4 ms·

It's been a number of years (the Intel NUC was a new product) since our office bought its first Mac mini. At that time, it was the only product that fit the req

It's been a number of years (the Intel NUC was a new product) since our office bought its first Mac mini. At that time, it was the only product that fit the requirements of size, performance and cooling, and even then was cheaper than many alternatives which weren't as good a fit. Today, there are quite a number of products, including gamer or workstation-class machines, in this form factor. What was once exotic for its compactness is a commodity. All-the-while, Apple has kept this product at a near-standstill. Almost certainly they're worried about cannibalizing their iMac line, or even the Mac Pro line. Given the level of innovation that has take place over the last five years, the remarkable thinness of laptops which Apple helped pioneer beginning with the Air, why aren't they putting out a Mac mini the size and thickness of a slice of bread?

gaius 8y ago
That kind of thinking boggles my mind “we know people want X, which we make, so we’ll avoid making it so they’ll buy Y instead”.
- remir 8y ago
  Yep. The 13" Air was a really popular machine that people loved. Apple could have simply updated it with a better display, specs and USB C and they would have made a killing. Instead, they decided to make the 12" Macbook and keep the crap display on the Air... A lot of people are saying that Apple doesn't make a better Mac Mini because they're worried it would cannibalize their iMac/Mac Pro sales. But if your entry level machine is providing more value for $ than your pricier models, then perhaps there's a problem with those model. Just looking at the iMac lineup in Canada and the prices are insane for what you get. Just for example, the basic 21.5" iMac, when upgraded to a SSD, costs $1700 CAD.
  - Tempest1981 8y ago
    Loved the Air, esp. the keyboard.
  - giancarlostoro 8y ago
    I still hold the belief they should of renamed the Air to "MacBook" and not done that ugly MacBook, or released the ugly one as a MacBook Air. Just swap the names, I'll buy the MacBook if it's the MacBook Air model, otherwise I'd rather go for the Pro. The Air is really nice, doesn't get in your way. I wouldn't use it for programming, but for what I use it for it's perfect.

gaius 8y ago

That kind of thinking boggles my mind “we know people want X, which we make, so we’ll avoid making it so they’ll buy Y instead”.

remir 8y ago
Yep. The 13" Air was a really popular machine that people loved. Apple could have simply updated it with a better display, specs and USB C and they would have made a killing. Instead, they decided to make the 12" Macbook and keep the crap display on the Air... A lot of people are saying that Apple doesn't make a better Mac Mini because they're worried it would cannibalize their iMac/Mac Pro sales. But if your entry level machine is providing more value for $ than your pricier models, then perhaps there's a problem with those model. Just looking at the iMac lineup in Canada and the prices are insane for what you get. Just for example, the basic 21.5" iMac, when upgraded to a SSD, costs $1700 CAD.
- Tempest1981 8y ago
  Loved the Air, esp. the keyboard.
- giancarlostoro 8y ago
  I still hold the belief they should of renamed the Air to "MacBook" and not done that ugly MacBook, or released the ugly one as a MacBook Air. Just swap the names, I'll buy the MacBook if it's the MacBook Air model, otherwise I'd rather go for the Pro. The Air is really nice, doesn't get in your way. I wouldn't use it for programming, but for what I use it for it's perfect.