The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

[jasnw]

I've now got two new VMs on my iMac, one running Windows 10 and the other System76's Pop!_OS. To quote Marshall Suvorov: "Train hard, fight easy." Have to be ready for a battery-powered Mac Mini with a video-capable screen imbedded in its top that shows a random serving of 3D face emojis. Sealed, with no ports.

 

[Partron22]

I'd prefer a compressible Aerogel top which opens into a cube suitable for displaying holograms at 4000X4000X4000.
Steering three little lasers should not take much power, and 64 billion pixels is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[dogslobber]

The thing about any Mini upgrade is that it’ll make the 2012 model all the more valuable. Apple will simpl let us down again.

 

[tn-xyz]

The thing about any Mini upgrade is that it’ll make the 2012 model all the more valuable.

only in terms of upgradability, i suppose.

 

[dirtylilhobo]

Noticing in the Buyer’s Guide that nearly all of the Mac lineup, 5 out of 7, are marked red - don’t buy. One is neutral and one is yellow - caution. So, this fall, I’m hoping that all of the red products will be upgraded and turn green - buy. Or, Apple announces discontinuance of the Mac lineup. Either way, I’m sick of being kept in the dark about Mac hardware refresh.

I’m also sick of Apple’s iPad this and iPhone that, the autonomous car, the watch, the development of useless gimmicks like Mimoji, the continual thinning of products and their resulting port elimination. I really miss that mini ear phone jack, just plug them in, no charging necessary.

Come on Tim Cook, pull that stick otta’ your rear end and get things rollin’. Lead, follow, or get out of the way.!

 

[ziggy29]

only in terms of upgradability, i suppose.

And whether or not they restore the quad core option. Also depends on whether a new model would continue to have TB and be supported for eGPU configurations.
[doublepost=1529272456][/doublepost]

The MacBook Air can be used in "clamshell mode" with the lid closed, hidden behind an external monitor and connected to a keyboard and mouse. I'm not saying this is an ideal solution - and it certainly doesn't excuse the lack of a reasonably priced Mini - but you can basically treat it just like a desktop if desired. It has two USB 3.0 ports, thunderbolt port, a headphone jack and an SD card slot on the 13" model. I mostly use my own 2013 11" MacBook Air like this these days.

The problem is that it is TB2, not TB3, and thus won't be supported in an eGPU configuration. It's not really usable as a solid desktop replacement unless it can drive an eGPU, IMO. (I know there are workarounds to that; I'm using an eGPU with my 2012 Mini which has TB1. But it should be supported out of the box and not subject to Apple trying to break the workarounds.)

 

[tn-xyz]

(I know there are workarounds to that; I'm using an eGPU with my 2012 Mini which has TB1. But it should be supported out of the box and not subject to Apple trying to break the workarounds.)

uhm, we are talking about apple here.

 

[dimakey]

 

[ddarden]

[doublepost=1529339989][/doublepost]Here is your new mac mini:

https://www.tonymacx86.com/buyersguide/january/2018/#CustoMac_Mini_Deluxe

 

[masterbaron]

I'm wondering if Apple will contort themselves to appease the "common knowledge" that they only want to invest in mobility and sealed AIO's - a community that may have more superficial requirements or corporate cash to chase new models when an upgrade will do. The nuts and bolts of serviceability, customization and upgrades equates to more inventory and users having specific "one-off" issues that can't be addressed globally.

Will they really answer the long-term question or simply make it harder to invest in the platform and leave us with more questions.

The model of more cash for less (iPhone) is intoxicating when you can tout development as a major obstacle to maximizing profits. That development however needs to translate into benefits that are important to me - the ability to plan is essential rather than constant turmoil and questions.

Whatever Apple comes up with isn't the real problem - what they commit to and the strategic path is.

Making the leap to Windows - or - holding firm with Apple has become somewhat of a debacle.

 

[ziggy29]

And, in fact, less powerful than the quad-core 2012 models.

 

[Gudi]

I remember Oct 2012 when Phil Schiller introduced Fusion Drive. It was like a magic trick, fast and huge storage in one. Of course Apple was never going to let costumers benefit from the price advantage. But rumors had it, you could build your own Fusion Drive with an entry-level Mac mini and a third-party cable from ebay. So I did, first with the standard 500GB HDD, later with a 2TB HDD. Time Machine transferred all my data without problems twice. The only downside was, you had to run TrimEnabler after every OS update until Yosemite. eBay also allowed me to double the RAM to 8GB virtually for free.

Naturally my machine compared very favorably to the sealed and soldered Mac mini 2014; and it ruined my price expectations on Fusion Drive equipped Macs forever. But I didn’t expect this to be the last Mac mini in four years. I understand Apple doesn’t care for cheapskates like me, but don’t they need to offer something to their other customers? No love for the Mac mini at all. This is ridiculous!

 

[Miat]

The Australian refurb store is stuffed full of 2014 Minis at the moment. Full range, far as I can see.

