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New Mac Mini with M4

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Re: New Mac Mini with M4

#171

Post by Veen »

diggan wrote: post #115
talldayo wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get rid of Windows on it! Digital Foundry put out a great video on this exact process the other day, weighing the pros and cons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwWRCrGoXV0 Neither MacOS nor Windows are very good console OSes - you're really better off using Linux where anticheat isn't concerned. Even on the Ally.

> Neither MacOS nor Windows are very good console OSes They're great OSes for consumers who don't really work on their computers, and just want something that caters to the lowest common denominator. For professionals who use computers for work, Linux is really the only option that doesn't eventually get in your way. You can set it up and leave it as-is, with only security updates, and everything keeps working the sa…

What does "work on their computer" mean to you? I suspect it's not what it means to the vast majority of people.

Re: New Mac Mini with M4

#172

Post by ErneX »

rsync wrote: post #118

How many 4k screens can be attached? The published specs call out 3 6k screens but is that a display bandwidth limit or an arbitrary “screen” limit ? I’d like to drive four displays and 4k is sufficient for me … possible? Perhaps with Number four on the HDMI port?

Website says it supports 3 6K displays, here you go:

M4 (Thunderbolt 4): - Up to three displays: Two displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with up to 5K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt or 4K resolution at 60Hz over HDMI - Up to two displays: One display with up to 5K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K resolution at 240Hz over Thunderbolt or HDMI

M4 Pro (this one has Thunderbolt 5): - Up to three displays: Three displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt or HDMI - Up to two displays: One display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K resolution at 240Hz over Thunderbolt or HDMI

Re: New Mac Mini with M4

#173

Post by awiesenhofer »

jsheard wrote: post #111
avidphantasm wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a desktop. Use an external disk. Much cheaper.

It kind of undermines the sleek form factor if you need to have a clunky NVMe enclosure dangling off the back though. Even with this tiny new design I bet they could fit a hatch on the bottom with space for a 2230 M.2 drive, but they don't want to because that would let you upgrade to 2TB of fast internal storage for $200 instead of $800.

> clunky NVMe enclosure

We really are living in the future if people are using these words in combination.

Though compared to this new mini a lot will feel clunky. Any HDD enclosure is certainly larger.

Re: New Mac Mini with M4

#174

Post by GeekyBear »

mentos wrote: post #20
jsheard wrote: post #8

16GB base RAM across the board, following the iMac. AI is certainly good for pushing up the baseline RAM that manufacturers can get away with shipping if nothing else.

No mention of the SSD size that was the reason I returned my Mac mini 256Gb last year was just a pain juggling files

You do have the option of a 10 gigabit Ethernet port, so you can build out a linux box for local shared storage with components as cheap as you're willing to trust.

Re: New Mac Mini with M4

#175

Post by spiderfarmer »

llm_nerd wrote: post #86
wpwpwpw wrote: post #18

As usual, no upgradability. There's evidence that it's possible with SSDs with no loss of performance. Probably the same would apply to memory, maybe with replaceable memory chips and a simple switch. More future landfill material.

>More future landfill material. I wish Apple devices were more upgradable (and cheaper and more fixable), but I would speculate that Apple devices are the last devices to end up in a landfill (or more aptly, recycled). If you outgrow a device there is a very robust resale market and that machine will happily fill someone else's needs. Apple devices seem to stay in use for an eternity.

I used to upgrade my Mac mini every time a new one came out. The resale value was amazing.

Re: New Mac Mini with M4

#177

Post by runjake »

alberth wrote: post #135
jsheard wrote: post #8

16GB base RAM across the board, following the iMac. AI is certainly good for pushing up the baseline RAM that manufacturers can get away with shipping if nothing else.

It's not just RAM. It's Unified RAM. So that memory is also used for the GPU & Neural Cores (which is for Apple Intelligence). This is actually why companies moved away from the unified memory arch decades ago. It'll be interesting to see as AI continues to advance, if Apple is forced to depart from their unified memory architecture due to growing GPU memory needs.

