[fermienrico]

I feel like no matter what Apple does, people will never be happy.

If it was a “consumer” Mac Mini, you’d complain “Apple has given up on Pro users”.

I recommend waiting until they come out with pricing and the details before writing it off glibly.

[overcast]

You know what would have made developers happy? Regular refreshes on the cheese grater tower. THAT IS ALL ANYONE HAS EVER WANTED. Nope, we get a trashcan that is over priced, can't be upgraded, and also still gets zero updates.

[weaksauce]

The cheese grater mac was really incredibly designed. it's a shame they decided to limit things with the trashcan one. apple if you are listening please let people upgrade or at least replace parts when something goes bad in the desktop line. don't make the desktop a huge ipad.

[fermienrico]

Agree - Looks like Apple has listened and they are working on a new modular Mac Pro machine : https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/05/apples-2019-imac-pro-will-...

[saagarjha]

“Modular” might mean “you can plug in a bunch of things with Thunderbolt”, mind you.

[coldtea]

They already did that with the "can" pro design and they said this will be different and more upgradable.

[pier25]

Possibly, but I doubt it.

Apple has acknowledged that the trashcan design was a mistake.

[Someone1234]

It depends.

The original goal of the Mac Mini was meant to be an entry level Mac. Which was perfect at the time for getting your feet wet on iOS/MacOS development, or getting a taste for the OS. That wasn't a problem because there was the iMac and Power Mac to fulfil the Pro/Developer markets.

If Apple released another consumer grade Mac Mini to fulfil the same segment (i.e. entry level) I actually think people would be quite positive. But it won't take away from the fact that the Pro/Developer market remains largely neglected.

A "Pro" Mac Mini might be the worst of both worlds. No longer entry level price, and not powerful enough (due to cooling) for Pros/serious developers.

[gnicholas]

> If it was a “consumer” Mac Mini, you’d complain “Apple has given up on Pro users”

I agree that in the current context, this is true. But this is primarily because the Mac Pro hasn’t been updated in eons and the current MBPs are so controversial that many pro users are sticking with 5-8 year old MBPs instead of “upgrading”.

If there were current Mac Pros and MBPs that see unequivocally better than older models, people would not jump to this complaint

[JohnBooty]

As a long-time Mac owner (just bought a refurb one from Apple) I agree with the parent poster... their "pro" stuff is just too expensive.

I don't mind paying a bit of a Mac tax on my hardware. Honestly, I feel that up to perhaps 30-40% is fine. Macs have generally high build quality, contain some bespoke hardware, and I find they have a lower cost of ownership than Windows.

(Also, traditionally, Macbook Pros often priced pretty similarly to high end Windows laptops like Thinkpads anyway)

But, even as somebody that writes software for a living, it's tough to pay astronomical prices for "pro" hardware.

I'd love a nice beefy i7 or i9 Mac with a 512GB SSD on my desktop. On the Windows side I could get one for around $800: https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N...

I understand why those pro models cost so much; they use Intel's Xeon chipsets (ECC RAM, etc) and bundle very pricey GPUs. Thing is, those features simply aren't that useful for a lot of "pro" buyers like most software developers. Even most design apps don't make much use of the GPU IIRC.

On the Mac side of things, I'd be looking at paying a minimum of $3K (Mac Pro) $5K (iMac Pro) or $2K (iMac) for something comparable. Now obviously, the iMacs include a monitor (duh) but I already own nice monitors.

Now, what will Apple charge for this "Mac Mini Pro?"

If it's a few hundred bucks more than a high-spec Intel NUC that sells for $1K, fine. I'll pay it. If it's $2K, they can go take a hike.

[malloryerik]

Beyond a clean look on a desk, what's the advantage of having the computer and the monitor in the same device? It seems a bit barbaric to me, like sacrificially killing and burying the slave when their master dies but in a (shallow) sense worse because with iMac the master must also die when the slave does, by which I mean that if either computer or monitor craps out, you get to trash them both. What happens when it falls off of the desk or is dropped when moving or hit by a baseball or your clumsy girlfriend/boyfriend/kid/coworker/neighbor or falls during the earthquake and on and on? You've automatically doubled your sorrows? Yes this is true of laptops but why import the weakness to desktops?

[JohnBooty]

Surely there are many purchases in your life where you trade some money for convenience!

1. Failure rates on computer hardware (particularly things that sit on a desk, and aren't banged around in a laptop) are pretty low these days. The odds of an all-in-one Mac reaching the end of its useful lifespan without a major failure are, I'd think, overwhelmingly good.

2. Look at all the monitor choices out there. HD? Full HD? QXVGA? WXVASDCJndDF? TN? IPS? I mean, it's kind of alphabet soup.

3. Look at all the cable and connector options. DP, HDMI revisions, etc. Again, easy for you and me, but not something everybody wants to figure out.

4. Obviously it happens, but I don't know too many people that have managed to physically destroy a TV or non-laptop computer by accidentally smashing it. Odds of it happening are pretty low.

Now, I'd like to purchase my monitor separately, thanksverymuch. And I think there are enough buyers like you and I to make it worth Apple's while. But, I totally get the need/desire for models that are as integrated as possible.

[malloryerik]

Yeah, I can see the convenience, and in fact I've used iMacs and enjoyed them. They're dead simple to set up, they look great, and importantly for the company they keep the Apple logo on the desk instead of under it while keeping the screen manufacturer's logo away.

I think it's when I see the iMac Pro that I start to really balk.

The irony is that Apple's design is pretty much a descendent of Bauhaus' and Braun's form-follows-function design -- and yet at least at the pro level they often appear to be sacrificing function for form.

I'm still a Mac user, though...

[JohnBooty]

Yeah the iMac Pro is one of the most ridiculous products I've seen in ages, from any company in any market.

I don't mind some "Apple tax", like a few hundred bucks, but the iMac Pro is literally like 3x the cost of its competition.

(Though I'm sure Apple would tell us that there's no direct competitor. That's true, in a way -- I don't know of anybody else selling a Xeon machine with an integrated monitor -- but for the more typical use case of "I just want a really powerful desktop and I don't need/want a Xeon-based system" there are equivalent Windows machines for far under $2K)

[2muchcoffeeman]

I think a lot of people just want the models they have to be kept up to date.

I’ve been on the market for a new Air and Mini for ages. But I am still waiting because they won’t refresh or drop prices on old products.

[mi100hael]

Well, considering the original Mac Mini was about $500 and sat alongside a $3k+ Mac Pro, both of those complaints seem pretty reasonable...

[pier25]

> If it was a “consumer” Mac Mini, you’d complain “Apple has given up on Pro users”.

Eh, the Mini was never for pros to begin with.

[Crontab]

They did offer a server version for a while. Not pro, I suppose, but definitely not consumer either.

[wlll]

I was perfectly happy with the Macbook Pro line until they introduced he touch bar/removed magsafe.

[jrnichols]

same here. Touch Bar is something I have no need or desire for, and I wish that it was a BTO option instead. And if you're in a house with a dog, magsafe is an absolute lifesaver. I was shocked that they eliminated it.

[wlll]

Here's the video where Jobs introduces MagSafe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeqF7zcBOVA

It's amazing that they're getting rid of it given how it clearly solves an actual problem. Personally I've had to re-solder two laptop power supply connections on older non-Mac laptops.