Who's excited for an ARM Mac mini?

[macguru9999]

I can't imagine they weren't aware of the ASi transition coming up when designing it. What would make the MP not fit the road map?

I cannot think of any component in the current mac pro 2019 that would make the transition to an ARM mac pro, can you ? UNLESS they have an ARM CARD for that mac pro tower. My 68040 performa 6400 had a RISC Power PC G3 upgrade card (with a purple heatsink)

 

[Boil]

I cannot think of any component in the current mac pro 2019 that would make the transition to an ARM mac pro, can you ? UNLESS they have an ARM CARD for that mac pro tower. My 68040 performa 6400 had a RISC Power PC G3 upgrade card

Or, now hear me out here, Apple simply changes the main logic board from one designed for the Xeon CPU to one designed for an Apple silicon chip(s)...?!?

 

[macguru9999]

Or, now hear me out here, Apple simply changes the main logic board from one designed for the Xeon CPU to one designed for an Apple silicon chip(s)...?!?

Sure they could do that, you would still need slots presumably. I am not sure if any existing cards would work but something like that is possible. Or a complete redesign with a mini tower, still having a few slots of course.

 

[thenewperson]

I cannot think of any component in the current mac pro 2019 that would make the transition to an ARM mac pro, can you ?

Everything aside from the Intel CPU (and potentially AMD GPU) I'd imagine. I'd be pretty surprised if they redesigned the Mac Pro without taking into account how it would work with ASi in it. As much as there's concern for Apple's ability to execute I can't imagine they're at that level of dysfunction yet 🤣

 

[Boil]

Sure they could do that, you would still need slots presumably. I am not sure if any existing cards would work but something like that is possible. Or a complete redesign with a mini tower, still having a few slots of course.

Since it seems Apple has said they would only be using Apple silicon GPUs going forward, and with their moving to 5nm & 3nm products, I hope for a new Cube...!

Mac Pro Cube - starting at US$5,999.00

48 P cores / 4 E cores / 96 GPU cores - CPU & GPU Chiplets on interposer / System in Package (SiP) design
HBM3 Unified Memory Architecture - 128GB / 256GB / 512GB
NVMe RAID 0 (dual NAND blades) 4TB / 8TB / 16TB
Eight USB4 / TB4 ports
Two 10Gb Ethernet ports
One HDMI 2.1 port
Three MPX-C slots (for use with asst. MPX-C expansion modules)


Apple MPX-C Expansion Modules - starting at US$499.00

NVMe RAID Storage Module (Quad NAND blades)
GPGPU Module
FPGA Module
Neural Engine Module

 

[Boil]

But I feel that even if Apple has the ability to make a super powerful workstation the size of a Cube (like, 5 or 6 minis stacked up), there will still be a place for Cheesegrater 2.0; Pro Tools cards ain't gonna slot themselves...!

 

[MisterMe]

But I feel that even if Apple has the ability to make a super powerful workstation the size of a Cube (like, 5 or 6 minis stacked up), there will still be a place for Cheesegrater 2.0; Pro Tools cards ain't gonna slot themselves...!

Don't forget that the Cheesegrater 2.0 Mac Pro has two form factors--the new tower and the rack mount.

The original Cheesegrater 1.0 had a lifespan of 10 years. It was introduced as the Power Mac G5 in 2003. In 2006, it was rechristened the Mac Pro with a second optical drive as the only cosmetic change. It lived on for more than seven years before being replaced by the trash can Mac Pro in in 2013.

If history is a guide, then we should not be surprised to see Cheesegrater 2.0 for another nine years. There are those who believe that the design language of the Cheesegrater 2.0 will be used across a broader spectrum of Macs than the current two form factors of the Mac Pro. The thermal mass and conductivity of the aluminum billet construction coupled with the low heat production of ASi hold the possibility that ASi desktops and rack mounts will be fanless except for the most powerful models.

 

[Krevnik]

Sure they could do that, you would still need slots presumably. I am not sure if any existing cards would work but something like that is possible. Or a complete redesign with a mini tower, still having a few slots of course.

Cards that use Apple-provided drivers are likely to keep working as long as Apple doesn’t ditch PCIe slots. Cards that use 3rd party drivers would likely lag behind a bit, but with Apple’s driver framework, porting shouldn’t be too difficult. It’s not going to be like the 32-bit to 64-bit transition at least.

 

[Boil]

Don't forget that the Cheesegrater 2.0 Mac Pro has two form factors--the new tower and the rack mount.

The original Cheesegrater 1.0 had a lifespan of 10 years. It was introduced as the Power Mac G5 in 2003. In 2006, it was rechristened the Mac Pro with a second optical drive as the only cosmetic change. It lived on for more than seven years before being replaced by the trash can Mac Pro in in 2013.

