The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming

[sublunar]

I am pretty much out the door. I use a samsung tracfone A Luna 3 pro . works well > I have 3 of them two never leave the house as they are filled with stuff I don't want to lose. Went with samsungs and tracfone mostly to protest apple and the mac mini in 2014. I have 4 mac minis. 4 linux 6 windows 2 synology servers. If the new mini does not give me a decent cpu and ram options " blank apple " As for spinner vs ssd vs nvme I use external booters with the inside hdd for back up. Mac minis make for good crypto coin wallets. very secure and easy to back up. They are my preferred blogging gear. So I have been loyal to them since 2006. Maybe 2005 can't remember but it was an intel cpu a 1.66 I think.

Would have been a 2006 as per first year of Intel transition.

Mine are no longer in use because they won't run the latest macOS.
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Maybe I misunderstood the OP, I thought he/she was saying the Mac mini will just be called “Mac”. That’s seems very unlikely to me. I also disagree with you that Mac mini and Mac Pro will get new names, but again that’s just my opinion!

It all depends what the Mac Mini actually becomes spec-wise but prior to the new iPhones coming along I felt it might have made marketing sense to have a plain product followed by a higher spec 'Pro' product - you can see a trend thus:

iPad - iPad Pro
Macbook - Macbook Pro
iMac - iMac Pro

So logically we'd arrive at Mac - Mac Pro apart from possible confusion arising from the entire range being Macs. I wouldn't have any issues with Apple continuing with Mac Mini as a name, especially since they probably won't want it to interfere with the main event next year - the 2019 Mac Pro.

Coming in the future is surely an iPhone - iPhone Pro designation but again there's possible confusion due to 'iPhone' being the name of the entire range.

 

[PickUrPoison]

It all depends what the Mac Mini actually becomes spec-wise but prior to the new iPhones coming along I felt it might have made marketing sense to have a plain product followed by a higher spec 'Pro' product - you can see a trend thus:

iPad - iPad Pro
Macbook - Macbook Pro
iMac - iMac Pro

So logically we'd arrive at Mac - Mac Pro apart from possible confusion arising from the entire range being Macs. I wouldn't have any issues with Apple continuing with Mac Mini as a name, especially since they probably won't want it to interfere with the main event next year - the 2019 Mac Pro.

Coming in the future is surely an iPhone - iPhone Pro designation but again there's possible confusion due to 'iPhone' being the name of the entire range.

In the case of Mac mini, to me the word mini refers to the form factor more than anything else. If it stays small, I don’t see much reason to drop the “mini”. As you mention, the entire range are referred to as Macs. Just calling it the Mac would be strange to me; the original Mac was an all in one like the iMac.

Even the 12” rMB being named MacBook is confusing because people will say MB when referring to any Mac notebook, including Air and MBP. I’m pretty sure the rumor of a “13” MacBook” doesn’t really mean a 5W Y-series machine, for instance.

But who knows, they may drop mini as a model designation; stranger things have happened (iPhone XS Max!). I would be surprised though. I’d also be surprised if the Air replacement drops the word “Air”. It’s an iconic name.

 

[tedson]

The reason I think they will go with soldered RAM over socketed RAM is to reduce customer support costs, not to a few cents for a socket. With soldered RAM they don't have to deal with customers who put in crappy memory then waste hours with AppleCare or at Genius Bar trying to diagnose memory issues or dumb customers who can't seat their memory properly. If you think that wouldn't happen, you're crazy, all those support costs would add up even if all they did was tell the customer we don't support non-Apple supplied memory.

 

[AZhappyjack]

The reason I think they will go with soldered RAM over socketed RAM is to reduce customer support costs, not to a few cents for a socket. With soldered RAM they don't have to deal with customers who put in crappy memory then waste hours with AppleCare or at Genius Bar trying to diagnose memory issues or dumb customers who can't seat their memory properly. If you think that wouldn't happen, you're crazy, all those support costs would add up even if all they did was tell the customer we don't support non-Apple supplied memory.

Not to mention the obscene markup on Apple-sourced memory. I'm going with that.. obscene markups on memory.

