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The new Mac mini is almost certainly coming
- Thread starter GabrieleR
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I think what he actually wishes for (as do so many people here) is the mythic headless iMac a.k.a. xMac or non-pro Mac Desktop. The mini in its current incarnation sits in an awkward spot, as it is some kind of neither fish nor flesh: Too expensive for the average/home user and still a little lacking for the (Sem-)Pro user (mainly stemming from the restrictions of the housing, which was never conceived for the currently marketed use case).
I'm surely keeping an eye on the second-hand market to possibly replace my 2012 mini at some point in the future (though I may as well switch to a simple RasPi when the mini should eventually fail). But that is probably not anytime soon. Can't believe that little guy is already 7 years old. :-o
A snip at only 6 times the price... including a huge premium for a Xeon processor (which you probably don't need) ECC RAM (which you probably don't need) and an insane number of PCIe slots (8 is probably 6 more than you actually need)... and if you do need that sort of expansion capacity, you probably need something better than the "only" 8-core CPU in the entry model.
Oh - and you can't actually buy it yet (past halfway through October).
Even the previous Mac Pros (cheesegrater and trashcan) were a more credible "next step up" from the Mini. The new Mac Pro doubled the entry price.
Given that Apple aren't likely to do that, what some people want is a Mac Mini with even a half-decent mobile GPU that could comfortably drive a pair of 4k displays in Mac OS "scaled mode". I mean, its a brilliant bit of marketing by Apple: save money by switching from expensive mobile chips to cheaper desktop chips with lowest-common-denominator, good-enough-for-spreadsheets iGPUs, then claim it as an 'upgrade' that justifies a price rise. C.f. the MacBook range where, in the past, they've held the CPU back a generation in order to hang on to Iris Pro/Plus/whatever graphics.
If you don't need MacOS, there are a host of small-form-factor PCs to choose from - or you can build your own using a Mini-ITX board (or one of the even smaller options). Hopefully, soon, there will be some well-supported ARM options apart from the Pi (the Pi is unbeatable at the price - and the Pi 4 has improved the USB 3/network I/O considerably - but without M.2 or SATA its not really credible as - and was never really intended as - a PC/Mac replacement.
Not at all! The new MacPro is in a completely different market segment.
Just wondering: Is the fan and heatsink replaceable on the 2018 mini? (If one were to put the insides into a larger case for example)
Apple and a lot of people in the Apple "base" can't even see that market segment. They think paying over $6,000 for a desktop computer is no big deal while for a huge swath of the American population - 90%? - paying three thousand dollars stops them in their tracks and sends them looking for something else.
I have a Dell desktop with an 8 core liquid cooled i9 and new nVida card and nvme drive and that was delivered to my door for $1,600-. It's hooked up to my 4k TV.
THAT is what I want from Apple.
Hi everyone! I'm planning on buying a new Mac mini 2018, but I'm afraid I won't be able to downgrade to Mojave if it ships with Catalina. My audio gear and software is not yet compatible with Catalina. Did anyone attempt something similar? Thanks!
On earlier hardware, it was always possible to run the oldest OS that a given machine was first *launched* with (regardless of what it ships with). For the 2018 Mac mini, this would be Mojave. I don't know that that has changed. But I would find it odd (and concerning) if this is not still the case.
For example, I would expect to be able to boot from external drives (or a partitioned internal) that are either Mojave or Catalina, and to interchangeably swap between them. Hopefully someone here can report that this still works on the T2 macs like the 2018 mini.
In theory, it should be as simple as downloading the Mojave installer from the App store.
If you are ordering a stock build the chances are better than not it will have Mojave installed, if you do BTO then it will be Catalina. If it is Catalina you will need to download Mojave from the App Store and create a USB boot drive to install Mojave. Pain more than difficult to do.
Downloading the Mojave installer just tells you there is a more up to date OS installed and it won't continue.
If your Mac Mini has Catalina installed, boot Catalina first, reboot in recovery mode and start Startup Security Utility.
Change the T2 settings to Medium Security (Allows any version of signed operating system software ever trusted by Apple to run), and allow external booting.
Now you can install Mojave on an external drive via USB stick, or reformat the internal drive (mandatory with APFS!), and install Mojave.
- macOS Mojave direct link: https://apps.apple.com/ch/app/macos-mojave/id1398502828?mt=12
- If it doesn't download the full installer (6 GB), use the Mojave patcher only to download the full macOS installer: http://dosdude1.com/mojave/
- Creating a bootable USB stick with Mojave installer: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372
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I've been scouring ebay for a 2012 or even 2014 macmini, sadly the i7 2012's seems to get at or near 400$. That's just too much when it's 7 years old and half the price of the current offerings. I get that people like the upgradability of it, but still. It also doesn't help being of a more PC minded nature knowing what I could build for that price. I keep saying if the current mac mini's started at 600$ instead of 8, i'd already own one.
Intel is not going to ship 10nm desktop CPUs (35w TDP, 65w TDP, 95w TDP nominal) but simply release another round of 14nm+++ “Comet Lake” as 10th Gen early next year and up the core/thread counts. I suspect Comet Lake will also contain UHD iGPUs (not Gen 11) when they are released. There is plenty of speculation that Intel is going to skip 10nm and head straight to 7nm for the next round of S-Series (Desktop) CPUs and given the disappointing clock speed and relative performance of actual 10th Gen CPUs versus 8th and 9th Gen CPUs, I increasingly see Intel trying to move on from 10nm as fast as possible. Certainly no 45w TDP H-Series for the next round of 15”-16” MacBook Pros are likely to make it out the door either.
