“Over the past year I’ve written frequently about my love of the Mac mini. There has been a Mac mini running as a server in my house basically since it was first introduced in 2005. The specific uses for that server have grown and changed over the years, and I’ve bought new models and upgraded them when necessary,” Jason Snell writes for Six Colors. “But I need to admit something: for nine months, no Mac mini has been running in my house. Instead, I’ve been running a different device as my server.”
“The Mac mini was last updated 1245 days ago, in October of 2014. (And that was a lackluster upgrade),” Snell writes. “Taking a cue from my dreams about what a modern Mac mini might be like, I bought a tiny Intel NUC PC and installed macOS on it.”
“This was intended to be a temporary experiment. And, in fact, I hope to replace the NUC with a real Mac mini just as soon as Apple finally releases that all-new Mac mini that’s hopefully percolating inside Cupertino,” Snell writes. “But in the meantime, I have been running macOS on non-Apple hardware, and it’s been an instructive experience.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Wherever Apple creates a vacuum, non-Apple options will rush in.
SEE ALSO:
Your Hackintosh can now run macOS 10.13 High Sierra with UniBeast 8.0 – October 25, 2017
5 reasons to build a Hackintosh (and how to get started) – October 6, 2017
Updating macOS High Sierra on a Hackintosh, the painless way – August 30, 2017
My ‘Hackintosh mini’ parts list – June 22, 2017
Hackintosh: Should you build one? – June 21, 2017
Modern ‘Hackintoshes’ show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower – May 1, 2017
Apple may be converting Mac Pro from a dead-end vanity project to a serious powerhouse – April 28, 2017
Apple updates ‘Mac Pro’ trademark to cover augmented reality displays, smartglasses and more – April 26, 2017
It’s not that hard for Apple to design a new Mac Pro – April 20, 2017
Why is Apple’s next-gen Mac Pro taking so long? – April 18, 2017
Apple’s Mac Pro rethink is a good idea, but will it be good enough? – April 14, 2017
Laggard, trailing Apple needs to catch up HP’s workstation designs – April 7, 2017
Why Apple’s promise of a new ‘modular’ Mac Pro matters so much – April 6, 2017
Apple’s cheese grater Mac Pro was flexible, expandable, and powerful – imagine that – April 6, 2017
More about Apple’s Mac Pro – April 6, 2017
Apple’s desperate Mac Pro damage control message hints at a confused, divided company – April 6, 2017
Who has taken over at Apple? – April 5, 2017
Apple’s embarrassing Mac Pro mea culpa – April 4, 2017
Who’s going to buy a Mac Pro now? – April 4, 2017
Mac Pro: Why did it take Apple so long to wake up? – April 4, 2017
Apple sorry for what happened with the Mac Pro over the last 3+ years – namely, nothing – April 4, 2017
Apple to unveil ‘iMac Pro’ later this year; rethought, modular Mac Pro and Apple pro displays in the pipeline – April 4, 2017
Yes, Apple should have updated the Mac mini several times over the past four years. No one is arguing differently. But non-Apple competitors are going to rush in regardless. It happened with the iPod and iPhone and iPad and iMac and Mac mini and MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro. The entire UltraBook design promoted by Intel was predicated on the new thin and light design of the MBA. What ultimately matters is whether or not Apple is marginalized in these markets. Apple has to perform at least well enough to hold onto a reasonable chunk of the market segment. In the case of the Mac mini (and Mac Pro!), Apple has clearly fallen short…way short. Wake up, Apple!
Switching to another subject, why is Jason Snell so eager to document in print that he is violating the MacOS EULA? Non-Apple hardware is verboten, Jason. You just created a rock-solid case for Apple, and journalism is not an adequate defense.
Apple couldn’t care less.
They have the talent. They have the money. So it must be lack of caring.
The talent these days very questionable. But in the money department yep, they have that.
There is no lack of talent assigned to Mac hardware development. There is a recent college graduate assigned FULL TIME developing a new Mac Mini and modular Mac Pro for the Mac faithful.
Jeez. Quit your bitching.
Apple is currently under the corporate philosophy where they seek to maximize profits while minimizing risks. The Mac mini development is a minimally profitable division so it does not get so much love. I have a mini running my entertainment center, but have been stuck with the 2012 version due to more recent “upgrades”. Steve would not have let the mini languish like this.
“There are plenty of disadvantages even when you’re up and running. Software updates are opportunities for disaster, so you have to apply them sporadically and carefully. Some hardware isn’t supported properly; I had to install a copy of Windows 10 on the PC so I could write down a string of numbers that would allow my macOS installation to use the Samsung SSD I bought, the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi don’t work, and you can’t put it to sleep.”
Well, there’s that, and it should be noted that the unit gets extremely loud when working hard.
Given the time involved, as well as these issues, it doesn’t seem as if the speed difference is worth it for most situations. As a server, my Mac mini does the job, even when transcoding HEVC with Plex. If it didn’t, it seems like the NUC is better suited for Linux anyway.
That said, I’m sure we’d all like to see the Mac mini updated.
Apple…leading from behind on the MacBook Air and Mac mini….
Tim Cooks Apple strikes again…
Where’s the EULA police? A NUC based Hackintosh?
Maybe they handed the MacMini department to all those ex-Microsoft workers they hired & they just can’t figure it out.
Wake up out of the iOS stupor please, Apple.
Still ANOTHER good reason to get rid of Tim Cook!
This is about unforgivable. Apple not keeping the mini, Mac Pro, etc., updated properly. And seems to me that it would be very easy for Apple to address. What’s so hard about keeping the same 2012 Mac mini design that we all love so much up to date with processor and SSD? Easy access to RAM and SSD for us is what I’m wanting. None of this soldered RAM and SSD mess Apple.
Apple could just stick a NUC in the Apple store (with the appropriate OSX drivers of course) and people would be basically happy.
Maybe when Apple becomes a big company they can learn to walk and chew gum at the same time.