New Apple Silicon Macs for 2021: Redesigned iMac and a Mac Pro mini

[vlad1966]

I'm done with Hackintoshing, ever since Apple announced the M1 Macs. It's a platform that's slowly dying. It may not be apparent today, but it's moving in that direction, and It's a direction I don't intend to move in. Whether that's 6 months or 2 years from now. I currently have a custom built PC dual-booting between Linux Mint & Win10.

Before I got into Hackintoshing, I would always upgrade to the latest Power Mac & Mac Pro whenever they came out with new models, but those days are long gone. I can't justify the Apple Tax when I can build my own PC that's mostly just as fast & more upgradable & affordable than what Apple sells, not to mention the lousy availability of games for the Mac platform. I've always been a hardware-1st type of guy, and OS/software second.

I actually like the new M1 SOC/CPU (ARM in general) but in order for me to consider an M1 Mac in the future, Apple would need to provide the following:

- $ No higher than $1500 (approx.) with 16GB RAM 500GB NVME
- Small footprint
- Minimum 1 16x PCIe X16 4.0 slot
- 2 minimum RAM slots upgradable
- 2 M.2 slots

Don't think I'm asking for too much, am I?

 

[Bustycat]

I'm done with Hackintoshing, ever since Apple announced the M1 Macs. It's a platform that's slowly dying. It may not be apparent today, but it's moving in that direction, and It's a direction I don't intend to move in. Whether that's 6 months or 2 years from now. I currently have a custom built PC dual-booting between Linux Mint & Win10.

Before I got into Hackintoshing, I would always upgrade to the latest Power Mac & Mac Pro whenever they came out with new models, but those days are long gone. I can't justify the Apple Tax when I can build my own PC that's mostly just as fast & more upgradable & affordable than what Apple sells, not to mention the lousy availability of games for the Mac platform. I've always been a hardware-1st type of guy, and OS/software second.

I actually like the new M1 SOC/CPU (ARM in general) but in order for me to consider an M1 Mac in the future, Apple would need to provide the following:

- $ No higher than $1500 (approx.) with 16GB RAM 500GB NVME
- Small footprint
- Minimum 1 16x PCIe X16 4.0 slot
- 2 minimum RAM slots upgradable
- 2 M.2 slots

Don't think I'm asking for too much, am I?

I would use decaying instead of dying. Unfortunately, the current crazy inflation of PC components will accelerate the decay of the Hackintosh community. I have seen many people on the internet commenting that M1 Macs are so competitive now. One possible scenario in the future should be that only hardcore gamers and CUDA users want to build a PC.

If new Apple silicon Macs are more competitive and powerful this year, I will have no reason to recommend anyone considering building any PC.

 

[Middleman]

Nope, hackintoshing will still be a thing for me as I love tinkering! The fact is that prior to this, I had previously been a loyal Apple user for many years, starting with the Power Macs and G4s/G5s.

One thing that really pisses me off is the fact that Apple keeps locking down hardware and user choice - to the point it is no longer attractive for users to buy their products - and worst part of using real Apple gear is the lack of support it gets even though it still works (know of many instances of this - like a 2006 Macbook only got less than 3 gens of OS upgrades). And you can't even upgrade your RAM or SSD in your own Macbook Pro for godsakes! People love to tinker with gear (that's a fact) - and by refusing to allow people to do this just makes it so frustrating and sad. This is in so many ways, stifling innovation for all. Apple could do so more instead by opening up its eco-system (to other manufacturers). The fact that Nvidia also is not allowed to join into the fray nowadays as a competing partner to AMD is a great example. Imagine if you will, the ability to choose your very own compatible Mac Pro and MP GPU card between Nvidia or AMD at purchase using their latest chipsets, or to choose between using a Ryzen CPU or Intel CPU on your next MP build - that would give so much choice to the consumer.

So I am looking forward to my next build, which will be a Z590-based Mini ITX Hack Pro.

