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With the transition to Apple Silicon, if you wait too long then you may not be able to use any of your legacy apps. Apple won't support Rosetta (which gives Intel compatibility) forever. And Rosetta evidently won't support 32-bit apps at all. Granted, this won't matter much to people who use Apple's own apps or mainstream subscription software like Microsoft Office or Adobe CC.

In addition to Windows, I'm running Sierra and Mountain Lion in virtual machines on my 2018 Mini. This lets me continue using over $3000 of legacy CAD, 3d and database software (VectorWorks, Strata 3d, FileMaker Pro). They run much faster in virtual machines than they ever did on my old Macs.
What’s your preferred software for VM’s?
Parallels, Fusion or VirtualBox.
 
How does the frequency of updates change how many years you can use your new computer? Answer, it doesn't. What we can safely assume is that whatever will be released ten years down the line will be a large step up. But the number of intermediate steps they release along the way does not change how big the overall ten year step will be.

It's basic consumer expectations. There's always a bump in sales when a new model comes out. Where Apple is concerned the sales figures drop over time and we have the Mac mini as an example - as a computer 4 years with no update was ridiculous.

There's no reason why Apple couldn't update annually, but a 2 year refresh cycle would match the emerging pattern of the iPad Pro.
 
With the move to Apple Silicon then they can control release schedules a bit better.

With Intel's slipping schedule it's easy to see how Apple could control the schedule - but freed from ever later and smaller gradual incremental releases, will Apple actually decide to release hardware more often just because iPhone CPUs have been very predictable for over a decade now?

The precedent for iPhones is set annually, but Apple can one day in the future decide to let the relentless annual CPU upgrade cycle slip for an unspecified reason.
 
What’s your preferred software for VM’s?
Parallels, Fusion or VirtualBox.
VirtualBox has always had the position of the free Alternative with a slightly user-unfriendly UI and on average lesser performance. Between the paid alternatives Parallels and Fusion it was a head-to-head race, with the decision partly based on personal taste and partly on which one was (slightly) better for a specific use case.

With Fusion having changed to be free of charge for private use “recently” (using that term loosely), I would see that as favorite nowadays, unless you need the last bit of speed or DirectX xx support for gaming.
 
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When I orderer "a new mini" back in 2018, I didn't know beforehand how hard Apple has done to run homedir from ext drive. So, of course I have too small internal.

Now it might be the time to sell this puppy to my dad and buy another with bigger int. drive, they are even cheaper now, that back then! :rolleyes:

When this mini2018 was new, it was said that because it has Titan Ridge, it will support dp1.4. Later on, we learned that macs with Titan Ridge do not support dp1.4 without dGPU.

People,
what do you think of odds Apple releasing a new mini within next half a year?
If the next one is already AS, could it support dp1.4? Like real for this time?
Is there a new tb chipset coming out of Intel shortly? Or a new revision to Titan Ridge?

And for those who answer "you don't need dp1.4, since you have tb3", small info:
I have LG's 5k2k monitor. For the first 1,5 years its speakers were silenced after mini took a sleep. You needed cold hardboot them to work again. For the last half an year, I've had the monitor hooked up with double cabling: the other one connected to monitor's dp port. This way I can change the input port from the monitor back and forth and thus force the new handshake with tb connection. Since I didn't find a command to force tb handshake from Terminal.
Downside is, that I loose one tb port from mini.
I'm still running Mojave, this might be fixed with newer OS's and I still haven't got time to apply the newest security updates, since I've gotten very cautious with this, having so many problems, so few ansers from Apple's support and these updates tamper with T2 firmware and that's really a PITA to downgrade.
 
When I orderer "a new mini" back in 2018, I didn't know beforehand how hard Apple has done to run homedir from ext drive. So, of course I have too small internal.

Now it might be the time to sell this puppy to my dad and buy another with bigger int. drive, they are even cheaper now, that back then! :rolleyes:

When this mini2018 was new, it was said that because it has Titan Ridge, it will support dp1.4. Later on, we learned that macs with Titan Ridge do not support dp1.4 without dGPU.

