Mac Mini Investment?

Hi,
I am wanting to get some input from others about the Mac Mini. I am thinking about purchasing the Mac Mini along with the 27" Thunderbolt.
Use: I run an online e commerce site and I do a lot of designing and reporting on my products. I don't game like I use to so that is really not a deciding factor for me. My concern is the software I use to design. I use Photoshop and AI (sometimes) and I wanted to know if the Mac Mini will suit my needs for this? That being designing and reporting. Plus I will be getting the 27" Thunderbolt to go with it.
Some may ask why not just purchase the iMac.. well my work offers a great program in purchasing Apple products and the one bundle is the mac mini with 27" Thunderbolt. So if you could let me know if the Mac Mini will do what I need to do it?
Thanks

Assuming you are getting a top of the line Mac mini with the 2.6GHz i7 processor, 1TB Fusion drive, and 16GB of RAM your total initial cost including the 27" monitor will be about the same as an iMac. As a practical matter there won't be enough performance difference that you are likely to ever notice. The difference will come a year to two from now when you decide to upgrade to the latest mini or iMac. It will end up being somewhere around $1,000 cheaper to upgrade the mini because you can retain the monitor. I know close to a dozen Macaholics who have recently switched from iMacs or even a Mac Pro and I have yet to hear the first complaint.
It is also interesting how many old Mac minis are sitting on a shelf in the closet or bookshelf and still working as file, database, web, mail, file servers, etc. Old minis don't seem to die, they just retire to less stressful uses.

Similar Messages

I have a Mac mini OSX 10.4.11 Intel Core Duo, 512mb, 1.83 GHz with iTunes 9.0.3. What steps do I need to take to get my music library to my iPad. I dont think I meet the requirements to just upgrad to snow leopard and/or lion. I want the music I paid for

I have a Mac mini OS X 10.4.11, intel core duo processor (not core 2 duo), with 512 mb and 1.83 GHz processor. I only have version 9.0.3 of iTunes because it hasn't let me go higher, which I believe is because of the operating system. I want to get my purchased music from the Mac mini to a different computer (that has the latest version of iTunes) and also my iPad. The Mac mini does not meet the requirements listed to simply upgrade to snow leopard or lion. As far as I can tell. Forgive me if I am lacking here...this is new to me. What can I do to get the music transferred. I have invested alot of money over the past few years on all this music that I should be able to transfer. Thank you in advance if you can help me.

If you want to sync it to the iPad from that Mac, you need to upgrade it to at least 10.5.8.
If you want to copy the music to another Mac, you don't. Move the iTunes folder of the item in the Finder's sidebar over as you would any other folder. If you put it somewhere other than the Music folder, launch iTunes with the Option key held down and point it to that location.
(61713)

Mac Mini with OSX server still OK?

HI All,
I was going to purchase the mac mini that was geared up to work best with OSX server however that option is now no longer available and the mac mini's have downgraded slightly in terms of quadcore processors and 2tb harddrives.
We run a small design studio, file sharing is becoming a large hinderance on workflow and I thought OSX server sounded like a good solution for someone with little knowledge of the area. We have four imacs, and three macbooks. Our team is growing fairly quick and that number should double next year.
Any ideas would be much appreciated.
Thanks,

Just get the latest mac mini, add some external storage with a Thunderbolt 2 connection and that setup will work great for filesharing.
You will get gigabit network speeds and since it's Thunderbolt 2 the mac mini will have no problem to serve those files across the network.
Make sure you get external storage with a decent RAID setup like a Promise Pegasus for instance, and invest in a good back-up solution.
Then clone your mac mini OSX Server setup daily towards the RAID and you're good to go!
Get a Mac Mini with an SSD or Fusion Drive and 16GB of RAM. That'll keep you going for the next couple of years easy!
Goodluck!
Jeffrey

I dropped my macbook pro and the screen is broken can i still use it with an external monitor? Or can I or how do I transfer hard drive files to my mac mini?

