These New Macs Are Coming in 2024

[DavidSchaub]

Question: if you had a choice between a Mac Mini the size of an Apple T.V. albeit a bit taller (let's even say it's got the same number of ports, though unlikely), or a Mac Mini in the current size with the addition of an internal drive bay (and you can make this DIY 3rd party internal SSD your boot drive easily), which would you pick?

I'm aware some people avoid Apple's price-gouging SSD upgrade pricing by getting an SSD and putting it in an external TB 3 enclosure (wonder why that's hundreds cheaper?). It often involves a performance hit, one more piece of clutter on the desktop, reliability issues and concerns about how hot some of them get (judging from the thread discussing these things) and would complicate management and backup (over having everything on one SSD).

The Mac Pro supporting two SATA drives but no M.2 is pretty sad... but really, a Mac Pro can have dirt cheap PCIe M.2 cards.

A related issue is: if a Mac's flash storage entirely fails, the Mac is bricked, and there is no way of booting it off another drive.

I would prefer Macs to use M.2 boot drive; but other than that, I don't see any real problem with the mini and Studio not having internal storage expansion. There are so many external solutions that work fine, and there's basically no performance hit between internal M.2 and external TB4/USB4 40Gbps drives.

 

[DavidSchaub]

...using an iMac style power brick extending the ethernet connection to the brick to save space would leave plenty of room for other ports.

I really hope that iteration of the iMac power adapter fades away quickly.

It is such a weird hack of a product:
- The connector is quite wide;
- Running ethernet wires through the connector/power cable is just silly;
- It makes for a bulky proprietary external power brick;
- Really, just make it a USB dock with an ethernet port.

On the Mac mini, you might as well just use USB-PD for power.

 

[DavidSchaub]

no, the M1 Air is still being sold new by Apple to the education vertical. I can still order them from Apple at work (a state university).

Long term it is still an unknown:

How much longer will they be manufacturing them?

When they stop, will the M2 drop to that price point?

It could easily just be a one off and not a real ongoing price point.

Time will tell.

 

[ric22]

The Mac Pro supporting two SATA drives but no M.2 is pretty sad... but really, a Mac Pro can have dirt cheap PCIe M.2 cards.

A related issue is: if a Mac's flash storage entirely fails, the Mac is bricked, and there is no way of booting it off another drive.

I would prefer Macs to use M.2 boot drive; but other than that, I don't see any real problem with the mini and Studio not having internal storage expansion. There are so many external solutions that work fine, and there's basically no performance hit between internal M.2 and external TB4/USB4 40Gbps drives.

They'd rather we buy a whole new computer than repair the one we have. My RAM died in my last MacBook Air, and that's the end of the computer. Historically that would have been a 5 min job to fix. Claims of things like added performance and security are minimal (incredibly minuscule in the case of performance), and not their real motivation.

 

[seek3r]

The Mac Pro supporting two SATA drives but no M.2 is pretty sad... but really, a Mac Pro can have dirt cheap PCIe M.2 cards.

A related issue is: if a Mac's flash storage entirely fails, the Mac is bricked, and there is no way of booting it off another drive.

I would prefer Macs to use M.2 boot drive; but other than that, I don't see any real problem with the mini and Studio not having internal storage expansion. There are so many external solutions that work fine, and there's basically no performance hit between internal M.2 and external TB4/USB4 40Gbps drives.

You can boot modern macs off external volumes, you just have to disable the security check for it

 

[brofkand]

Long term it is still an unknown:

How much longer will they be manufacturing them?

When they stop, will the M2 drop to that price point?

It could easily just be a one off and not a real ongoing price point.

Time will tell.

i think it’ll stick around for quite a while. It’s still a profoundly useful machine especially in education.

 

[drrich2]

A related issue is: if a Mac's flash storage entirely fails, the Mac is bricked, and there is no way of booting it off another drive.

Strongly agree. No excuse for this.

I would prefer Macs to use M.2 boot drive; but other than that, I don't see any real problem with the mini and Studio not having internal storage expansion. There are so many external solutions that work fine, and there's basically no performance hit between internal M.2 and external TB4/USB4 40Gbps drives.

Notebook users are somewhat used to 'dongles,' hubs, docks, etc... Desktop users ought not have to be. Considering how much Apple emphasizes a minimalist aesthetic, it's laughable what some user desks look like with the add-on accessories. Putting that aside, reading discussion of TB3 external SSD offerings, I see mixed reviews, talk of high heat, people opening them up to DIY install pads to disperse more heat, etc... Not confidence-inspiring to the less technically inclined.