 

[apiro]

The reason I think they will go with soldered RAM over socketed RAM is to reduce customer support costs, not to a few cents for a socket. With soldered RAM they don't have to deal with customers who put in crappy memory then waste hours with AppleCare or at Genius Bar trying to diagnose memory issues or dumb customers who can't seat their memory properly. If you think that wouldn't happen, you're crazy, all those support costs would add up even if all they did was tell the customer we don't support non-Apple supplied memory.

Funnily enough I've been to one of the central stores (employees like to say that this is the second busiest Apple Store in the world) today with my AppleCared all-soldered maxed out in everything MacBook Pro 15" with TouchBar. The regular keyboard issues, eh. I was told the first available timeslot for an appointment for someone to look at my laptop is in 9 days. 9 days just to look at it, then up to 14 days to actually fix it... I guess before soldering everything in it would've been 9 months?

 

[sublunar]

In the case of Mac mini, to me the word mini refers to the form factor more than anything else. If it stays small, I don’t see much reason to drop the “mini”. As you mention, the entire range are referred to as Macs. Just calling it the Mac would be strange to me; the original Mac was an all in one like the iMac.

Even the 12” rMB being named MacBook is confusing because people will say MB when referring to any Mac notebook, including Air and MBP. I’m pretty sure the rumor of a “13” MacBook” doesn’t really mean a 5W Y-series machine, for instance.

But who knows, they may drop mini as a model designation; stranger things have happened (iPhone XS Max!). I would be surprised though. I’d also be surprised if the Air replacement drops the word “Air”. It’s an iconic name.

For me, a MacBook would be a more portable member of the Mac line-up. USB-C with 3.1 (Gen 2) capability would make each port potentially as fast as Thunderbolt 1 (10Gb/s).

A 13" MacBook could easily mean Apple using a 15w CPU such as the i5-8250U and losing the Thunderbolt ports in favour of 4 USB-C 3.1 ports.

Just as a 15" MacBook could see Apple adding a dGPU to the 15w setup and keeping the Thunderbolt ports off, for example.

MacBook Air is iconic but it needs to be the lightest laptop - which it currently isn't. I think it'll get a rest and come back when it's sporting an A series CPU. I'd be more interested if Apple could somehow claim a 20 hour battery life with an A13X though.
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Funnily enough I've been to one of the central stores (employees like to say that this is the second busiest Apple Store in the world) today with my AppleCared all-soldered maxed out in everything MacBook Pro 15" with TouchBar. The regular keyboard issues, eh. I was told the first available timeslot for an appointment for someone to look at my laptop is in 9 days. 9 days just to look at it, then up to 14 days to actually fix it... I guess before soldering everything in it would've been 9 months?

That's a major issue for professionals - being without hardware because of a fault that can't be fixed by an Apple Store. Professional Apple Care should be available with next day service and loan hardware - or are they expecting professionals to have a hot spare lying around for such eventualities?
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Not to mention the obscene markup on Apple-sourced memory. I'm going with that.. obscene markups on memory.

To a limited extent this offsets the fact that the macOS software is 'free' but the markups can go beyond the pale. However, it's still profitable while people buy the hardware at the prices specified.

 

[Count Blah]

The reason I think they will go with soldered RAM over socketed RAM is to reduce customer support costs, not to a few cents for a socket. With soldered RAM they don't have to deal with customers who put in crappy memory then waste hours with AppleCare or at Genius Bar trying to diagnose memory issues or dumb customers who can't seat their memory properly. If you think that wouldn't happen, you're crazy, all those support costs would add up even if all they did was tell the customer we don't support non-Apple supplied memory.

EXACTLY - just like the removal of 3.5mm port from the iPhone was to make it more water resistant. It had NOTHING whatsoever to do with Apple releasing AirPods at the same time*






* it was supposed to be the same time, but Timmy the supply line genius botched the intended timing.

 

[apiro]

That's a major issue for professionals - being without hardware because of a fault that can't be fixed by an Apple Store. Professional Apple Care should be available with next day service and loan hardware - or are they expecting professionals to have a hot spare lying around for such eventualities?

They may expect whatever they want but then they must develop something that will make it seamless for us, professionals. I. e. I might be OK with paying for the second laptop (gosh I hate myself for saying this) just to lie around and be a hot replacement. But they expect me also to pay for device with enough storage for TimeMachine backups. And for iCloud. And still if my current machine breaks or needs service or maintenance I must spend nerves and time to transfer everything to the new machine or recover it from backup etc. It would be so much better to have something like DropBox syncing everything every second but not just for documents but for everything. I have hot replacement machine? Ok, let it sit nearby always on (actually on PowerNap) sucking everything I do on the other. I bought new laptop? Ok, let me just plug it in and say "replicate my old machine WHILE I WORK ON IT". No, you have to stop working at least for several hours... Sorry for the rant.

