The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

[sublunar]

The only dual-core 28W Coffee Lake part is interesting, because at 3.0GHz, it has a higher base frequency than all the quads (2.3/2.6/2.7GHz) and a decent turbo at 3.6. Though priced at $304, Apple could get a custom underclocked SKU, for instance a 2.2/3.6GHz, which could bring that price down. That would also have the benefit of avoiding the bad optics of the cheaper dual core having a higher base than any of the quads.

The 15W chips aren’t any cheaper; the I5-7360U used in the base 2017 nTB is also $304, and the 2014 base mini uses the 1.4GHz i5-4260U which was $315. Note that the prices I quoted are all Intel’s 10,000 qty tray price, but I have no idea what discounts kick in with a qty of millions; guessing maybe 30-50% lower.

Apple wouldn't be able to get the volume required to get a good discount for a part that only goes in a Mac Mini though. It would have to be a part that was going into a MacBook Air or the non touch bar MacBook Pro - or - gasp - the Retina MacBook.

They'll have been warned of the private roadmap ahead for Intel so I dare say their CPU choices will be more informed than most analysts.

It probably makes sense that one of the unseen limits on the lifetime of the Mini could be the deal they struck with Intel to ship the Haswell CPU that goes into the 2014 model. Apple have to continue to produce spare parts for 5 years after the model goes off sale so you do wonder if Intel are discontinuing the Haswell mobile CPUs in 2023 and that has forced Apple's hand?

Whatever Apple decide to do it has to be with a view to using a common component to get the volume discount they need to make a price sensitive Mini work.

I believe it'll come down to whatever replaces the MBA in October with a side view at what becomes of the 21.5" iMac base model when it's time for a refresh.

 

[DesertSurfer]

Possibly, but just because you can doesn't mean you should or that it brings any benefit.

It is pretty common among those who make their own pc gaming rigs to use two different kinds of ssd's. SATA drives are less expensive than NVME or PCIE drives, so you can have top speed for the system, and fast but not as fast, and not as expensive, larger capacity SATA drive or drives for bulk storage. The advantage is $$.

 

[toke lahti]

Possibly, but just because you can doesn't mean you should or that it brings any benefit.

The benefit with a slow ssd with 10x less write times and a fast one with 10x more write times is the same than with average ssd and hdd.
You know what's SLC and MLC?
Cheapest ssd is $0.15/GB and some most expensive are over $15/GB. That's a 100x ratio.
Not counting the apple tax.
One thing to remember about ssd's is that they can be made pysically very small. You can put both of these physical storages easily on a same place where there is now only one ssd with single speed. Same thing than with sshd's.

 

[tubular]

My god, this thread is still alive.

 

[triptolemus]

My god, this thread is still alive.

Why are you surprised? You've posted in it about 20 times, as recently as February.

 

[PickUrPoison]

My god, this thread is still alive.

I think (fear?) this thread will be alive long past the eventual death of the mini, whenever that may be

 

[Micky Do]

My god, this thread is still alive.

The new Mac Mini is almost certainly coming..... eternally...... albeit less frequently than in the past.

The same could be also be said for many other products.

 

[leo-tech]

Mac Mini 2018: more chassis design ideas (5K retina walls, aquarium jellyfish wallsaver running)

 

[toke lahti]

I think (fear?) this thread will be alive long past the eventual death of the mini, whenever that may be

Schrödinger's catmacMini!

 

[Miat]

Upon the release of the new Mini we can start a new thread called either:

How I rode to Mid-Range Heaven on the back of a 14nm quad.

or

How I finally escaped the clutches of the Cupertino Cult, and shacked up with nice little open-source Linux box who had inherited huge tracts of RAM.

 

[masterbaron]

I think (fear?) this thread will be alive long past the eventual death of the mini, whenever that may be

In the context of our reality ... every motion and effort must overcome resistance ... it's in our nature to fight for survival (success) ... "we" are the essential glue that forges a bond to overcome!

It's about "us" ... it's never been about the Mini and it never will.

 

[Cape Dave]

Schrödinger's catmacMini!

That is funny!