But this would be the test of it. Let's say Apple sold Minis and Studios with an extra M.2 SSD bay, and you could use it as the boot disc if you wanted. What would you estimate the percentages would be of users installing a 3rd party SSD vs. buying an external enclosure TB3 SSD?

You can boot modern macs off external volumes, you just have to disable the security check for it

How easy is that to do?

 

[Chuckeee]

They'd rather we buy a whole new computer than repair the one we have. My RAM died in my last MacBook Air, and that's the end of the computer. Historically that would have been a 5 min job to fix. Claims of things like added performance and security are minimal (incredibly minuscule in the case of performance), and not their real motivation.

True, and Apple computers are more extreme than many other computers but this “replace instead or repair” approach is a general marketplace trend. Television are now replace vs repair commodities. And automobiles are definitely heading in that direction too.

Apple is a bellwether in this regard not just an outlier.

 

[brofkand]

Strongly agree. No excuse for this.

Notebook users are somewhat used to 'dongles,' hubs, docks, etc... Desktop users ought not have to be. Considering how much Apple emphasizes a minimalist aesthetic, it's laughable what some user desks look like with the add-on accessories. Putting that aside, reading discussion of TB3 external SSD offerings, I see mixed reviews, talk of high heat, people opening them up to DIY install pads to disperse more heat, etc... Not confidence-inspiring to the less technically inclined.

But this would be the test of it. Let's say Apple sold Minis and Studios with an extra M.2 SSD bay, and you could use it as the boot disc if you wanted. What would you estimate the percentages would be of users installing a 3rd party SSD vs. buying an external enclosure TB3 SSD?

if the answer is “more than one” wouldn’t you agree it would be nice if they had that choice?

 

[DavidSchaub]

You can boot modern macs off external volumes, you just have to disable the security check for it

Yes, but I believe the flash in the Mac still needs to be working, that is where the firmware is.

 

[ric22]

True, and Apple computers are more extreme than many other computers but this “replace instead or repair” approach is a general marketplace trend. Television are now replace vs repair commodities. And automobiles are definitely heading in that direction too.

Apple is a bellwether in this regard not just an outlier.

I have a very good source that told me a certain German auto manufacturer plans precisely how to make their EVs near impossible to repair. Bullsh*t like that is really depressing.

 

[opeter]

"Mac nano" will be the most gimped Mac ever. But will also feature "built for Apple Intelligence" M4 and it starts at <$599. So the value proposition checks out.

"Mac nano" is the perfect product for increasing the Apple's desktop computer market share.

You forgot to mention, that Mac nano will have 1 GB of RAM with the option to upgrade to max. 4 GB for $800.

 

[Schizoid]

Don't care if the Mac miniii is any smaller, just want it to lose NO ports. Currently the mini pro has built-in power supply, Ethernet w/10GBe as option, 4 Thunderbolt/USB-C, HDMI, 2 old-style USB, headphones. Every single one of these ports is super useful and needed. If they make it smaller hopefully they'll have two rows of ports to fit them all in, and keep the internal power supply. If they move to an external power supply that will be terrible.

View attachment 2406527

This is Apple we’re talking about, so I’m guessing smaller, less ports, less useful, more expensive…

 

[JimmyG]

I don't buy a new Mac until there is at least a 27" iMac for a fair price. Ridiculous that there are so many iMac 27" users still using 10+ year old computers because they need a larger screen in an all in one.

Timmy may have juiced the stock price but he has screwed those that made Apple.

I couldn't agree more, I'm still rockin' my 27" 2TB 2019 i9 iMac and there is absolutely nothing in Apple's current desktop offerings that hold the slightest interest to me.

Now, make us a ≥27" with M4 Max with with an HDR display or M4 Pro with an old-fashioned (read: Apple Studio Display) SDR display and Tim has got my attention...and don't skimp on the ports, Tim! Haw!

It's all-in-one or go home for this Mac user. (Cue the Mini/Studio trolls. LOL)

 

[citysnaps]

IMO baseline RAM is not all that relevant. What is most important is how much RAM is optionally available, since under AI, Apple's UMA, etc. RAM has very substantive impact on real-world operation. Raising baseline RAM levels simply raises the lowest end of available Apple hardware, IMO not particularly a good thing to do.

