Thoughts on a Mini Speedbump soon?

[007p]

What? The 9th generation of CPUs is out since October last year and the 10th generation will come out in December this year.

If Apple wanted to refresh the Mac mini line-up, they could have already done that together with the iMacs in the beginning of May 2019. Most of the iMacs got a refreshed CPUs (except the entry level).

It depends on the type of CPU though. Mobile versions come out sooner than desktop version I believe.

Have a look at the i3 in the mac mini:

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...ore-i3-8100b-processor-4m-cache-3-60-ghz.html

The closest I can find for the 9th gen chip of this is:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/processors/core/i3-processors/i3-9100.html

Release date is Q2 19. So it didn't come out last year...

As for the new iMacs, here is a list of CPUs in those:

https://www.macobserver.com/analysis/intel-cpus-in-apples-2019-imacs-chart/

The lower speced ones are actually using the same chip as the mac mini, as the new ones weren't released yet.

It's also important to look at the TDP, the 9th gen versions in the iMacs have 95W TDP, the mac mini CPUs are currently 65W. I'm fairly certain given how hot the mac mini runs now, they couldn't simply swap in the same CPU as it would quickly over heat.

It also looks like the 9th gen iMac chips don't have integrated graphics, so again wouldn't work.

Looking more into the CPU's, it seems that all the 65W 9th gen CPUs that would go in the mini have a release date of Q2 19. Again, I don't believe they are readily available yet, and its unlikely Apple puts them in an upgraded mac mini early. Earliest I would expect an upgrade is October tbh.

Back to the original point about Graphics:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/processors/core/i7-processors/i7-9700.html

This is quite likely the 9th gen version of the i7 in the mac mini now. It still has the 630 integration graphics...

 

[Zdigital2015]

What? The 9th generation of CPUs is out since October last year and the 10th generation will come out in December this year.

If Apple wanted to refresh the Mac mini line-up, they could have already done that together with the iMacs in the beginning of May 2019. Most of the iMacs got a refreshed CPUs (except the entry level).

The 9th Gen CPUs that Apple would use to upgrade the Mac mini were just recently released (April, 2019). They are the i3-9100, i5-9500 and the i7-9700. However, the B-type variant (BGA) has not been listed yet, although I suspect that would not be an issue for Apple. The fly in the ointment if that that the i7-9700 is 8c/8t, no hyper-threading. Which begs the question, should Apple skip that CPU and offer the i9-9900, with 8c/16t, instead or in addition. That could drive up the BTO cost for the CPU upgrades. Apple has to decide whether or not the i7 with no hyper-threading makes more sense or the i9, or both. The CPUs appear to be shipping, but not in great quantities yet. Intel is still struggling to meet 14nm demand.

Sunny Cove/Tiger Lake 10nm S-Series desktop CPUs won’t be released until 2020 or possibly 2021. They will not be released in December of this year. I doubt that we will see 10nm on the mini if Apple does intend to switch to ARM CPUs for the Mac.

If someone need a mini now, they should get one now.

 

[007p]

The 9th Gen CPUs that Apple would use to upgrade the Mac mini were just recently released (April, 2019). They are the i3-9100, i5-9500 and the i7-9700. However, the B-type variant (BGA) has not been listed yet, although I suspect that would not be an issue for Apple. The fly in the ointment if that that the i7-9700 is 8c/8t, no hyper-threading. Which begs the question, should Apple skip that CPU and offer the i9-9900, with 8c/16t, instead or in addition. That could drive up the BTO cost for the CPU upgrades. Apple has to decide whether or not the i7 with no hyper-threading makes more sense or the i9, or both. The CPUs appear to be shipping, but not in great quantities yet. Intel is still struggling to meet 14nm demand.

Sunny Cove/Tiger Lake 10nm S-Series desktop CPUs won’t be released until 2020 or possibly 2021. They will not be released in December of this year. I doubt that we will see 10nm on the mini if Apple does intend to switch to ARM CPUs for the Mac.

If someone need a mini now, they should get one now.

One thing for me - even if they updated the cpus, the graphics remain the same, which is currently the thing lacking the most with the minis hardware, so it really shouldn’t matter to anyone who doesn’t need every little drop of CPU power.

 

[Zdigital2015]

One thing for me - even if they updated the cpus, the graphics remain the same, which is currently the thing lacking the most with the minis hardware, so it really shouldn’t matter to anyone who doesn’t need every little drop of CPU power.

As I contemplate the purchase of a 2018 Mac mini, I am glad that I went ahead and purchased an Asus XGStation Pro along with a Sapphire Nitro+ RX580 8GB GPU, which I use with my 2016 15" MacBook Pro, but can easily move to the Mac mini should I need to or if I get rid of the MBP at some point in the future. I also look forward to an upgrade to a NAVI 7nm GPU at some point or possibly a Radeon VII if I have a workflow that can justify the cost.

 

[bryanus]

Which 2012 mini do you have?

If you do take the plunge with a 2018 model, please report back on your thoughts. I've got a 2012 quad core which is running great. But....I really don't see them updating the mini again for a very long time...so, I think, inevitably I'll end up with the 2018, anyhow.

I got my 2012 used in 2016, so its fairly "new" to me, so I feel a little guilty upgrading sort of early.

I've got the 2012 i7 2.3GHz model with 16GBs RAM and a 256GB SSD boot drive and 500GB USB 3.1 Sandisk Extreme Pro portable drive (which I will move to the 2018 when I get it).

 

[opeter]

@007p and Zdigital2015: thanks for all the informations to both of you.