It's quite possible, I think we'll have a much clearer idea of what's to come after WWDC. Until then I'll just keep clinging to my aging 2012 model and then I'll have to figure out if I should rush out and buy a 2018 or hold out for a rumored ARM model.
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The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming
- Thread starter GabrieleR
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Some do, but by no means all.
Many get by with just a smartphone.
And some, like me at present, use a MacBook Air, which is fine and dandy during an itinerant phase of my life. However, I am no fan of mobile devices, which tend to have a relatively short useful lifespan. I far prefer to use a desktop computer, with a decent sized monitor and peripherals of my choice. I am surely far from alone in that respect.
I know folks who have more than one cheap'n'cheerful older model Mac Mini set up for a variety of purposes.
Then there are the folks who realise that, to get the best out of iPads and iPhones, and even MacBooks to some extent, it is best to have a desktop base in their tech-ecosystem.
When the Mac Mini arrived on the scene in 2005 it was a fit for my needs.... I wanted a desktop that was easily transportable from time to time, but even back then when my eyesight was better than it is now, I didn't want a portable device to tote day to day. To this day I seldom even carry a mobile phone. A couple of years ago, when I came to need something more portable for work I bought the MacBook Air, but I saw it as supplementary, not my mainstay.
Beloved by pros, pundits and dilettantes when it was released, the 2018 Mac Mini was over priced and over powered with insufficient onboard storage to suit Joe or Jill Consumer, so it soon disappeared from retail displays. The 2020 update went some way to rectify the situation, but it remains a niche machine that those in the know order on-line.
As has happened with much of the Mac line up, it almost certainly needs a rethink, rejig and relaunch to ensure enough demand to keep new Mac Minis coming.
Thing is, Joe and Jill are far more likely to purchase a new smartphone annually or every other year. It's a similar thing with iPads. Older devices get sold on or recycled in the family and Apple coins it in.
On the other hand we're all examples of what Apple doesn't want to see - people who buy an expandable product and use it for years. They want us to be buying services like Apple Music, apps, subscriptions, Apple News+ etc.
Laptops get close to that every other year upgrade schedule for some people but for others Apple know they're not going to get that same amount of revenue - so do you blame them?
While planned obsolescence is part of their business model, such an ephemeral outlook across the range would be short-sighted. It is the reason that many companies have come and gone since Apple came to be.
There is the old saying: “Never buy a first-gen device from Apple.” An ARM-based Mac would be the very prototype of a first-gen device. Ask the veterans for their experiences with the first PPC Macs or the first Intel Macs. Bumpy starts.
No matter what Apple will show or tell during WWDC: Buy an Intel Mac now or be prepared to cling to your 2012 a bit longer! Unless you have fun in being a guinea pig, of course
Very true. Glad I bought my 2018. Should see me through for the next few years.There is the old saying: “Never buy a first-gen device from Apple.” An ARM-based Mac would be the very prototype of a first-gen device. Ask the veterans for their experiences with the first PPC Macs or the first Intel Macs. Bumpy starts.
No matter what Apple will show or tell during WWDC: Buy an Intel Mac now or be prepared to cling to your 2012 a bit longer! Unless you have fun in being a guinea pig, of course
"Never buy a first-gen device from Apple"
Not true -> Buy a 1. Gen Device and keep it sealed until its more worth than anything else
Not true -> Buy a 1. Gen Device and keep it sealed until its more worth than anything else
I think the Mini will be one of the last models to transition to ARM since it fills a number of unique "niches" in the Mac ecosystem and those niches would all need to transition to ARM OS-compatible versions before Apple makes the move on the hardware side.
Off the top of my head:
- Home PLEX server heads.
- Server Co-Location Nodes.
- Software Development Testing Boxes.
I have learned this lesson and re-learned it several times. Life on the bleeding edge can be painful.There is the old saying: “Never buy a first-gen device from Apple.” An ARM-based Mac would be the very prototype of a first-gen device. Ask the veterans for their experiences with the first PPC Macs or the first Intel Macs. Bumpy starts.
No matter what Apple will show or tell during WWDC: Buy an Intel Mac now or be prepared to cling to your 2012 a bit longer! Unless you have fun in being a guinea pig, of course
That’s only valid for true game changers like the iPhone. Another notebook - just on a different hardware platform - does not qualify, I’m sorry! 😎"Never buy a first-gen device from Apple"
Not true -> Buy a 1. Gen Device and keep it sealed until its more worth than anything else
As Steve Jobs himself said (under completely different circumstances, I admit):
Who knows how this Gen. 1 ARM Mac will be judged looking back 10 years from now …
The iPhone 1st gen offered a completely different user experience, doing away with fixed buttons in favor of going completely touch screen. They may not have been the first to offer that tech in a mobile phone, but their approach was pretty refined and targeted for mass production.
I fail to see what a possible new Arm-based notebook could bring to the table that would justify a game-changer moniker. It will most likely run macOS (compiled for ARM) as it‘s predecessors are doing it now. Even if it would run iOS natively (which I find highly unlikely), that’s nothing that would inspire the whole notebook industry to follow suit, as the iPhone did with multi-touch Touchscreen only UI.
The next game-changing device from Apple that I can currently see are the glasses (when done right).
I don't know if (and if, how) it will be a game changer - that's exactly my point. We can't possibly know today. 🙂
But I agree that it most certainly won't be a game changer like the iPhone.
But I agree that it most certainly won't be a game changer like the iPhone.
With the iPhone, one could at least get the idea of it being a game changer, due to the fundamental changes in device interaction. So while we can’t see the future, we can make educated guesses, based on what’s known and/or expected. An Arm-based Mac is probably not changing a the whole notebook industry.
Now, if an Arm-based Mac would e.g. project a hologram for a screen, THAT would qualify as possible game changer
If they release an ARM Mini on Monday, it's going to be a Developer Box and not for consumer use.
Nope, they'll be good for a few more years.
I used my 2005 Mac Mini original for a couple or 3 years after the move to Intel. Only replaced it when the HDD and power supply failed, and replacement was more cost effective than repair.
Why would you? Does it explode the moment an ARM based Mini goes on sale?
I'd say that if an ARM Mini is introduced, you'd better get an Intel Mini while they last!
I'd prefer to see what they offer before giving any advice 😛I'd say that if an ARM Mini is introduced, you'd better get an Intel Mini while they last!
I agree. I have also been wondering if we might actually see an increase in people buying up Intel machines out of fear of Arm...?