
Apple needs to update Mac Mini, which hasn't been updated in 3 years - artsandsci
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-mac-mini-refresh-2017-8
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radley
3 years? Try 6. The last "update" was almost the exact same specs, except
everything was soldered on.

 _Mid 2011_

Dual-core Intel Core i5

2.3 GHz (2.9 GHz) / 2.5 GHz (3.2 GHz)

 _Late 2014_

Dual-core Intel Core i5

2.6 GHz (3.1 GHz) / 2.8 GHz (3.3 GHz)

The only other difference is user had the option to get 16GB (soldered) RAM at
time of purchase and the base price went up $100-200.

~~~
mmagin
Are those the same generation of intel processors? That it's a "core i5" of
<x> GHz doesn't really say much.

~~~
nathancahill
2011: Sandy Bridge

2014: Haswell

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nfriedly
I had a mid 2011 Mac Mini hooked up to my TV for a while - it was pretty nice
overall, although it was the only computer left in my house with a mechanical
hard drive.

Rather than upgrade to an SSD, though, I ended up replacing it with a used i3
NUC. (Partially because I wanted to try out the HDMI CEC adapter from Pulse
Eight, and partially because the premium from selling the Mac Mini covered the
cost of a faster NUC + SSD + CEC adapter with a little bit left over.)

BUT I didn't really use the CEC parts that much, and the Intel sound drivers
would "loose" my speakers and start refusing to output sound over HDMI anytime
the TV went to sleep, forcing me to reboot the entire computer to get sound
again. I ended up giving the NUC to my dad. (The drivers don't seem to exhibit
the same bug with his monitor.)

I'm now onto a compute stick + USB sound card (because it had the same HDMI
audio bug as the NUC), and I still occasionally wish I had just stuck with the
Mac Mini.

~~~
quake
Not nearly as elegant of a solution, but I've found that my Pi 3 does a great
job of being the 'media box' I've been using my 2nd gen (I think?) Apple TV
for. I've been using it with OSMC, wireless keyboard with trackpad, an
external hard drive, and an xbox 360 controller. Great little media box. OSMC
is dirt simple, I could probably give it to my parents and they'd figure out
how to use it pretty quickly.

Of course if I wanted to do computing I'd just use one of the desktop distros.

~~~
nfriedly
Yea, I tried that with a first-gen PI and decided it wasn't fast enough, but I
imagine the current-gen ones would be.

It also didn't seem quite flexible enough, though - I do a lot of browser-
based stuff (Youtube, Netflix, Plex, PBS Video, etc.) And I have a blu-ray
drive connected - I usually just rip CDs and movies to my plex server as soon
as I buy them, but occasionally I want to play something right away.

And, lastly, I occasionally just use the TV computer to look up random things
on the internet.

So, I think I'm stuck with a "real" computer for the time-being (meaning a
desktop OS and browser, mostly). A Pi with a regular Raspbian install would
probably work, but I've got everything set up and working well at this point,
so no reason to change it.

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rcarmo
As someone who dislikes the all-in-one form factor of the iMac and quite
enjoys being able to mix and match the monitors I want with a tiny, quiet
machine, I really hope this happens soon. My current desktop is a 2010 Mini
with dual HD displays, and it is getting a bit long in the tooth...

~~~
tcfunk
Unless you're dead set on OSX, you could look into one of Intel's NUC kits
[1]. I find this one pretty intriguing [2] (other than the skull thing, but
they provide a blank faceplate as well), but it does limit you to an M.2 form-
factor SSD.

They are a bit expensive for what you're getting, IMO, but they are at least
upgradable in some aspects, and similar in form factor to the mac mini.

1\. [https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/boards-
kits...](https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/boards-
kits/nuc/kits.html) 2\.
[https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/boards-
kits...](https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/boards-
kits/nuc/kits/nuc6i7kyk.html)

~~~
rcarmo
I've been writing [http://taoofmac.com](http://taoofmac.com) for around 15
years. I'm pretty much dead set on macOS for at least 50% of what I do :)

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gregmac
I've found this is still the most practical way of running a Mac build agent.
Other options are to spend thousands on a Mac Pro or MacBook, both of which
don't really work in a rack (and I'm being generous by saying the Mac Mini
does -- it at least fits in a 1U space).

