M4 Mac mini's efficiency • Hacker News Board

Re: M4 Mac mini's efficiency

#21

Post by cosmotic » Tue, Nov 12, 2024, 10:31 PM UTC

echoangle wrote: post #14

riknos314 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What specific feature gaps would you like to see them address?

Official Linux support would help, is anyone running MacOS on a server?

If running native ports of server software isn't your cup of tea, you can run Linux containers on macos.

Re: M4 Mac mini's efficiency

#22

Post by rgovostes » Tue, Nov 12, 2024, 10:32 PM UTC

> If only they didn't put the power button on the bottom.

I can't tell if anyone is being serious about the "Powergate" issue. The thing is 5" wide and weighs 1.5 lbs, it's not exactly a burden to lift it a little. And there are highly practical workarounds: https://www.reddit.com/r/macmini/comments/1gncek7/nailed_the...

Re: M4 Mac mini's efficiency

#23

Post by GeekyBear » Tue, Nov 12, 2024, 10:34 PM UTC

Also interesting, the M4 Mini has the flash storage on a replaceable module, instead of being soldered to the motherboard, although the NVMe controller is still integrated into the SoC.

iFixIt and others have already posted videos showing that the flash storage is now upgradable.

> M4 Mac mini Teardown - UPGRADABLE SSD, Powerful, and TINY

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rtdGxBeSkz8

Re: M4 Mac mini's efficiency

#24

Post by echoangle » Tue, Nov 12, 2024, 10:34 PM UTC

cosmotic wrote: post #21

echoangle wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Official Linux support would help, is anyone running MacOS on a server?

If running native ports of server software isn't your cup of tea, you can run Linux containers on macos.

In the full GUI MacOS install? And the Linux container (I’m assuming you mean container like docker or podman?) would run in a Linux VM?

Re: M4 Mac mini's efficiency

#25

Post by ewhanley » Tue, Nov 12, 2024, 10:34 PM UTC

rgovostes wrote: post #22

> If only they didn't put the power button on the bottom. I can't tell if anyone is being serious about the "Powergate" issue. The thing is 5" wide and weighs 1.5 lbs, it's not exactly a burden to lift it a little. And there are highly practical workarounds: https://www.reddit.com/r/macmini/comments/1gncek7/nailed_the...

I also wonder how often people are actually turning them off. It's generally a rare event to push the power button on a mac in my experience

Re: M4 Mac mini's efficiency

#26

Post by coconut08 » Tue, Nov 12, 2024, 10:35 PM UTC

riknos314 wrote: post #11

LordKeren wrote: post #6

I can’t help but wish that Apple would provide the handful of features needed to make a Mac mini into a competent home server.

What specific feature gaps would you like to see them address?

Linux support. MacOS is a desktop first gui based operating system. Linux on the other hand is a server first cli/terminal based operating system. Everything server related is designed to on linux first and foremost and may or may not incidentally also run on MacOS.

Re: M4 Mac mini's efficiency

#27

Post by kranke155 » Tue, Nov 12, 2024, 10:35 PM UTC

rgovostes wrote: post #22

> If only they didn't put the power button on the bottom. I can't tell if anyone is being serious about the "Powergate" issue. The thing is 5" wide and weighs 1.5 lbs, it's not exactly a burden to lift it a little. And there are highly practical workarounds: https://www.reddit.com/r/macmini/comments/1gncek7/nailed_the...

It’s not a burden.

I consider it a typical Tim Cook decision, in that the man led the company that made one of the fastest CPUs in the world, makes it draw as much as a Raspberry Pi. Absolutely crazy feats of engineering, design, manufacturing… and -

There is that ONE detail that would’ve made it perfected but it’s botched!

I don’t mind it too much, since it’s still 99% close to perfect.

But, but…

Re: M4 Mac mini's efficiency

#28

Post by bookofjoe » Tue, Nov 12, 2024, 10:35 PM UTC

rgovostes wrote: post #22

> If only they didn't put the power button on the bottom. I can't tell if anyone is being serious about the "Powergate" issue. The thing is 5" wide and weighs 1.5 lbs, it's not exactly a burden to lift it a little. And there are highly practical workarounds: https://www.reddit.com/r/macmini/comments/1gncek7/nailed_the...

>Apple Says There’s a Simple Reason for the Mac Mini’s Odd Power Button Location

https://gizmodo.com/apple-mac-minis-odd-power-button-locatio...

Re: M4 Mac mini's efficiency

#29

Post by steeleduncan » Tue, Nov 12, 2024, 10:36 PM UTC

rgovostes wrote: post #22

> If only they didn't put the power button on the bottom. I can't tell if anyone is being serious about the "Powergate" issue. The thing is 5" wide and weighs 1.5 lbs, it's not exactly a burden to lift it a little. And there are highly practical workarounds: https://www.reddit.com/r/macmini/comments/1gncek7/nailed_the...

Because minis are very commonly racked in bulk, and its both very irritating for that use case, and entirely unnecessary

Re: M4 Mac mini's efficiency

#30

Post by ChrisMarshallNY » Tue, Nov 12, 2024, 10:37 PM UTC

rgovostes wrote: post #22

> If only they didn't put the power button on the bottom. I can't tell if anyone is being serious about the "Powergate" issue. The thing is 5" wide and weighs 1.5 lbs, it's not exactly a burden to lift it a little. And there are highly practical workarounds: https://www.reddit.com/r/macmini/comments/1gncek7/nailed_the...

I just got one (M4Pro model).

It's pretty zippy.

I have pressed the power button exactly once, since Friday (the day I got it). All other restarts were "soft" (including a couple of crashes). The keyboard and trackpad do fine, starting a shut-down computer.

It's replacing a docked MBP. That power button was a lot more difficult to reach, and I needed to hit it more often than this.