 

[vlad1966]

Well, this could be interesting:

Qualcomm Reportedly Developing Apple M1 Competitor Dubbed Snapdragon SC8280

Qualcomm is no stranger to developing ARM-based computer processors having released the Snapdragon 8cx and more recently the 8cx Gen 2, however they pale in comparison to Apple's recently releases 5 nm M1 chip. Qualcomm has acknowledged that Apple's latest silicon is a sign of where the future...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[balazs631]

I’m already using Mac mini M1 for my work: Xcode in short words. And I also used Macbook M1 for a couple of hours... amazing performanc/value.

After that I never ever buy any x86-64. Maybe in future, when other companies/all idustry will be ARM.

Waiting for iMac on M1, this is will be ultimate machine for me.

Hackintosh... not my choice anymore.

Exactly the same... I'll sell my Hackintosh in favor of a maxed out Mac Mini once I got the money.
Doesn't even need a stronger machine, the M1 Mac Mini already running Xcode builds faster than an Intel i9 machine.

My problem with iMac is that it cannot be used as an external monitor. Let's say I have a company MacBook Pro for work, then I cannot use the home iMac as an external display for it. There is target disk mode on the iMac, but no target display mode.

If I have a good external display with Thunderbolt 3 port (like BenQ PD2720U), I can connect my future home Mac Mini and also my company MacBook and just switch between the inputs on the display when needed.

 

[PEKA62]

I doubt there will be a Mac Mini Pro with apple silicon chip.
A pro desktop Mac only makes sense, if you can change components yourself, RAM, GPU, SSD.
Either there will be a mini pro with INTEL CPU and exchangeable components, or (if its apple SI) the mini pro is just like a normal mini M1 with more RAM, more cores and better GPU, but all soldered on the board...
Mini M1 next generation that is.

 

[TurbineSeaplane]

Exactly the same... I'll sell my Hackintosh in favor of a maxed out Mac Mini once I got the money.
Doesn't even need a stronger machine, the M1 Mac Mini already running Xcode builds faster than an Intel i9 machine.

I gave this idea a run, but the M1 GPU performance is still easily beaten by Hack builds.

I'm ready for the M1x/M2 Mac Mini Pro - or whatever is next/better that has more GPU oomph.

 

[kidpub]

I'm done, too, after building several Hackintoshes over the past decade. I'm an Apple guy from way back -- was the tech editor at inCider magazine in the early 80s for those who remember the Apple II days. From my viewpoint, Hackintoshing is a lot like ham radio, very popular for a fairly long period of time, but now practiced by an ever-dwindling group of hobbyists (I also was editor-in-chief at 73 Magazine for hams, callsign KW1O). It also reminds me of the jailbreaking community on iOS, something that was really useful for a while, and now not so much as everyone moves on.

 

[TurbineSeaplane]

I totally get where everyone is coming from, and while impressive for sure so far, I'm personally going to ride out my build for this year at least.

On OpenCore, with my i7 8700 + RX 580 with native Wifi/Bt installed -- this hack is honestly as perfect and as, if not more, reliable than any real Mac I've ever owned

I went through two M1 Mini's and had constant bluetooth issues/weirdness -- something I've never had with my Hack, with the exact same peripherals, on the exact same OS version, in the exact same physical location. Just --- not acceptable to me.

...and as I said above, the GPU performance is still not there for me on Apple Silicon -- I expect they will absolutely crush it on that, but I'm not sure when or how much it will cost.

I'm also deeply bummed that they aren't, so far, allowing any NVMe swapping. Man do I find that super useful .. not to mention a huge money saver (which is probably reasons 1, 2 and 3 of why they'll never allow it again)

 

[Solidww]

After playing with some ASi Macs, I decided to keep my Hack going for this year at least.

I do wish the GPU market wasn’t so upside down though as I’d love to upgrade my RX 580

What GPU would you upgrade too?