenue if you have to but give the semi-pro user an option and they will use Thunderbolt 3 expandability.

Who knows, maybe some of the people who buy fully kitted Thunderbolt 3 peripherals could then carry them over to the modular Mac Pro if they can afford that next year.
 
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sublunar said:
There's a potential prospect of high end Mac users seizing on a Thunderbolt 3/USB-C equipped Mac Mini buying their own eGPU (despite PCIe GPUs costing a relative arm and leg although prices are coming down slightly), bringing their own monitor, keyboards and mouse, and not buying an iMac or MacBook Pro.
Click to expand...

Yes... but No, I don't think so. eGPUs currently are such a niche.. and a hassle - the external boxes are so much bigger and power hungrier than the mini. Not to mention the issues with having to support any graphics card under the sun that someone might put into one. It just seems like it would be too weird and counter productive a direction to go in for Apple.

sublunar said:
Unless Apple go totally deranged with choice of CPUs it's virtually certain that anything they pick in a 2018 refresh will outperform a 2014 Mac Mini on Geekbench. And it'll have a iGPU and connector that can support 4k video.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Not only is 4K @ 60fps a MUST HAVE for 2018, Apple (should) knows they would get laughed out of the room if they didn't.

sublunar said:
People spending $499 will go cheap on the monitor etc, but what about a product that started at $1999 or more?
Click to expand...

I think that's where the see the Mac Pro, and the iMac & 15" MacBook Pro covering.

sublunar said:
Ok, the days of upgrading your own RAM may be over (especially if all SKUs of a top spec Mini came with 16Gb RAM, removable or not) but adding external directly connected storage drives should be possible and a pricey eGPU wipes out any weakness from the onboard GPU for those who can afford it.?
Click to expand...

If I recall correctly, the type of Low-power DDR3 RAM they went with in the 2014 Mini didn't actually come in DIMM form. With the shift to DDR4, I would hope that they would see the benefit of bringing back the user accessible memory sockets. It never really hurt their bottom line before - paranoid people and companies paid Apple to max out the mini's memory anyway. (I was at a Fortune 50 a few years ago that had Mini's deployed all over as servers, build machines, etc, while everyone was on MacBook Pros and open office floorplans... Paying apple to add RAM was a non-issue).

Now I'm going to go about face on my above comment and say that it's a near certainty that any update will have Thunderbolt 3 (even the Kaby Lake NUCs have one).. likely 2 ports via USB-C connectors, so some people will be adding eGPUs - that's pretty much a given.

sublunar said:
The only issue for Apple now is delivering a machine that will make them profit and I believe that a well specified Mac Mini Pro (in space grey) will do it.
Click to expand...

Isn't that our worst fear... because it seems so likely ... that one of the biggest things they will tout about the next Mini is that it's available in multiple colors...

sublunar said:
I've mentioned before but retaining 1-2 SKUs of the current 2014 Mini - perhaps price re-aligned - and bring in the Mac Mini Pro - fully loaded and priced accordingly. Build in an iMac sized profit margin on iMac sized revenue if you have to but give the semi-pro user an option and they will use Thunderbolt 3 expandability.

Who knows, maybe some of the people who buy fully kitted Thunderbolt 3 peripherals could then carry them over to the modular Mac Pro if they can afford that next year.
Click to expand...

I don't see Apple fully embracing a modular Mini... but then I don't think they have to...

Ok, About a year or more ago, I made a post here describing what I would do to the next Mini if I was in charge of that product. A thought exercise that was spot on as to what was possible, except that there never was a GT4 Kaby Lake CPU. Enough new components have appeared since then that I think my next post will be revising "If I was in charge of the next Mini". Probably pointless except to decide which items would be possible and which items won't, or put another way... defining the scales to measure our disappointment by. :p
 
The last update for the Mac Mini was October 2014. Apple supports Macs for approximately seven years and Apple care is good for three years. So the window where Apple can still sell and fully support the current Mac Mini is about late summer.
 
buahuhauhauhauhauhauha :D

Come on guys, fingers crossed and maybe we will see it coming at the WWDC. (as "one more thing..." :cool:)

After all, Tim said it had an "important role in the Mac lineup" about a year ago. Enough to design a bloody shoebox! :p
 
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