It's at ease to feel remorseful on behalf of the Mac Mini. Apple went through all of its Macs end time, updating them with recent Intel Haswell CPUs and 802.11ac Wi-Fi adapters and closer SSDs and (sometimes) Thunderbolt 2, while the Mini sat and waited on behalf of an upgrade so as to in no way came.
Apple quickly announced a recent Mini by the side of its media event in vogue October, two years past the 2012 Mac Mini was introduced. Desktops and laptops haven't far ahead a undivided bundle in vogue the end time, so on behalf of the on the whole part the Mini is a moment ago getting 2013's upgrades a time belatedly. If so as to was all so as to was incident, the Mac Mini would be present a welcome-if-overdue keep informed to the desktop. The 2014 Mac Mini is new motivating than so as to but unfortunately on behalf of associates who cover been waiting on behalf of this refresh, it's new notable on behalf of the stuff it's missing than its upgrades.
We typically like to evaluate the heart models of computers as soon as likely, but in vogue the Mac Mini's defense the upgraded $699 configuration is new motivating, and it's the single you have to to walk if you concern in relation to performance (more on so as to later). We'll provide benchmarks demonstrative of the $499 Mini, too, but know forward of spell so as to it uses the same guts in the role of the base-model MacBook Airs and the $1,099 iMac. To evaluate the computer's SSD performance, we've and equipped our evaluate entity with a 1TB Fusion Drive, a $200 upgrade—we won't be present recapping how this introduce mechanism, but our deep dive is done at this point.
Come again? Hasn't untouched
Visually, the Mac Mini looks the same in the role of it has since Apple stopped shipping SuperDrive-equipped models back in vogue 2011. It's an unembellished, flattened aluminum box with clear-cut edges and rounded corners. The front appearance is wrecked up by a lesser pallid power LED and an IR receiver, and the sides are faultlessly smooth. A separate slice of black plastic on the back of the entity houses the fan vent and a rather impressive complement of ports, which has untouched no more than a slight from end time.
The FireWire 800 docks has decisively been jettisoned (the 2012 Mini was the end of the Macs to include the aging interface, though Thunderbolt-to-FireWire dongles still exist), and there's a moment Thunderbolt 2 docks in vogue its place. Recurring from end time are the gigabit Ethernet jack, HDMI docks, four USB 3.0 ports, an SD certificate person who reads, and audio in vogue and earphone jacks. It's still trying so as to Apple insists on introduction all of the ports on behalf of its desktops on the back of the computers. It's nix disrupt by the side of all on behalf of longtime Mac users, but PC switchers (a congregate the Mini specifically targets) may possibly need to substitute their behavior.
Decisively, the recent Mini is exactly the same size and load in the role of the old single. If you were eager on behalf of particular kind of reduction at this point, keep eager.
Come again? Has improved
Delays to high-end Intel CPUs based on the recent Broadwell architecture mean so as to on the whole of the 2014 Mini's improvements came to each other Mac in vogue the lineup in vogue 2013, so the box's insides make slight to disrupt. We're looking by the side of Intel Haswell CPUs as a substitute of Ivy passage, which be supposed to reduce power consumption while humanizing CPU and GPU performance. 802.11ac Wi-Fi bumps the greatest speculative link swiftness to 1.3Gbps, roughly three time the 450Mbps 802.11n in vogue the 2012 exemplary.
Thunderbolt 2 raises passing on speeds to 20Gbps, and the incorporated DisplayPort 1.2 spec brings 30Hz 4K exhibit support to the Mac Mini. The HDMI docks can and drive 3840×2160 displays by the side of 30Hz and 4096×2160 displays by the side of 24Hz. This Apple write down has new in sequence on peripheral exhibit support, but the on the whole notable matter you be supposed to know is so as to the Mini does not support multi-stream elate (MST) displays, implication so as to 4K output by the side of 60Hz is without a solution. The cooperative DisplayPort 1.3 standard is obligatory to drive 60Hz displays using a single connector, and Thunderbolt 2 no more than includes support on behalf of DisplayPort 1.2. Keep informed: Lack of 60Hz 4K support on the 2014 Mini is truly an Intel GPU limitation, not a DisplayPort limitation. This write down outlines the resolutions and refresh toll supported by various Intel GPUs.
Of the other substantive improvements, the GPUs and the improved luggage compartment speeds are probably the biggest. 2012's Minis all incorporated Intel's HD 4000 GPU, the top integrated GPU so as to shipped with Ivy passage processors. The GPU you walk in vogue the 2014 Mini depends on the configuration you spring for—the $499 heart exemplary includes the Intel HD 5000, the same single you'd walk in vogue the 2013 MacBook before the $1,099 iMac. The $699 and $999 models include the Iris 5100, a somewhat closer integrated GPU like come again? You'd get the message in vogue a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro. Unlike the Iris Pro 5200, the 5100 doesn't include several fanatical eDRAM, which limits its speeds. It's still probably worth the spare money if you would like the fastest Mini you can walk.
A quick reminder in relation to these charts: The HD 5000 results reach from a 2013 MacBook Air with a 1.7GHz underlying i5-3317U in vogue it, since we don't cover figures on behalf of the 1.4GHz exemplary on pass. The heart Mini long for do a slight differently, but the figures be supposed to be present more-or-less the same.
Neither of these recent integrated GPUs long for corner the Mac Mini into a gaming android, but they bring the kind of improvements we'd expect in vogue a generational caper. The HD 5000 improves on the HD 4000 by in relation to 50 percent in vogue the GFXBench T-Rex test and in relation to 25 percent closer in vogue the Cinebench R15 GPU test. The Iris 5100 extend improves individuals figures, beating the HD 4000 by 98 percent in vogue the T-Rex test and in relation to 45 percent in vogue the Cinebench test. Scores in vogue the heavier GFXBench Manhattan test perk up in the role of well, though by a much lesser margin—obviously the amount you frame to increase long for vary from game to game and task to task.
The caper from SATA III to PCI Express-based solid-state drives provides a polite generational performance boost too, the same single we adage as soon as the various iMacs and MacBooks made the same caper in vogue 2013. Both our 2012 and 2014 Minis are equipped with 128GB SSDs from Samsung. The recent Mini has 48 percent better get in touch with speeds and 62.2 percent better read speeds. These figures may possibly vary somewhat from entity to entity, since Apple sources SSDs from a variety of manufacturers.
The heart exemplary Mini still comes with a rotary 5400RPM HDD by default, and scores perk up by a negligible amount. Spring on behalf of the Fusion Drive nix worry which exemplary you buy—the way the know-how mechanism ensures so as to you'll mostly get the message the SSD speeds to a certain extent than the stupid HDD speeds. Saddling a recent workstation with an HDD in vogue 2014 is cruel to consumer and workstation alike.
Decisively, the recent Mac Mini skin texture improved idle power consumption, likely attributable to both the Haswell CPUs in the role of well in the role of the move from standard DDR3 RAM to LPDDR3. Power consumption under CPU load is much minor, mostly as the 2014 Mini nix longer includes a quad-core CPU option. Power consumption under GPU load is a spot superior as of the powerful Iris GPU (we'd expect power consumption figures on behalf of the HD 5000 to be present somewhere in vogue involving our 2012 and 2014 Minis). Apple says the recent Mini is "the world's on the whole energy-efficient desktop." We can't vouch on behalf of so as to maintain, but it's by the side of smallest amount an progress done its predecessor on the whole of the spell.
Tags : Mac mini
没有评论:
发表评论