2018 Mac Mini Review • Hacker News Board

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#441

Post by geerlingguy » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 6:40 PM UTC

robertAngst wrote: post #189

endorphone wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say most uses of the mac mini are simply as a desktop computer. It's what I use as my primary OSX workstation -- I have an old late 2012 model, upgraded with 16GB and an external SSD that I made the primary -- and it works fantastic. I plan on getting the new model. Two monitors. Monitors that are exactly what I want.

2012 model work for iOS programming? I'm writing in react native, hopefully I only need to hit compile and never have to use an apple product.

Yes but it’s the oldest model supported by Mojave, so consider getting a used 2014 maybe if you want it to be relevant for a few more OS releases.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#442

Post by solidr53 » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 6:45 PM UTC

realradicalwash wrote: post #95

dTal wrote: post #35

>Number one — and this is a big one these days, especially for this product — is that it’s not any less useful or versatile than the outgoing Mac Mini, including the generous assortment of ports. If the previous one served a role for you, the new one can probably do it just as well, and probably better and faster, with minimal donglage. Wow. This is what it's come to. "It hasn't gotten worse! Yayy!"

The quote is a bit out of context. The sentence right above it: >It makes almost nothing worse and almost everything better, finally bringing the Mac Mini into the modern age. So, no, it's not "yayy" because it "hasn't gotten worse", it's "yayy", because "[it makes] almost everything better".

I'm going to hold on to my Mid-2015 MacBook Pro for dear life.

I'm hoping it will be good for 3 more years.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#443

Post by bredren » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 6:46 PM UTC

naner wrote: post #227

rado wrote: post #15

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

There isn't a "world of 5k displays" unfortunately, only Apple's high-end all-in-ones offer this option.

Supposedly Apple is planning an 8k display to go with the modular Mac Pro.

I suspect if they release a new display it will somehow be beholden to graphics capability of new Apple machines, possibly requiring A chips or their ilk. https://daringfireball.net/2017/04/the_mac_pro_lives

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#444

Post by baddox » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 6:46 PM UTC

mikestew wrote: post #218

kalleboo wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to use optical audio but it was superseded by HDMI for home theater and USB for hifi. edit: I'd be curious to see what people are using optical for today (I'm under the impression audio pros mainly use USB interfaces as well)

Shockingly, I need optical for a $300 set of gaming headphones I purchased within the last year (Astro A50). Maybe it’s the only way they can do pass through, dunno.

Headphones are stereo (okay, there are some exceptions), and optical S/PDIF can do stereo PCM, so there's no quality downside. But for home theater audio, you can't do any lossless multi-channel formats over optical S/PDIF, so the vast majority of enthusiasts will use HDMI.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#445

Post by rhexs » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 6:47 PM UTC

_ea1k wrote: post #243

josteink wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or boot Linux, because the T2 chip prevents it[1]. [1] https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Apple-T2...

Why would you buy this to run Linux?

Well, I certainly wouldn't, but in four to five years if I need a general purpose server, it'd be nice to install Linux.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#446

Post by michaelmrose » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 6:48 PM UTC

copperx wrote: post #408

wild_preference wrote: post #373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If you remap CapsLock to Esc, what key do you use for Control for doing Control A, Control E, Control K, Control Y, Control N, and Control P in every application?

Are you denoting control+shift+a as control-A?

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#447

Post by d35007 » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 6:49 PM UTC

crad wrote: post #247

drcongo wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone who owns a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar will definitely be saying "yay it hasn't gotten worse!" about these.

I'm pretty happy with mine, but thanks for speaking for us all with your sweeping generalization.

Same. I bought a 2018 MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar this July. Before that, I owned a 2014 MacBook Pro, the last one with the mechanical trackpad. My new machine is absolutely better than my old one.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#448

Post by ako » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 6:51 PM UTC

phaus wrote: post #341

crad wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty happy with mine, but thanks for speaking for us all with your sweeping generalization.

I work at a company where most of us use Macs. Everyone that has upgraded from a 2013-2015 MBP to the touchbar model absolutely hates it, including me. There's gotta be someone around here that actually likes it, but I haven't met them yet. Its OK if you like it. I'm sure lots of people do, but you know damn well significantly more people have had issues with this laptop than normal, so I'm not sure why you're implyi…

I don't understand all the hate for the touchbar. I can never remember the functions performed by the function keys, so having icons indicating which functions are available seems really useful.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#449

Post by d35007 » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 6:52 PM UTC

threatofrain wrote: post #367

crad wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty happy with mine, but thanks for speaking for us all with your sweeping generalization.

drcongo is making a statement about the population, and readers can be trusted to not be so confused as to think that this is the official speech of the people.

> Anyone who owns a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar will definitely be saying "yay it hasn't gotten worse!" about these.

If drcongo doesn't mean to speak for "Anyone who owns a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar", drcongo should refrain from using those exact words. And you should probably refrain from speaking for drcongo.

Re: 2018 Mac Mini Review

#450

Post by intopieces » Tue, Nov 06, 2018, 6:52 PM UTC

xfitm3 wrote: post #248

muro wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you need a PC at all? A TV can play movies directly from a NAS.

I don’t trust my TV enough to be on the network.

Yes. I recall reading the user agreement for our smart TV. It recommended we not say sensitive things in front of it. We haven’t even upgraded the firmware.

I maintain that if LG or Sony offered a “Pro” version of their OLED that had no apps whatsoever and no internet connectivity I would pay a premium.