If history is a guide, then we should not be surprised to see Cheesegrater 2.0 for another nine years. There are those who believe that the design language of the Cheesegrater 2.0 will be used across a broader spectrum of Macs than the current two form factors of the Mac Pro. The thermal mass and conductivity of the aluminum billet construction coupled with the low heat production of ASi hold the possibility that ASi desktops and rack mounts will be fanless except for the most powerful models.

I would love, Love, LOVE to see Apple extend the CGv2 design language to a rebirth of the Cube...!

I know I keep touting my fever dreams around here, but whatever...! ;^p

Mac Pro Cube - starting at US$5,999.00

48 P cores / 4 E cores / 96 GPU cores - CPU & GPU Chiplets on interposer / System in Package (SiP) design
HBM3 Unified Memory Architecture - 128GB / 256GB / 512GB
NVMe RAID 0 (dual NAND blades) 4TB / 8TB / 16TB
Eight USB4 / TB4 ports
Two 10Gb Ethernet ports
One HDMI 2.1 port
Three MPX-C slots (for use with asst. MPX-C expansion modules)


Apple MPX-C Expansion Modules - starting at US$499.00

NVMe RAID Storage Module (Quad NAND blades)
GPGPU Module
FPGA Module
Neural Engine Module

Would make one heck of a DCC (Digital Content Creation) workstation...!!!

 

[Boyd01]

Is Bluetooth and WiFi iffy on the current Mini? Just wondering?

You will get better responses in our Mac Mini Forum. A number of people have had problems, although I have not had any issues with my new Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse. I don't use wifi. See this thread.

Mac mini 2018 Bluetooth issues?

I just upgraded to a 2018 Mac mini and everything has been great...except for bluetooth. I first noticed with my Magic Trackpad - it will only consistently work when plugged in via a lightning cable. If I unplug the cable it connects fine, but it will randomly stop tracking and start back up in...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[dmccloud]

I cannot think of any component in the current mac pro 2019 that would make the transition to an ARM mac pro, can you ? UNLESS they have an ARM CARD for that mac pro tower. My 68040 performa 6400 had a RISC Power PC G3 upgrade card (with a purple heatsink)

I don't think you can reasonably draw parallels between the 68k-PPC transition and the x86-ARM transition. Apple isn't the type of company that typically invests their R&D budget into a one-time product, and I'd wager that they have been working on an AS-based Mac Pro at the same time they have been working on whatever will be released this fall.

 

[macguru9999]

I don't think you can reasonably draw parallels between the 68k-PPC transition and the x86-ARM transition. Apple isn't the type of company that typically invests their R&D budget into a one-time product, and I'd wager that they have been working on an AS-based Mac Pro at the same time they have been working on whatever will be released this fall.

Gosh , I hope your right , but it really looks like the 2 teams did not even talk. So which component in the 2019 mac pro would you retain in an arm version ?? seriously ?? I know you need slots , but ....

 

[Madonepro]

Gosh , I hope your right , but it really looks like the 2 teams did not even talk. So which component in the 2019 mac pro would you retain in an arm version ?? seriously ?? I know you need slots , but ....

Did you not watch the keynote when Craig was introducing Apple Silicone? You might recall that he mentioned that the demo of Big Sur, with the various software applications demo'd (including Microsoft 365 and FCP) were done on Mac Pro's running Apple Silicon. I think he also showed you an 'About This Mac' panel where it was listed. Ok, so it may have been smoke and mirrors, or maybe, just maybe, they are already a long way down that road. iFixit have shown that the processor on the MacPro has the ability to be lifted off. Hmmmm.

 

[Boil]

Did you not watch the keynote when Craig was introducing Apple Silicone? You might recall that he mentioned that the demo of Big Sur, with the various software applications demo'd (including Microsoft 365 and FCP) were done on Mac Pro's running Apple Silicon. I think he also showed you an 'About This Mac' panel where it was listed. Ok, so it may have been smoke and mirrors, or maybe, just maybe, they are already a long way down that road. iFixit have shown that the processor on the MacPro has the ability to be lifted off. Hmmmm.

It doesn't work that way...

 

[Madonepro]

It doesn't work that way...

Such an ambiguous answer? If you are referring to the iFixit comment, go watch their video on it, and you can see for yourself what they were referring to. There is no way Apple would have brought out the MacPro last year, and not had SOC plans for it. As for the WWDC video it's linked and timestamped here.

 

[macguru9999]

Such an ambiguous answer? If you are referring to the iFixit comment, go watch their video on it, and you can see for yourself what they were referring to. There is no way Apple would have brought out the MacPro last year, and not had SOC plans for it. As for the WWDC video it's linked and timestamped here.

