Roger Fingas
Faint drums are already beating in the distance for Apple's September iPhone event, but this week rumors also emerged about a long-awaited Mac mini refresh, along with plans for lower-cost MacBooks.
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4 Comments
I hope the iMac mini will become the new iMac. An elegantly designed box together with an Apple branded monitor (or a third party one) is something I wanted for a long time, as long as it has enough power. A larger box could host a desktop ready GPU. No more chin, just a subtle box and a great monitor with a thin bezel.
(as a reference, check out this, which obviously looks quite horrible compared to how Apple would design it: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.engadget.com/amp/2018/01/07/intel-nuc-amd-rx-vega/)
Exactly - I was going to,post something similar about the NUC systems. Disregarding the kludgy design language of the NUC, if Apple doesn’t come up with a new design for the Mac mini (and makes it expandable, upgradeable and modular, again), the mini will continue to be laughable. At this rate, you are better served with a NUC as a Hackintosh (and they work really well, as such).
Hope springs eternal...
The i7 2011 mini is the last one I feel was a great upgrade in terms of design
- dual matched industry standard drive bays for raid flexibility (subsequently mismatched)
- discrete GPU (subsequently unavailable)
- arduous yet possible retail upgrades (subsequently onboard only)
- a good value under $1k base (subsequently increased i7 cost)
Quad core, VRAM, USB 3 and a Kensington lock slot would be my first suggestions...
Let's hope Apple stops the 'our way or the highway' on flexibility, although given the onboard trend since the SJ days I'm sadly not holding my breath...
I still ask if the onboard design ties in somehow to future AI interests and user data veracity...?