The Mac Mini is just pining for the fjords, it's not dead yet! (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

Keep hope alive!
https://www.engadget.com/2018/08/20/apple-may-unveil-low-cost-macbook-upgraded-mac-mini-this-year/

 

[Citizen87645]

Well, seeing that I'm handing down my 2011 Mini to my parents and then am due for a replacement for my 2009 iMac, this could give me another option next year. But most likely it will just be another iMac.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Well, seeing that I'm handing down my 2011 Mini to my parents and then am due for a replacement for my 2009 iMac, this could give me another option next year. But most likely it will just be another iMac.

Yes, I would absolutely stick to an iMac. The reason I still have my 2009 MacPro and will upgrade (or downgrade) to a new Mac Pro or Mini next year is I have to have one without an attached monitor as it is above all my Home Theater PC. I would like to stick to a Pro in terms of it lasting longer (a decade for the last one!) and it being modular/upgradable. But if the only storage is going to be SSD, forcing me to have an external NAS or similar, it may make a lot more sense to go with a new Mini...

 

[Citizen87645]

A couple months ago I updated my 2011 Mini to High Sierra, but it was really hard to do it as the updates kept stalling halfway through and it was only after reverting to its original OS (Snow Leopard I think) and working back up to the latest OS did it finally take. But now a recent software update keeps hanging in the middle too, so I'm debating whether I should just give up on it and send it to the local e-recycler. I was thinking of handing it down to my parents, who are running an even older Mini, but if it's going to be such a struggle to do updates, it's not really worth my time. My parents are pretty much living on their tablets, so barely use a desktop computer now anyway. Any suggestions?

 

[Ted Todorov]

A couple months ago I updated my 2011 Mini to High Sierra, but it was really hard to do it as the updates kept stalling halfway through and it was only after reverting to its original OS (Snow Leopard I think) and working back up to the latest OS did it finally take. But now a recent software update keeps hanging in the middle too, so I'm debating whether I should just give up on it and send it to the local e-recycler. I was thinking of handing it down to my parents, who are running an even older Mini, but if it's going to be such a struggle to do updates, it's not really worth my time. My parents are pretty much living on their tablets, so barely use a desktop computer now anyway. Any suggestions?

Then why would your parents need a desktop computer at all?

My mom has had very similar problems: her iMac (2014 - original retina) - hung and got stuck on High Sierra upgrade, had to erase/restore the HD from her Time Capsule, and re-install. Then several of the minor High Sierra upgrades hung and had to be redone. (Latest one worked fine). Her 17" MacBookPro (the last 17") similarly hung, had to restart from Lion (IIRC), and stopped at the last Sierra. Didn't want to risk High Sierra again.

Clearly there are problems with High Sierra - old(er) Macs.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Clearly there are problems with High Sierra - old(er) Macs.

I have been running into this on my mid-2012 MBP (non-retina), though it doesn’t seem to be tied to High Sierra. Since installing the Spectre/Meltdown patch this spring, I have had to start downloading the combo updates directly from Apple. Any macOS update I try to install through the App Store fails and I end up having to recover to my last good backup.

I thought about completely wiping my MBP and starting over from scratch to see if that resolves the issue. Maybe I will sometime.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Concerning the Mac Mini refresh. I’m watching this with great interest. I might buy one and a NAS and set up a Plex server.

 

[Citizen87645]

They probably don't need a desktop, but I figured they could get more use out of the Mini than I was. Maybe I should turn it into a Chromebox if it's essentially now a tinkering machine.

Interestingly, my 2009 iMac has been updating fine on High Sierra...knock on wood.

Then why would your parents need a desktop computer at all?

My mom has had very similar problems: her iMac (2014 - original retina) - hung and got stuck on High Sierra upgrade, had to erase/restore the HD from her Time Capsule, and re-install. Then several of the minor High Sierra upgrades hung and had to be redone. (Latest one worked fine). Her 17" MacBookPro (the last 17") similarly hung, had to restart from Lion (IIRC), and stopped at the last Sierra. Didn't want to risk High Sierra again.

