The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

[PickUrPoison]

Time to dump Fusion Drive too. For crying out loud, most people just do not need so much space. And for the few that do, a 256GB is not that much $$. Fusion drive is just more crap to go wrong. Marketing hype.

Upping the minimum config ups the selling price. You say not much money but it all adds up. Put numbers to these components and try to figure out how Apple can sell a $500 mini

CPU
Chipset
Motherboard
RAM
Storage
Power supply
Case/misc

And obviously that’s just BOM cost.

There’s also HW engineering, SW engineering, QA, manufacturing, assembly, logistics, inventory, marketing, G&A and profit as well. And don’t forget a couple hundred for the OS.

 

[redheeler]

Upping the minimum config ups the selling price.

I wouldn't mind a base price of $100 higher for the mini, if it comes with Fusion drive (and 8 GB RAM) as standard. Apple should live up to the reputation of not selling cheap junk, like the current 2014 base model mini always was with a painfully-slow hard drive and 4 GB RAM soldered to the board.
[doublepost=1531589573][/doublepost]

Time to dump Fusion Drive too. For crying out loud, most people just do not need so much space. And for the few that do, a 256GB is not that much $$. Fusion drive is just more crap to go wrong. Marketing hype.

I wouldn't mind being able to choose a 128 GB SSD over a 500 GB Fusion drive. Fusion drive still kind of makes sense in cheaper desktops though.

 

[PickUrPoison]

I wouldn't mind a base price of $100 higher for the mini, if it comes with Fusion drive (and 8 GB RAM) as standard. Apple should live up to the reputation of not selling cheap junk, like the current 2014 base model mini always was with a painfully-slow hard drive and 4 GB RAM soldered to the board.

That’s cool you’re willing to pay $599, but Apple wants $849. Macs are expensive.

You can expect a better processor with better graphics in a refresh, but I wouldn’t necessarily expect a price cut.

 

[redheeler]

Here’s a practical, powerful, sensible Mac mini lineup we probably won't see from Apple:

$549 Mac mini 8,1:

• Intel Core i3-8109U, Intel UHD Graphics 655 (2 cores)
• 500 GB Fusion drive (32 GB SSD portion) or 128 GB pure SSD (+$50 for the SSD)

$799 Mac mini 8,1:

• Intel Core i5-8259U, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 (4 cores)
• 1 TB Fusion drive (128 GB SSD portion) or 256 GB pure SSD

$1,099 Mac mini 8,2:

• Intel Core i7-8850H, AMD Radeon 550 (6 cores)
• 1 TB Fusion drive (128 GB SSD portion) or 256 GB pure SSD

All models:

• 8 GB user-upgradable 2400 MHz DDR4
• 2014 design with the 2012 twist-off bottom for upgrading RAM
• 2x Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C ports in place of the 2x Thunderbolt 2
• Bluetooth 5.0
• Available in Space Gray or Silver

The base model is still priced low-enough and performs adequately for light-use budget-conscious buyers, while every subsequent tier brings a decent performance bump making it worth the extra money.

That’s cool you’re willing to pay $599, but Apple wants $849. Macs are expensive.

You can expect a better processor with better graphics in a refresh, but I wouldn’t necessarily expect a price cut.

View attachment 770604

Those are 2014 prices. FYI, it's no longer 2014. But even then it was too expensive.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Why would Apple make the RAM user upgradable? That's never gonna happen guys.
Living in the past.

 

[Neodym]

Upping the minimum config ups the selling price.

... unless several years have gone by and technological advancement allows for better minimum configs for the same or even lower cost.

And obviously that’s just BOM cost.

There’s also HW engineering, SW engineering, QA, manufacturing, assembly, logistics, inventory, marketing, G&A and profit as well.

... some of which DON’T apply to the current mini anymore, as the sold machines should already have more than covered those expenses. And the remaining cost obviously did not increase enough to make Apple bother increasing the prices for the current mini.

And as the mini usually shares it’s technological base with another machine (MacBook (Pro) - in the future perhaps iPad), most of the development costs for a potential, new / redesigned mini are shared over a lot of units, thus lowering the cost per machine significantly.

Similar is true for purchasing: Due to higher purchase volume due to the bigger basis, cost per individual hardware piece is significantly lowered. Granted - with those antique technology parts in the current mini, Apple may have to pay some additional fee to get that old stuff manufactured in the first place. 😉

Of course inflation would drive prices up again, but the percentages are FAR lower than what could have been achieved in cost-saving from technological progress.

 

[Gudi]

... unless several years have gone by and technological advancement allows for better minimum configs for the same or even lower cost.

Fusion Drive is pure software technology. It costs Apple virtually nothing to fuse a big-slow HDD and a small-fast SSD into a big-fast FDD. Which is why it is a crime that Apple sells something worse than a 500/32 GB Fusion Drive. This technology already takes some of the cheapest available storage options in the market and turns them into something quite useful.