Source: https://wccftech.com/intel-10th-gen-core-i5-desktop-comet-lake-cpu-spotted/
Source: https://wccftech.com/intel-skips-10nm-desktop-cpus-7nm-desktop-launch-2022/
To the point, I can’t see Apple moving to Comet Lake CPUs in Late 2020 or 2021 as these CPUs are not drop in replacements for the 8th Gen in there now and require a new socket (LGA-1200) and PCH (400-Series chipset). While Apple uses BGA versions of the i3-8100, i5-8500 and i7-8700, I suspect Intel will not keep the same BGA-1440 chip package, although they could. Regardless, the PCH is changing, so Apple has to integrate that into the mix. More likely is a 9th Gen refresh of the mini around June and WWDC. Otherwise, I suppose a Pro oriented press release could come next week if a 16” MacBook Pro announcement becomes an actual event.
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Buy one now from B&H or Amazon that is already in the channel and it is much more likely to come with Mojave. The key is to do it sooner rather than later. Given that you in Argentina, I have no idea who you would buy it from in your area or how a purchase from an online vendor is going to work. I would not count on being able to downgrade to Mojave from Catalina, although it may be possible. Try to get one with Mojave already installed and save yourself the headache.
Meh. The iPad Mini was considered "dead" since the previous model was from 3 years ago. And then guess what? iPad Mini was resurrected out of the blue in mid 2019.
Just hard to predict Apple schedule these days.
People have been saying that the mew Mac mini is almost certainly coming. But one never knows when. Intel doesn't have anything that would justify an update now.
Interesting...So it won't let you install Mojave on an external, nor a partitioned internal drive? (If you have a newer OS running.)
Not saying it definitely won't, but it wasn't working for me when I tried. Now that may just have been one of the many bugs Catalina had, I installed pretty much immediately on release. Not tried since.
If a Mini is coming up soon (2020), it will be ARM based.
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AMD has a APU but the next Mini will be ARM based, I think we can all agree with that. I would not buy a Mac at this point in time. Personally, I would hold off for a year, if at all possible.
The problem is that AMD doesn’t have any APUs that overlap the Mini’s performance except for the i3. There’s no APU version of the 2600/3600 and 2700/3700, AFAICT.
Next Ryzen APU with Navi graphics will be released in November, I believe. "If" Apple was interested, they would have samples already... but again, I think the next Mini will be ARM based.
That's a great link, Synchro3!, for the Mojave full installer.
Also, one can use the excellent free program DiskMaker X (https://diskmakerx.com/) to make a bootable USB installer. I have used it, and it works very, very well. However, note that the download link for DiskMaker X is for a beta version of V9.0, compatible with Catalina. If you prefer a non-beta, you can get V8.0.3 of DiskMaker X, fully compatible with Mojave, from here:
diskmakerx.com
The version 8.0.3 link is found under the heading "Previous Versions". That is the version I used previously.
That's a great link, Synchro3, for the Mojave full installer. And EXTREMELY helpful, since it is no longer available through the App Store "directly". Folks need to remember that after that full installation file downloads, stop the subsequent installation step, and make a copy of that installer file in another location on your machine.
Also, one can use the excellent free program DiskMaker X (https://diskmakerx.com/) to make a bootable USB installer. I have used it, and it works very, very well. However, note that the download link for DiskMaker X is for a beta version of V9.0, compatible with Catalina. If you prefer a non-beta, you can get V8.0.3 of DiskMaker X, fully compatible with Mojave, from here:
What is DiskMaker X ?
The version 8.0.3 link is found under the heading "Previous Versions". That is the version I used previously.
The issue with AMD is that once you get into any of their performance CPUs, they strip away the integrated GPU. It doesn’t matter when the next ones are due if they are only available in SKUs that compete with the i3 or low-end i5s.
The ARM leap is one I’ll believe when Tim announces it. It’s not that they can’t, but rather it’s a huge undertaking for one of their smaller profit centers, and adds a bunch of risk. It’s also not terribly useful for purchasing decisions (neither are AMD rumors for that matter). An ARM switch would be disruptive, and generally depress sales for a while until things stabilize on the new architecture.
I would be happy with the exact same chips as they have just with a larger case and heat sink so it can be a workhorse for encoding/ compiling etc without becoming loud / too hot.
it’s so small that a 50% size increase would give loads of extra thermal headroom and it would still be a tiny pc
A 50% increase in size would make the Mac Mini less mini, and less transportable.
Although the Mac Mini is a desktop, it is small enough to be easily transportable in a backpack. That is one of the features that attracted me, and maybe others, to the Mini.
When I got mine, I did not want a portable computer to tote everywhere, every day. I did want something that could be easily transported occasionally locally on a bicycle, or when relocating by public transport. The Mac Mini can be disconnected in a minute or so, taken some place and set up as quickly, with locally available peripherals. As a teacher I have taken my Mini from home to class from time to time, connecting it to an LCD projector and audio system in class.