Apple Introduces New MacBook Air and Mac Mini

[UtterDisbelief]

Thoughts/downside of getting the base model & these two, then move the user home folder to it?

I've done the Hackintosh route for years but it's getting to be more of a struggle and for $799, it's getting hard to justify a new hack build.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147691&ignorebbr=1
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6PF6RJ8939&ignorebbr=1

I know what you mean. If we actually priced-up what we spent on components - honestly - most builds here aren't cheap. Yes, you can Hackintosh a cheap, ex-corporate box, but most of us enjoy the extra power and upgradability of a PC.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

Sorry to post so much ... But have you all noticed where the Mac Mini's LED has been moved to? Small detail, I know .

 

[shaunvis]

Yeah, I was just studying the specs on the apple site. Is that 2x 4K on Thunderbolt and another 1x on HDMI, or 5K on one plus a 4K? Remarkable for UHD630, but clearly capable.

Yep. which is perfect for my current 3 monitor 1920x1200 setup. I use it more for work so I'm fine with that, but nice to be able to upgrade to 3 4k screens without adding an eGPU. This new Mini really has me about to order it.


Support for the following combination of maximum concurrent display setups:

• Up to three displays:
• Two displays with 4096-by-2304 resolution at 60Hz connected via Thunderbolt 3 plus one display with 4096-by-2160 resolution at 60Hz connected via HDMI 2.0
• or
• Up to two displays:
• One display with 5120-by-2880 resolution at 60Hz connected via Thunderbolt 3 plus one display with 4096-by-2160 resolution at 60Hz connected via HDMI 2.0

 

[pastrychef]

If you really need 5K display you can put Low Profile GT1030 in that case, but it would be not passive anymore.

And if you need powerful GPU I don't getting the point of building small PC with iGPU and connecting it to separate eGPU box.

Using a GT 1030 would lock me in to High Sierra. It would also require a MST connection to 5K. Also, with that build, you have to choose video card or 10GBase-T.

Thunderbolt 3 should provide USB-C SST connection to 5K.

I don't necessarily want a small PC. Ideally, a Mac with a PCI-e slot for a video card would rock but that doesn't exist so a Mac Mini with eGPU is the next best thing. It has real desktop class CPUs. dGPU is possible. 5K is possible. 10GBase-T is possible.

 

[trs96]

I think this is the way Apple plans to win back hackintosh users from what I'm reading here. They are even taking trade ins of your older laptops, tablets, phones and watches to offset the cost of a new Mac Mini. It's a good idea, build something people actually want to buy and make it so they could reasonably afford it. The computers they take include HP + Lenovo windows laptops, not just Macs. You may be able to do better selling it yourself but this is telling me they do still care about selling Macs. The original Mac Mini from 2005, which I bought, was also created to get Windows users to try a Mac instead.

 

[chippo911]

Does the new macbook pro new graphic option (radeon pro vega) mean Radeon M Vega may be supported in the future? That would make Hades Canyon a much better/cheaper mac mini alternative.

 

[pastrychef]

Does the new macbook pro new graphic option (radeon pro vega) mean Radeon M Vega may be supported in the future? That would make Hades Canyon a much better/cheaper mac mini alternative.

I think the problem with dGPUs in laptops is that Apple uses a proprietary switching technique to switch between IGPU and dGPU. So, even if there is support for M Vega, it probably won't be a very good experience. Using dGPU all the time would seriously degrade battery life. Using IGPU all the time would render the dGPU useless.

 

[izo1]

New Vega 56 eGPU

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HMQT2VC/A/blackmagic-egpu-pro

 

[dreidel]

I'm really, really liking this new Mac mini, after the joke that was the 2014 model. It's as revolutionary as when the 2009 model came out - I was wanting to upgrade from my Windtunnel Power Mac G4, and was considering getting the previous model on discount - but when I saw the specs on the new one I knew I needed to pull the trigger. That Mini was so good I bought a second one to use as my media centre (which still runs to this day thanks to the Kingston SSD I installed last winter).

Might eventually get one, but right now my hackintosh build closely resembles the specs, albeit with more drives, faster graphics and a case with room to manoeuvre

 

[pastrychef]

Yeah. I really like the Mac Mini too. It seems like Apple took all the criticism from users and gave everyone what they asked for in this Mac Mini.