As a Mac enthusiast, the news that 2022 will end with no new Mac announcements was disappointing. But what was even more of a letdown is that we’ll have to keep waiting – probably until March 2023 – to see the rumored update to Apple’s most affordable Mac, the Mac mini.
But even before the news, I was ready for more disappointment. This unofficial delay only confirms the sad fact that the Mac mini gets no respect from Apple. It’s a shame, because Apple’s smallest computer was once the most exciting Mac and deserves some attention.
The BYODKM Mac
The Mac mini was born in 2005 and at that time Apple was much more aggressive in increasing its share of the PC market. The Mac mini was marketed as an affordable Mac for users switching from a Windows PC. To convince skeptics that the switch could be made easily, Steve Jobs dubbed the Mac mini as Apple’s new BYODKM Mac: take your own display, keyboard, and mouse from your old PC and plug it into the Mac mini .
Two years later, Apple released the iPhone, which eventually became the device to convince Windows PC users to move to the Mac (not necessarily as a direct marketing point, but a subtle one). The toggle angle for the Mac mini (and essentially all Macs) has all but disappeared. But Apple still paid attention to its smallest Mac, with updates on a 12- to 18-month basis (2006, 2007, 2009) leading to a 2010 redesign to the form factor Apple still uses (minus the optical drive), followed by updates in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
The Mac mini’s current design hasn’t changed since 2010.
IDG
Then Apple’s attention began to wane. After an October 2014 that brought fourth-generation Intel Core processors and a lower price tag, would it be four years until the next update in October 2018.
Where is the love?
Finally, in 2020, the Mac mini got a sign from Apple that it was still a key member of its lineup. The Mac mini was one of three Macs to receive the first Apple silicon M1 processor. This was a big change that shook the industry, and the fact that the Mac mini was an important part of it made it feel like a viable Mac again. It was also an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the Mac mini by touting its small footprint, lightning-fast performance, and affordable price.
But since Apple sells more laptops than desktops, the M1 Mac mini was an afterthought. It received no redesign or new features, and it even lost two Thunderbolt ports. Then there’s the inexplicable step where Apple hasn’t updated the $1,099 high-end Mac mini — to this day it has the same 3.0 GHz 6-core Intel Core i5 Intel processor that arrived in 2018making it the oldest processor in Apple’s Mac line.
So, what’s another five or six months for a Mac that turned four years old last month? Well, the fact that any company (let alone Apple) is selling a computer from four years ago for its original price is ridiculous. Perhaps Apple’s reasoning is that virtually no one will buy the $1,099 Mac mini, so there’s no harm in keeping it around. But there is evil: it is taking advantage of people who may not know any better by selling them extremely outdated technology. Things look bad for the Mac mini and for Apple.
The Intel-based Space Gray Mac mini hasn’t been updated in over four years, and Apple is still selling it at its original price of $1,099.
IDG
A fan favourite
Apple puts very little effort into the Mac mini, whether it’s hardware development or marketing. In Apple’s rich Mac lineup, the mini seems to be the model that is often neglected. That’s a shame, because it plays a vital role in Apple’s Mac lineup.
At $699, the Mac mini is Apple’s most affordable Mac, though it has the caveat that the price doesn’t include a display, keyboard, or mouse/trackpad. But you can easily find those components at prices that would keep a Mac mini setup well under $1,000, which still makes it cheaper than the entry-level iMac.
The Mac mini’s form factor makes it suitable for a variety of applications.
Foundry
Its small size means you won’t have to think twice about where it goes on a desk. In my house, we have a workspace that’s very cramped and there’s no room for a tower computer, and even the 24-inch iMac’s display is too big. But the Mac mini pairs perfectly with a 19-inch display.
Also overlooked is that the size of the Mac mini makes it suitable for creative use. I have a Mac mini connected to my TV in my entertainment center and it contains my digitized DVD/Blu-ray collection. The Mac mini is also used as a network server, in cars and robots, by mobile DJs, in kiosks and art installations. It’s not as small as a Raspberry Pi, but because it runs macOS it’s more accessible to users hesitant to program a Pi.
Why can’t Apple use these aspects of the Mac mini to play them off? Apple doesn’t need to go on an all-encompassing marketing blitz – it would be nice to see each kind of an attempt by the company to recognize that the Mac mini is just as important as the iMac and Mac Studio in its desktop lineup.
Perhaps that will change next year when the rumors of a new Mac mini finally come true. But a reveal isn’t enough – I hope there will be a sustained effort to promote the Mac mini over a long period of time, along with regular hardware updates. Even the smallest promotion would go a long way in showing the Mac mini some love.