Sigh, the apple silicone mac pro will require a completely different motherboard design. I hope they already have that but I honestly did not see any evidence of that at the launch... just a mac mini which is pretty cool in its own right ....

 

[Madonepro]

Sigh, the apple silicone mac pro will require a completely different motherboard design. I hope they already have that but I honestly did not see any evidence of that at the launch... just a mac mini which is pretty cool in its own right ....

Apologies, the Craig demo was done on the Mac mini developer platform device. There has to be a reason why Apple have done what they've done, and they have a pretty good track record of not buggering things up too much (with hardware)

 

[macguru9999]

Apologies, the Craig demo was done on the Mac mini developer platform device. There has to be a reason why Apple have done what they've done, and they have a pretty good track record of not buggering things up too much (with hardware)

I am pretty optimistic as well, I was not trying to be cynical. I am just a bit unsure what to do .... I have just sold a 12 core 2013 for a lot of money to get ahead of the curve (my 5,1 models are fine for me) and I would like to know where to go next. I could afford a 7,1 , but its crazy to buy one now ..... (unless you can pay it off with specific work needs)

 

[Madonepro]

I am pretty optimistic as well, I was not trying to be cynical. I am just a bit unsure what to do .... I have just sold a 12 core 2013 for a lot of money to get ahead of the curve (my 5,1 models are fine for me) and I would like to know where to go next. I could afford a 7,1 , but its crazy to buy one now ..... (unless you can pay it off with specific work needs)

I see where you are coming from. With the amount of investment in the Mac Pro and the XDR display, it'd be hard to imagine they wouldn't want them to evolve with their own silicon. I think the Mac Pro will be the last to get it, as they no doubt will want to have proven it's capabilities before giving to that end of the pro market.

 

[Boil]

Such an ambiguous answer? If you are referring to the iFixit comment, go watch their video on it, and you can see for yourself what they were referring to. There is no way Apple would have brought out the MacPro last year, and not had SOC plans for it. As for the WWDC video it's linked and timestamped here.

You were implying that Apple could just drop their Apple silicon Mac chip into the socket / motherboard designed for a Xeon chip...

I was just letting you know it doesn't work that way... A ton of PC hardware has sockets for CPUs, but they are not mix & match...

 

[Madonepro]

You were implying that Apple could just drop their Apple silicon Mac chip into the socket / motherboard designed for a Xeon chip...

I was just letting you know it doesn't work that way... A ton of PC hardware has sockets for CPUs, but they are not mix & match...

I was implying, that iFixit were implying, that was what the design was likely for. Time will tell.

 

[Krevnik]

I was implying, that iFixit were implying, that was what the design was likely for. Time will tell.

The odds of Apple using an Intel-compatible pin layout is round about zero. It would constrain their SoC design for no real benefit. Not to mention the sort of reverse engineering Apple would have to do in order to accomplish it makes it very expensive for no real long term benefit.

 

[macguru9999]

The odds of Apple using an Intel-compatible pin layout is round about zero. It would constrain their SoC design for no real benefit. Not to mention the sort of reverse engineering Apple would have to do in order to accomplish it makes it very expensive for no real long term benefit.

I hope they keep the case (2019 mac pro) I am not sure why or what you could fill it with in the ARM world but it sure looks pretty or maybe a cheesegrater minitower ....

 

[Boil]

I was implying, that iFixit were implying, that was what the design was likely for. Time will tell.

Look, you are obviously not very PC savvy. The motherboard in the Mac Pro is design specifically for the family of Xeon CPUs listed on the Apple Store. It also has an extremely specific PCH chip designed to work with the Xeons.

As I have already said, CPU sockets are NOT mix & match. I have a X570 motherboard (X570 is the chipset) with an AM4 CPU socket. Can I just drop any old CPU into the socket? No. It will only work with the CPUs it is designed for.

And Apple is NOT going to be designing a SoC to drop into a Xeon socket. It just does not work that way!

Please, learn more about how PCs work, get a book or sign up for a class or something...!

 

[MisterMe]

You were implying that Apple could just drop their Apple silicon Mac chip into the socket / motherboard designed for a Xeon chip...

I was just letting you know it doesn't work that way... A ton of PC hardware has sockets for CPUs, but they are not mix & match...

Not at all. I have already written about the Cheesegrater 1.0 which lived for three years housing a PPC and for seven years housing Intel Xeons. The notion that you can't just pop a Xeon out of the Cheesegater 2.0 and drop-in a Xeon is an obvious fact. However, it is a huge leap in logic to then say that this precludes retention of the Cheesegrater 2.0 as the case for an Apple Silicon-based Mac Pro.

The Cheesegrater 2.0 case is an aluminum billet that can be lifted completely off the internals. There is nothing to prevent Apple from designing new ASi internals for the aluminum billet that gives the Cheesegrater 2.0 its nickname.