2018 Mac Mini Review • Hacker News Board

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#391

Post by uxp100 » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 5:28 PM UTC

ricardobeat wrote: post #344

saxonww wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not a pro audio guy, but I think if you want to work with any external audio device and want that connection to be noise-free, your safest bet is still optical. I have an external DAC/amp, and I had been using optical until I recently upgraded my workstation. Now I am using USB, because the new motherboard doesn't have optical; I assumed USB would be fine, so the lack of optical wasn't something I considered with…

Since it’s USB, it has to be the DAC generating the hiss. No amount of electrical interference can do anything to the digital audio going Ofer USB.

But it sounds like its the same DAC, which was hiss free with optical. So it's not the DAC "generating" the hiss. Rather electrical "interference" making it over to the analog side from the digital side.

So it's the DACs fault, but maybe it's fair to say that it's harder to make a good DAC when USB is how the data is being delivered. I'm sure a high end USB DAC doesn't have this issue, but I'm pretty impressed with my cheap offbrand optical DAC that was $11. I'm guessing I would not be so impressed with the $11 USB version.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#392

Post by stephenr » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 5:29 PM UTC

babypuncher wrote: post #379

stephenr wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have a problem with the Touch Bar. It's kind of handy for occasional things that are context specific and normally involve using the mouse.

I think the thing people have a problem with is the atrocious new keyboard

It's taking me some time to get used to, I'll grant you that.

I'll be getting a 2018 Mac Mini once they're available for order here, so this machine will see much less use then, just basically if I need to be able to do something while travelling (which isn't that frequent).

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#393

Post by joshchaney » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 5:29 PM UTC

FireBeyond wrote: post #359

ricardobeat wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

6-core latest CPU, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, plus “apple tax” (design, thermals, build/hw quality, OS, support). You can build a similarly spec’d PC for maybe $1500, with a better GPU, but 20x as large, not silent, higher power consumption, etc. Many trade-offs, not for everyone.

Or it'll be right around $1250, the same size or smaller, and still silent: https://www.amazon.com/NUC7i7BNH-Dual-Core-i7-7567U-Bluetoot...

That's a laptop CPU. The top-end Mac Mini he's using is a 65W TDP i7-8700. Pretty large difference in performance.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#394

Post by FireBeyond » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 5:30 PM UTC

dagw wrote: post #129

swarnie_ wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is this statement accurate? > which would cost $2499 (much of which is the SSD) A 1TB SSD is maybe $200 retail?

A 1TB SSD is maybe $200 retail? For the cheap ones. The faster/better quality ones from Samsung and Intel, which are more comparable to what Apple is using, are $400-500

970 Evo 1TB (3500MB/sec): $228

970 Pro (effectively same speed, but 3bit MLC versus 2bit): $380

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#395

Post by whywhywhywhy » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 5:30 PM UTC

VHRanger wrote: post #85

jillesvangurp wrote: post #83

People are missing the point about the integrated graphics. For me this is a feature not a bug because it has USB-C instead. That means that instead of hopelessly compromising thermals and power supply with some power hungry, yet limited GPU (because of the small form factor) you simply buy the CPU and memory that you need. It simplifies the job of keeping it cool. CPUs are evolving a lot slower these days. This one…

You have small form factor PCs with GPUs. But the exterior won't be as pretty because you have much more thermal to deal with

> But the exterior won't be as pretty

There are actually plenty of nice looking small form factor PC cases that can house a full GPU

- http://www.louqe.com/

- https://www.dan-cases.com/dana4.php

I'd actually say this is one area of the custom PC market that's well served by nice design.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#396

Post by mohsen1 » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 5:32 PM UTC

I'm looking forward to see server blades made out of those Macs. It's just satisfying to see how they are built

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#397

Post by bwat49 » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 5:32 PM UTC

cheeze wrote: post #254

Aeolun wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is your beef with VLC? It’s the only player that has yet to fail me.

Comparing vlc to a home theater setup is laughable at best. Can vlc scrape Metadata and download art? Can I browse my catalog through vlc? Does it work with my remote? How hard is it to get to the next episode when watching a season? Vlc is great, but it's just a player.

I think Kodi is closer to what you're looking for

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#398

Post by rsynnott » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 5:36 PM UTC

thirdsun wrote: post #159

rado wrote: post #15

In a world of 5K displays and Apple's insistence on smoothness, this GPU just won't work.

Is that really an issue with Intel's integrated GPUs? Honestly asking. I'm considering a Mac Mini, but there's no way I'm going back to low PPI displays and the lack of affordable 5K / 27" options concerns me (in my opinion 4K/UHD at 27" is a borderline unusable combination with its effective resolution of 1080p - feel free to convince me otherwise). If those few 5K options can't be driven smoothly by an Intel GPU, i…

The 545/645 found in the 13" MBPs can drive a 5k display adequately. Not sure about this 630, though.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#399

Post by philwelch » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 5:36 PM UTC

wild_preference wrote: post #373

reaperducer wrote: post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The touchbar made me realize that I have a habit of resting my fingers up there. I came to this realization because when I didn't think I was typing anything, stuff would happen. Eventually I realized I was touching virtual buttons on the touchbar. I don't hate it, but I wish more of the tools I use took advantage of it. I think it could be massively improved by shortening it a little on the left to make room for a p…

Consider mapping CapsLock to Esc (and Ctrl when long-pressed) with Karabiner. I haven't used my physical Esc key since 2014 or something. Might help with your issue.

You don't need a third party tool; System Preferences does this for you already. (Maybe not the long-press, but I'm vim, not emacs).

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#400

Post by rsynnott » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 5:36 PM UTC

tabs_masterrace wrote: post #322

thirdsun wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's better than 1080p as it is much sharper and crisper, but 1080p at 27 inches results in rather large UI elements. An effective resolution of 2560x1440px (as seen in any iMac 27) seems like the proper resolution for a display of that size. Read more about it here: https://bjango.com/articles/macexternaldisplays/

I'm curios about this too, does the Mac Mini offer "scaled" options, like MacBooks do with their built-in display, when connecting to an external 4k monitor? I think it does some supersampling, resulting in higher effective resolution.

Yes, it does. Though at that point it's effectively rendering at 5k anyway, so any performance problems you have with a real 5k you'll also have with that setup.