Apple announces new Mac products

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ISSUE 20.05 • 2023-01-30 APPLE NEWS By Will Fastie The MacBook Pro and Mac mini are upgraded to new versions of Apple’s M2 system on a chip. All model
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fisher75, Norio

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I’d like to try a Mac Mini, but two things keep me from doing so: the inability to replace the SSD if it fails, and all the USB ports being on the back of the unit. I use multiple external drives for file backups, and I just don’t see that working very well with the USB ports being on the back. Yes, I could get a USB hub and that might work, but it also might be a cluttered, cumbersome affair.

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Will Fastie

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Sorry for the late reply- just getting caught up on the newsletter!

RE: Mac Mini- I do not think it’s accurate to compare Mac RAM usage/requirements to x86. It has been repeatedly reported that 8GB RAM on an Apple silicon PC is goes further than on Windows and even previous Intel Macs. I read and watched many accounts of content creators upgrading from an Intel Mac with 32GB to an M1 Mac Mini or MacBook (non-pro) and not hitting memory limits while performing workloads that used 16GB+ prior.

I also think that the typical 5+ year upgrade cycle goes completely out the window with Apple silicon Macs. Why kit out a higher end, stupidly overpriced current gen Mac Mini when, for the same price, you can get a base model for $600 and replace it in 2 or 3 years? There’s always a decent chance that a new Apple generation product bumps its base specs up (like to 16/512). Apple’s memory and storage upgrades have always been stupidly overpriced. I’d bet money that Apple’s margin leader across its entire portfolio of income generation is how they lock people into spec upgrades.

There also should not be an assumption that, if a current base model Apple silicon PC meets your needs, a future one will not. And if that turns out to be true, you can always upgrade. And if you run out of storage, cloud is a great solution. Or, leverage one of the USB-C/TB ports for a 1TB SSD for $100 or less.

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