If it's the shift I think you're referring to, I find it strange that you compare computing decisions from the 50s and 60s to today. You're correct, but that was over half a century ago. The reasons for those decisions, such as bus speeds, high latency, and low bandwidth, no longer apply.

Today, the industry is moving toward unified memory. This trend includes not only Apple but also Intel, AMD with their APUs, and Qualcomm. Pretty much everyone.

To me, the benefits are clear:

- Reduced copying of large amounts of data between memory pools.

- Improved memory usage.

- Generally lower power consumption.

Re: New Mac Mini with M4

#178

Post by pdimitar »

diggan wrote: post #123
pdimitar wrote: post #113

I've been pondering giving up on Macs for a while and this blind and rather stupid deferral to "AI" is going to accelerate the process. Almost nobody asked for this. I personally would have wanted one program to not stop starting with a cryptic message after upgrading to macOS 15.1 earlier today. But hey, crazies like me who want a decently working software are apparently not welcome in the customer base. The only re…

> Apple is now in decline I've been saying this since the butterfly-keyboard fiasco. At that point it was clear that professional users weren't the focus anymore, and I promptly left the ecosystem. I still have a iPhone (12 mini) that I only keep because it still works, but every time CarPlay tries to murder me in traffic, I get one step closer to just yeeting that phone into the sea.

Oh I agree, I cringed hard back then as well but at least the Mac software and speed was decent so I figured the beginning of their slow downfall will not affect me for a while, and I was right.

Nowadays though... I am stuck with a former workstation-grade hardware where Neovim needs FIVE SECONDS TO START because macOS is auditing each and every of its syscalls. I switch to my (now allegedly ancient) full-AMD laptop with 5500U CPU and the only thing that needs more than 0.5 secs to start is Firefox. I was not able to find one thing that did not react instantly. I am seriously considering just plugging my 35" gaming display to the Linux laptop and make that my main work setup.

And you are right -- pro users made Apple rich but are now undesired because they apparently demand too much ("Who needs stable software, bleeeerrrrgh! Am I right guys?"). Yeah, screw Apple. I am back on the hamster-wheel employment grind now, sadly, but once I stabilize a bit more I'll just move to 2 HiDPI display and assemble a future-proof Linux workstation to go wit them. Pretty sure that with periodical thermal paste maintenance it can easily last me 10 years and I'd only change it if there's something seriously tempting out there (about which I am very doubtful; the tech giants were only worried about becoming oligopolists and they care not about their users' needs).

Apple had its opportunities. They wasted them. Sure, many people will consider them the top for a while still and will keep buying, but their pricing policy has made it blindingly obvious that less people are buying and they are now doing their damnedest to compensate for this by either including less in the package, making the carton package itself cheaper, or just making all products except the base models outrageously overpriced. That's how they keep the profit margins. The curse of being a public-traded company and all that.

Those policies will work for them. For some time more. I wonder what happens after.

Re: New Mac Mini with M4

#179

Post by pjmlp »

xyst wrote: post #129

Positives: + form factor + ARM/Apple silicon/SoC Negatives: - Apple tax on memory, storage - non-upgradeable - Apple tax on 1GbE to 10 GbE ($100 surcharge lol) - maxes out at 64G of configurable memory w/ m4 pro Got to give it to Apple. The traunches between different configuration levels is “small” enough to convince buyers to enter the next level. It’s like “hey, you are already at $4000 for m4 pro with 64g. Just s…

Millions, all of those not able to set up a desktop computer for themselves, or if they do know, not willing to spend the effort.

Re: New Mac Mini with M4

#180

Post by mathnmusic »

magnio wrote: post #128
mentos wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No mention of the SSD size that was the reason I returned my Mac mini 256Gb last year was just a pain juggling files

Couldn't we just add extra drives into the extra internal SSD slots? Or does Mac Mini not have those?

AFAIK, Apple took away those slots when Mac minis transitioned to Apple silicon. Attempts to replace SSD with re-soldering have not been successful.
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