Apple Fall event official for October 30th (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

For those considering the new Mini or Air (actually any Apple computer or laptop) keep in mind that external SSD options are relatively affordable nowadays. Apple charges so much for upping the internal SSD that it honestly makes more sense to get a reliable 1TB SSD from someone like Samsung, and a USB 3.0 external enclosure and pocket the $700 in savings. Sure it's "one more thing" to carry around, but the enclosure is relatively small, and being an SSD it's not prone to the same mechanical failure due to shock that traditional hard drives are. And yes it will be "slower" than if you upped the internal drive, but even if you're dealing with the largest 4K movie files, you're talking mere seconds.

Don't get me wrong, if you have money to spare and those seconds are precious, by all means up the internal SSD. But if you're budget conscious, an external SSD is the way to go. Buy that Mac Mini + external SSD and throw those $700 towards a new iPad Pro. You'll pay for most of it with those savings.

EDIT: Full disclosure, this is from someone who, up until his most recent Apple laptop purchase (a Macbook Pro in 2015) always maxed out his internal SSD. I won't be doing that from now on. Whenever I purchase a new Mac moving forward, I'll get the SSD size that makes sense to have the OS and programs on it, and will be storing my files on an external SSD.

 

[JQuintana]

Are you an artist and that's your main draw to the top end iPad and pen?

 

[Citizen87645]

The Mini is tempting, but after crunching the numbers I think my best value will still be the base 27" iMac. Plus, it will be somewhat easier to migrate from my 2009 27" iMac to the current version.

 

[JohnRice]

iPad mini? Show is still going on....

Nah, Mac Mini. The specs seem vague, but it does appear to be soldered RAM, which counts out 64GB for me, but 32 is probably fine. It's more expensive than I was hoping, but honestly, once I configure what I want, it's still $1K less than the iMac I would want. The video capabilities seem to be more than enough for me, and I already have my monitors, so buying an iMac was just going to leave me with an extra one. A 3.2GHz 6 core i7 should at least match the 4.2 GHZ quad core i7 I would want in the iMac.

So, @Sam Posten , you're the mongo Apple Tech Geek here. The most challenging processing I do is Photoshop and Handbrake, but Handbrake does it's job while I'm not using the computer anyway, so that's not even a big deal. A Mac Mini 6 core 3.2 GHz i7 with 32 GB RAM seems like a decent Photoshop machine for the price. Nothing else Apple offers seems like it can touch it for the price. I'm coming from a 2012 quad core i7 Mini.

 

[JohnRice]

I finally looked at the base model Mac Mini, and that is a killer computer for $799. I bet that's all about 90% of regular people ever need.

 

[Nelson Au]

Johnny, if your post was aimed at me, then yes. The top end iPad Pro that I have bought in the past were all because of content creation. Plus the delightful bonus of being a portable email, web browsing device and word processor. Plus watching videos on it is cool.

I don’t use it everyday to sketch and paint. And that was my intent. Previously I used a Wacom Cintiq for my digital sketching and painting tool. It’s a wonderful tool and it’s big. The iPad has nearly replaced it for its portability and how the Apple Pencil has worked so well on the iPad, it’s nearly as good as the Wacom stylus. I’m supposing this new iPad Pro and Pencil is even better together. The added swiping capability on the Pencil answers those artists who miss the side buttons on the Wacom Stylus that allows you to add shortcuts, like undos or right click or scroll and rotating the canvas. If the drawing and painting experience is better with this new Pencil and apps, I will hopefully draw and paint more.

So I’ll be ordering this new iPad Pro and Pencil for sure and in the 12.9” size. Still debating the storage size I want.

 

[JQuintana]

I meant to ask Sam, but glad you found a new toy to suit your needs.

 

[JohnRice]

I'm almost positive there's a new Mini in my near future. I noticed that the two base models aren't really different. I want the i7 processor, and I noticed I can upgrade the base model to it without being required to also buy a 256GB SSD, which saves $200. I run a clean boot drive, and have everything else on external drives. Which brings up the issue of Apple's prices. $200 to go from a 128GB to 256GB SSD is criminal, as are their RAM prices. I like the computers, but I often despise the company.

