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Oh, I almost expect Apple to make it too thin to be useful. But I've seen people actively hope for a smaller Mini on Twitter before, and I don't understand that
by gurkendoktor 8y ago
Oh, I almost expect Apple to make it too thin to be useful. But I've seen people actively hope for a smaller Mini on Twitter before, and I don't understand that sentiment. What's the market for a tiny $1000 desktop Mac?
- freehunter 8y agoYeah laptops I understand, I travel for work and the thinner and lighter is all the better for my specific use case. For desktops, I've never even understood the case for the Intel NUC. Isn't it just a headless laptop? And they don't seem to be substantially cheaper than a laptop, and a laptop is easy to just tuck away on/under your desk if you want it out of sight, so what's the point? I'm sure someone is using them for something, but I've never fretted how big a stationary computer is.
- majewsky 8y agoI have a 2013 NUC that I used as a desktop PC for a few years. What I found nice is that it came with its own VESA bracket, so I could mount it on the back side of my monitor to produce something that looks like an all-in-one PC or iMac.
- wilsonnb3 8y agoAll the relevant ports are on the back instead of split between the left and the right. Plus, they're purchased bare bones so you can add in however much storage and RAM you want which is an increasingly hard to find option on a laptop. They also have somewhat better cooling than laptops because they're so thick, and you can buy silent passive cooling cases for them.
- ckluis 8y agoActually a tiny Mac Mini which could plug into an iPad as a screen is an interesting work "machine." That would be pluggable into a real setup at home.
- wlesieutre 8y agoWhy would it not get smaller? Intel makes their NUCs the size that they are because that's the size of the components these days. It's not like Apple's going to make the new Mac Mini three times the size it needs to be and stuff a bunch of 3.5" HDD bays in for people who want to use it as a file server. Smaller with fewer components and everything soldered/glued together is a cheap way to build smaller and cheaper at the cost or repairability, and Apple clearly doesn't care about repairability. They've said that the Mac Pro redesign will be more modular, but I don't see them doing that here.
- gurkendoktor 8y agoAgreed about repairability. What we don't know is whether Apple cares about noise. Powerful laptops and Intel's high-end NUCs suffer from fan noise under load[1]. One of the advantages of non-tiny desktop machines is that they can afford better cooling solutions. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/intelnuc/comments/7ga2q9/skull_canyon_nuc_the_noise_complaints_are_real/ https://www.reddit.com/r/intelnuc/comments/7ga2q9/skull_cany...
- wlesieutre 8y agoI'd bet on the cooling looking something like the Apple TV 4K's does: https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Apple+TV+4K+Teardown/97511#s179014 https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Apple+TV+4K+Teardown/97511#s... At least since it's not a handheld touchscreen device, you can take it apart and replace stuff. It even uses Torx screws! But there's not a lot of discrete parts here, just the power supply,the motherboard, and the fan. Once upon a time the Mac Minis would have let you replace the RAM or disk, but I'd expect it to look like a similar similar power supply + motherboard + fan in a box.
- saagarjha 8y agoThe Apple TV that came before it didn’t have a fan. I’m more inclined to think this was an exception rather than the rule.
- 8y ago