What are other people doing for Mac build agents?

~~~
taylodl
Same thing you are - racking Mac Minis and crossing my fingers Apple will
provide a hardware update in the not-too-distant future. And to get the Mac
Mini to work in that environment isn't cheap by the time you get the
enclosures, redundant networking, power connections, etc. Add in the need to
run copies of MacOS in VMs to support multiple Xcode/iOS build combinations
and I need a machine with a LOT more oomph. Heck, we've even started eyeing
Mac Pros but are concerned they're being discontinued and aren't well-suited
for rack mounting at all.

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tiernano
Article mentions that the Mac Pro is now called the iMac pro... I hope not. I
hope the iMac pro is just that, a pro version of the iMac, and that a new Mac
Pro comes out as well. I have an original (now 11 year old) Mac Pro 1.1, and
it still works. Upgraded the original dual dual cores to dual quads, upgraded
memory, added ssd and all still works. I don’t use it as often as I did, once,
but I can. And with some hacking, it even runs latest OS X... having it in an
iMac format means that if the screen goes, your kind of screwed. And if you
want higher res for the main screen.. we’ll your still screwed... I just hope
the Mac Pro lives on...

~~~
cstross
> I hope the iMac pro is just that, a pro version of the iMac, and that a new
> Mac Pro comes out as well.

That's exactly the roadmap that was announced at the last Apple WWDC: Pro
version of the iMac around the end of this year, to be followed by a new Mac
Pro (with no built-in monitor) when it's good and ready.

------
pound
As growing tired of waiting for updated mac mini:

What are the non-apple options in term of machines if you want to keep using
thunderbolt cinema display ? (I'm fine with switching to windows).

Issue there is display's only thunderbolt 2 male cable. It's easy to go from
thunderbold female on machine to hdmi/displayport with adapters (macbook to
any non-apple display), but what I need is other way around connectivity. Has
anyone had any luck with that display and non-apple hardware?

Edited: Ideally keeping camera, speakers and usb hub working..

~~~
erik
Thunderbolt displays will only work with a Thunderbolt port. Apparently you
can adapt the Thunderbolt display's Thunderbolt 2 mini-display port connector
to the newer Thunderbolt 3 connector via Apple's adapter. But you're going to
have to research OS support outside Mac OS.

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jmull
Presumably, the lack of updates isn't just some slip-up.

There's a reason Apple isn't updating it. I would guess it is doing poorly
relative to other consumer Macs and has little strategic value.

(Probably, the Mac Pro sold very poorly which is why Apple let it languish as
well. But they eventually realized it's strategic value and decided to put
some resources into fixing it. The Apple TV probably also has not done well
historically, but has tremendous strategic value, so they haven't let it
languish too much.)

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DerekL
What I'd really like to see is Mac Pros that use Core i5 and i7, starting
around $1500 or a bit more, compared to the Xeon models starting at $3000.
These new machines would be called the Mac Tower and the Mac Tower Pro.

Then Apple could make a smaller, quiet, SSD-only Mac mini, and push down the
starting price.

I figure that there are two groups who like the Mac mini: those who want a
cheap and small desktop Mac, and those who want a modular desktop Mac, but
don't need a Mac Pro.

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nvr219
I seriously just want a Macbook Air with high res screen. Everything else
about it is 100% perfect for me.

~~~
Spartan-S63
The closest thing to that would be the 12" MacBook. I really think Apple needs
to put the MacBook Air line out to pasture. They haven't updated it in a
couple years and it was honestly never that great to begin with.