I ain't buying.

https://www.apple.com/au/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/mac_mini

 

[millar876]

Just gutted my Mac mini (late 2012 i7-3650qm) added an SSD, replaced the HDD, combined them into a fusion drive, replaces the PRAM battery and applied replaces the stock thermal paste with liquid metal. It’s like a new machine (new for a 2012 Mac mini). Under full load temps stay below 95c at full boost speed and the fans are only going about 3600rpm (1800 minimum/idle and 5000 max speed). Before that it was hitting 105c with full fan speed and not reaching full boost speed.

 

[ddarden]

Just gutted my Mac mini (late 2012 i7-3650qm) added an SSD, replaced the HDD, combined them into a fusion drive, replaces the PRAM battery and applied replaces the stock thermal paste with liquid metal. It’s like a new machine (new for a 2012 Mac mini). Under full load temps stay below 95c at full boost speed and the fans are only going about 3600rpm (1800 minimum/idle and 5000 max speed). Before that it was hitting 105c with full fan speed and not reaching full boost speed.

Also made these upgrades on my 2012 mac mini a while ago. It works great. It's probably the only reason I haven't upgraded to a hackintosh yet. So much potential squandered by Apple.

Lots of companies make advanced announcements of what's coming next year. Only Apple rewards its most loyal fans by ignoring them and keeping them in the dark.

 

[masterbaron]

It’s like a new machine (new for a 2012 Mac mini).

See ... The New Mac Mini is most certainly coming!!!

 

[Jim L]

The Australian refurb store is stuffed full of 2014 Minis at the moment. Full range, far as I can see.

I ain't buying.

https://www.apple.com/au/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/mac_mini

I can see why you aren't buying. Soldered and glued shut, most having 5400 rpm spinners, and at those prices! It should be a crime.

If Apple doesn't have an acceptable response this year, I will be going elsewhere for my Mac mini replacement.

 

[SpacemanSpiffed]

Just gutted my Mac mini (late 2012 i7-3650qm) added an SSD, replaced the HDD, combined them into a fusion drive, replaces the PRAM battery and applied replaces the stock thermal paste with liquid metal. It’s like a new machine (new for a 2012 Mac mini). Under full load temps stay below 95c at full boost speed and the fans are only going about 3600rpm (1800 minimum/idle and 5000 max speed). Before that it was hitting 105c with full fan speed and not reaching full boost speed.

Good job! Easy to forget the PRAM battery. Did you also get a foil bit to add to cut down on interference between the WiFi and USB? (one came with my Mac Mini HDD upgrade kit).

I did all of that except for replacing the thermal paste a couple years back when I got one of the last refurb 2012 2.6 from Apple. Added Apple care, a 1TB SSD and 2TB HDD, but didn't make them into a fusion drive (the 2TB HDD is shared and visible to both OSX and Bootcamp - the stuff/games I work on often is built for both)

An interesting thing I've come to note on all my machines, not just the mini, is that I really notice when I am accessing a traditional hard drive. All the machines let them spin down when not actively in use (2.5" HDDs are laptop drives and default to doing that), and there is a pause when they have to spin back up. Call it first world problems, but I've come to be annoyed by it, and whenever possible am going all SSD now. Most machines are getting a M.2 drive as the OS drive/primary work drive, and for 2.5" drives, the Micron 2TB SSDs are down to about $310 (under $300 when on sale) and I'm making them part of my new builds, compared to the Samsung 5400RPM 2TB 2.5" HDDs at $110 (which seem to be getting hard to find). Silly? Maybe. I'm probably spoiled.

 

[jasnw]

Lots of companies make advanced announcements of what's coming next year. Only Apple rewards its most loyal fans by ignoring them and keeping them in the dark.

If a person wanted to look at all this silence as a sign from Apple, the silence could be interpreted as follows:

Perhaps if Apple's plans for the Mini were nothing earth-shaking, just bring the components of the current design up-to-date and tweak the pricing, then Apple would be sharing their plans with the GUM (Great Unwashed Masses, AKA us) if for no other reason than to make us shut the * up. However, if Apple's plans are a jack move in an unexpected direction that could catch their competition on the wrong foot, they will remain silent as long as possible. All for the good as far as Apple's marketing and bottom-line-focused folks are concerned. From the perspective of most of the GUM on this thread, such a "jack move" could be very good (a nice modular desktop line using Intel or AMD processors with DIY access) or horribly bad (sealed boxes with ARM processors incompatible with Intel-processors codes).

 

[Boyd01]

If a person wanted to look at all this silence as a sign from Apple, the silence could be interpreted as follows:

If they were doing something unexpected, seems like there would have been some leaks or rumors. But there has been nothing. IIRC, we have had rumors for just about every Mac released in recent years. The only thing I recall that was a surprise was the update to the entry level MacBook Air in 2017, when they bumped the CPU from 1.6ghz to 1.8ghz and didn't change anything else from the 2015 model.