 

[jasnw]

Mac Mini 2018: more chassis design ideas (5K retina walls, aquarium jellyfish wallsaver running)

You do realize that if this hardware does come about that the walls will be hardwired to cycle through the cringe-worthy Apple Leadership Emojis released earlier. You'll need to cover your system with a paper sack to be able to get any work done.
[doublepost=1531843779][/doublepost]It’s interesting that there are two distinct groups that post here on a regular basis, those who focus on the details of the hardware implementation, and those who focus on function. There is some overlap, particularly over such hardware&function issues such as DIY expandability, but some talk mostly about what they want the box to have in it, and other talk mostly about what they want it to be able to do with it (and to it). These groups are not exclusive either, lots of regulars post in both topic areas, but people tend to fall into one or the other group with the bulk of their posts. Not sure what to make of this, but it does help keep this thread alive, and lively.

And of course, there is the loose-canon jester group, which we all occasionally fall into, but the less said about that group the better!

 

[Gudi]

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.

Every year since 2012 I expected Fusion Drive throughout all tiers of Desktop Macs by no later than next year, but the base Mini and base iMac always sticked with HDDs. They’ll never go pure SSD.

 

[Cape Dave]

Every year since 2012 I expected Fusion Drive throughout all tiers of Desktop Macs by no later than next year, but the base Mini and base iMac always sticked with HDDs. They’ll never go pure SSD.

Never say never.

 

[triptolemus]

Mac mini 2018 - more chassis design ideas.

It's a series of tubes!

 

[DesertSurfer]

Mac mini 2018 - more chassis design ideas.

It's a series of tubes!

View attachment 771204

It’s totally tubular!

 

[Neodym]

It’s totally tubular!

... and the first video ad will have "Tubular Bells" as soundtrack ... ;-)

 

[Cape Dave]

... and the first video ad will have "Tubular Bells" as soundtrack ... ;-)

LOL, super funny! Good one

 

[Yvan256]

The new MacBook mini is almost certainly coming.

 

[MRrainer]

How can anyone 'hate' an OS, it's simply a means of running software to enable you to do the things you want to do. I find the differences between MacOS and Windows 10 to be negligible. It took the wife (who really doesn't enjoy change or techy things) about an hour to transition from MacOS to Windows. I really have to question what is going on with some of you when I read posts like the above.

Even our dog can readily use both.

Well, most Windows-users, when they have to use macOS, also complain. Loudly often.
Just watch the sysadmin-reddit and wait for people complaining about Macs...

The thing is: I never used Windows in earnest. It was always an also-ran OS for me.
Maybe it works a bit better when it's not in a VM or in a remote desktop session. I don't know.

I assume, it can be made to work, sort of:
find replacement for the Photos-app,
find replacement for TimeMachine,
find replacement for Pages,
find replacement Safari that isn't Chrome,
find replacement for Omnigraffle,
no replacement for iMessages,
find replacement for Spotlight,
wrangle with iTunes on Windows,
switch from VMWare Fusion to Workstation (re-license),
find replacement for Contacts that syncs with the iPhone,
find replacement for Mail,
find replacement for Calendar that syncs with iPhone,
find replacement for Preview


Some stuff is of course available: Firefox, MS-VSC, Sublime, Libre/OpenOffice, VLC.

And no, I don't have a Google account, nor do I use any MSFT-services.

So please no "Just use Google to sync everything", please.

 

[opeter]

Well, for me it is quite simple to switch to Windows, since all/most of the software I use is also available there (Adobe CC, Affinity products, font managers etc.) Some apps are even better.

Oh, and I don't use any other Apple product beside the Mac mini.

 

[rrl]

I got a brand new, shrink wrapped 2012 8GB 2.3 i7 for $500 about five years ago. Best computer deal I've ever had and probably my last Mac. It's easy going Windows when Apple sucks this bad.

 

[leo-tech]

...probably my last Mac. It's easy going Windows when Apple sucks this bad.

Going Windows in protest against scarcity of Macintosh hardware, for whatever reason created by Apple - yes, I can understand that (stranger things happened, were driven by perfectly legitimate frustration). However, leaving macOS for good and staying with Windows for long - I would not be so sure about that. You see, there was a number of good reasons, why many users left Windows and accepted Macintosh/macOS wholeheartedly in the first place. And guess what, not much happened to those reasons since then, they are all still out there. Surprise, macOS is still the greatest user-friendly desktop operating system under the sun! And it's not like no feasible staying with macOS options exist: wait for Apple hardware refresh, buy a new/used Macintosh model you previously resisted buying, go Hackintosh or V-Hackintosh.

 

[toke lahti]

Every year since 2012 I expected Fusion Drive throughout all tiers of Desktop Macs by no later than next year, but the base Mini and base iMac always sticked with HDDs. They’ll never go pure SSD.

Pure Fusion first!