“What’s going to happen to the Mac mini?” Gene Steinberg asks for The Tech Night Owl.
“Today, the Mac mini is a forgotten Mac even though it remains on the price lists,” Steinberg writes. “We are assured that the Mac Pro will receive a major upgrade, but Apple’s cheapest Mac remains untouched.”
“Apple marketing VP Philip Schiller, when asked about the fate of the Mac mini during that early April roundtable with a handful of tech reporters, said, ‘On that I’ll say the Mac mini is an important product in our lineup…,'” Steinberg writes. “If it’s an ‘important product,’ surely that means Apple wants to satisfy customers who have been waiting patiently (or not-so-patiently) for an upgrade, right? So where does Apple take it? Don’t forget that the current design was intended, originally, to include an optical drive and was sized accordingly. Without that constraint, now, all bets are off on future design directions.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As easily as we can imagine an all-new Mac mini, we can also see it one day just dropping out of the Mac lineup with nary a word from Apple.
SEE ALSO:
Should Apple make a Mac mini Pro? – May 12, 2017
There needs to be a Mac Mini Pro, for what it’s worth.
Not a $6K device, but a $1.5K max unit. Something along the lines of an iMac, maxed out, with out the monitor but all the ports, for multiple 4K displays.
I think this should be an option. Powerful, small, semi-upgradable (should be fully upgradable.) Bring your own monitor.
Makes sense. Maybe it comes out together with the planned new Apple monitor.
The H-P Z2 Mini G3 Performance Workstation (X8U89AV)
Intel® Xeon® E3-1205 v6 Processor (3 GHz, 8 MB cache, 4 cores) + Intel® HD Graphics P630
16 GB (2×8 GB) DDR4-2400 Unbuffered Memory
1 TB 7200 RPM SATA 2.5″ HDD
256 GB SATA SSD
Discrete NVIDIA® Quadro M620 Graphics (2 GB, 4 DisplayPort)
Intel® 8265 802.11 ac (2×2) with Bluetooth® 4.2
USB Business Slim Wired Keyboard
HP Optical USB Mouse
Three-year (3-3-3) limited warranty
$1567.30
I was going to,post this as well.
Next month I’ll get a 21.5″ iMac for that money because it includes a fantastic monitor and runs macOS.
But it has to run MacOS and not be a hackintosh. 🙂
HP Z2 Mini
[video src="http://store.hp.com/wcsstore/hpusstore/Treatment/z2mini_Meticulous-design_video.mp4" /]
If Apple wanted to they could license H-P to sell this with mac OS.
The H-P Z2 Mini G3 Performance Workstation (X8U89AV)
Intel® Xeon® E3-1205 v6 Processor (3 GHz, 8 MB cache, 4 cores) + Intel® HD Graphics P630
16 GB (2×8 GB) DDR4-2400 Unbuffered Memory
1 TB 7200 RPM SATA 2.5″ HDD
256 GB SATA SSD
Discrete NVIDIA® Quadro M620 Graphics (2 GB, 4 DisplayPort)
Intel® 8265 802.11 ac (2×2) with Bluetooth® 4.2
USB Business Slim Wired Keyboard
HP Optical USB Mouse
Three-year (3-3-3) limited warranty
$1567.30 and will kick the ass of any iMac sold. Use any Display Port monitor you choose.
I love my 2012 Mac Mini UPGRADED to 16 GB and a 2 TB SSD. Was disappointed Apple did not mention the Mac Mini.
As others have speculated, my guess is the very low end Mac Pro will replace the Mac Mini in the headless computer market. However cost will start somewhere around $2K.
In a few more years my next Apple computer will probably be a low end Mac Pro.
From a truck driver 😀 🚛
Apple should make the Intel Nuc the new Mac Mini.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/boards-kits/nuc/kits/nuc7i7bnh.html
Yes … easy to imagine new form factors, or better, evolved form-factors. I’t easy to see the mini at once shrinking to the size and appearance of an Airport Express box, along with a super-sized mini pro, taking on a form factor close to the AirPort Extreme tower.
The irony with that analogy, of course, is that the airport lineup has been neglected for too long as well.
Apple will never release a Mac (Mini or otherwise) made by someone else again. Never say never but it’s a good bet hell would have to get a good bit more chilly for this to happen.
Nothing wrong with having a reasonably priced MM to introduce new users to Apple. Some people don’t want to pay 5 grand or even 1 grand. It is a wise marketing strategy to suck them in with a cheap Mac, then they might graduate to an obscenely overpriced one in the future. Who knows?
Overall I agree, but …
Overpriced, I don’t agree to. Today if you want a Pro laptop workstation, you can pick Dell’s top of the line and pay generally somewhere between $3000 & $8000.
I don’t see Apple’s 15″ MBPro as expensive given what I get out of it.
The reasonably priced device for introducing new users to Apple is an iPad or iPhone, full stop. Signed Tim Cook.
The college I go to still uses Mac Minis in their library and computer labs. I don’t see them going anywhere anytime soon. I like how their small size makes them convenient for any space.
Do you live in Hazleton?
Never heard of it.
I use a 2012 MAC Mini that I have installed a 1 TB SSD for a Roon Music server! Works great and is smokin’ fast with the 16GB of RAM and i7 2.6 GHz chip. I also put a 1TB HDD for back up all inside the mini….Apple needs to support this section of business because it brings folks to Apple who normally would go elsewhere.
I got fed up of waiting. The current Mac Mini’s are too expensive for what they are. I’m going to upgrade my 2010 with a 8GBs RAM, and a 1TB HDD or hybrid.
Scratch that seven year itch …
At this point I conclude Apple had pretty much forgotten about all Macs except iMac. Too much to ponder all at once, I reckon.
I think we need to understand what the Mac Mini is mostly used for. Cant say I have any idea it just doesnt feature in my needs, iMac for design work and iPad for relaxation or research. But I assume its used by most for consumer low level tasks based around internet access and emails, and home office like tasks though I accept it ventures into other areas (or did when it was more up to date).
So I was wondering if the new Mac Pro covers the top end (down to the prosumer probably if they are sensible) covering such a form factor a brand new ‘Mac Mini’ would be placed how? Seeing the considerable improvement in iOS capabilities about to hit us and the enormous power of the A11 would the choice be at Apple that as it increasingly has its purpose eaten into by iOS devices it will be allowed to fade out or will they replace it with an iOS powered alternative taking and enhancing the promise of the A series chips. Or will iOS devices that attain desktop functionality themselves via add-ons, docks or screen compatibility ala Samsung DeX be the true replacement. Would be interested to hear what existing and potential users would think about such options and their viability to replace the mini’s functionality.