KVR Audio

dannyhawaii · Post by **dannyhawaii** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 10:23 am

I thought this didn't make sense as I'd tried configuring a BTO i7 on a Mac Mini this morning.

Turns out it was dual core. Damn, that's really depressing. My current Mac Mini i7 2.6ghz quad is a brilliant little DAW beast.

jdnz · Post by **jdnz** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 10:47 am

dannyhawaii wrote:I thought this didn't make sense as I'd tried configuring a BTO i7 on a Mac Mini this morning.

Turns out it was dual core. Damn, that's really depressing. My current Mac Mini i7 2.6ghz quad is a brilliant little DAW beast.

same deal with the macbooks - if you want a 13" you're stuck with the slower 2 core i7s, only the 15" gets the quad core

given the old model mini ran the quad core fine it can't be to cut heat - must just be a marketting decision (can't have mini's stealing imac sales, same as they can't have imacs stealing macpro sales)

fmr · Post by **fmr** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 10:57 am

Of course it is a marketing decision. EVERYTHING inside Apple is about marketing decisions. They want "average Joe" to get away of computers, and into the iPad world ASAP. Therefore, they can't have their computers competing side by side with their iPads.

standalone · Post by **standalone** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 12:55 pm

George wrote:
standalone wrote:their main advantage is that they consume three times less and thus their working temperature is so low that they don't need fans.
Which is perfect for the 5K iMac since graphic cards like M295X still have very high TDP. I don't think anybody would like screen condensation issues.

I believe the new 5K screen consumes less energy than the previous lesser models, so that's a good point in that direction too.

That's the only real highlight in yesterday's keynote. I bet J. Lawrence et al. were not really amused with the jokes about the iCloud leaks, and the new Mac Minis weren't the only disappointment: the iPad Mini 3 gains just an ID sensor for the 'Home' button! At least they didn't downgrade its processor...

DHR53 · Post by **DHR53** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 1:25 pm

OH Noooooo... Can't believe it. That was my secret weapon quad mini with 16 gig of ram. Bummer Apple! You suck...

standalone · Post by **standalone** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 1:41 pm

The fanboy squad at every Mac forum yelling "You Don't Need Quadcores, Take What Apple Gives You" is just epic right now.

tehlord · Post by **tehlord** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 1:49 pm

standalone wrote:The fanboy squad at every Mac forum yelling "You Don't Need Quadcores, Take What Apple Gives You" is just epic right now.

Well to be fair for taking selfies and talking shit on Facebook, dual cores do the Job(s)

standalone · Post by **standalone** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 2:24 pm

Yes, that appears to be what the Mac Minis are for Apple now, Facebook machines. I recently read someone saying "the best iMac is a Mac Mini with a LG screen". They don't want that anymore. Even if they include quadcore option in the future it will be too expensive to be worth it.

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 2:46 pm

fmr wrote:They want "average Joe" to get away of computers, and into the iPad world ASAP. Therefore, they can't have their computers competing side by side with their iPads.

That hypothesis is undermined by them dropping the pricepoint on their entry-level Mac Mini by 20% (£100) .

DHR53 · Post by **DHR53** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 3:22 pm

Definitely... it's not about mobile devices, more the Mac mini was a powerful and inexpensive alternative to there other overpriced solutions. Easier to upgrade and add memory to and portable to boot. I'm buying another, before the quad's are gone. The thin computers are self-destruct mechanisms. What's up with that...

standalone · Post by **standalone** » Fri Oct 17, 2014 4:08 pm

And one more thing. There are contradictory versions about this, but it seems that everything is soldered inside the new Mac Mini. If that's so, forget about expanding it after purchase. It would also be more difficult and expensive to repair.

ObsoleteAcc99 · Post by **ObsoleteAcc99** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:18 pm

[DELETED]

standalone · Post by **standalone** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 10:01 pm

Yes, the 2012 models have ivy bridge. While the 2012 2.6 quad core benchmarks 12,687 (Geekbench), the new i7 dual core reaches just 7,190, assuming it is the same processor that comes with this year's MacBook Pro 13-inch Retina.

It's funny, three days ago many people were looking to get rid of their 2012 Minis and now they are jewels to keep.

mhog · Post by **mhog** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 11:21 pm

standalone wrote:Yes, the 2012 models have ivy bridge. While the 2012 2.6 quad core benchmarks 12,687 (Geekbench), the new i7 dual core reaches just 7,190, assuming it is the same processor that comes with this year's MacBook Pro 13-inch Retina.

It's funny, three days ago many people were looking to get rid of their 2012 Minis and now they are jewels to keep.

Mac Mini 2014 "pro" and "cons" (for music and home recording)

Pro:
- nothing

Cons:
- no I7, no quad core
- expensive
- need SSD and 16 gb RAM? extra 550€ on Apple Store (a steal: actual total price for a Crucial 256Gb SSD and 8+8 "16 gb mac compatible" Corsair RAM sticks: 260€)
- want to buy the basic version (5400 rpm hdd, 4 gb RAM) and replace internal components later? You can try at your own risk, since many elements are soldered.
- want to buy only the machine (a-la nuc/zotac/vivo etc.) adding more powerful hdd, SSD or second hdd and RAM after purchase? You can't.

Conclusion: you want to make some music on OSX but you don't need neither a monitor nor a laptop? You have to be rich enough to buy an expensive macpro. Forget the imacs, those are even less costomizable than the mac mini and have an awful "fusion drive" solution. And, again, you did not need a monitor at all ("retina" or not). The old "macbook pro used as if it was a desktop, and you can bring it on stage when needed" solution still remains the only one, alas.

jdnz · Post by **jdnz** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 11:34 pm

mhog wrote:Forget the imacs, those are even less costomizable than the mac mini and have an awful "fusion drive" solution.

once you realise the 'fusion drive' is just a layer of software on top of a separate sata hdd and ssd card it's not so bad - takes about 5 min to turn off the corestorage stuff and get back to having a separate 128gb ssd and 1tb hdd ( a LOT more useful for daw use - I'd rather choose what's on ssd and what's not than have s/w double guessing me)

what does suck on the new imacs is having to unglue the screen to get inside to replace/upgrade the hdd (even worse - the ssd card is on the wrong side of the logic board, so you need to totally strip the guts out to get to it - had a card go bad thankfully since it's in apple cover the replacement was apple's problem)

wow apple release new mac mini with NO quad core at any price