Apple Introduces New MacBook Air and Mac Mini

[pastrychef]

My Two cents ...

The original x86 Mac Mini used to start at $499.00 for the basic version and was a cheap way for new users to get on the OSX band wagon and was pivotal in increasing the Mac/OSX user base vs Windows.

This new Mac Mini starts at $799 for the i3 version with IGPU only graphics 8GB of RAM and soldered on 128GB SSD
I cant think of any reason why anyone would want to pay so much for such an underpowered machine.

Just about anyone on these forums could build a band new equivalent machine running Mojave 10.14.1 for under $400

Which means that your paying $399 for a Space Grey case made from recycled aluminium.
This is a total rip off with built in obsolescence, only Apple Fan Boys/Girls would buy such a thing.

Apple have truly lost their way ...

Cheers
Jay

I disagree. I feel the old Mac Minis had far more obsolescence built in. Sure you could upgrade the RAM and storage... But what else? They came with extremely anemic CPUs and no real option for GPU. Storage was upgradeable but limited to SATA3 drives. RAM was upgradeable but only to 16GB.

• anemic CPU
  
• RAM. User upgradeable to 16GB
• Storage upgradeable to via SATA or Thunderbolt 2.
• Thunderbolt 2 unrealistic for eGPU use.

The new Mac Minis have far more powerful CPUs. User upgradeable RAM to 64GB. Honestly, the only thing that truly can't be upgraded is the CPU.

• Far more powerful CPUs
• RAM. User upgradeable to 64GB
• Internal storage no upgradeable but Thunderbolt 3 allows for NVMe level speeds. If you want SATA3, that's possible via Thunderbolt too.
  
• Thunderbolt 3 allow for realistic eGPU
• 10GBase-T

Is it possible to build a hack for less money? Of course, but there are many who don't want to be bothered with hackintoshing. There's something to be said for the plug-and-go proposition. When compared with what HP charges for a similar system, there's practically no difference so it's not really outrageous.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

All good points everyone

It's also just occurred to me that good though the new Mac Mini is when the SSD dies (or in reality stops writing and only reads) the owner will either have to return to Apple to get a new SSD soldered on, or buy one of the new-to-market add-on SSD boxes, shaped the exact same size as the Mini box but either sitting on or under it connected by a TB3 cable. We can then boot properly again. Okay, I made that bit up but surely they'll have to appear or the machine is bin-able - or uncool to look at with spaghetti wires and ugly cases sitting on the desktop!

 

[WonkeyDonkey]

Just been doing a quick price up for some similar components (Based on ITX size) :

*UK pricing inclusive of VAT

Core i7 8700 - 6 Cores 3.2Ghz (Non-K CPU) : 379.99
32Gb 2666 DDR4 Ram : 239.48
H370M ITX/ac Mobo : 105.98
Samsung 970 Pro SSD 512Gb : 179.99

Total : £905.44 ($1174)

Bump the SSD to 1Tb at 379.99 brings the total to £1094.44 ($1419.39)

Chassis, PSU and CPU cooler not included, although a hackintosh builder would likely have some if not all of those already.

Mobo has USB3.1 Gen 2 but no TB.
Has 2 x GBe bit no 10GBe

Mac Mini with the same CPU and 32Gb Ram (512Gb SSD) = £1969.00 ($2553)

As above but with 1Tb SSD = £2329 ($3021)

 

[izo1]

All good points everyone

It's also just occurred to me that good though the new Mac Mini is when the SSD dies (or in reality stops writing and only reads) the owner will either have to return to Apple to get a new SSD soldered on, or buy one of the new-to-market add-on SSD boxes, shaped the exact same size as the Mini box but either sitting on or under it connected by a TB3 cable. We can then boot properly again. Okay, I made that bit up but surely they'll have to appear or the machine is bin-able - or uncool to look at with spaghetti wires and ugly cases sitting on the desktop!

These modern NVME SSDs have like 5-10 years of lifespans and most likely Apple is using binned NAND chips.

Also you can boot from TB3 or USB3.0 or even USB sticks.

Honestly once you go NVME, you don't want to go back to SATA.

