“The Apple rumor mill never sleeps,” Dan Moren writes for Macworld. “This week, it was Mark Gurman and Debby Wu at Bloomberg who spurred discussion with their somewhat vague report about a new MacBook and a ‘professional’ update to the Mac mini.”
“I’ve long been a fan of the diminutive desktop Mac, and I’ve owned two or three of them over the years, most recently a 2012 model that currently acts as my file and media server,” Moren writes. “It’s a great little computer, especially after I spent the time to upgrade it a little bit, but it’s never really struck me as a ‘“pro’ machine, which got me thinking: What exactly might a pro Mac mini entail?”
“When Apple says ‘pro’ it usually means ‘creative professional,'” Moren writes. “Tasks like Photoshop, 3D modeling, visual effects, film editing, music production, and so on. But a Mac mini, with its relatively limited graphics power, doesn’t seem well-suited to almost any of those tasks—certainly not as much as an iMac Pro or the company’s forthcoming Mac Pro. So how exactly does the company position what used to be its small low-cost machine against those high-performance options?”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As usual, it depends on the target market at which Apple’s aiming. It’s a mystery so far – this “professional” Mac mini – and that’s actually exciting! We can’t wait to see it!
We’re hoping it means high-end BTO configs, a plethora of ports, and a CPU and RAM that’s not soldered to the logic board.
SEE ALSO:
What Apple’s next-gen Mac mini needs to return to its glory days – August 21, 2018
Apple preps new low-cost MacBook Air with Retina display and pro-focused Mac mini – August 20, 2018
Apple’s preparing a slew of new products for this fall – July 18, 2018
If it is to be truly a pro machine, then expandability is a must. Perhaps a stackable set of boxes? A basic CPU/memory/drive box with a port for mating to a graphics box (eGPU) or a secondary drive box? Of course thunderbolt could handle all the above, so maybe a stack with custom TB cable links?
Mini is the opposite of Pro.
If you want professional features, flexibility, performance, and durability, it’s going to have to be bigger than the shit Ive designs these days.
The castrated kiddy Ives needs to be led from the Mac Pro Dept. by the hand and back to the miniaturization designs the company likes in other dept’s while a real man with pro guts designs the new Mac Pro with some major cajones.
Not necessarily. There is more than one kind of pro. The MacMini makes fantastic enterprise departmental servers, virtual OS servers, with eGPU capabilities it can be a great streaming server, render farms, and so on.
Would love the ability to upgrade CPU, SSD, and RAM.
No. It’s not enough. NEED expandability. ugh…
We’ve waited YEARS for a better machine than the trash can.
You know the “ALL NEW MAC PRO (from 2013)” that they still sell.
New Mac Pro in 2018! errrrrrr….2019!
the real sad thing is that there are hardly any articles about ‘real’ products, instead there are plethora ‘mac speculation’ posts. How many rumour based on rumour Mac Mini posts have you seen?
I wish there were REAL new Minis, Mac Pros, Macbooks, ARM Macs, iMacs to talk about. With 100000+ staff in Apple There should be so many real killer products that bloggers and reviewers don’t have to think up stuff to say about IMAGINARY HOPE FOR stuff.
Maybe they are all too busy to make stuff playing with those GIANT GLASS CAFETERIA DOORS Tim Cook and Ive are so proud of…..
The only reason to solder RAM in is greed. Making it impossible for people to buy much cheaper components (usually of the same type) elsewhere. Apple is deliberately making this “trick” or option unavailable at the expense of Mac users.
I might buy a Mac Mini as a secondary side machine (depending on it’s design, ports, RAM options, etc.) but that will by no means take care of my more intense professional needs. (Even my 2007 Mac Pro as a side machine is still no slouch back when Apple made pro machines that really lasted BECAUSE of user upgradeable options.)
“The only reason to solder RAM in is greed. Making it impossible for people to buy much cheaper components (usually of the same type) elsewhere. Apple is deliberately making this “trick” or option unavailable at the expense of Mac users.”
I don’t think this blindingly obvious point is made anywhere near often enough. Of course, many people don’t need (or can’t be bothered) to add their own more reasonably priced RAM (and SSD), but it’s quite possible Apple’d make a lot more sales if they eased off on the extortion. They certainly would amongst my friends.
Captain Obvious could spend all year at Apple reminding them of the things (he shouldn’t have to) that they seem to have forgotten.
Today’s pro’s, the ones Apple’s inviting to their campus to hear about what they want will line up (even if they sell enough for there to BE a line). Because, it will be EXACTLY what they want. If you haven’t been invited to Apple’s campus to talk to them about what you want in a pro machine, then it will most likely NOT be what you want.
My guess is that there will be a Mac mini and a Mac Mini Pro.
Standard model will be integrated Intel Graphics and i5/7 CPUs. Same old storage options. Closed case for memory upgrades.
Pro Model will look the same, but have i9 or Xeon CPUs and a dedicated GPU. Fusion drive will be standard. Memory slots access so you can bump up your memory without buying Apple’s overpriced memory.
Not expecting it, but an updated keyboard with built in Touch ID, Gizmo Bar & illumination like the laptops could be a nice option. The fancy keyboard will be a iMac Pro and Mac Mini Pro exclusive for a season.
OMG. The mini is the cheapest entry level headless Mac. All this talk of ‘Pro’ is silly and stupid.
Apple, don’t let your greed destroy this.
The only thing “pro” about the Mac Mini Pro will be the price tag. Apple is still selling older Mac Minis at exorbitant prices. Certainly, older hardware shouldn’t keep the same value for years.
Anyway, if the new Mac Mini supports 4K at 60fps, I’ll definitely consider buying one.
My first Mac was a Mini, so I still have affection for the little box.
But calling a Mini a Pro-Anything is like calling a tech support service a Genius Bar.
Less in language is more, Apple. Let the owners decide if they’ve got a truly professional device.
Apples definition of Pro has been out to lunch for quite a while now…..
Hope the new line up proves otherwise.
The most important factor in calling it “Pro” will be the darker gray case. Apple will spend half an hour talking about the case, and it will have no new expandability.
Please Apple prove me wrong.
“When the Mac Mini Goes BACK to Pro, Will the Pros Come BACK to the Mac Mini?”
There….fixed it.
How about a feature where stacking them on top of each other or adjacent in a rack with a braid in between with a simple software toggle that allows them to elegantly function as a grid computing cloud?
so glad I bailed on Apple
who cares what “pro” machine they make?
I’m rocking an old fashioned build it yourself with two big monitors that I picked, a Synology NAS, and a Dell laptop
as soon as I find a replacement for my iPhone I’m outta here
The question is also: how much thicker would it need to get to be able to properly cool the CPUs from the 15″ MBP?
And how much would it actually cost then?