The change today is “just” a doubling of the standard SSD capacities. I was hopeful to see more, but I guess today’s not the day.
Good I think 128GB just felt lame at $800 dollars.
I feel like the table is set for a $599 ARM based Mac mini with 128GB of SSD storage
next year (along with an ARM MacBook Air)
I’ll probably order the 10G model because essentially rather than buying a high spec iMac I want to build a workhorse Threadripper grunt machine. I’m not a gamer but I’ll need to work with some big video files and i’m compressing my movie collection to HEVC.
How noisy is a Mac Mini compared to an iMac/iMac Pro/Mac Pro? I’m mostly curious, though I am thinking about a desktop purchase in the next few years and noise matters.
I am considering this! At the specs that I may want to have, the mini seems to be about $1k less expensive than a new 16in MBP. I have keyboards and trackballs at both my home and office locations. All I need is a second monitor at each location and I’ll have a setup that is equivalent to if not better than my current setup (2013 MBP + 1TB Feather SSD upgrade + 16GB RAM + extra monitor). And the mini is likely just as “portable” as the MBP.
Thanks for the heads up John!
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JJW
My base model mini (2018) is basically silent
Thanks for the link! To save others a click:
Of course in a studio, the real question is how much noise does the fan make? We measured the room which had an ambient noise level of around 50 dBA over a 1-minute sample. We tried to measure the Mac mini fan noise at 1 metre and could not get any meaningful change in level. So we decided to measure it with the microphone 1 mm away from the Mac mini front panel, over a 1-minute sample the noise level rose to 54 dBA when the fan was running at speed. So in summary if the fans are going to kick in on a Mac mini then the noise level is negligible at 1 metre, certainly not enough to worry about and it’s so small you could put it in a cupboard with plenty of airflow if you use microphones in the same room. So for those asking about the fan noise, you have your answer, it’s not a problem.
Well, damn. How do I justify needing a Mac Pro, then…?
The boxes full of drives that you need to hang off of your Mini – oh, they do make noise.
(speaking from experience)
I have both the i3 and the i7. The i3 is very quiet under any load. The i7 will ramp up the fans under heavy loads. I basically hear it when I render videos, which is the only time I max it out for extended periods. When doing my development work I never hear it. The fan is noticeable, but not loud. It’s quieter than my MacBook Pro 2016 was, but not silent like an iMac Pro.
Mine (late 2018) is usually pretty quiet, but occasionally the fan does audibly spin up. Rarely enough to bother me, but of course I don’t know how sensitive you are, and I don’t have an iMac to compare it to.
The Mini itself is portable, but you still need a screen and keyboard to use with it, so not at all in the same league as a laptop if you ever want to work in a coffeeshop or other location that’s remote from both home and office. (Not that that’s an option anyway in the Plague Year.)
My 2013 MBP will stand me fine to continue to go remote as needed. I need an update to this seven year old workhorse that will up my performance both at work and at home. In both cases, I can set up dual monitors, and I already have the keyboards and trackball.
The new 16in MBP is on the border of my budget this year. But a mini may be within the bounds.
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JJW