People,
what do you think of odds Apple releasing a new mini within next half a year?
If the next one is already AS, could it support dp1.4? Like real for this time?
Is there a new tb chipset coming out of Intel shortly? Or a new revision to Titan Ridge?

And for those who answer "you don't need dp1.4, since you have tb3", small info:
I have LG's 5k2k monitor. For the first 1,5 years its speakers were silenced after mini took a sleep. You needed cold hardboot them to work again. For the last half an year, I've had the monitor hooked up with double cabling: the other one connected to monitor's dp port. This way I can change the input port from the monitor back and forth and thus force the new handshake with tb connection. Since I didn't find a command to force tb handshake from Terminal.
Downside is, that I loose one tb port from mini.
I'm still running Mojave, this might be fixed with newer OS's and I still haven't got time to apply the newest security updates, since I've gotten very cautious with this, having so many problems, so few ansers from Apple's support and these updates tamper with T2 firmware and that's really a PITA to downgrade.
Maybe. Hard to say. But we know Apple will change the chips they use soon.
 
I think it could be awhile before an Apple Silicon Mini, people mainly want laptops and there haven't even been any rumors about a Mini. Personally I'm not interested, the main reason I got a 2018 Mini was to replace my old Windows computer with a virtual machine on the Mac and I'm really happy with how that worked out. Also, not interested in being the "first kid on the block" with an Apple Silicon computer, I suspect it could take awhile for them to mature.

I got the 2tb internal drive, did not make sense to get anything smaller since it cannot be upgraded. Wish they had a 4tb model, I also have a 2tb Samsung T7 and it won't be long until I start running out of space. Still using the version of Catalina (10.15.4) that was pre-installed on my Mini and I have not had a single crash since I got it in June. No crashes or problems with Windows in Parallels either and I use it heavily. All things considered, this is the most stable Mac I can recall (and I got my first Mac in 1985). I run Moutain Lion and Sierra virtual machines for my legacy software, and they work great too. Driving a 32" QHD BenQ monitor with a USB-C to Displayport cable and really like that too.

Will be sad to see the end of the Intel Mini line. Hope Apple will have something compelling when I finally want to upgrade, but that will likely be quite a few years from now. :)
 
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I think it could be awhile before an Apple Silicon Mini, people mainly want laptops and there haven't even been any rumors about a Mini. Personally I'm not interested, the main reason I got a 2018 Mini was to replace my old Windows computer with a virtual machine on the Mac and I'm really happy with how that worked out. Also, not interested in being the "first kid on the block" with an Apple Silicon computer, I suspect it could take awhile for them to mature.

I got the 2tb internal drive, did not make sense to get anything smaller since it cannot be upgraded. Wish they had a 4tb model, I also have a 2tb Samsung T7 and it won't be long until I start running out of space. Still using the version of Catalina (10.14.4) that was pre-installed on my Mini and I have not had a single crash since I got it in June. No crashes or problems with Windows in Parallels either and I use it heavily. All things considered, this is the most stable Mac I can recall (and I got my first Mac in 1985). I run Moutain Lion and Sierra virtual machines for my legacy software, and they work great too. Driving a 32" QHD BenQ monitor with a USB-C to Displayport cable and really like that too.

Will be sad to see the end of the Intel Mini line. Hope Apple will have something compelling when I finally want to upgrade, but that will likely be quite a few years from now. :)
I also went with the 2TB model.
 
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I have LG's 5k2k monitor. For the first 1,5 years its speakers were silenced after mini took a sleep. [...]
I'm still running Mojave, this might be fixed with newer OS's
I wouldn't hold my breath. Problems with DP (TB) connections on a mini are known since multiple OS X (macOS) revisions and date back even to the 2012 mini. Apple never managed (or never cared) to fix this for many years now.
 
I think it could be awhile before an Apple Silicon Mini, people mainly want laptops and there haven't even been any rumors about a Mini. Personally I'm not interested, the main reason I got a 2018 Mini was to replace my old Windows computer with a virtual machine on the Mac and I'm really happy with how that worked out. Also, not interested in being the "first kid on the block" with an Apple Silicon computer, I suspect it could take awhile for them to mature.