 

[DevNull0]

. "APPLE" is true linux/unix alike. It not, a hunger more memory then suppose to. I'm learn to reduce memory usage but nowdays thinking "If not used , it useless" .

That idea is 20 years out of date. Modern caching algorithms are really good, and every byte of ram in the computer is being used by the caching system even if it's marked as unused. Even if you're only "using" 3 gigs of ram, a 16 gig system will run faster than an 8 gig system all other factors being equal. And ram is still orders of magnitude faster than the fastest SSD, so don't spin the BS that SSDs change that any.

And with fast RAM being cheaper than $5/gig retail these days (outside the Apple RDF), to cripple a computer with limited RAM is so idiotic that only Apple can be that stupid and not get mocked out of business.

 

[masterbaron]

only Apple can be that stupid and not get mocked out of business.

The day of reckoning grows nigh ... it's simply amazing that a company with so much "gloss" has so much angst brewing under the surface. This I think will be "make or break" for Apple in terms of the headless line-up - I sincerely hope they've invested heavily in regaining the competitive edge along with design changes that support traditional customer needs.

 

[PickUrPoison]

The day of reckoning grows nigh ... it's simply amazing that a company with so much "gloss" has so much angst brewing under the surface. This I think will be "make or break" for Apple in terms of the headless line-up - I sincerely hope they've invested heavily in regaining the competitive edge along with design changes that support traditional customer needs.

I assume you’re referring to the Mac Pro and not the mini.

 

[alien3dx]

That idea is 20 years out of date. Modern caching algorithms are really good, and every byte of ram in the computer is being used by the caching system even if it's marked as unused. Even if you're only "using" 3 gigs of ram, a 16 gig system will run faster than an 8 gig system all other factors being equal. And ram is still orders of magnitude faster than the fastest SSD, so don't spin the BS that SSDs change that any.

And with fast RAM being cheaper than $5/gig retail these days (outside the Apple RDF), to cripple a computer with limited RAM is so idiotic that only Apple can be that stupid and not get mocked out of business.

i never mention SSD issue . For me, it better have more RAM instead of SSD. SSD is nice but i still said " if no caching spotlight, we no need much ssd speed".

 

[jasnw]

I assume you’re referring to the Mac Pro and not the mini.

He said "headless line-up" which to me means every desktop system other than the AIO iMac, and I agree with him. If Apple continues to show they have no plans for headless desktop systems other than an under-powered sealed-box Mini and an overpriced overheated Pro I think they're going to start losing a lot of people they picked up during the early days of OS X and the switch to Intel processors. Maybe they just don't want that customer base, which is sad given Apple's roots in the 1970s personal computer revolution.

 

[toke lahti]

EXACTLY - just like the removal of 3.5mm port from the iPhone was to make it more water resistant. It had NOTHING whatsoever to do with Apple releasing AirPods at the same time*






* it was supposed to be the same time, but Timmy the supply line genius botched the intended timing.

I’ve been wondering, why it is so much easier to make lightning port water resistant than 3.5 mm port?
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He said "headless line-up" which to me means every desktop system other than the AIO iMac, and I agree with him. If Apple continues to show they have no plans for headless desktop systems other than an under-powered sealed-box Mini and an overpriced overheated Pro I think they're going to start losing a lot of people they picked up during the early days of OS X and the switch to Intel processors. Maybe they just don't want that customer base, which is sad given Apple's roots in the 1970s personal computer revolution.

Hasn’t the loosing part started a long time ago?

 

[masterbaron]

I assume you’re referring to the Mac Pro and not the mini.

Both - as Apple redesigns the Mini towards "pro-sumer" they will need to bridge the gap between Mini and Pro - thus they have a lot to loose after the other mis-steps. With the headless category in question from Apple it moves to questions for customers - they have got to nail both categories in order to stay relevant in this space.
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I’ve been wondering, why it is so much easier to make lightning port water resistant than 3.5 mm port?