 

[pastrychef]

Just been doing a quick price up for some similar components (Based on ITX size) :

*UK pricing inclusive of VAT

Core i7 8700 - 6 Cores 3.2Ghz (Non-K CPU) : 379.99
32Gb 2666 DDR4 Ram : 239.48
H370M ITX/ac Mobo : 105.98
Samsung 970 Pro SSD 512Gb : 179.99

Total : £905.44 ($1174)

Bump the SSD to 1Tb at 379.99 brings the total to £1094.44 ($1419.39)

Chassis, PSU and CPU cooler not included, although a hackintosh builder would likely have some if not all of those already.

Mobo has USB3.1 Gen 2 but no TB.
Has 2 x GBe bit no 10GBe

Mac Mini with the same CPU and 32Gb Ram (512Gb SSD) = £1969.00 ($2553)

As above but with 1Tb SSD = £2329 ($3021)

No one competent with a screw driver would upgrade RAM from Apple.

 

[WonkeyDonkey]

No one competent with a screw driver would upgrade RAM from Apple.

Yep for sure. I just thought I would throw some comparison pricing out there

 

[AnAppleADay]

Hey AnAppleADay, how do you use your 4 displays? My current setup is 3 (one Apple Cinema 27 + two 24" Dells in vertical format on the left and right sides), and I tried four, but I found I didn't use 4th display at all. Maybe if place it below the cinema, would be a place there, but I don't really need it. Just curious, maybe you found a usage for it. I do video editing, coding, it's super comfortable. Even regular usage is comfortable as well.

I started with 3x1, but it didn't really work well for me because I found I could only really look at two screens at once.

Then I switched to a 2x2 configuration (effectively 8K resolution). All displays are identical 27” 4k. They are each angled slightly toward the center.

For the 2x2 config I bought two different monitor stands from Planar because they're the BEST! But their big stand is too tall (I just use the arms. Beware the big stand's vesa mounts block ports on my LG monitors) and their small stand is too small (good height and good vesa mounts, but the arms are too short for 27" displays). I used parts from each 2x2 stand to build one perfect 2x2 stand.

I'll never go back. I had to buy a taller chair to get myself in the middle of the 2x2 grid. Basically I bought a tempurpedic stool chair but I left off the ring foot rest. I'm 6'4" tall so I needed a taller chair for more reasons than my screens.

Generally I display Microsoft Remote Desktop across all four screens, and then I swipe left/right with four finger gestures to vary whether I have Windows or macOS on each screen. I really love being able to break up my workspaces with screen borders and being able to effectively use macOS spaces for Microsoft Windows in this manner.

I vary what's on my macOS screens but usually I dedicate one screen for messages and one screen for web. At any given time I generally am running Remote Desktop, mail.app, iMessage, Safari, terminal, Xcode, FCPX, Logic Pro X, Pages, Kindle, Word, Charles Proxy, VLC, News, Home.app, and Finder.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

These modern NVME SSDs have like 5-10 years of lifespans and most likely Apple is using binned NAND chips.

Also you can boot from TB3 or USB3.0 or even USB sticks.

Honestly once you go NVME, you don't want to go back to SATA.

I understand that, but at least with an M.2 socket you can swap or change the SSD when needed ...

 

[macs_forever]

View attachment 361589​

Today at their Fall Event in New York Apple updated the MacBook Air and Mac Mini. Both Macs received 8th generation Intel CPUs. The MacBook Air got a complete redesign with a retina display, better speakers, new keyboard and Thunderbolt 3 ports. It also comes in 3 different colors.

View attachment 361591​

The Mac Mini, which had not been updated since 2014 was updated with space grey exterior, four Thunderbolt 3 ports, up to 64GB RAM (on removeable SO-DIMMs), up to 2TB solid state drive, HDMI port, and optional 10 Gigabit ethernet.

View attachment 361588​

What do you think of the new Macs?

Related:
Apple Special Event Scheduled for October 30th

I want to know where the mini air is! You take a macbook motherboard and put it in a case with HDMI and 2nd USB-C port. Power it off the USC-C power adapter and you have a mini that fits in your pocket. NOW THAT WOULD BE COOL!

 

[macs_forever]

I understand that, but at least with an M.2 socket you can swap or change the SSD when needed ...

You can get NVMe to USB-C and Thunderbolt now. You can also put the NVMe on a pcie card in a box along with your video card.