New Mac mini: Business in the front, party at the back
Remember the Mac mini? That cute li'l system that found its way into everything from server closets to DeLoreans? Well, Apple remembers it as well, and at Tuesday's "a little more" event, Cupertino gave the little fellow its first upgrade in well over a year. The new Mac mini desktop model is available in two versions, one with …
This topic is closed for new posts.
Umm ... graphics?!
The article doesn't seem to mention anything about graphics / video capabilities? A lot of people have these things as under-the-TV HTPCs, this is a kind of important detail to gloss over!
Ergonomics Vs Appearance
I'd quite like a front mounted USB, as having to grovel round the back, or having an extension cable, rather spoils the neat visual effect.
But I reckon I'm going to get one of these for Hardcastle the student.
Re: Ergonomics Vs Appearance
> I'd quite like a front mounted USB
Worse is the rear-mounted card slot (and lack of DVD).
Massive Fail
Rik Sir,
No disrespect, but this region of the Mac Mini is as much as a joke as the 2011 revision, basically paying more for less, less function that is - I utilise my Mac Mini as a HTPC and for email/ webserfing - mine is the 2010 model with the Optical drive, low end discrete graphics and a C2D running at 2.4Ghz - it still performs just shall we say - has difficulties with large HD content files at 1080 and over 10G - that said its been a great little performer.
Now, in 2011 they dropped the optics - a big mistake given many used it as a Home Media centre - even if the optic was not BluRay - this year, in keeping with giving you less for more, they have removed the option of a discrete graphics chip, and lets be honest, Intel HD4000 is crap compared to a discrete low-end chip with 512VRAM.
Now the inclusion of i7 Ivy Bridge is good news, regrettably, the exclusion of the discrete graphic chip means the machine is a waste of time if you are using latest Adobe Creative Suite 6 - which for many of its programmes requires a minimum 1G of video graphics - the same applies to their iToy mobiles, be it the new 13in Retina or the MacBook Airs.
The fact is, a lot of creative people actually utilise the Mac Mini connected to a 27in Apple monitor or other reasonable monitor - further, the inclusion of Apple's hybrid HDD solution is bloody expensive.
In a nut shell, what could have been a brilliant machine has been crippled to save US$50 and maintain the Apple 305 price premium and thats before all very expensive BTO options.
My advice, don't bother investing in this and wait for the Haswell equipped model expected in Sept. 2013 knowing Apple - at least this will have HD5000 - which according to most rumour sites is a huge leap of performance over Ivy Bridge and HD4000 - the reality is, it requires a decent low end BTO graphics option offering 1G VRAM - IS THIS REALLY TOO MUCH TO ASK!!!!!!!!!!
Re: Massive Fail
Ahem no....
I use my 13" MacBook Pro with the "old" integrated Intel Graphics (Sandy something) with the Adobe Creative Suite in their newest incarnation and none of the programs require any special graphics hardware. At least for the things I use it.
And for the optical drive: I used the opticals drives in my Windows PC, Windows Notebook, MacBook the last time (combined) I think half a year ago... It is definitely no problem today to live without an optical drive. at least for me....
Re: Massive Fail
Lack of discrete graphics is a pain, but maybe Apple has a plan in mind... I *think* I'm correct in saying that it's feasible to use the bandwidth of Thunderbot (now or in the future) to include your extra GPU as a small bulge on the cable? Potentially flexible configs, if keeping with the Apple cable tax.
Re: Massive Fail
> a lot of creative people actually utilise the Mac Mini connected to a 27in Apple monitor
Then maybe an iMac would be a better choice for them?
The Mac Mini is a beautiful device. I have used the i7 for running dozens of virtual machines - throw it in carry-on luggage, and customs people just think its an external hard drive. Nothing matches its power to size ratio, not even a high-end laptop.
Now with an official 16GB option and USB3, it's better than ever.
as much as I dislike Apple ...
.... I have to admit that this one is very nice little machine indeed. If only the pricing was more competitive ...
Lack of connectors on the back plate.
And where exactly is the parallel printer port? How does Apple expect graphics designers to print anything out?
Re: Lack of connectors on the back plate.
And where are the connections to my cassette recorder. Do I need an adapter?
Re: Lack of connectors on the back plate.
err - 3.5mm audio in/out jacks on the back. The only problem is that I can't seem to get a cable to connect them to my wax cylinder player.
No optical drive
Why would they want you to be able to watch media, from sources which they do not take a slice of the profits from?
Optical media is not subject to Apple tax, so taking the drive out means people are more likely to just buy bits from iTunes!
"And where are the connections to my cassette recorder. Do I need an adapter?"
No, there's audio in/out on the left, so your tape-deck should do just fine. It's the drivers you'll struggle with, and good luck getting Time Machine to back up to it...
Looks like a nice little piece of kit, though, apart from the crummy integrated graphics - at least the separate power brick has gone, that's one thing I dislike from my two Minis.
Love the Mini
Work bought me one for integration testing with our corporate network. It's not that it integrates particularly well (because it doesn't), but it's certainly cheap enough to "forget" to asset tag it and small enough to fit it in my laptop bag. At home it works great, it's small, attractive case, silent operation, and decent port options made a fan out of my wife who finally figured out where to plug in the SD card and how to use iTunes to sync her old 3GS, definitely a big change from the vacuum-cleaner loud SLI i7 gaming rig which spends most of it's life in sleep mode now waiting for a World of Tanks urge to strike.
Probably my favorite iProduct.
For my needs, the new i7 and USB3 look like a great upgrades. Clearly Apple never targeted the MacMini at gamers so if you need high performance graphics you'll want something else, but others that like OSX with more modular hardware than afforded by an iMac should be excited.
Unpretentious?
"To our eyes, it's also the world's most underappreciated desktop: affordable, compact, and unpretentious."
Then it cannot be a Mac! It would be nice if Apple went this route with more of its product line, but why should it if cash can continue to be raked in by only selling at a premium?
This topic is closed for new posts.