I got the 2tb internal drive, did not make sense to get anything smaller since it cannot be upgraded. Wish they had a 4tb model, I also have a 2tb Samsung T7 and it won't be long until I start running out of space. Still using the version of Catalina (10.14.4) that was pre-installed on my Mini and I have not had a single crash since I got it in June. No crashes or problems with Windows in Parallels either and I use it heavily. All things considered, this is the most stable Mac I can recall (and I got my first Mac in 1985). I run Moutain Lion and Sierra virtual machines for my legacy software, and they work great too. Driving a 32" QHD BenQ monitor with a USB-C to Displayport cable and really like that too.

Will be sad to see the end of the Intel Mini line. Hope Apple will have something compelling when I finally want to upgrade, but that will likely be quite a few years from now. :)
You may be right, but the developer machines are Mac mini’s, so who knows.
 
I personally think the next Mini will be with  Silicon. As the current Intel CPUs suitable for the Mini require new sockets (and would therefore need a major board redesign), I really can't imagine Apple putting so much effort in when the end of Intel is already well on the horizon.

When this new  Silicon Mini will come I don't know. Early to mid 2021 would be my guess.
 
Dp1.4 was published March 2016. Intel's UHD Graphics 630 released in 2018 did not support it. Apple uses this chipset in a mac in 2020. Chain is long and slow. If Apple have wanted, they still could update mini with Ice Lake chips, right? Or even Comet Lake?
This would need their change of updating mini to biennial schedule.
Could they do that?
Would they do that?

And when in AS, will they then update it more often?
Are they pouring old chips from macbooks to small imac and mini? Will it be any different with AS?
 
IMO, there is zero chance of another Intel Mini.

Ditto.

Apple could possibly up the base storage again and more likely the base memory to boost sales. It’s not as if they don’t have a some margin to work with. Then they could use another “New” designator at the Apple store.
 
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Dp1.4 was published March 2016. Intel's UHD Graphics 630 released in 2018 did not support it. Apple uses this chipset in a mac in 2020. Chain is long and slow. If Apple have wanted, they still could update mini with Ice Lake chips, right? Or even Comet Lake?
This would need their change of updating mini to biennial schedule.
Could they do that?
Would they do that?

And when in AS, will they then update it more often?
Are they pouring old chips from macbooks to small imac and mini? Will it be any different with AS?
Update more often? Zero chance. The Mini is the least popular of all the Macs they sell. Macs in general make up a small portion of their annual turnover. So why spend the R&D?
 
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Update more often? Zero chance. The Mini is the least popular of all the Macs they sell. Macs in general make up a small portion of their annual turnover. So why spend the R&D?

The AS CPU changes the R&D dynamics bit. We have seen via leaked benchmarks on the Developer kit (New Apple Developer Transition Kit benchmarks show Apple silicon already outperforms a MacBook Air) that doing something as simple as more or less taking the existing design and replacing the Intel CPU with an AS does wonders.

Remember that unlike before the Mac, iPad, and iPhone all will be using AS making R&D more focused - possibly to the point where a iPad + magic keyboard = low end Mac laptop some time i the future.
 
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IMO, there is zero chance of another Intel Mini. But I don't have a good track record with Apple predictions! 😂

I would think that the 'demo' Apple Silicon unit being a Mac Mini would kinda give people the idea that Intel Mini's are done...

I haven't kept up on the (Shh, secret) Apple Silicon Mini's. Would it be 'easy' for them to crank them out in larger numbers, likely with slower processors and sell them as the 'New Mac Mini'? Other models will require a bit of work to get them ready, unless Apple and TSMC put out the chips in the same pin-outs of the Intel chips.

And I have an iMac Pro. Buyers remorse...:oops:😞
 
Update more often? Zero chance. The Mini is the least popular of all the Macs they sell. Macs in general make up a small portion of their annual turnover. So why spend the R&D?
I'll bet they sell more mini units than pro. And for now iMacpro.
So you think 4-year update cycle is the most likely?

How is it with aTV? (=AS, but niche)
 
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