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My Next Mac Mini

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Re: My Next Mac Mini

#71

Post by radley »

mynegation wrote: post #56
zymhan wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah what the hell, how can you write a tech blog complaining about a product if you don't perform even the most basic of system maintenance. Or, if you are doing maintenance, why not explain what you are doing? Also, can't a Mac Mini that old be upgraded with a 2.5" SSD and more RAM?

It would be a fair criticism if cards were not so obviously stacked against me, the end user and maintainer. New versions of software are written for new and more powerful hardware. I don't know about Mac mini specifically, but it is incredibly hard or even impossible to upgrade Apple products with new hardware.

Only the "current" Mac Mini has upgrade restrictions. But the prior model has almost identical specs and can be upgraded.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#72

Post by pilsetnieks »

mynegation wrote: post #56
zymhan wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah what the hell, how can you write a tech blog complaining about a product if you don't perform even the most basic of system maintenance. Or, if you are doing maintenance, why not explain what you are doing? Also, can't a Mac Mini that old be upgraded with a 2.5" SSD and more RAM?

It would be a fair criticism if cards were not so obviously stacked against me, the end user and maintainer. New versions of software are written for new and more powerful hardware. I don't know about Mac mini specifically, but it is incredibly hard or even impossible to upgrade Apple products with new hardware.

The 2010 Mini is quite easy to upgrade, the HDD and RAM at least. An SSD alone is enough of an upgrade to keep it running smoothly even with current software for the stated needs.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#73

Post by mobiletelephone »

finstell wrote: post #34

Nowadays, I kind of enjoy seeing posts about people abandoning Apple ecosystem. Although it's painful, I myself have been yet another avid fan of pretty much Apple offered, it feels like this is not going to last forever. When they do the math, iPhone might seem the most lucrative (they seem not to care about anything else) but since they are killing the ecosystem with no Mac Pro, no Mac Mini and with so called pro M…

I don't buy this argument. Developers will work on platforms that have users with money to spend, even if the development hardware is poor value. In this sense, Apple has us hostage!

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#74

Post by fulafel »

daenney wrote: post #22
raphinou wrote: post #15

Honest question : any good reasons to go with Windows rather than Linux?

A lot of it would depend on what your use case is. In this case the author needs an Elgato/Geniatech EyeTV stick and app for his purposes which isn't supported on Linux by the manufacturer. It might work, but it might also not be worth the hassle. However, if you want something that plays media but doesn't (necessarily) also have to be able to receive regular terrestrial signal it shouldn't matter much beyond user pr…

Those have been working for years very well under Linux, and see much use with MythTV etc. Vendor drivers are less likely to see long time support.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#75

Post by quantumhobbit »

rwmj wrote: post #12
Marazan wrote: post #3

Apple's attitude to the Mac mini truly confuses me. Many years ago I was interested in getting one for eithet iPhone development or as a media pc but every time I looked they kept seeming to jack the price or downgrade the spec (relatively speaking).

TBH I've never understood what Apple gets out of selling the Mac Mini. It cannibalizes their own low-end laptops/desktops, and at the same time must be quite a marginal product mainly sold to a small number of hackers who probably put Linux on them.

I have one that I was using as a great home theater of to stream Netflix and other online services. I wish they would support it more because it was far more versital than the roku I use now and much simpler to use than a Linux or windows equivalent.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#76

Post by srj »

I had the same experience when I went to create a small recording studio for my wife. I figured I'd use garage band on a Mac Mini and connect the mixer to that. I changed my plans after going to Apple's website - I don't want to buy old tech and especially not at full price.

It's bizarre to see a company with the wealth and resources of Apple not even putting out spec upgrades for their machines. I could say the same about my old MacBook Air I've been wanting to upgrade. Just throw us a bone here Apple. Even a small bump in specs.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#77

Post by mobiletelephone »

jmkni wrote: post #54
rocky1138 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the point of OSX on the NUC when Linux or even Windows does everything a NUC is usually used for?

I'm thinking more about what people use Mac Mini's for. Apple clearly aren't interested in the Mac Mini anymore, so why not license macOS on a superior machine in the same category instead? Similar to how they no longer make their own monitors, and now recommend an LG 5K monitor. For example, I use a Mac Mini for Xamarin. When it dies, I don't want to spend money on a new one because they are really overpriced, would…

The mac mini just works because apple put the effort into making it work. If they were to license macos for the nuc then they would have to put the work in there too. If they are not interested in working on the Mac mini, why would they be interested in working on the nuc?

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#78

Post by caleblloyd »

pmorici wrote: post #23
caleblloyd wrote: post #5

The NUC has full Linux support out of the box. You can configure them with 16GB of RAM and a 256GB-512GB SSD for $400-$500, especially if you go for the old model (Gen 6 Skylake instead of Gen 7 Kaby Lake, not much has changed)

Are you sure? I have one and the wifi definitely doesn't work out of the box and there are a couple other annoyances the worst being the machine locking up if you let it sit for too long. I haven't spent time to investigate but that isn't the definition of "works out of the box"

The Intel WiFi chips they use (I think it's 8260 on the Skylake models) is supported by recent kernels such as the one shipped with Ubuntu 16.04. They also list Linux support on their website.

We have a handful of Broadwell (5th gen) and Skylake (6th gen) NUCs running at work using Ubuntu 15.10 and 16.04. Everything works great including WiFi.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#79

Post by Koshkin »

jmkni wrote: post #54
rocky1138 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the point of OSX on the NUC when Linux or even Windows does everything a NUC is usually used for?

I'm thinking more about what people use Mac Mini's for. Apple clearly aren't interested in the Mac Mini anymore, so why not license macOS on a superior machine in the same category instead? Similar to how they no longer make their own monitors, and now recommend an LG 5K monitor. For example, I use a Mac Mini for Xamarin. When it dies, I don't want to spend money on a new one because they are really overpriced, would…

Well, obviously, the Mini is the only viable (non-AIO) desktop offering from Apple. As with any desktop PC, its price is substantially lower than that of their laptop with comparable characteristics. It is a good, affordable developer's workstation, and as such it has its user base.
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