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Mac mini

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Re: Mac mini

#171

Post by mortenjorck »

cbm-vic-20 wrote: post #163
rsfinn wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In fact, you can get the new entry-level Mac mini plus the Sonnet Breakaway Puck RX 560 [0] for US$1100, now that the eGPU has dropped in price to $300. Whether any given person would be satisfied with that configuration is, of course, open to debate. [0] https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HMT22ZM/A/sonnet-egfx-bre...

Does anyone make a "case" that holds a Mac mini and eGPU in an attractive desktop-sized package?

While this is probably too niche to make economic sense as a product, this seems like a perfect use case for a vertically-mounted PCIe slot, creating a tall GPU pedestal for the Mini in a similar vein to the G4 Cube.

Re: Mac mini

#172

Post by that_jojo »

cbm-vic-20 wrote: post #163
rsfinn wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In fact, you can get the new entry-level Mac mini plus the Sonnet Breakaway Puck RX 560 [0] for US$1100, now that the eGPU has dropped in price to $300. Whether any given person would be satisfied with that configuration is, of course, open to debate. [0] https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HMT22ZM/A/sonnet-egfx-bre...

Does anyone make a "case" that holds a Mac mini and eGPU in an attractive desktop-sized package?

http://animaionic.com/

Re: Mac mini

#173

Post by wtracy »

omni wrote: post #106
chvid wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no Mac OS X and Apple's service/warranty. Also if you try to match the boxes spec by spec; the Mini are usually not that much more.

What sort of home server use cases do people need OS X for? The only thing I could think of is running an Xcode build server but that seems quite niche.

It appears that an OS X server can take any compatible printer and expose it to the network as a generic PostScript printer. Clients on the network only need to support PostScript, and the server handles everything device-specific.

I've been tempted to buy a Mac for that alone. If there's any similar options for Linux, I would be very interested.

Re: Mac mini

#174

Post by wtracy »

paul7986 wrote: post #123
chvid wrote: post #84

So much naysaying here. The Mac Minis are excellent for certain use cases (like a home server) and they last forever. Great that Apple is updating them regularly.

They are the best entertainment center machines.... the full Internet experience from your couch using a wireless mouse and keyboard.

That's hardly unique to Apple hardware: https://www.microsoft.com/accessories/en-us/products/keyboar...

Re: Mac mini

#175

Post by m0zg »

This used to be a good value Mac model years ago, but nowadays if you configure it well the pricing is on the kooky side for what you get. IMO they should consider discontinuing it, and instead introducing something like Mac Pro mini, with a real GPU at this point.

Re: Mac mini

#176

Post by hugi »

tabs_masterrace wrote: post #21

Still no real GPU. It's the reason I went back to a MacBook. What drew me in is the desktop class i7. At the time the Mini outperformed all other Macs in benchmarks, and it is noticeable and fast during compile times etc. Once you connect a 4k Screen (or even more screens), an eGPU becomes a must have. The integrated one just can't do smooth UI rendering. For example typing in IntelliJ always felt laggy, because it t…

If IntelliJ can't handle realtime rendering of text on modern hardware, perhaps the problem is with the software?

My kid spilled a glass of water on my 2018 MacBook last year (sob). At that time, word was out about the 2019 MacBooks with the new keyboards, so I decided to hold out, took out an old 2012 Mac Mini and have been doing my (Java/Swift) development on it for the past few months. It works so well, I've been in no hurry to pick up a new MacBook. Definitely don't feel animations or anything is laggy.

Re: Mac mini

#177

Post by stephenr »

MattRix wrote: post #156
omnimus wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

desktop grade cpus and gpus have very different thermal characteristics. it quite impossible to have silent + desktop cpu + desktop gpu + very small space.

Yes, which is why it would be good if they had a mac mini that had laptop grade CPU and GPU instead.

They do. It also includes a screen, and a keyboard and trackpad. It's called.. a laptop.

Re: Mac mini

#178

Post by devNoise »

chvid wrote: post #84

So much naysaying here. The Mac Minis are excellent for certain use cases (like a home server) and they last forever. Great that Apple is updating them regularly.

I wouldn't say "updating them regularly". The last three updates were in 2018, 2014, and 2012. That 4 year stretch without an update had many thinking they would just discontinue the Mac Mini.

Re: Mac mini

#179

Post by jayd16 »

oneplane wrote: post #165
cjensen wrote: post #159

I don't understand Apple's aversion to accessible DIMM slots and off-the-shelf M.2 SSDs. It used to be that Apple charged a lot for RAM and Storage, but you could save a bundle by bringing your own. For example, my 2012 i7 Mac mini has maxed memory and a 2TB SSD. When Apple began soldering stuff in, they failed to reduce their punitive prices on expansion, which really hurts reusability and resale value. In other wor…

Like any manufacturer, they are trying to bring down the amount of breakage, and removing electrical connectors and mechanical connections is one way to do that. And when you want things to be smaller you don't really have much of a choice anyway. At the same time, the only reason those slots were there in the first place was so that a manufacturer could build one main board and then offer different configurations by…

I'll take industry standard lifetimes on dimm and m2 slots if this is the trade off.

Re: Mac mini

#180

Post by moondev »

WaltPurvis wrote: post #138
chrisfinazzo wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It probably doesn't, and in some sense, that's the problem. Really hoping that the next major redesign of this looks less like an Intel NUC and more like a slightly smaller Mac Pro. An actual mini tower! What a concept.

A "Mini Pro" is what I've been wanting from Apple forever (in tech years). Just a small tower with room for a graphics card and two or three SSD/NVMe drives. I'd be fine with paying Apple's customary 100+% hardware premium for something like that.

You can do all that now with the mini, it has 4 thunderbolt ports.
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