A Mac without Fusion is not significantly cheaper to make, it’s just crippled in its performance, so that you want to avoid the base-price option at all costs. A horrible, sinister business strategy by the greediest of all corporations. And I’m saying that as an Apple Fanboy! I can’t imagine what those people think, who never liked their overpriced junk to begin with?

 

[Apple fanboy]

Fusion Drive is pure software technology. It costs Apple virtually nothing to fuse a big-slow HDD and a small-fast SSD into a big-fast FDD. Which is why it is a crime that Apple sells something worse than a 500/32 GB Fusion Drive. This technology already takes some of the cheapest available storage options in the market and turns them into something quite useful.

A Mac without Fusion is not significantly cheaper to make, it’s just crippled in its performance, so that you want to avoid the base-price option at all costs. A horrible, sinister business strategy by the greediest of all corporations. And I’m saying that as an Apple Fanboy! I can’t imagine what those people think, who never liked their overpriced junk to begin with?

You're no Apple fanboy! 😉

 

[Lankyman]

I'm afraid I've moved on from fusion drives and ridiculously small amounts of storage. Building my own Windows 10 machine (got fed up of waiting for Apple to provide a decent Mini) I've now got used to having 2 3TB internal HDDs and a 500 gig SSD. I've got space for at least another 2 HDDs and an M.2 drive.

I'm finding this (for me) a much better solution. New upgrades come along - not an issue, pop the case lid and in they go. What's not to like. 🙂

 

[Apple fanboy]

I'm afraid I've moved on from fusion drives and ridiculously small amounts of storage. Building my own Windows 10 machine (got fed up of waiting for Apple to provide a decent Mini) I've now got used to having 2 3TB internal HDDs and a 500 gig SSD. I've got space for at least another 2 HDDs and an M.2 drive.

I'm finding this (for me) a much better solution. New upgrades come along - not an issue, pop the case lid and in they go. What's not to like. 🙂

The OS.

 

[Neodym]

A Mac without Fusion is not significantly cheaper to make, it’s just crippled in its performance, so that you want to avoid the base-price option at all costs.

You’re talking about the 2014 mini. My understanding of the latest discussion in this thread was about a future mini needing to go (ideally pure) SSD throughout all tiers.

The OS.

Win10 is amazingly well done. Yes, it’s different to use, but one can get used to it. Yes, it’s pretty talkey, but with the right tools it can be muted significantly. Don’t judge the current incarnation by experiences with earlier versions!

And as someone else already wrote: The freedom to compile the hardware to one’s specific needs and wallet is very nice. Compatibility issues are way smaller (if any), as long as you go for decent-quality mainstream components. Yes, it’s more work to investigate and plug it together, but you can have somebody doing that for you for little money, similar to what Apple used to do well in the past.

What Apple sells today is a hard slap to the customer’s face (I’m looking at you, mini and Pro). And there is no excuse for selling antique hardware at unchanged or even increased prices, when that hardware is showing its age pretty obviously. And the “it just works” claim of OSX from days gone by is not what it used to be. If I wasn’t engaged so deep in Apple’s ecosystem and wouldn’t be lacking the time to work myself into alternatives, I probably also would have jumped ship by now. But every loyalty has its limits - and I have the impression that Apple finally realized that.

/Rant over

 

[Partron22]

I have the impression that Apple finally realized that.

Still, they're updating a lot of computers over a very short time frame. Did they take all their engineers off phone work to beef up the Mac division, or are we going to see a lot of sloppy products come fall?
I'm not about to be first in line.

 

[Michael Scrip]

The OS.

That's the dilemma.

Great OS with "questionable" hardware (Macintosh)

Or "questionable" OS with great hardware (Windows computers)

The problem is... Apple is the only company selling Macintosh computers. And they seem to be dropping the ball on some of their most beloved products.

At some point enough is enough. How many more "Waiting for..." threads need to be made?

There are obviously fans of MacOS who think Windows computers are utter trash. And that's fine to believe that.

But what happens when you can't get your preferred OS on a suitable computer?

 

[satchmo]

Still, they're updating a lot of computers over a very short time frame. Did they take all their engineers off phone work to beef up the Mac division, or are we going to see a lot of sloppy products come fall?
I'm not about to be first in line.

I don't know if it's a shortage of engineers in Silicon Valley, but as large and wealthy as Apple is, surely they should be able to do both at the same time.

 

[for this]

I don't know if it's a shortage of engineers in Silicon Valley, but as large and wealthy as Apple is, surely they should be able to do both at the same time.

I think it is a scaling problem. Having a lot of money does not guarantee a business to scale well. It's not just about hiring more engineers.

 

[AZhappyjack]

I think it is a scaling problem. Having a lot of money does not guarantee a business to scale well. It's not just about hiring more engineers.

Yes, the old saw about nine women having a baby in one month. Sometimes, the numbers just don't work.

