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Will Apple try to promote the smaller M4 Mini as a gaming device?

M

M4pro

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 15, 2024
136
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Many of us can think of potential use cases for the rumored smaller Mini. My interest in the topic - practical applications of a new Mac desktop form factor - has also piqued my curiosity. What are Apple’s broader brand-identity goals for the upcoming 2024 Mini release?

Could the mini-Mini hardware be yet another incremental step in Apple’s larger pseudo gaming platform build-out?

Is a tweak to the marketing of the Mini as a (now maybe passable) gaming-device-thing what Apple is teeing up next?

*Sourcing: Completely unverified partial transcript of an early 2022 Apple Blue Sky session:

Important Person A: “So, looking next at Hardware, who’s got ideas here?”

Less Important Person B: “We’re seeing Q4 of 2024 lining up as absolutely the right time for our new Gaming product!”

More Important Person C: “Uh don’t we still have the Mini lying around, maybe a new form factor… re-focus the marketing, you know… let’s see how that goes…”
 
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Carrotstick said:
It’s not ARM, the Switch is ARM based. It’s just Apple doesn’t serve the gaming audience.
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The switch also runs much lower framerate (60fps) and resolution (720). That's fine for a handheld gaming device, but such performance on a desktop is less than optimal for most AAA games. That being said, I'm still impressed with the graphics performance of my M3 Pro considering it's integrated graphics.
 
krell100 said:
It’s fairly obvious that Apple has close to zero interest in gaming.
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Right. Anyone wanting gaming needs to take a portion of the money they'd spend on a hypothetical gaming Mac and buy yourself a gaming PC. They can come in tiny Mac-Mini-like boxes too and- as Windows computers- play all of the PC games we WISH would come to Mac... TODAY... as soon as you set them up.

Microsoft spends AppleTV+ like money & resources on games, seeding development, buying up game studios when they are made available etc. Apple just slings lip service about being serious about gaming but mostly lean on a "if we build it, they will come" model. Every decade, Apple "is serious about gaming" and then it fades away again.

If you want gaming... NOW... go shopping for a nice gaming PC. They can come in small packages and work great. And since, many of their makers don't seek near 50% margin, you can buy a LOT of hardware horses for less money.
 
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I have follow-up questions.

So we know that Apple chose Streaming TV as its vehicle for living room dominance.

And I suppose there’s a kind of logic there that might have worked okay.

But in order to do that - to attract an age-range diverse set of users - Apple TV+ would actually need to provide captivating, imaginative, eyeball-addicting, immersive world-building content.

Which it doesn’t.

Old people. There’s lots of old people on Apple TV.

Doing old people stuff.

So, judging by TV+, is Apple Grandma and Grandpa’s company now?

When and why exactly did Apple decide to become the Old People’s brand? I think it’s fair to ask.

Also fair to ask (again) - Why would Apple being serious about gaming be such a bad idea?

Why shouldn’t Apple choose serious gaming (instead of TV+) as said vehicle to Living Room dominance?

And, come on now, why can’t Apple - with all its resources - do both?

Why doesn’t Apple make better use of the Apple billions $$ by creating a higher tier of original, immersive, compelling, exclusive gaming content (well above Apple Arcade’s level).

I’m gonna speculate that Grandma and Grandpa don’t need thirty more new TV shows next year.

Apple instead needs to re-focus. It’s overdue.

There are under-served audiences out there. Serious gamers being prominent among them. Why should this continue?

Apple targeting future Apple content (games in particular) toward a broader range of audiences is fundamentally better strategy.
 
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Apple is way too strict and domineering, practically hostile, when it comes to supporting games and what they allow devs to do on their hardware. So no, it would never happen.
 
M4pro said:
Also fair to ask (again) - Why would Apple being serious about gaming be such a bad idea?
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It's not at all. But get Apple on board. Every approx. 6-11 years, Apple gives exactly this a bunch of lip service... but no follow through. They want a "build it and they will come" model: Apple builds what they want to build anyway and then it's entirely on third parties to take all of the risks to bring the games. Meanwhile, all other gaming providers want them too... and many offer subsidy models to pay them while they develop... if not outright acquire them and control AAA gaming franchises directly.

