Was hoping for an upgrade to the Mac Mini. Apple sit with a huge gap between their Mac Pro and Mac Mini. It looks like all they have done is a storage upgrade. I hoped the mini might have been upgraded to make it remotely suitable but the graphics card is still abysmal.
I used a colour correct external display so an iMac isn’t suitable. The Mac Pro runs at a stupidly high pricing and a laptop is pointless as you’re wasting a display and battery that will never be used.
IMHO Apple are choosing not to do substantial upgrades because of the risk that it would canabilize sales from their more profitable computers.
If only they would release a sandboxed “app” on the iPad (even if it was limited to the iPad Pro) that was a full version of MacOS. I would gladly buy a 512GB iPad Pro if I could also dock it and use it as my desktop… but I will continue to dream!
(Also assumes they release an ARM version of MacOS).
I read on a MacRumors forum thread last night that Intel doesn’t produce a newer version of the chip the Mini uses. I haven’t checked this out myself, but there are many more posts about it, sensible and otherwise, after the two linked above. The lack of shiny seems as though it may be Intel’s fault.
I was going to buy a Mini last month but decided to wait when I heard the rumours. Now I’m getting double the storage for the same price and the RAM and processor upgrades are a bit cheaper too. It might even still run Mojave if I’m really lucky. I wish it had been more than the barest of refreshes, but I’m replacing a 2012 - which is still great for most things - and the Geekbench score is about 2.5X higher on the new one. No downside here for me.
Don’t think I’ll replace my 2012. Instead I’ll get that SSD I’ve been promising myself for the last 3 years.
You won’t know yourself. It makes a massive difference.
I’ve got an RX 580 in an eGPU enclosure running my big displays off my 16-inch. Works a treat. I’d do a Mac mini + eGPU if I needed a desktop Mac.
Yeah I know it will be good. I just have to find someone to do the install for me, I have a dusty environment with cat hair everywhere no matter how much he gets brushed. Also, its a little more difficult than I am used to.
Its an expensive approach though, even for the Apple premium. For the price of a mac mini with e-gpu I can get a decent desktop, 8GB GPU, 64GB Ram, 1TB SSD, 3TB and 4TB drive, 12 core desktop processor etc.
I ended up ordering a AMD 3900x with 64GB ram, 570X board, 8GB GPU, 1TB M2 (the fastest 5000MPS version) and 4 x 4TB drives for $500 more than the price of a Mac mini and EPGU and that is included Windows Pro. Most of my software can be ported from Mac to Windows.
Its a sad end to my time with Mac OS. I wanted to continue with it, but Apple have made it pretty difficult with their dumbing down of devices and ludicrous “pro” devices like the XD display. It looks like it will only be iOS for me moving forward.
I think Apple is in for an awakening at some point. I’ve seen a lot of the passion for the organisation disappearing and a lot of the die hard using are moving on.
I hear what you’re saying, our 27inch iMac has died and it’s well out of warranty and the new iMac Pro is over $7000 AU (the standard iMacs still use a spinning disk!)
The Macbook isn’t very old but Apple have stopped making those and they no longer make a 11 inch Macbook Air so I can’t replace it when it needs to be replaced.
Our mac mini is still running but it’s getting slower every update, it’s really only used occasionally so I might see if I can get an SSD working in it and that’ll give me a bit longer.
The iPads are still good and the iPhones are still good but honestly… I can’t see more Mac purchases in our future. Apple just aren’t making products to suit in a price bracket I can afford now.
Right now I’m trying to work out what to replace the iMac with… it’s a bit hard to go computer browsing right now.
Right now this Dell all in one 27 inch for $1998.99 is leading the pack…
It looks good. I had to get mine as a self build due to the time required for builds with everyone working from home and wanting new machines. If you can get one that fits your requirements, that’s great.
Going to be the first time in 15 years that I built a PC. Lets see how that goes 
Im definitely getting there too (and I wont be giving up my Apple Watch anytime soon). But, my gear is still working for me so I’m not quite there :). Been looking, though.
You can order a normal iMac with an SSD from the factory. Not sure you should be comparing an old iMac to an iMac Pro. (e.g. base model iMac 27-inch 5K is A$3,549.00 with a 1TB SSD)
My previous iMac was the top of the line, I was comparing top of the line iMac ($4000 at the time) with top of the line iMac now.
I wasn’t aware that I could order an SSD as an option, I honestly didn’t see that as an option on the online order page
looks at Apple AU site
So about about $5000 for the top line iMac with a 1TB SSD and a Core i9 processer. That’s actually about in line with inflation from what I paid last time.
It’s still 2 and a half times more than the Dell (yes I know Dell), the Dells have gotten cheaper.
I’m not sure I can justify paying $3000 more right now.
I will think about it though, thanks for pointing out what I’d missed.
No worries. I certainly do wish that Apple standardised on SSDs even if they were small. 
BTW, the Dell has a 1920x1080 display from the looks of it, and a 256GB SSD + 1TB 5400RPM HDD, so not really a comparable machine to even the entry level iMac 5K in all honesty. Not denying it’s cheaper, it is, but it’s not the same class of hardware that’s all. 
I don’t know why you would adjust for inflation, that isn’t what computers do, they fall in price for bang for the buck.
Anyway, my previous top of the line iMac was half the price to get top of the line currently, mind you it is a lot more computer: 5K screen, i9 vs i7, ssd vs 7200 RPM HDD. But still.
If I was to go fairly comparable i7, 1 TB, 16GB RAM, it is still almost $5000.
I wouldn’t regard that dell as comparable to an iMac. Pop into office works and look at the row of AiOs to get an idea what it would be like looking at those screens.
By comparison, the machine I just ordered is $5000 and has a much higher spec than the entry level Mac Pro and a high specced iMac Pro. I didn’t go cheap on any of the components. I.e. expensive case super quiet case, expensive 570X MSI board, 12 core AMD 3900X, 64GB (2x32’s so I can expand), 1TB M2 (5000MB/s = twice as fast as the current iMac), 4x4TB drives so I can run raid, 8GB GPU, keyboard, mouse, Windows 10 Pro. The only thing missing is a screen and I already have a $2000 screen so the iMac screen would be a downgrade.
I get that there is an Apple tax, but it’s not an Apple tax when they start producing a Mac Pro that is $10,000 with a 256GB SSD and a $10,000 monitor with a $1000 stand. Its an insanity test
That sounds similar to our build early last year but with newer AMD CPU and higher spec MB. What was your case? We used a Bequiet one. We put a Vega 64 in it. Seems old hat so quickly.
It was set up as a gamer, all up cost with a 2K monitor was about $2700.
Because it’s used for photography I got something closed. Fractal R5