The many folks [here] who concern themselves with base RAM are really just wishing for more computer for less cost, which is IMO a waste of bandwidth, because we all wish for more computer for less cost. Personally I could care less about what Apple chooses as base RAM. More important [to me] is how much Apple charges for adding RAM, currently about 2x what it should be.

Spot-on assessment. for people who need more RAM, simply pay for it. For the large number of Apple customers with modest needs and don't need more RAM, choose the base option and save some money.

No need to force extra RAM (and $) on people who will never need it.

Apple has it right. For those that disagree there are loads of other computers from different manufacturers to choose from. Simply pick one and find happiness. Easy.

 

[citysnaps]

A related issue is: if a Mac's flash storage entirely fails, the Mac is bricked, and there is no way of booting it off another drive.

That's kind of like if planet Earth stops rotating into the Sun's rays tomorrow morning civilization as we know will cease to exist...

I'm not worried about that or my Mac's flash storage failing.

 

[KeithBN]

🍎TV-sized Mac mini, provided its full M4 / M4pro, would be rather useful.
A simple VESA mounting bracket and it can easily be attached to the back of most monitors and hey presto - iMac style computer but one where you don’t have to throw the entire thing away if one part dies!

iMacs have gorgeous displays BUT you can’t use them at all these days if the Mac side dies, which is one hell of a waste.

This way, though…

 

[Colpeas]

I would still bet on Apple only increasing the base RAM up to 12 GB :/

tbh, even that would be better than nothing.

 

[tenthousandthings]

Spot-on assessment. for people who need more RAM, simply pay for it. For the large number of Apple customers with modest needs and don't need more RAM, choose the base option and save some money.

No need to force extra RAM (and $) on people who will never need it.

Apple has it right. For those that disagree there are loads of other computers from different manufacturers to choose from. Simply pick one and find happiness. Easy.

I think this is right in terms of larger amounts of memory. But would it kill Apple to do with Mac memory what they already do with iPhone storage? That is, make the first upgrade bump USD $100. I think that would go a long way toward creating goodwill with people on a budget who don’t need “pro” memory but would nonetheless like to “future-proof” their base M-series purchase.

[Needless to say, they should also adopt the iPhone model for storage already.]

 

[ric22]

I think this is right in terms of larger amounts of memory. But would it kill Apple to do with Mac memory what they already do with iPhone storage? That is, make the first upgrade bump USD $100. I think that would go a long way toward creating goodwill with people on a budget who don’t need “pro” memory but would nonetheless like to “future-proof” their base M-series purchase.

[Needless to say, they should also adopt the iPhone model for storage already.]

I was shocked to discover today that 4 years ago, when RAM cost more, Apple changed half as much for memory upgrades. Storage upgrades are now essentially free to them. It's all about squeezing the pennies out of us.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-doubles-the-price-of-ram-upgrade-on-entry-level-13-inch-macbook-pro.2239069/

 

[Zyhon]

I don't think we will see an iM4C this year. It is more likely that a M4C Studio will be released.

 

[DavidSchaub]

I don't think we will see an iM4C this year. It is more likely that a M4C Studio will be released.

Why?

All rumours, and and all past Apple behaviour suggests that it is far more likely that we'll see an M4 iMac many many months before we see an M4 Mac Studio?

 

[Chuckeee]

A simple VESA mounting bracket and it can easily be attached to the back of most monitors and hey presto - iMac style computer but one where you don’t have to throw the entire thing away if one part dies!

But you can already do that with the existing Mac mini configuration. It is a useful approach but it is not a new feature for this updated mini Mac mini.

 

[DavidSchaub]

But you can already do that with the existing Mac mini configuration. It is a useful approach but it is not a new feature for this updated mini Mac mini.

Sure, but if it was the half the size, half the weight, and USB-PD powered, it would do that job WAY more cleanly.

I just don't want that Mac nano product to replace the Mac mini.

 

[Chuckeee]

I don't think we will see an iM4C this year. It is more likely that a M4C Studio will be released.

The iMac would just require the integrating the already fully developed & tested M4 chip based on relaying out the already proven iPad Pro logic board in a different (already established) geometry.

While an M4 Studio would require all that PLUS development & testing a new M4Ultra chip (which is more complex) and developing & designing a new logic board for the new chip. All for a product with a significantly smaller market