Bloomberg says a Mac Mini "Pro" is coming this Fall

[trs96]

According to Mark Gurman and Debby Wu, Apple will target professional users with the 2018 Mac mini refresh. Like with Apple’s other pro Macs, higher specs mean higher prices:

Apple is planning the first upgrade to the Mac mini in about four years. It’s a Mac desktop that doesn’t include a screen, keyboard, or mouse in the box and costs $500. The computer has been favored because of its lower price, and it’s popular with app developers, those running home media centers, and server farm managers. For this year’s model, Apple is focusing primarily on these pro users, and new storage and processor options are likely to make it more expensive than previous versions, the people said. The company is also planning a new version of the Mac Pro, the company’s most high-end Mac, for next year, Apple has said.
Bloomberg 8.20.18

Take this with a few pounds of salt, in my opinion. Why make an iMac Pro, new Mac Pro and then try and sell this to pro users too ? I don't know who will be willing to pay $1,999 for a souped up Mac mini Pro. It may be that the 2014 Mini has been such a poor seller that they want to increase the profit margins by making it more like a desktop Mac than something with it's molasses in January slow current laptop like specs. Will be interesting to see if this comes out this October. I think they will present a base model in the 799 dollar range that has 8GB of ram, a desktop i5 and a 250GB NVMe drive too. Thunderbolt 3 onboard and built in wireless AC. Upgrades to a 1-2 TB NVMe and an i7, possibly even 32GB of ram. Those will come at a steep pricetag.

I just hope they don't change it's form factor to a smaller version of the 2013 trashcan MP. How painful would that be ?

 

[tabarus]

I love macOS but Apple branded hardware becomes more and more unattactive for me.

 

[trs96]

Here's a good article about why Apple should continue to sell a "low cost" Mac Mini. All of the points are valid.

https://9to5mac.com/2018/08/21/mac-mini-opinion/

 

[Gigamaxx]

According to Mark Gurman and Debby Wu, Apple will target professional users with the 2018 Mac mini refresh. Like with Apple’s other pro Macs, higher specs mean higher prices:

Apple is planning the first upgrade to the Mac mini in about four years. It’s a Mac desktop that doesn’t include a screen, keyboard, or mouse in the box and costs $500. The computer has been favored because of its lower price, and it’s popular with app developers, those running home media centers, and server farm managers. For this year’s model, Apple is focusing primarily on these pro users, and new storage and processor options are likely to make it more expensive than previous versions, the people said. The company is also planning a new version of the Mac Pro, the company’s most high-end Mac, for next year, Apple has said.
Bloomberg 8.20.18

Take this with a few pounds of salt, in my opinion. Why make an iMac Pro, new Mac Pro and then try and sell this to pro users too ? I don't know who will be willing to pay $1,999 for a souped up Mac mini. It may be that the 2014 Mini has been such a poor seller that they want to increase the profit margins by making it more like a desktop Mac than something with it's molasses in January slow current laptop like specs. Will be interesting to see if this comes out this October. I think they will present a base model in the 799 dollar range that has 8GB of ram, a desktop i5 and a 250GB NVMe drive too. Thunderbolt 3 onboard and built in wireless AC. Upgrades to a 1-2 TB NVMe and an i7, possibly even 32GB of ram. Those will come at a steep pricetag.

I just hope they don't change it's form factor to a smaller version of the 2013 trashcan MP. How painful would that be ?

There is talk it will be the new Whiskey lake chips which have integrated Intel WiFi. If they use it it may open the door to other Intel wifi options. That’s if thy don’t request custom chips and use Broadcom WiFi. a/b/g/n!!!!!!

Or maybe some of the Vega GPU intergrated chips. We do have Vega IDs in the 1000 controller kext that resemble the current Vega IGPUs. Last count was 25 IDs in Mojave beta.