The lightning port has metal contacts that are embedded in the connector housing sealed by design from the internals of the phone - the jack uses an open contact design within the phone itself. While the lightning port has embedded contacts that will resist water - deep penetration (pressure) in liquid over time will breach the embedded contacts also and enter the phone thus it is "water resistant".

 

[toke lahti]

The reason I think they will go with soldered RAM over socketed RAM is to reduce customer support costs, not to a few cents for a socket. With soldered RAM they don't have to deal with customers who put in crappy memory then waste hours with AppleCare or at Genius Bar trying to diagnose memory issues or dumb customers who can't seat their memory properly. If you think that wouldn't happen, you're crazy, all those support costs would add up even if all they did was tell the customer we don't support non-Apple supplied memory.

They could easily solve this by announcing beforehand that they don’t support user installed ram. And make more money when ram upgrade (within support) would have to be a service by authorized support personel.
I agree that customer support is the most expensive part in running IT business, but no, this is just over simplification. They want to sell new product, instead of an upgrade. Same with iOS devices. How it is easier to move your whole content of a device to a new device than just move the content of a sd card to a bigger card (android devices with replaceable memory card)?

 

[PickUrPoison]

He said "headless line-up" which to me means every desktop system other than the AIO iMac, and I agree with him. If Apple continues to show they have no plans for headless desktop systems other than an under-powered sealed-box Mini and an overpriced overheated Pro I think they're going to start losing a lot of people they picked up during the early days of OS X and the switch to Intel processors. Maybe they just don't want that customer base, which is sad given Apple's roots in the 1970s personal computer revolution.

Both - as Apple redesigns the Mini towards "pro-sumer" they will need to bridge the gap between Mini and Pro - thus they have a lot to loose after the other mis-steps. With the headless category in question from Apple it moves to questions for customers - they have got to nail both categories in order to stay relevant in this space.

I think Apple would do just fine if they canceled the mini, but I hope they don’t since I’d like to upgrade mine. I don’t think it’s a “make or break” situation, but the “day of reckoning” would at least give finality to those who want a mini refresh.

But if Apple were to cancel the Mac Pro, I do think that would be a major strategic mistake. The product management of that machine has been badly mis-handled, and it’s obviously long overdue for a badly needed refresh.

I really don’t think there’s any danger of Apple discontinuing the Mac Pro though, and at least the refresh will be able to handle a high wattage graphics card(s). Other than that, who knows what Apple has in mind for their “modular” Mac Pro.

A dual socket config with some decent Skylake-SP Xeons and 256GB RAM per CPU could be nice, but it would be a rather niche product. And the outrage would no doubt be deafening if Apple were to offer a $30k or $50k+ Mac Pro config.

 

[toke lahti]

The lightning port has metal contacts that are embedded in the connector housing sealed by design from the internals of the phone - the jack uses an open contact design within the phone itself.

Nice to learn something. So the contact surfaces in female part of lightning port are somehow sealed (from contacting water), before the male part is inserted?
There are moving parts in female socket, which are sealed when connection is open?

 

[jasnw]

I think Apple would do just fine if they canceled the mini ...

If the only headless Mac system available is an overpriced Pro system there are a lot of us who will head back to Linux and Windows. The only reason the Mini gets so much love is that it is the ONLY headless Mac system available other than the Pro. The fact that there was so much complaining when Apple effectively sealed the Mini in the 2014 release is because people were buying Minis and beefing them up to meet their needs (which Apple was not meeting). If they want to drop the Mini and put in a mid-range headless Mac with user-upgradable options, that's fine with many of us. But having only a Pro headless system would make Macs a non-option for a lot of people.

 

[masterbaron]

There are moving parts in female socket, which are sealed when connection is open?

No - the contacts are "pins" much like a brad with wire attached to the other side - thus the brad penetrates the plastic housing like a nail with wire the other side. The pins are inserted into the housing and casual liquid will not breach them - under pressure (depth) it will.

Jacks have "Moving parts" (contacts) which are simply strips of metal that rest up against the jack when inserted.

Those metal strips on the male lightning plug make contact with the head of the pins when inserted - the head of the pin provides closure keeping liquid away from the body of the pin which leads to the inside of the phone. If there's no head on the pin then the pins were inserted with force, "hot" or milled to high tolerance to mate with the housing accomplishing much of what a head would do.
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The only reason the Mini gets so much love is that it is the ONLY headless Mac system available other than the Pro.