They should just focus on the MacBook and the MacBook Pro. With the new 13"
MacBook Pros, the weight and footprint is getting ever closer to the MacBook
Air, so that's also an option.

~~~
giobox
That might well work one day in the future, but today, a MacBook Air with
retina display would be a significantly better machine, given the TDP of the
CPUs typically used in the Air vs the passively cooled 12" MacBook.

This is the computer huge numbers of people want, but Apple force up the range
to the entry level 13" MacBook Pro (which incidentally IIRC currently has the
same TDP class CPUs as the existing Air...) to get a decent display.

Really the entry level 13 inch MacBook Pro should start at $999, given it
largely _is_ a MacBook Air but with Retina display and TB3. Heck the 13 inch
Pro is technically thinner as well now, even if the wedge shape of the Air
makes the Air seem smaller. They all but weigh the same now too.

> it [The MacBook Air] was honestly never that great to begin with

In absolute terms perhaps not, and definitely not at launch. Later models
however offered a pretty compelling mix of price, size and performance for a
long time. Especially the performance to battery life ratio, which at various
times has been one of the best compromises in Apple's lineup. There's a reason
sites like the Wirecutter and the Verge kept it their recommended machine "for
most people" for such a long time. I still think later versions of the Air are
some of the best machines Apple has made at their respective peaks, again "for
most people".

~~~
digikata
Yup, for me the current Apple lineup is a bit more than needed in the 13in Mac
Pro, and a little low in the Macbook. And neither are giving real battery
life/perf ratio that I'm looking for - so there's a gap. If not Apple then as
an alternative I keep hoping that some linux shop will put in some power
integration work to a quality PC-supply chain sourced laptop - because if I
could get 10-12 hrs of light use battery life I think I'd switch.

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jws
The mini has special challenges. It is a low volume product compared to the
the iPhones, iPads, and iMacs. There are probably 100 iPhones sold for each
mini. Simultaneously, it is a cost sensitive product, sitting at the bottom of
the Apple computer price list. It is probably difficult to recover the
engineering, qc, and manufacturing costs to change a model.

Couple this with a baffling inability of Intel's market segmentation
machinations to cough out a pair of chips which make sense for a low end and a
high end mini and there really isn't a compelling reason to make a new model.
Intel's newer offerings just don't offer enough bang to pay the mini product
development buck.

~~~
Retric
Strategically, I think they would be better off going with AMD on the Mini.
It's total units are tiny and they can leverage this into even better deals
from Intel.

~~~
erik
I'm not sure if AMD could offer Thunderbolt, which might be a deal breaker for
Apple.

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ksec
iPado Pro with iOS11, is pretty much the computing devices Apple has always
envisioned for. So it is time to let iPad be that devices, and start treating
Mac as workstation / production, professional uses.

Everything in the Mac lineup is a joke. Macbook Pro with Touchbar, we already
had a discussion on that few days ago, forcing a $200 component on every
Macbook Pro. Keyboard, even the so called improved Version 2.0 in Macbook Pro
2017 still sucks. And it is very VERY common to have keys not working
properly. Just ask any friends working in Apple Retails.

iMac Pro, lets wait and see because I could not figure out, without a change
of design how they managed to cool down 500W TDP within the same space. And
the things is, I have this suspicious they could always have done it, but
decided not to.

Mac Mini, It hasn't been downgraded for 3 years when they last took the Quad
Core option out.

All Desktop Mac, still have HDD as default. No amount of CPU Core, GB of
Memory is going to get you the speed improvement of SSD. And Apple talks about
caring for User Experience?

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jpao79
One thing they could do to extend the life of the existing hardware would be
to cost reduce the middle tier $699 2.6GHz 8GB RAM Mac Mini to the $499 price
point. I have to think that at least some of the memory and drive components
have dropped in price over the past 3 years.

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youngtaff
Mac Mini i7 (2012) makes an awesome VMWare ESXi box - I run a few VMs on mine
(cheaper than cloud for a test environment)

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KiDD
I'd be shocked if there wasn't a Mini refresh this next event...

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tthayer
Does it?