Clearly there are problems with High Sierra - old(er) Macs.

 

[DaveF]

The new mini is going to be a "Pro", which means expensive features Pro's don't use.

 

[Ted Todorov]

The new mini is going to be a "Pro", which means expensive features Pro's don't use.

Honestly, relying on Gurman's article for the new Mac Mini being a "Pro" is silly. And even if true, of course everyone has their own idea of what that would mean.

My idea for a good future MacMini: preserve ALL EXISTING MacMini PORTS including in & out TOSlink*, replacing at least two USB 3(USB A) with a USB C/Thunderbolt & latest & greatest HDMI port, options for a iMac level CPU/GPU, MacBookPro max RAM, support for external 5K display (and ideally an option for an Apple Cinema Display 5K), options for MacBookPro max SSD (Since the existing Mini has SSD+HD option - SSD+SSD for the new one may be a good idea - 2 1TB SSDs would be cheaper than 1 2TB SSD). Support for a headless macOS Server version.

If they really wished to go all out, they could turn the Mac Mini into a "Mac Maxi" aka "modular Mac" which, realistically would mean user upgradable SSD/RAM - start with a low entry and upgrade as SSD and/or RAM prices go down - this was the beauty of the cheese grater Mac Pro.

The above would certainly be a "Pro", which if maxed could cost a fortune, but could also be fairly cheap if not maxed.

Yes, I am sure this is fantasy land, but really I have a feeling that these are the Mini core customers: users of headless Macs, HTPC Macs, software developers and other Mac server users, video/photo/audio professionals who want something more capable than a MacBook (in terms of audio ports, HDMI, etc.) but portable from studio to studio or office to office. (I do know people who carry Minis from home to work instead of MacBooks).

*To stem off Sam making fun of me: listen to the recent ATP where Marco Arment describes his current Mini use case, which is audio in/out using Audio Hijack to for EQ and other music audio improvements. For many audio studios in/out TOSlink is a valid use case - a mini headphone jack is not.

 

[DaveF]

Honestly, relying on Gurman's article for the new Mac Mini being a "Pro" is silly. And even if true, of course everyone has their own idea of what that would mean.

And most everyone has the idea that "pro" means expensive. Yes, Gurman's report is short of details leaving open more questions than it answers.

The new mac mini could be equivalent to a MacBook Pro without screen and keyboard: a small NUC-sized (or smaller) device with a current i5 or i7, HDMI, and a couple of USB-C ports. But one of the big question marks is whether it will have a GPU or rely on Intel's anemic integrated graphics, which is fine for playback and even video trancoding, but otherwise is inadequate for "pro" work.

If it's really "pro" it could offer the $3200 upgrade path to the 4TB SSD. For that matter, the mini could have a $5000+ option with for 32GB and 4TB SSD. And maybe a extra $50 upgrade if you want it in black.

Another speculation is that it will be designed specifically to be rack mountable.

 

[Sam Posten]

You aren't going to get TOSLINK. Take it to the bank. Not happening. Prepare for disappointment now.

 

[Ted Todorov]

You aren't going to get TOSLINK. Take it to the bank. Not happening. Prepare for disappointment now.

Nor do I expecting 4 HD drives, 2 CD/DVD/BD drives, and 4 card slots or TOSlink in/out in the 2019 Mac Pro - indeed I expect none of it. "Modular"? Probably you can swap GPUs, and maybe memory chips.

The problem is that Apple doesn't provide you with devices for USB C audio in/out or a NAS* - and third party devices are always a gamble. So probably my 2009 Mac Pro will keep running until it dies and be replaced by a used 2012 Mac Pro...

*that same ATP episode had everyone including Marco praise their Synology NAS (which they all got for free so they'd promote the company)...and Marco said, he keeps his in the garage. Makes perfect sense: Looking at the Synology pictures, none of them would fit in the same space as my current Mac Pro and I can only imagine their noise level directly underneath the TV screen and next to the speakers

 

[Sam Posten]

We will see how well apple re-orients. I think there's been tons of feedback from the pro community about how they went too far extreme with thin and light at the expense of power. I think we will see more flexibility than recent, but not as much as what we were used to in the old Mac Pro days.