If Apple upgraded the 1.4ghz Mini to 1.6ghz, I doubt that would please many participants in this thread. But the difference is, the MacBook Air has been kept because of it's good sales and I doubt that is the case with the Mini. I think Apple just doesn't care about the Mini, will not update it, and will continue selling the current model a little longer before they kill it.

I would love for Apple to prove me wrong though.

 

[jasnw]

Here I am trying to stay positive and you come along and pour harsh all over my mellow. Thanks a lot!

 

[Cape Dave]

Good job! Easy to forget the PRAM battery. Did you also get a foil bit to add to cut down on interference between the WiFi and USB? (one came with my Mac Mini HDD upgrade kit).

I did all of that except for replacing the thermal paste a couple years back when I got one of the last refurb 2012 2.6 from Apple. Added Apple care, a 1TB SSD and 2TB HDD, but didn't make them into a fusion drive (the 2TB HDD is shared and visible to both OSX and Bootcamp - the stuff/games I work on often is built for both)

An interesting thing I've come to note on all my machines, not just the mini, is that I really notice when I am accessing a traditional hard drive. All the machines let them spin down when not actively in use (2.5" HDDs are laptop drives and default to doing that), and there is a pause when they have to spin back up. Call it first world problems, but I've come to be annoyed by it, and whenever possible am going all SSD now. Most machines are getting a M.2 drive as the OS drive/primary work drive, and for 2.5" drives, the Micron 2TB SSDs are down to about $310 (under $300 when on sale) and I'm making them part of my new builds, compared to the Samsung 5400RPM 2TB 2.5" HDDs at $110 (which seem to be getting hard to find). Silly? Maybe. I'm probably spoiled.

Another take-away here is that a near TRILLION dollar company has no idea how to properly apply a proper CPU paste. Frightening. That one little thing can make the BIGGEST difference in the life and times of a computer. Keep it cool, silly.

 

[Gudi]

What if Apple is waiting for another tick in Intels tick-tock scheme?

2006 tick [65nm] Yonah = Mac mini (Early&Late 2006)
2006 tock [65nm] Merom = Mac mini (Mid 2007)
2007 tick [45nm] Penryn = Mac mini (Early&Late 2009)(Mid 2010)
2008 tock [45nm] Nehalem
2009 n/a
2010 tick [32nm] Westmere
2011 tock [32nm] Sandy Bridge = Mac mini (Mid 2011)
2012 tick [22nm] Ivy Bridge = Mac mini (Late 2012)
2013 tock [22nm] Haswell = Mac mini (Late 2014)
2014 tick [14nm] Broadwell
2015 tock [14nm] Skylake
2016 tock [14nm+] Kaby Lake
2017 tock [14nm++] Coffee Lake
2018 tick [10nm] Cannon Lake = Mac mini almost certainly coming?

Westmere came too late for the 2009 minis and also the 2010 redesign, so once again Apple used the three-year-old Penryn processor. That’s why at the next opportunity they used a 32nm tock processor. Otherwise there wouldn’t have been a Sandy Bridge mini in 2011. Only the ticks 2010, 2012, 2014.

 

[sublunar]

What if Apple is waiting for another tick in Intels tick-tock scheme?

2006 tick [65nm] Yonah = Mac mini (Early&Late 2006)
2006 tock [65nm] Merom = Mac mini (Mid 2007)
2007 tick [45nm] Penryn = Mac mini (Early&Late 2009)(Mid 2010)
2008 tock [45nm] Nehalem
2009 n/a
2010 tick [32nm] Westmere
2011 tock [32nm] Sandy Bridge = Mac mini (Mid 2011)
2012 tick [22nm] Ivy Bridge = Mac mini (Late 2012)
2013 tock [22nm] Haswell
2014 tick [14nm] Broadwell = Mac mini (Late 2014)
2015 tock [14nm] Skylake
2016 tock [14nm] Kaby Lake
2017 tock [14nm] Coffee Lake
2018 tick [10nm] Cannon Lake = Mac mini almost certainly coming?

Westmere came too late for the 2009 minis and also the 2010 redesign, so once again Apple used the three-year-old Penryn processor. That’s why at the next opportunity they used a 32nm tock processor. Otherwise there wouldn’t have been a Sandy Bridge mini in 2011. Only the ticks 2010, 2012, 2014.

Cannon Lake 10nm is proving harder to get volume on for Intel - which is they have been releasing refinements of the 14nm tech in the form of Kaby Lake and now Coffee Lake. At least Coffee Lake has more cores which mainly due to competition from AMD Ryzen.

I doubt any of this has any effect on the fate of the Mac Mini though unless they were specifically looking for the smaller CPUs to be much more energy efficient but that would feed more into the corresponding laptops. I would be more concerned about what ARM CPUs (ie A14) will be capable of in the next couple of years.

 

[Count Blah]

What if Apple is waiting for another tick in Intels tick-tock scheme?

And what are they waiting for, in order to give the Mac Mini - TB3 and 4K capable iGPU? Oh that's right, nothing. Those have been available for a while now. Apple just decides to give us the shaft instead.