Mac mini rumour... (it's true!)

[redlester]

Here we go... October 30th.

https://www.apple.com/apple-events/

[Humble Bee]

Jup! That must be the one!

[ConcertinaChap]

According to a rumour I heard from a usually reliable source they're going to announce that they've downloaded Steve Jobs' soul into an array of networked iMac Pros and he is going to resume leadership of the company. So they say.

CC

[Humble Bee]

I heard about that as well CC. Come back Steve! Save the world!

[redlester]

There you go.
i5 or i7, 4 core or 6 core, up to 64GB RAM , up to 2TB SSD.
4xTB3, 2xUSB, HDMI.
No idea if it's still user upgradeable?
Entry model is $799. Don't know what the prices are for the higher specs (I could hazard a guess!).

[ConcertinaChap]

Well I have to say I'm impressed despite myself. 4 or 6 core, up to 64GB SODIMM RAM, 4 TB3 and 2 USB 3 ports. That's a pretty beefy machine. I might well have gone for one of those instead of the iMac Pro if it had been available when I needed it. Nice one, Apple (but also, about time too).

CC

Edit: Ah, so you were watching too

On the user upgradeability front I would guess the RAM is upgradeable as otherwise why make a fuss about it being SODIMM? For the SSD I'd guess probably not, or maybe like the iMac pro, upgradeable if you don't mind major disassembly and have all the special tools.

[redlester]

Edit: Ah, so you were watching too

Ha ha sort of. Listening through one earphone while am supposed to be working...

We missed the most important bit. It's space grey!

You can tell where their marketing priorities lie, given they rattled through the section on the Mac Mini while they've spent ages on the new Macbook Air and iPad Pro.

[ConcertinaChap]

Space grey looks OK on the iMac pro but I wouldn't want to wear it myself.

With a bit of luck it'll come with the black magic keyboard with numeric pad. The magic mouse my be ghastly and the trackpad 2 so-so but the keyboard is very, very good.

CC

[Luke W]

There you go.
i5 or i7, 4 core or 6 core, up to 64GB RAM , up to 2TB SSD.
4xTB3, 2xUSB, HDMI.
No idea if it's still user upgradeable?
Entry model is $799. Don't know what the prices are for the higher specs (I could hazard a guess!).

That's quite a nice surprise actually, was hoping for something along these lines...

[redlester]

They are availalbe to order on the web site now.

A quick look suggests it comes to just over £3,700 for top of the range spec.

A more modest but respectable quad core i7 with 32GB RAM and a 512GB system drive is under £2k.

[redlester]

With a bit of luck it'll come with the black magic keyboard with numeric pad. The magic mouse my be ghastly and the trackpad 2 so-so but the keyboard is very, very good

From the Apple Store:
"In the box:
Mac Mini
Power lead"

[Dave B]

You can save a few hundred quid by getting your own RAM. And I don't need a big ssd either. So mine comes more like 1300 quid plus another 250 for the memory. Which isn't _too_ bad - not great though. But I would get a fast, 6 core machine with oodles of ram. Just a shame that none of my devices would work with it ...

[redlester]

Am not sure yet that it is user upgradeable. Have seen nothing to say that it is, unless I missed it.

By the way, totally off topic, but is the SOS site displaying post times still in BST rather than GMT, or is it just me?

[Kwackman]

By the way, totally off topic, but is the SOS site displaying post times still in BST rather than GMT, or is it just me?

Log out & back in again, that should sort it.

[redlester]

Log out & back in again, that should sort it.

Nice one, cheers.

[bigfox2]

After watching, I have a couple questions. How much of a difference will I see in Pro Tools/Logic in 4 core vs. 6 core?

Secondly, is this machine better than the current iMacs? A friend tells me they do not make Mac Minis to be powerful desktops and I should buy either an iMac or an iMac Pro. I told him the new Mac Minis look like beasts, but now I'm doubting.

Thanks a lot.

[redlester]

Secondly, is this machine better than the current iMacs?

If you want a desktop but don't need to buy a screen, it's no contest!

[Humble Bee]

Great!
More than I need!


But them SDDs are very expensive! Jeez!
Bet they are soldered to. I sort of wanted 1TB... Hmm. May be an external SDD... and 512 internal... or is 256 enough?

The RAM is user upgradable yes?

[ConcertinaChap]

Am not sure yet that it is user upgradeable. Have seen nothing to say that it is, unless I missed it.

The tech specs use the phrase "configurable to" - which is Apple speak for "no, it isn't" - for everything including RAM.

The pricing leaves me not uncomfortable with my iMac Pro , but in a year or two I could easily see me getting one of these to replace my wife's ageing 2011 Mac Mini.

CC

[ConcertinaChap]

A friend tells me they do not make Mac Minis to be powerful desktops and I should buy either an iMac or an iMac Pro. I told him the new Mac Minis look like beasts, but now I'm doubting.

Well, we're your friends too, I hope ... they do look like beasts. The integrated Intel graphics are possibly the weakest link if you're a gamer but for the likes of us there's plenty of power and plenty of resolution there. As a very happy iMac pro owner, well I don't use anything like the power there except when I'm running multiple virtual machines which I only do now because I can.

CC

[Luke W]

The tech specs use the phrase "configurable to" - which is Apple speak for "no, it isn't" - for everything including RAM.

Does look like that may be the case, hardly a shock at this point though I suppose. Bit of a shame still as the cost of the RAM is still insane, maxing it out would roughly double the cost of the machine I just spec'd up!

Still though, when compared to the price of a current Mac Pro, and assuming the new ones when they release will be in a similar range, this new mini could prove to be a decent choice for me when I decide to head back towards a desktop.

[bigfox2]

Thanks for all the detailed answers, friends! I guess my follow-up is if I indeed do have a monitor, would you buy an iMac for music production or the new Mac Mini?

[Humble Bee]

It looks like the RAM is user upgradable according to a lot of comments on the web. Can any expert confirm this...

[ConcertinaChap]

Thanks for all the detailed answers, friends! I guess my follow-up is if I indeed do have a monitor, would you buy an iMac for music production or the new Mac Mini?

If we're talking about similar specs otherwise I'd be inclined towards the Mac Mini. Reason being I got an iMac a good few years back and which lasted me quite a while too. When it eventually failed it was the screen itself which was no longer in stock with Apple, so of course the whole machine was scrapped. That turned me off all-in-ones a bit. (Yet here I am with another one. Rational? Me?)

CC

[redlester]

It looks like the RAM is user upgradable according to a lot of comments on the web. Can any expert confirm this...
?

Think am right in saying the last model, the 2014, wasn’t user upgradable? So if they had reversed that policy I would have expected them to have it right at the top of their marketing headlines, not leaving half the world debating whether it is or not.
I will be very surprised if it is.