The Future Mac mini

[admin]

The Future Mac mini
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Posted by: Staff

The new Mac mini hasn't been out for long, but our good friends over at MacMiniVault are already speculating about the future design and features of the Mac mini. That means everything from the size of the machine to its ports, memory, and storage options. You'll also find a couple of slick-looking concept pictures, so head on over and check it all out. We would also like to see some feedback about the subject in our own forums. Let us know what your future Mac mini looks like.



http://www.123macmini.com/news/story/1947.html

[Smithcraft]

It seems that many people think that less is more. The smaller the mini gets the more of a consumer only device it becomes.

Want good graphics? You need to at least have a laptop GPU.

Want a good CPU? You need to have space for ventilation for cooling.

Want an optical drive(ok, I know it's just me)? You need space for an optical drive.

Personally, I'd be more interested in what is on the motherboard. I'd like to have numerous SATA ports. Say, five.

I'd love to see FW1600 or FW3200.

I'm not a huge USB fan, but USB 3 is pretty nice.

So I'm still desiring a Mac mini Pro.

SC
_________________
Grumpy old man of computing.

[Desktop] G4 mini - 1.5Ghz 1GB 80GB HDD - Newer miniStack v2 500GB - 10.5.8

[Media System] Intel i5 mini - 2.33Ghz 8GB 500GB HDD - 4 x Hitachi 2TB HDD in a qBOX-SF - 10.7.5 (Thanks Phil!)

Make sure it has pins!

[epic_ed]

I don't want to see the Mac mini get smaller if it means giving up more horsepower. I would also like to see it return to dedicated or switchable graphics. That being said, the next generation of Intel chips sound like they are going to feature way better graphics. Plus, we also don't have to worry about slower 2.5" hard drives now with SSDs. So I guess they could actually go a little smaller without giving up much.

[scooper]

I think Apple needs to walk away from the ideology of thinner and lighter with every release. The iMac and Mac mini are desktops. They really don't need to be thinner and lighter. They need to be more powerful, expandable, and user accessible. I would like to see them continue on the path of being more energy efficient though. I guess that makes my "future" Mac mini look about the same, but with easier access to the hard drive. Discrete graphics and another Thunderbolt port would be nice too.

[marv777]

Should have a SSD and be the same size with 8 gigs of memory to start with and not that small and cramped.

[Texark]

I surely don't want to see less USB ports going forward.

I would like to see the Mac mini move back to dedicated graphics.

They could also remove the HDMI or FW800 port in favor of another Thunderbolt port.

The Mac mini should also come with more standard RAM. I really don't think 4GB cuts it anymore.

I also think the should offer dual drives across the line. Not just in the server model.

[jonschwenn]

While it's true that the mini doesn't HAVE to get smaller, it has benefited historically from a reduction in size. Including the power supply into the unit certainly helped. The 2010+ models are easier to upgrade the memory on, and in general easier to work on.

When we wrote the article it was a mix of what direction we see it going towards, but also some of the things we'd like to see.

On the flip side, which is something we were not too vocal on, was that the counter point would be a new Mac Pro. 19" tall for rack mounting accessory brackets. Maybe 4-5U tall when laid on its side. LOM card option, hardware RAID, dual NICs, thunderbolt, and maybe even an option for redundant power supplies.

The Mac mini is a great platform, but the main way build in redundancies for what we use the machines for is to simply have multiple machines. A new Mac Pro with an affordable entry level point would satisfy anyone that wanted more expandability than a Mac mini could offer.

[OGN]

[castaway]

This doesn't just apply to the Mac mini, but I would like to see Apple do a better job of keeping up with processor releases from Intel. We shouldn't have to wait a year of two for Ivy Bridge or Haswell. They should be upgraded in a more timely fashion. I think the current Mac mini is perfect size and connectivity wise. There are no real changes needed that way.