 

[Miat]

However, I don’t think you’ll see a hexacore + discrete graphics chip option

I will be very surprised indeed if the Mini gets a hex core option, and just can't see them ever offering a dGPU Mini again.

Still, they're updating a lot of computers over a very short time frame. Did they take all their engineers off phone work to beef up the Mac division, or are we going to see a lot of sloppy products come fall?
I'm not about to be first in line.

Yeah, I will be sitting back for a while and seeing how it pans out.

 

[dogslobber]

2) Who the heck would ever put 32GB of RAM in the iMac 2K?

Raises hand.

 

[masterbaron]

But what happens when you can't get your preferred OS on a suitable computer?

We're about to find out - and should this end up being the case I think most here have spent their last patience and we will seriously entertain "hybrid" scenarios or transition to Windows for intensive or high resolution work - at least remaining fluid is a benefit and a smooth transition from the work (corporate) platform to the personal platform (home).

Frankly, $6700.00 for a laptop is not even remotely feasible in my life and a company that flaunts this concept does not represent my ideals as a consumer.

 

[Cape Dave]

I feel almost the opposite about the situation. For laptops, sure. HDDs are a bad idea for reasons of space, weight, resilience, and speed.

But Intel's new Optane stuff is basically a better version of the current Fusion Drive technology. I'm hoping that Apple adopts it under the Fusion Drive brand, perhaps even as Fusion Drive 2. They do owe us 7200RPM spinners minimum at this point though.

Notice how quickly Optane ramped up the gigabytes. Now, one can almost just get one as a main drive 🙂 I believe the last I read, one Optane was up to 128GB.

 

[Neodym]

I [...] just can't see them ever offering a dGPU Mini again.

As long as a new mini has Thunderbolt 3, that’s not a problem.

 

[Michael Scrip]

We're about to find out - and should this end up being the case I think most here have spent their last patience and we will seriously entertain "hybrid" scenarios or transition to Windows for intensive or high resolution work - at least remaining fluid is a benefit and a smooth transition from the work (corporate) platform to the personal platform (home).

Agreed. It'll be interesting to see how many people continue to stick with Macs as Apple goes in different directions with their products.

Frankly, $6700.00 for a laptop is not even remotely feasible in my life and a company that flaunts this concept does not represent my ideals as a consumer.

To be fair... that price includes the additional $3,400 SSD upgrade. 😱

Not many consumers need 4,000 gigabytes of built-in MVNe SSD storage. It wasn't available before... and it's still an [expensive] option now. You can get a 2nd Macbook Pro (and then some!) for the cost of the 4TB upgrade...

On the bright side... it is nice that you can finally get quad-core in a 13" and six-core in a 15" on certain models at prices similar to the last generation.

There's at least something to be happy about. 😛

 

[Apple fanboy]

You’re talking about the 2014 mini. My understanding of the latest discussion in this thread was about a future mini needing to go (ideally pure) SSD throughout all tiers.


Win10 is amazingly well done. Yes, it’s different to use, but one can get used to it. Yes, it’s pretty talkey, but with the right tools it can be muted significantly. Don’t judge the current incarnation by experiences with earlier versions!

And as someone else already wrote: The freedom to compile the hardware to one’s specific needs and wallet is very nice. Compatibility issues are way smaller (if any), as long as you go for decent-quality mainstream components. Yes, it’s more work to investigate and plug it together, but you can have somebody doing that for you for little money, similar to what Apple used to do well in the past.

What Apple sells today is a hard slap to the customer’s face (I’m looking at you, mini and Pro). And there is no excuse for selling antique hardware at unchanged or even increased prices, when that hardware is showing its age pretty obviously. And the “it just works” claim of OSX from days gone by is not what it used to be. If I wasn’t engaged so deep in Apple’s ecosystem and wouldn’t be lacking the time to work myself into alternatives, I probably also would have jumped ship by now. But every loyalty has its limits - and I have the impression that Apple finally realized that.

/Rant over

I prefer Windows 7 to 10. I use both at work for certain tasks.
It's also true to say that MacOS isn't the problem free OS it was of yesteryear. Not helped by Apples need to release a new OS every year. I'd rather they sorted out the releases before dropping them on the public.
I don't want to be a beta tester. I just want to use the computer for the task I need to complete.

 

[EightyTwenty]

That’s cool you’re willing to pay $599, but Apple wants $849. Macs are expensive.

You can expect a better processor with better graphics in a refresh, but I wouldn’t necessarily expect a price cut.

$499 to $599 is not a price cut. It’s a price increase.

We’ve been over this.

 

[toke lahti]

Mac Maxi?
(Jonny wouldn't like it, it's opposite to what he likes: more volume to get something.
How many watts you can put there inside?
I really like the design....
EDIT: about $400 with additional heatpipe, OUCH! Maybe I'll just take that ordinary case and 200mm fan, which is silent...)