Skylake Mac mini...

[Ice_Dragon]

I created a Broadwell Mac mini thread in the first quarter of the year and it never arrived so now I pose the same question about a Skylake version. If it doesn't look good that Apple releases one with Iris 540 graphics, I may just get the Haswell version with Iris 5100. My current 2011 Mac mini is over four years old and I'd like to replace it since I'm basically out of luck in case something goes wrong.

Thanks in advance.

P.S. I decided not to go for an Intel NUC or any other alternative. I'm sticking to Mac.

 

[Zodiark1593]

A 2011 Mac Mini is the Sandy Bridge model, certainly a potent enough chip for basic tasks and then some. Any reason why you want to replace it? As it stands, the most likely parts to fail (RAM, SSD/HDD) are replaced easily enough anyway.

It's important to note that Mac Minis are neither compute nor gaming beasts, so if a speed bump in either area is your aim, you're really better off with an iMac as the Mac Mini line lacks quad core and dGPU options altogether. I don't see Skylake Dual Cores as a large enough improvement to warrant a brand new machine.

 

[Ice_Dragon]

Iris 5100 is a pretty big improvement over Intel HD 3000, if the logic board fails I'm SOL, PCIe SSD vs. SATA III, USB 3 vs. USB 2, and Thunderbolt 2 > Thunderbolt 1.

Maybe I'm just trying to justify reasons. The thing about the new 4k iMac is it will cost around $2,000 with the upgrades I want. For what I do (internet, music, etc.) I am not sure if I justify a quad core processor.

 

[Zodiark1593]

Iris 5100 is a pretty big improvement over Intel HD 3000, if the logic board fails I'm SOL, PCIe SSD vs. SATA III, USB 3 vs. USB 2, and Thunderbolt 2 > Thunderbolt 1.

Maybe I'm just trying to justify reasons. The thing about the new 4k iMac is it will cost around $2,000 with the upgrades I want. For what I do (internet, music, etc.) I am not sure if I justify a quad core processor.

None of what you need really justify an Iris Pro either unless you've got a 4K monitor coming.

If your Mac Mini doesn't already have one, it should be pretty trivial to get an SSD in there, and maybe bump up to 8 GB of RAM. With a little dusting out, should let your Mac live a few years longer in regards to usefulness. I believe it was with the Haswell versions that Apple locked down the upgrade options altogether.

 

[Ice_Dragon]

I went from 2 GB of RAM to 8 GB when I brought the thing and then I got a Samsung 470 to put in there back in 2011 when I got it. I appreciate your feedback though I still may end up getting one anyway because the cost of repairing the logic board (if it goes) may not be worth the value of the mini itself.

 

[Zodiark1593]

I went from 2 GB of RAM to 8 GB when I brought the thing and then I got a Samsung 470 to put in there back in 2011 when I got it. I appreciate your feedback though I still may end up getting one anyway because the cost of repairing the logic board (if it goes) may not be worth the value of the mini itself.

Logic board very rarely fail on their own, especially Apple's, and I've some PC boards here that have lasted over a decade. Is there a reason to not wait to buy a new one before it actually does fails? Is this Mac for business use, IE, downtime outweighs the cost of a new Mac?

If you're rationale to upgrade is simply due to an itch, by all means, go right on ahead. But to say you're replacing it due to a logic board failure that has yet (and may not happen for several more years) to happen seems to be really scraping the bottom of the barrel as far as justifications are concerned.

 

[Ice_Dragon]

It was either between that or an Intel NUC (what can I say I like the small form factor) and the thought of an Intel NUC with Iris Pro 580 is impressive but the thought of a Mac mini with Iris Pro 580 sounds even better.

Heh the funny thing is, I was going to buy a Mac mini when they were updated last year. I never did. We'll see what happens this coming year.

 

[Ice_Dragon]

So now I think I may wait because of Thunderbolt 3. We'll see...

 

[Kaido]

I'm curious if they're going to use the new Mini-STX format. If they could do an elegant case with an external GPU solution for people who want to game but don't want to have to buy an iMac or Mac Pro to do it, that'd be amazing...

 

[phexac]

Yeah, for every day computing, there is little reason to upgrade the CPU. Memory and hard drive are another issue entirely. More RAM and a SSD (especially the latter) are huge upgrades for an older machine.

 

[Ice_Dragon]

See this is what has me conflicted. When the 2012 Mini came out, my mini was only a year old so I had n. Now that it's four years old, the last mini was only dual-core, and the prospect of the NUC being quad-core with Iris Pro yet I want a mini. I don't know what to choose.

I am sort of afraid Apple will make a Core M mini instead.