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Boyd01

Moderator
Staff member
Feb 21, 2012
7,716
4,599
New Jersey Pine Barrens
The new Mac Mini to replace your 2018 Mini that suddenly slowed to a crawl is almost certainly coming!

But, seriously, I will be interested to see if this rumor is true. If they introduced something with discrete graphics (like an iMac without a screen), that would interest me a lot more than the 2018 Mini. The more I read about external GPU's the less I like them.
 
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Micky Do

macrumors 68020
Aug 31, 2012
2,207
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a South Pacific island
Perhaps not long.... if you believe this. ;)

I hope so...... only once seen a Mac Mini in a shop in more than a year during which I have been to several cities in three countries. That was in a place that caters to the commercial / pro market than consumers, who have been left out in the cold by the current model.

Currently in an itinerant phase of my life, my MacBook Air best fits my needs for now. However I look forward to the day I can set a Mac Mini on a desk again. The 2009 model I have would do, but a new one would be better, to make use of updated tech, such as Air Drop and other features...... Doesn't have to be hugely powerful, but does need to have a decent amount of on board storage.
 

Populus

macrumors 601
Aug 24, 2012
4,844
7,138
Spain, Europe
I expect a Ryzen 2 APU, or at least, a Ryzen 2 CPU with a decent integrated GPU. Otherwise, if the AMD CPU is not carrying a good GPU, an Intel Ice Lake or Tiger Lake CPU with much faster integrated graphics would be neat.

Do you think we’ll see the equivalent of the UltraWide Band Wireless connectivity in Macs with this new Mac mini? Not for the location, but for the “point and transfer” Airdrop feature.

Also, a new T3 chip? Or we’ll be stuck in the T2 series for a long time? What do you think about this?

Finally I also expect a bigger amount of onboard storage, but the most I can think is 256GB as a minimum, which would be fine for me.

PS: Do you think there’s even the slightest possibility that Apple sells the next Mac mini with not only upgradable RAM but also storage? Like, on an M.2 slot.
 
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hagjohn

macrumors 68000
Aug 27, 2006
1,738
3,508
Pennsylvania
I expect a Ryzen 2 APU, or at least, a Ryzen 2 CPU with a decent integrated GPU. Otherwise, if the AMD CPU is not carrying a good GPU, an Intel Ice Lake or Tiger Lake CPU with much faster integrated graphics would be neat.

Do you think we’ll see the equivalent of the UltraWide Band Wireless connectivity in Macs with this new Mac mini? Not for the location, but for the “point and transfer” Airdrop feature.

Also, a new T3 chip? Or we’ll be stuck in the T2 series for a long time? What do you think about this?

Finally I also expect a bigger amount of onboard storage, but the most I can think is 256GB as a minimum, which would be fine for me.

PS: Do you think there’s even the slightest possibility that Apple sells the next Mac mini with not only upgradable RAM but also storage? Like, on an M.2 slot.
Good luck with that. I would love to see a Ryzen & 5700 in a Mini but Apple likes to mix in mediocre parts and make it almost impossible to upgrade any components, so you have to pay an apple tax on upgrades.
 

padams35

macrumors 6502
Nov 10, 2016
471
304
I was expecting a mid-late 2020 mini with a Zen 2 APU to keep the core count up, but if the new mini is truly coming sooner then it might be a Zen+ quad-core Picasso APU. A lose for people who would put a 5700 in an eGPU but a gain for anyone not wanting an eGPU in the first place.
 

satchmo

macrumors 603
Aug 6, 2008
5,017
5,676
Canada
So what chipset would be the sweet spot that can drive a 4K or 5K display comfortably without stutter and run cool enough? Part of the allure of a mac Mini is the simplicity and relatively cheap set up. Adding an eGPU is a great option, but ideally as an option for those who do video editing.
 

Neodym

macrumors 68020
Jul 5, 2002
2,439
1,071
So what chipset would be the sweet spot that can drive a 4K or 5K display comfortably without stutter and run cool enough?
When we talk integrated graphics - as the poster before you said: Ryzen 5 w/ integrated Vega GPU, hands down. 65W TDP (45W cTDP) would fit the current mini‘s cooling system.
 
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PickUrPoison

macrumors G3
Sep 12, 2017
8,131
10,720
Sunnyvale, CA
Because the transition will take (many) years and Apple will want to support the “Pro” crowd for quite some time to come. Current AMD CPU gen seems to be competitive @ a good price point. And the integrated GPU seems to be superior to Intels offering.

