Apple Mac Mini: making a case for a 2018 redesign
The Mac Mini has positioned itself as one of the most iconic tech products worldwide, with a simple, minimalist design which reminds customers of its ease of use, low profile, in spite of the power of its internals.
Such as they were its original selling points, it’s been four years, and counting, that the Mac Mini was first released, and it is high time for an upgrade, both in terms of internals and looks, to bring the Mac Mini to par with existing lines.
At present there is no indication from Apple that a new Mac Mini will ever be released, except for rumors, cited by a variety of publications, TechRadar to name one, that point to a possible March, or June announcement.
Considering the most recent announcements from Apple’s WWDC 2018, that include the HomePod, and a new iPad Pro 10.5, the chances of a new Mac Mini are good, due to a target audience comprised mostly by budget home consumers, looking for a compact desktop Mac that doesn’t break the bank.
On that note, should this little miracle ever happen, its price tag should fall in line with current pricing, around $499 for the most basic configuration, and up to $999 for the top-of-the-line model.
What the new Mac Mini will look like, very much depends on its specs. Considerations must be made with regard to processing power, graphics and storage. Modern processors are far more efficient and fast, but that also means all new hardware generates more heat. This means that a new design will have to take into account air flow and more advanced heat dissipation.
By this token, word has it that a new Mac Mini might pack a bit more bulk than its predecessors, to allow for the new specs. An all-aluminum design might help, as it did for the 12 inch MacBook, so as to double as both Wi-Fi signal booster, and as a heat-sink, but components like more powerful graphic processors, and expanded storage, might still require some extra room.
Aside from processing power, a 2018 Mac Mini will most likely come with 2018 specs, which means Thunderbolt 3/USB Type-C support, as well as DisplayPort 1.2 capable of handling 4K resolution. The likelihood of these features becomes more realistic, with the prospect of an Intel CannonLake-powered Mac Mini.
Will the Mac Mini fare well as a gaming machine? Hardly, as Apple won’t risk cannibalizing other products by upping the clock rate on a compact desktop, and make it spar with a MacBook or even a lower-end iMac. With that said, media tasks such as light video editing and some creative work in apps like Photoshop or Illustrator, won’t prove too challenging.
As far as memory is concerned, a new Mac Mini in 2018 will probably not push the limits too hard, and remain within a conservative 8GB-16GB range, which is still plenty for most entry-level users.
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