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2018 Mac Mini Review

marco.org

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Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#61

Post by LeoNatan25 »

winuser wrote: post #34
LeoNatan25 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, you know, we waited years for a new Mac mini replacement, and we got one that is very disappointing on the low end, very expensive on the high end, no clear future support, missing features from previous iterations, but hey, it’s amazing machine because Apple finally graced us with it and I got it for free, so let me overlook that 2500$ price tag.

I really wish that devs out there, including the HN community, give PCs and Windows another chance. The PC specs are amazing, value for your money is excellent, the OS is beautiful - the biggest obstacle now is so much open source documentation explains how to install or build on a linux based machine, ignoring the Windows users and making them feel like sh*t for working on a Windows box. If more dev's offered docs a…

I do prefer the macOS ecosystem overall and distinctly dislike the UX mess that is Windows 10. I have been using Windows for decades now, and feel very comfortable with it, and I still maintain a desktop tower for gaming and intensive work, but if I had the option to switch to a macOS machine I would. There just isn't a Mac hardware out there that fits my needs. But each year I feel Apple is making the Mac ecosystem worse and worse. At some point the software advantage will not be worth it.

That being said, if someone likes Windows 10 now, there really is little reason to remain on Mac hardware. Practically, most creative software exists on Windows.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#62

Post by homarp »

winuser wrote: post #34
LeoNatan25 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, you know, we waited years for a new Mac mini replacement, and we got one that is very disappointing on the low end, very expensive on the high end, no clear future support, missing features from previous iterations, but hey, it’s amazing machine because Apple finally graced us with it and I got it for free, so let me overlook that 2500$ price tag.

I really wish that devs out there, including the HN community, give PCs and Windows another chance. The PC specs are amazing, value for your money is excellent, the OS is beautiful - the biggest obstacle now is so much open source documentation explains how to install or build on a linux based machine, ignoring the Windows users and making them feel like sh*t for working on a Windows box. If more dev's offered docs a…

I like PCs.

The PC specs are amazing, value for your money is excellent, and now is so much open source documentation explains how to install or build on a linux based machine.

And outside of laptops, a custom PC can still be built with whatever specs needed.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#63

Post by OJFord »

me551ah wrote: post #42

A 2500$ windows desktop will give you. 1. A much better discrete GPU which can run titles in 4k. 2. Ability to run games cause windows has DirectX. 3. Ability to run Linux natively using WSL. 4. Expandability - You can add components like more RAM or an additional GPU.

> 3. Ability to run Linux natively using WSL.

But what are you doing in WSL that you can't do on a Mac (or, of course, a Linux machine) without a 'subsystem'?

Sincere question, because the 'Mac is not Linux' things that wind me up tend to require X11 to fix, WSL would be no different.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#64

Post by stevewodil »

Keyframe wrote: post #32
deltron3030 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could add an eGPU over TB3.

Lack of GPU wasn't OP's gripe.

How else would you interpret the comment? The only thing they mention is the lack of GPU, so I'm curious why you would say that.

In any case the price is due to the SSD and RAM upgrades. You can get the i7 with 8gb RAM and 256gb SSD for $1300, which is still pricey but what do you expect from Apple...

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#65

Post by ukdeveloper »

ctz wrote: post #26

> $2499 (much of which is the SSD) Where 'much' is approximately 5-10%.

In terms of the retail price. More like 30-35%.

The 1TB SSD is a $800 option on the 128GB base model, and a $600 option on the 256GB model.

The 2TB SSD is an even more eye-watering $1600 option from the base model.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#66

Post by LeoNatan25 »

rangibaby wrote: post #53
winuser wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really wish that devs out there, including the HN community, give PCs and Windows another chance. The PC specs are amazing, value for your money is excellent, the OS is beautiful - the biggest obstacle now is so much open source documentation explains how to install or build on a linux based machine, ignoring the Windows users and making them feel like sh*t for working on a Windows box. If more dev's offered docs a…

What advantages does Windows offer over Linux other than gaming?

Software and drivers that consistently work without the need for fiddling. Every year I give Linux a chance, and every year I quickly sober up.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#67

Post by xuki »

bo0tzz wrote: post #48

"...cost $2499 (much of which is the SSD)" The cheapest SSD I can find goes for €129.47, and it doesn't seem to get up to much more for consumer SSDs. Unless this SSD has some crazy specs that I'm missing, it seems seriously overpriced to me.

There is a hefty premium on top of any upgrades from the base model, but Apple SSD with the T2 chip is insanely fast - check out the benchmark for the iMac Pro and MacBook Pro 2018.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#68

Post by lucideer »

empath75 wrote: post #24
blinkingled wrote: post #12

The pricing is not really justifiable especially given the most use cases of the Mac mini (Home Theater, NAS, Backup etc.) are better handled by other OSes. The NUC8 with comparable specs (sans 6 core CPU) comes at under half the price! If you needed the 6 cores sure but given most workloads other than encoding don't - it's questionable. Even then the 6C processor doesn't cost enough to make up for the difference.

It’s hilarious how often this exact comment gets made in every single new apple product thread everywhere.

This exact comment is specific to this reviewers use case for his Mac Mini; it can't be made in every apple product thread, other apple products are used for things other than home media centres.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#69

Post by ilogik »

kd5bjo wrote: post #31
emptyfile wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about blazing red letters at the top of the page? How about putting "paid review" in the title of the HN submit?

But is this a paid review? He was lent the hardware, which means he had to return it after he had made his review. While there’s certainly some conflict of interest there, I don’t know anyone that would consider that a payment.

it's common practice for journalists to get review unit, which they later return. Not just apple, everybody does it.

Also, in case you're not familiar with Marco, he was a co-founder of Tumblr, created Instapaper, and is the developer of Overcast (podcast app for iOS). Not sure he needs the money

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#70

Post by thomassnielsen »

kgermino wrote: post #57
bo0tzz wrote: post #48

"...cost $2499 (much of which is the SSD)" The cheapest SSD I can find goes for €129.47, and it doesn't seem to get up to much more for consumer SSDs. Unless this SSD has some crazy specs that I'm missing, it seems seriously overpriced to me.

Little of both. The SSD is a very fast 1TB model running on Apple’s custom controller (so you can’t just compare to a random one on Amazon). It’s also an obscenely high priced upgrade. Probably more column B (expensive) than A (good)

It's the fastest SSD on the consumer market by a good margin. My main gripe with it is that Apple doesn't provide any affordable option for large, slow storage. Of course you can always go external, but then it won't be so much mini anymore.
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