Apple uses AMD GPU’s for many years now and both companies know each other well. Why not go all-in (and put more pressure on Intel), at least for some product lines?
Apple plays a competitive supply chain like a fine fiddle. You can be sure that Intel’s pricing to Apple is excellent. Apple doesn’t pay more than they should when there are alternatives, and of course Intel knows that.

Thanks AMD!
 

djc6

macrumors 6502a
Aug 11, 2007
873
463
Cleveland, OH
I'd rather have a Ryzen processor than an Intel, considering Intels flaws keep flowing in.


Everyone has flaws. I'd rather Ryzen for the performance.
 

PickUrPoison

macrumors G3
Sep 12, 2017
8,131
10,720
Sunnyvale, CA
Good luck with that. I would love to see a Ryzen & 5700 in a Mini but Apple likes to mix in mediocre parts and make it almost impossible to upgrade any components, so you have to pay an apple tax on upgrades.
Good luck with that. A 5700 draws what, 150-200W?

The entire power budget for CPU + GPU in the mini is 65W. The CPU Apple is using is a 65W part. That leaves approximately 0W for a dedicated GPU.

The so-called “Apple tax” is not relevant.
 

high heaven

Suspended
Dec 7, 2017
522
232
AMD Ryzen 4000 APU would be a better option than Intel. First of all, Mac mini is not able to handle the TDP 65W CPU. It used a 15~45W mobile CPU.
 

iandk

macrumors regular
Aug 10, 2019
162
65
If it's able to run two 4K monitors without problems, even in scaled mode, I might get one.
 

Neodym

macrumors 68020
Jul 5, 2002
2,439
1,071
Apple plays a competitive supply chain like a fine fiddle. You can be sure that Intel’s pricing to Apple is excellent. Apple doesn’t pay more than they should when there are alternatives, and of course Intel knows that.
And because Apple is good at negotiating and AMD is competitive for the end customer, I'm pretty sure Apple could also get excellent pricing from AMD - with the added bonus that the integrated GPU would be leaps and bounds better than what Intel has to offer.

Also - in order to keep up the negotiation pressure, you need to demonstrate that the competing supply chain is for real and not only on paper. Intel sales guys are not stupid.
 

Mainsail

macrumors 68020
Sep 19, 2010
2,354
3,152
I don’t understand why a Apple hasn’t lowered the price on the 2018 Mac Mini. The base model is still $800. That seems too high for a 1.5 year old headless entry level Mac with 128 GB of storage.
 

Krevnik

macrumors 601
Sep 8, 2003
4,100
1,309
The "actual" 8th Gen Core CPUs in the 2018 Mac minis have a 65 W TDP (on the Intel scale ).

This. The 2018 Mini can handle sustained load of close to ~80W so long as the heat is making it off the die, so it’s better than you’d think, but at the same time, not enough for a dGPU.
 

HappyIntro

macrumors 6502
Apr 30, 2016
309
305
I don’t understand why a Apple hasn’t lowered the price on the 2018 Mac Mini. The base model is still $800. That seems too high for a 1.5 year old headless entry level Mac with 128 GB of storage.

I do miss the time when Apple would gradually lower its prices for models that haven't been upgraded in awhile. That practice seems to have been stopped cold as some point, unfortunately.
 

boomspot

macrumors regular
Apr 10, 2018
132
103
I ordered a 2nd 2018 Mini a day or two before this rumor was announced. I'm thinking about returning but if it's months out I'll likely just start using it and upgrade to a new model in a few years.

B
 

high heaven

Suspended
Dec 7, 2017
522
232
The "actual" 8th Gen Core CPUs in the 2018 Mac minis have a 65 W TDP (on the Intel scale ).

I know and Mac mini 2018 throttle worse than previous versions.
[automerge]1583769290[/automerge]
This. The 2018 Mini can handle sustained load of close to ~80W so long as the heat is making it off the die, so it’s better than you’d think, but at the same time, not enough for a dGPU.

Not true.
 

Krevnik

macrumors 601
Sep 8, 2003
4,100
1,309
I know and Mac mini 2018 throttle worse than previous versions.

Not true.

There's some interesting discussion on that topic in this thread, but the key takeaway is that I've had the i5 doing exactly what I claim: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...almost-certainly-coming.1681773/post-28002429

The i7 case from Spectrum was interesting, because even in that case, it seemed more of having issues funneling heat off the die than anything else. And it was still pushing beyond the base clocks at TDP power levels, at around 3.5Ghz. Not sure that's even really "throttling" when you're running 16% above your base clocks indefinitely.
 
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