Can that thing run OSX ? damn, i just ordered a mac mini to do some ios dev.
My Next Mac Mini
51–60 of 361 posts
Re: My Next Mac Mini
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would anyone buy a Mac Mini and put Linux on it?! There are a million other small PCs that are far better for that. If I was going to buy a Mac Mini, it's to have an affordable Mac that I can stick somewhere in my house to run occasional OS X software. I already have a few other computers, plenty of them running Linux. A Mac Mini is a great way to get a cheap OS X setup going. Also, it's not low margin, they char…
Back when I had a Mac Mini (10 years ago), you could pull them apart and upgrade the RAM and hard disk, which I did. Is that not still the case?
You still can, but they're a few hardware generations out of date. You'd have more fun with a raspi 3 or a less expensive mini-ITX build that you can upgrade with current gen components.
Re: My Next Mac Mini
#53Nowadays, I kind of enjoy seeing posts about people abandoning Apple ecosystem. Although it's painful, I myself have been yet another avid fan of pretty much Apple offered, it feels like this is not going to last forever. When they do the math, iPhone might seem the most lucrative (they seem not to care about anything else) but since they are killing the ecosystem with no Mac Pro, no Mac Mini and with so called pro M…
I had whatever the latest iPhone was for the past 8 years. But at some point I realized a whole Huawei/HTC/LG/whatever Android phone could be purchased for the price of an iPhone screen repair and it's pretty much adequate for what I want to do.
So now I'm using a Nexus 5X. It's okayish, but costs 1/3 the price of the iPhone 7 that would also be relatively ok. Phones are just phones these days.
The awkward part is that if you've ever played audio or video on an iOS device, you've executed some of my code.
Re: My Next Mac Mini
#54I wish Apple would just team up with Intel and license macOS on the NUC. It's a perfect successor to the Mac Mini.
What's the point of OSX on the NUC when Linux or even Windows does everything a NUC is usually used for?
I'm thinking more about what people use Mac Mini's for.
Apple clearly aren't interested in the Mac Mini anymore, so why not license macOS on a superior machine in the same category instead?
Similar to how they no longer make their own monitors, and now recommend an LG 5K monitor.
For example, I use a Mac Mini for Xamarin. When it dies, I don't want to spend money on a new one because they are really overpriced, would rather buy a NUC and a copy of Mac OS and use that instead.
Re: My Next Mac Mini
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
Headless systems, digital signage, PVR/HTPC, and testing farms are what we mainly use them for. They're crammed behind every conference TV and in every AV cabinet, but I doubt too many people use them as their primary device.
Wouldn't a NUC or Brix running Linux be a better choice for this?
Probably, but in an office with a couple hundred macs it may seem easier to keep everything playing nicely together.
Re: My Next Mac Mini
#56> Well, perfect except that six years in this machine is very creaky. It needs a reboot every week or so (otherwise it will refuse to launch anything). That sounds totally unrelated to the age of the machine, and totally related to what's installed, the mini running out of disk, etc. Maybe do a clean install of the OS? Aside from the mechanical parts (CD ROMS, Hard Disks, etc), the "digital" parts of a PC do not age…
Yeah what the hell, how can you write a tech blog complaining about a product if you don't perform even the most basic of system maintenance. Or, if you are doing maintenance, why not explain what you are doing? Also, can't a Mac Mini that old be upgraded with a 2.5" SSD and more RAM?
It would be a fair criticism if cards were not so obviously stacked against me, the end user and maintainer. New versions of software are written for new and more powerful hardware. I don't know about Mac mini specifically, but it is incredibly hard or even impossible to upgrade Apple products with new hardware.
Re: My Next Mac Mini
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
Headless systems, digital signage, PVR/HTPC, and testing farms are what we mainly use them for. They're crammed behind every conference TV and in every AV cabinet, but I doubt too many people use them as their primary device.
Wouldn't a NUC or Brix running Linux be a better choice for this?
I think so, and definitely for at home use, but outside of server the Linux team doesn't have much purchasing power.
Re: My Next Mac Mini
#58Apple is a scam and nothing else.
It's more clear for me after my Mac Mini 2009 is no longer supported by Sierra without any constructive reason (you can install it with pair of crutches but no Wi-Fi). Actually Apple is selling fancy outdated hardware with pretty questionable "new features" like touchbar bullshit to excuse their ridiculous pricing model.
Awesome that more people abandoning it.
Re: My Next Mac Mini
#59I'm running a $65 FireTV with Kodi sideloaded that accomplishes everything I need. The device is silent and the remote is bluetooth and feels nice in the hand. (But to be fair, my router is used to download torrents and I don't ingest any Live TV.)
To be honest, I think the NUC or any other intel platform is overkill for TV these days.
Re: My Next Mac Mini
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Gigabyte Brix [edit: the base model] is fanless, and if you use an SSD it's completely solid state. I have two next to me right now and they are completely silent as you would expect. However it has a small external power brick. It's only about 1/4 the size of the machine (at least that's for the UK PSU).
Considering there are tens of options in the Brix lines the comment about them being fanless is untrue. Most are actively cooled machines. None of the Brix or NUC I have are particularly loud. If you're doing heavy lifting on a small form factor machine you have to expect a small fan to generate noise to dissipate heat, there's really no way around it.
I edited the comment to reflect the fact that the base model of the Gigabyte Brix -- which I have two of -- is fanless and passively cooled.