 

[DaveF]

The new iPad Pro and folio keyboard look fantastic! I really want them! But, at $800 plus $179, it’s not a smart purchase for me right now. I get along fine with the budget $329 iPad.

But it’s very pretty and I would like very much to haves it.

 

[Thomas Newton]

Nah, Mac Mini. The specs seem vague, but it does appear to be soldered RAM, which counts out 64GB for me, but 32 is probably fine.

From what I'm reading, the RAM on the new Mini is not officially user-accessible. But it might be "just" sealed-in, not soldered in:

https://appleinsider.com/articles/1...-about-the-2018-mac-mini-ram-storage-and-more

 

[JohnRice]

From what I'm reading, the RAM on the new Mini is not officially user-accessible. But it might be "just" sealed-in, not soldered in:

Thanks for the link.

Is the RAM user-expandable?

Yes. The slots are SO-DIMM slots, and are mostly accessible to the user. In conversations with Apple corporate employees, we've been told that users with a "modicum of skill" can get to the pair of RAM slots.​

I think I might wait a week for units to ship, which places will rip apart right away to see how they're laid out. I've swapped drives on several Minis, and from the photo, this looks to be far easier than that. It looks like you remove the bottom plate, and there are the slots right there. Looking at the photo, it's definitely NOT soldered. Good to know.

Buying the base unit, then putting in my own 32GB RAM would save $300!!

 

[JohnRice]

OWC is already officially listing RAM for the new Mac Mini.

 

[Citizen87645]

OK, I'm leaning back toward the Mini, for a variety of reasons. The main ones being lower upfront costs compared to the iMac and the option to pick my own monitor (even though the 27" 5K is nice). I was just thinking I might go the route that John described of keeping a clean boot drive with a 128 GB SSD.

 

[JohnRice]

OK, I'm leaning back toward the Mini, for a variety of reasons. The main ones being lower upfront costs compared to the iMac and the option to pick my own monitor (even though the 27" 5K is nice). I was just thinking I might go the route that John described of keeping a clean boot drive with a 128 GB SSD.

Cameron, I switched to SSD several years ago when they were expensive, and only have the OS and apps on my boot drive. Nothing else. The boot drive on my home Mini has 86GB on it, and I can even clean out some old stuff I don't use anymore. Files are all on external, which is especially easy to do with USB-C and Thunderbolt 3.

 

[DaveF]

How big is the new mini? Is it the same as the old one? Or did it get shrunk down to NUC sizing?

 

[Thomas Newton]

Same size, going by the Apple technical specifications.

Size (Mac Mini (2018))

• Height: 1.4 inches (3.6 cm)
• Width: 7.7 inches (19.7 cm)
• Depth: 7.7 inches (19.7 cm)

Size (Mac Mini (Late 2014))

• Height: 1.4 inches (3.6 cm)
• Width: 7.7 inches (19.7 cm)
• Depth: 7.7 inches (19.7 cm)

 

[DaveF]

Huh. That seems surprising. Is that surprising that Apple didn’t out-NUC intel? Or so there too much infrastructure around the size that it had to remain the same?

 

[DaveF]

Also, what’s the deal with USB C for the iPad Pro when the iPhone Xs is Lightning? I understand changing ports when it’s necessary...but I don’t understand why it’s necessary if the iPhone hasn’t gone there yet.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Also, what’s the deal with USB C for the iPad Pro when the iPhone Xs is Lightning? I understand changing ports when it’s necessary...but I don’t understand why it’s necessary if the iPhone hasn’t gone there yet.

I think it has everything to do with outside connections such as cameras, 5k displays, etc.

 

[Mark Booth]

I think it has everything to do with outside connections such as cameras, 5k displays, etc.

Exactly. I use a SD card adapter with my iPad to import photos from my digital camera. I never use that adapter with my iPhone.

The bitch is... Now I'll have to buy another SD card adapter (or just connect the camera directly to the new iPad Pro).

I suspect the iPhones will switch to USB-C next year.

Mark