Exactly!

 

[toke lahti]

If the only headless Mac system available is an overpriced Pro system there are a lot of us who will head back to Linux and Windows. The only reason the Mini gets so much love is that it is the ONLY headless Mac system available other than the Pro. The fact that there was so much complaining when Apple effectively sealed the Mini in the 2014 release is because people were buying Minis and beefing them up to meet their needs (which Apple was not meeting). If they want to drop the Mini and put in a mid-range headless Mac with user-upgradable options, that's fine with many of us. But having only a Pro headless system would make Macs a non-option for a lot of people.

The legend of xMac, but it’s only a legend...

 

[Moonjumper]

If the only headless Mac system available is an overpriced Pro system there are a lot of us who will head back to Linux and Windows. The only reason the Mini gets so much love is that it is the ONLY headless Mac system available other than the Pro. The fact that there was so much complaining when Apple effectively sealed the Mini in the 2014 release is because people were buying Minis and beefing them up to meet their needs (which Apple was not meeting). If they want to drop the Mini and put in a mid-range headless Mac with user-upgradable options, that's fine with many of us. But having only a Pro headless system would make Macs a non-option for a lot of people.

I'm feeling hopeful today, and we will end up with 3 headless Macs.

1. Mac Pro. 4 accessible RAM slots. 4 accessible NVMe slots for SSD drives. 2 accessible PCIe slots for video cards.
2. Mac Mini. 2 accessible RAM slots. 2 accessible NVMe slots for SSD drives. Shrunken Pro styling.
3. Mac Nano. Nothing accessible. A pocketable computer that takes advantage of every size reduction possible with a fanless sealed unit. It can use any monitor, TV, or iPad as a screen for reasonable portability.

It may be a stretch, but there is more chance than Apple making an iMac as graceful and ergonomic as the G4 version.

 

[DesertSurfer]

I'm feeling hopeful today, and we will end up with 3 headless Macs.

1. Mac Pro. 4 accessible RAM slots. 4 accessible NVMe slots for SSD drives. 2 accessible PCIe slots for video cards.
2. Mac Mini. 2 accessible RAM slots. 2 accessible NVMe slots for SSD drives. Shrunken Pro styling.
3. Mac Nano. Nothing accessible. A pocketable computer that takes advantage of every size reduction possible with a fanless sealed unit. It can use any monitor, TV, or iPad as a screen for reasonable portability.

It may be a stretch, but there is more chance than Apple making an iMac as graceful and ergonomic as the G4 version.

I don't know how likely this is, but I like it!

 

[PickUrPoison]

If the only headless Mac system available is an overpriced Pro system there are a lot of us who will head back to Linux and Windows. The only reason the Mini gets so much love is that it is the ONLY headless Mac system available other than the Pro. The fact that there was so much complaining when Apple effectively sealed the Mini in the 2014 release is because people were buying Minis and beefing them up to meet their needs (which Apple was not meeting). If they want to drop the Mini and put in a mid-range headless Mac with user-upgradable options, that's fine with many of us. But having only a Pro headless system would make Macs a non-option for a lot of people.

Some would ditch Mac (some already have), others would move to Mac notebooks or iMacs. In any case, Apple will be just fine.

But those who thought they were going to get a cheap mini and upgrade it themselves may not like the entry level pricing on the updated model if as rumored Apple’s beefed up the minimum config. RAM will be upgradable to either 32GB or possibly 64GB (depending on the CPU, and Apple) of DDR4, but those expecting NVMe slots will be disappointed I think, there’s absolutely no reason to think that would be coming. There’s really not much to upgrade internally anyway.

 

[Micky Do]

If the only headless Mac system available is an overpriced Pro system there are a lot of us who will head back to Linux and Windows. The only reason the Mini gets so much love is that it is the ONLY headless Mac system available other than the Pro. The fact that there was so much complaining when Apple effectively sealed the Mini in the 2014 release is because people were buying Minis and beefing them up to meet their needs (which Apple was not meeting). If they want to drop the Mini and put in a mid-range headless Mac with user-upgradable options, that's fine with many of us. But having only a Pro headless system would make Macs a non-option for a lot of people.

Thus the new Mac Mini is almost certainly coming!