Mac mini synthesis: The right machine at a reasonable price



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The reviews on the new MacBook Air may have lacked enthusiasm, but those of the Mac mini 2018 were almost universally positive. One can summarize the typical review of the Mac mini that the device market has evolved and Apple has recognized this fact.

While the Mac mini was once an entry-level device designed to persuade users to switch from Windows desktop PCs, most users use laptops – and the mini has found a new niche as a semi-desktop machine. professional. What Apple has done here is adapting to the market, giving it the machine it really wants – and being ready to sacrifice novice consumers …

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CNET

CNET says that he will have a last Mac mini review once all his tests completed, but says he's impressed up until now – with a big reservation. It also indicates that the pricing is roughly equal to that of comparable Windows machines.

In the 2018 models, Apple has delivered an excellent upgrade, with only one possible drawback.

In addition to upgrading the connection options with USB-C / Thunderbolt ports, upgrading to HDMI 2.0 and the 10 Gb Ethernet option, Apple has solved one of the big problems with the 2014 model: Welded Memory. Scalable memory is back and requires two standard DDR4 SO-DIMMs.

But like most Apple products, it is not really scalable for end users, which requires a move to a service center. This reduces one of the benefits of being able to buy cheaper memory elsewhere. […]

Although the price of entry has gone from 500 to 800 USD (400 to 800 GBP or 620 AU to 1,249 AU), which is much faster than the rate of inflation over the same period, it's still not irrelevant. Comparable Windows configurations in a compact design – and there are not many of them – are actually quite expensive by comparison. Examples include the HP Z2 Mini G4 Workstation (around $ 1,000 for an i3-8100, 8GB and 256GB SSD) or the HP EliteDesk 800 G4 (around $ 1,300 for an i3-8100T, 8GB of RAM and a 128 GB SSD).

Macworld

Macworld says that the switch market has already been targeted by Apple, but that it is no longer the primary market.

The Mac mini debuted in 2005 and has been on the market as an affordable entry point for Mac newcomers. It was enough of an external screen […] and USB input devices […]

But it turned out that the Mac mini has found a market with business users thanks to its small footprint. He was very popular with software developers and content creators, and even found his place in co-location data centers. In response, Apple changed its Mac mini message targeting professionals and touting the mini's performance rather than its affordability. The Apple Mac mini website calls the new Mac "All Workhorse" and the entire "switching" messaging of the original Mac mini is gone […]

Obviously you need to upgrade the previous Mac mini: do it. If you use applications that can take advantage of multiple cores, you will see a significant improvement that is worth it. Even if you do not use multi-core applications and only use consumer software, you'll see a noticeable improvement in speed. You may need to buy a USB hub and a video card, but it is worth it.

Marco Arment

Marco ArmentIn his article on the Mac mini, said that the new machine is "spectacular" and that, although it is expensive, it is justified by the specifications.

The 2018 Mac Mini is […] spectacular. This is almost nothing worse and almost everything is better, finally allowing the Mac Mini to enter the modern era. […]

The goal of the Mac Mini is to be as versatile as possible, meeting many diverse and diverse needs that other Macs can not satisfy with their very different form factors and their smarter designs. The Mac Mini must be a utility product and not a design statement. (Although, although I am tired of all that is gray in space, I must admit that the Mini looks fantastic in its new color.)

The base price has risen to $ 800, and it's not extraordinary. This is partly justifiable because it is much more upscale than before: transformers a lot better, the architecture is upscale and includes big advances like the T2, and the all-SSD is standard – but it's still an expensive product in absolute terms […]

The only specification that drops it is the Intel graphics processor. It's fast enough for common tasks, but if your workload has a powerful GPU, you'd better choose a 15-inch iMac or MacBook Pro, or consider an eGPU setup. […] But that's all – apart from the price, it's the only drawback. The GPU is zero. Everything else is great.

Six colors

Six colors indicates that where the Mac mini was an entry-level machine, it is now logical to reinvent it as a semi-professional system.

Apple and the Mac are in a very different place today. Most Macs sold are laptops. The concept of the low-end office switch seems out of date. (Which does not mean that there are none, but maybe not as many as in 2005.)

In 13 years, the Mac mini has become something different. As a Mac without an integrated monitor that is not an expensive and bulky Mac Pro, it has become a bit of a Swiss Army knife, a simple Internet server or a file server (I had a Mac mini running on my computer home more or less constantly for over a decade), lights on and sound in theaters and at rock concerts, and thousands of other small niches of vital importance to the people who live there […]

This new Mac mini is exactly what it needs. Today, the Mac mini is synonymous with flexibility and filling niches. This update allows it to cover a wide range of applications ranging from basic needs to servers up to high-end applications requiring a large amount of processor power, fast storage, ultra networking. fast and even beyond (via Thunderbolt 3). The high-end configurations might actually provide enough power for users to consider them before buying the Mac Pro whenever it goes out. It remains to be seen which field will cover the Mac Pro and what could be its starting price. The Mac mini is perhaps becoming the best tool (and the best value for money) for some high-end work that does not require Xeon processors in large enclosures.

TechCrunch

TechCrunch says that Apple has clearly redesigned its range of workstations and that it's not afraid to get some people out of the market.

Apple bypasses the workstation to the Pro territory, while fixing the price of the beginning buyers […]

The company's entire line of desktop computers has been clearly redesigned over the past year, including the addition of the iMac Pro and MIA Mac Pro forever.

The Mini has long been Apple's entry office. The $ 499 price tag on the 2014 model has certainly highlighted this fact. With a price increase of $ 300, the most recent version still represents the least expensive path in the world of desktop computers, but probably removes the "input" from the equation. […]

But Mini's carved an interesting niche […] The small flat format of this product makes it an interesting candidate for a server […] This unexpected case of use largely explains the fact that the company remained in the same dimensions this time: many thirds already produce accessories designed according to these specificities. Why not facilitate the exchange against unity as much as possible? The imprint also means that the computer is easily stackable, for workloads requiring the output of multiple machines at a time. […]

The Mini is still the most advantageous gateway for a desktop Mac ecosystem, but the definition of the input level has changed significantly for Apple since the last lap.

ZDNet

ZDNet In his review of the Mac mini, he argues that the modular nature of a Mac mini configuration remains an advantage and makes it more appealing than an iMac.

You can connect all the accessories you want. Do you prefer a Razer mechanical keyboard, an Amazon Basics mouse and a 1080p screen? No problem. This is part of the call to the Mac mini. This can be as expensive as you want, as far as accessories are concerned. Or it may be too simple, and that's great too […]

In the past four years, Mac mini users have been demanding more laptops. And with the 2018 model, Apple has delivered. Even the basic model is something that I saw myself using every day and, when I look at my use in a realistic way, I am not a "pro" user. I am an average user who is interested in professional features.

If I needed a new desktop computer at the time, my search would start with the Mac mini, which would be quite possible, as opposed to an iMac. The versatility it offers, coupled with performance, is simply too convincing.

There are not as many Mac mini reviews as MacBook Air. It's a relatively niche machine these days, and this is reflected in the levels of interest when it comes to writing about it. But the view we see is remarkably consistent: Apple has been successful.

Do you share this perspective? Or do you think that Apple would have always had to offer a base model at $ 499? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Photo: TechCrunch


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