Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > The next Mac mini...

The next Mac mini...
Thread Tools
ajprice
Professional Poster
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 1, 2013, 05:44 AM
 
...The speculation thread.

Now that the iMac, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro have all updated to Haswell and the new Mac Pro is announced and on the way, that leaves the Mac mini as the last Mac standing for an update, as usual.

So, Haswell, Iris, PCIe flash, USB 3, Thunderbolt 2 will all probably happen. The form factor of the current one is still based on having an optical drive, the new one doesn't need to be that shape or size now. I'm not sure about it keeping the hard drive bay inside, it might be a 'Mac Pro Mini' and be internal PCIe card only. So form factor could get more mini, maybe like the Piston PC that was supposed to be the Steam box (new Cube? ), maybe like the new tower shape Airports.

Anyways, going by the Mac mini update cycle, it will happen anytime between now and 2017, maybe , or die.

It'll be much easier if you just comply.
     
P
Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 1, 2013, 06:20 AM
 
Don't forget upgraded Wifi - 802.11ac.

I don't think that the mini is ditching the HDD just yet. I think it will be default with a 2.5" HDD and upgradeable to Fusion Drive, but that the SSD part moves to the PCIe solution.

Other than that... Apple could change the shape completely. If we look at history, the mini has borne a certain similarity to the Airport Extreme basestation, and that one just turned into something a completely different shape. I wonder if that is where we're going? Could also be that we get something of the same shape except smaller - and black like the MP and AppleTV.

All in all the mini is not really in dire need of a redesign, so I don't know if it will happen,but it is certainly a possibility.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
abbaZaba
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Pittsburgh
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 6, 2013, 12:04 AM
 
I've got high hopes for the next refresh. Other than the pretty much definite TB2, USB3, 802.11ac, Haswell, and Iris if they were to make the baseline model with a Fusion Drive I would be extremely happy. It'd seem silly to me for them to offer just the HDD on the base model with a BTO PCIe Fusion Drive upgrade. Wouldn't the internals of the HDD base model be decidedly different than a model with a PCIe-Flash Fusion Drive?

Even just a 128GB SSD at the base model would make me happy.
     
P
Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 6, 2013, 03:44 AM
 
I hoped they would make FD standard for the iMac refresh, but that didn't happen, and I don't think that the mini will leapfrog it.

Most likely they will make a mini with a that PCIe blade slot on the motherboard, and either just not fill it or just not solder in the slot.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
cgc
Professional Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Down by the river
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 6, 2013, 09:03 AM
 
I've been waiting patiently to buy a Mac Mini the day it's updated but Apple's dragging their feet. Hope there's no radical redesign...
"Like a midget at a urinal, I was going to have to stay on my toes." Frank Drebin, Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult
     
shabbasuraj
Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2003
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 6, 2013, 03:35 PM
 
I would like to see 2 TB ports.

Probably going to drop FW as a result.
blabba5555555555555555555555555555555555555
     
Spheric Harlot
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: 888500128, C3, 2nd soft.
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Nov 6, 2013, 04:37 PM
 
Of course.

(I was rather surprised to learn that the current mini actually still *has* FireWire. Hasn't been updated in a while, I guess. )
     
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Online
Reply With Quote
Nov 6, 2013, 11:58 PM
 
It would be a drag if they lost the two in one rack unit form factor.
     
   
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:59 PM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,