Do you want to cry, @Ted Todorov ? Check this out:
https://twitter.com/N/status/1032843043076943872

I expect a ton of USB C and Thunderbolt slots, even on the new Mini. I expect being able to dongle in a TOSLINK there more likely than you will get one native.

But, as long as we are dreaming about what would really make this thing sing for us, you know what I want more than anything in this new Mini?

An equally awesome Apple Cinema Display. 4/5k 27" that supports HDR. Could they even make it support Dolby Vision? Could it include a couple HDMI inputs in addition to Thunderbolt? Priced right I'd buy 4 of those. =)

 

[Clinton McClure]

Alls I ask is for a quad core i5 and 16GB of RAM.

 

[JohnRice]

...make that a quad i7 and 32GB RAM please. Maybe even a 6 core.

 

[JohnRice]

A couple months ago I updated my 2011 Mini to High Sierra, but it was really hard to do it as the updates kept stalling halfway through and it was only after reverting to its original OS (Snow Leopard I think) and working back up to the latest OS did it finally take. But now a recent software update keeps hanging in the middle too, so I'm debating whether I should just give up on it and send it to the local e-recycler. I was thinking of handing it down to my parents, who are running an even older Mini, but if it's going to be such a struggle to do updates, it's not really worth my time. My parents are pretty much living on their tablets, so barely use a desktop computer now anyway. Any suggestions?

I've installed High Sierra on (4) 2011 and (1) 2012 Mini without a single hitch. One detail is, all of them run on SSDs I installed in place of the original HD. I also stopped running composite updates years ago, because I found occasional problems. I run each of the app updates individually, then the OS update. It takes a little longer, but I haven't had any problems since.

You aren't going to get TOSLINK. Take it to the bank. Not happening. Prepare for disappointment now.

Maybe still one of the combined headphone/Toslink outputs,but that's probably it.


What I'd (realistically) like to see is a roughly 4.2 GHz Quad (maybe even 6 core) i7 option, socketed RAM with 32 GB capacity, a reasonably powerful GPU option, but not necessarily 4K or 5K support. If you go much beyond that, it's treading on iMac territory.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Do you want to cry, @Ted Todorov ? Check this out:
https://twitter.com/N/status/1032843043076943872
....
An equally awesome Apple Cinema Display. 4/5k 27" that supports HDR. Could they even make it support Dolby Vision? Could it include a couple HDMI inputs in addition to Thunderbolt? Priced right I'd buy 4 of those. =)

I love it - why cry? What I have to say about the cheese grater Macs is their elegance was one that did wonders for third party devices as well: you could have all the matching external HDs you could ever desire.

The Apple Cinema Display will be at minimum 5K - there is no way they would release something inferior to the iMac. More likely Apple will release a 8K ACD along with the new Mac Pro in 2018. Which will be great, but presumable won't work with any older Macs, like the brand new MacBook Pro which I'm getting to replace my 2013 MBP.

 

[Thomas Newton]

The Apple Cinema Display will be at minimum 5K - there is no way they would release something inferior to the iMac. More likely Apple will release a 8K ACD along with the new Mac Pro in 2018. Which will be great, but presumable won't work with any older Macs, like the brand new MacBook Pro which I'm getting to replace my 2013 MBP.

An 8K display would be like a 2x2 stack of UHD/4K displays. So there's an outside chance that an iMac Pro or a 15" 2018 rMBP could drive one, using multiple Thunderbolt 3 cables. (Both of these Macs can theoretically drive 4 independent UHD/4K displays.)

No such luck for the 13" 2018 rMBP.

 

[JohnRice]

To toss back to the High Sierra comments, I even installed it on a 2009 Mini with original HD, without problem. I had to revert that one back though, because we use it for QuickBooks, which is no longer developed for Mac and won't run on HS.

You guys know HS is the last OS for Minis from before 2012...? I figure the 2012/4 will probably run a couple more at the most.