When Apple goes at gaming like they've gone at AppleTV+- that is allocate sizable money and dedicated talent- then there's real hope. Else, we've all seen this movie over and over again and it ends the same way every time.

M4pro said:
Why shouldn’t Apple choose serious gaming (instead of TV+) as said vehicle to Living Room dominance?
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They should. There is sizable opportunity there. Instead of appearing to believe your fellow consumers are against it, it's Apple that needs the convincing.

M4pro said:
And, come on now, why can’t Apple - with all its resources - do both?
Click to expand...

They can. But again, get Apple to do it.

M4pro said:
Why doesn’t Apple make better use of the Apple billions $$ by creating a higher tier of original, immersive, compelling, exclusive gaming content (well above Apple Arcade’s level).
Click to expand...

Unknown. Apparently, they don't value such investments like they value AppleTV+ creations. Maybe they want to rub shoulders with stars? Maybe they want little trophies like Oscar and similar? Maybe it's something else.

M4pro said:
Apple instead needs to re-focus. It’s overdue.
Click to expand...

Only a short while ago, Apple once again spun the "we're serious about gaming" line. History says that's where it begins and ends with Apple.

M4pro said:
There are under-served audiences out there. Serious gamers being prominent among them. Why should this continue?
Click to expand...

Because Apple doesn't want the business for some reason? Because they have just ceded it to the established players? Anyone's guess is as good as mine.

M4pro said:
Apple targeting future Apple content (games in particular) toward a broader range of audiences is fundamentally better strategy.
Click to expand...

You are preaching to a choir. Convince Apple. That's the obstacle.

In the meantime, it sounds like you really, really want games. If so, take a fraction of what it will cost to buy a great gaming computer from Apple and buy yourself a gaming PC. You'll immediately have access to just about all AAA games, with many more to follow. They have a solid game creation model in play. I don't see that changing anytime soon. Bonus: you'll have "old fashioned bootcamp" too just in case you need anything else Windows that may or may not work well in ARM Windows (emulation).

Your fellow consumers may seem pessimistic but that's very likely because we've seen this same sequence play out many times before. Apple gives it some lip service, rolls out some amazing hardware and then does nothing else about it... until about 6-11 years passes again and Apple slings "we're serious about gaming."
 
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i don't think Apple itself is that serious about gamers...too bad because their are a thousands who are on Twitch/Kick/Youtube that are content creators and that market is now pretty established. But there is ways to be able game using the older Intel Macs with Egpu setups. Since the invention of the M chip, those options of having a dedicated egpu is gone away along with bootcamp.
 
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IMG_6102.jpeg
Funny I should mention it - expect Control Ultimate Edition to get a shout-out from Apple at this month’s Mac Event.

From what I can tell, Control will be the first Mac title with raytracing + Metal FX upscaling.
 
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Ursadorable said:
The switch also runs much lower framerate (60fps) and resolution (720). That's fine for a handheld gaming device, but such performance on a desktop is less than optimal for most AAA games. That being said, I'm still impressed with the graphics performance of my M3 Pro considering it's integrated graphics.
Click to expand...
Much lower than what? Most computers still run at 60 fps, including most Macs. Also, the switch runs at 1080p when connected to a TV.
 
Ursadorable said:
The switch also runs much lower framerate (60fps) and resolution (720). That's fine for a handheld gaming device, but such performance on a desktop is less than optimal for most AAA games. That being said, I'm still impressed with the graphics performance of my M3 Pro considering it's integrated graphics.
Click to expand...
That's not really anything to do with being ARM though. The Switch architecture is very old. Also, that's the maximum frame rate. Most games are 30fps or less (some games on switch are so heavy they dip to 20-24 fps).

Even the M1 can outperforms a PS4 by 50%, and the CPU several times over. Mac's have the power for serious gaming, they just don't have the library. Which I think was the point.

That said, Apple are clearly putting a lot of focus on porting tools for games, which goes beyond the GPU/Metal features, that are leaning into gaming applications more and more.
 
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