I dropped my 17" macbook pro and the screen is broken. Can I still use it with an external monitor? When I plugged it into a monitor I had used it with before, I'm not able to see anything on the macbook screen to control it. It came on but I just got the blue screen with nothing else after typing in my password. (Didn't see the password form just assumed it was there somewhere and it did go from space to blue screen but no desktop icons, files, dock strip at top or anything else, just blank blue screen) so I can't access the system preferences.
Or can I / or how do I, transfer hard drive files to my mac mini? If not salvageable as is can I pull out the hard drive and make it an external harddrive? In otherwords is anything salvageable? It seems it's coming on I just can't access anything. BTW I was told it would cost aprox $1000 to replace the screen! I paid almost $4000 for this thing and it was running great - makes me sick to lose it!

I'd like to promise you that everything will be fine if you just get the monitor going - but it's hard to know what the hardware damage might be. It might be the monitor, or the damage might be greater.
Your best solution would be visit your local Apple Store and let them know what your situation is. They have access to diagnostics you don't, and they might be able to the best way to save your data and keep you computing. It's still not covered, but they can tell you what your current options are.
Um, you might consider investing in a backup drive.
And there other repair options, too. Powerbook Medic http://www.powerbookmedic.com/xcart1/pages.php?pageid=67 offers reliable repairs, and quotes prices well under Apple's.

Mac Mini 2012 and I want to use a new 27" Lighting Display and my old 27" Cinema Display as a second Monitor

Evening all,
I have a Mac Mini that I have been using a 27" Cinema Display on for a couple years - works GREAT, love the Mini and that display. The Cinema Display has Power for a Laptop, USB connector and a Mini Display Port connection on it.
I am a Guitarist / Songwriter and I use Pro Tools a lot. So I thought I would invest in the new Lightning Display for my Mac Mini. I would get the extra ports for Firewire, and USB, as well as now I could "Daisy Chain" my old Cinema Display off the new Lightning Display.
WHAT A PAIN IN THE BUTT THIS HAS TURNED INTO !!!! I have honestly spent more than 6 hours trying to find adapters or ways to make these monitors BOTH work at the same time with the Mac Mini ( you know, a Dual Monitor Setup . . .)
HELP !!!
1 - If I could find a HDMI MALE to Mini Display Port FEMALE adapter, I would run it on the HDMI interface - apparently no such adapter exists.
2 - You apparently can NOT daisy chaine the Cinema Display off the Thunderbolt Port on the new Monitor ( silly that that does not work, but it does not )
I am really stuck here - how do I get these monitors to work as "Dual Monitors" on the Mac Mini ???
Thanks !

The HDMI port won't work for a 27" monitor, it maxes out at 1920*1200...
Supports dual simultaneous displays -- 1920x1200 on an HDMI display or a DVI display using the included HDMI-to-DVI adapter and 2560x1600 on a Thunderbolt or Mini DisplayPort display or even a VGA display (with adapter). Thunderbolt is backwards-compatible with Mini DisplayPort-equipped displays as well as adapters that are compatible with Mini DisplayPort (DVI, VGA, dual-link DVI and HDMI).
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_mini/specs/mac-mini-core-i7-2.3-late-2 012-specs.html

Mac mini DVI through AV Reciever with hdmi switching

I have a Harman Kardon AVR445 receiver which had the ability to switch between two hdmi inputs and send hdmi to my television (Viewsonic 27" LCD). I plugged in my mac mini (Intel Core Duo) using a DVI-hdmi cable and my cable box to my receiver. Everything worked great. I could switch between the computer and cable box and the picture was great on the tv.
Now, when I shut of the receiver and later turn it back on, I have a problem. The cable box still works fine. But when i switch to the hdmi input used by the mac mini, there is no signal. The only way I can get it back is to put the mini into sleep (via the power switch or the Front Row remote) and then wake it up again.
I'm trying to get some information from Harman Kardon on what happens to the hdmi inputs at power down (standby actually) but so far, the tech representative has only stated the get "shut down".
I've even tried using the program SwitchResX to always keep the display at 1024x768 in case the computer is switching to an incompatible mode but I have not had any luck here.
Does anyone have any idea what could be happening to this signal lines that would cause the mac mini to stop outputing it's display? And why won't it return when the receiver is turned on again?
Thanks
Mac Mini Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.8)

I imagine you could spend a lot of time trying to debug this while getting no closer to a fix. If you really want this to work, what you might consider investing in is a Gefen DVI Detective.
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=1378
In spite of the typo in the first line on Gefen's website, what the DVI Detective does is store a monitor's EDID (not the computer's EDID as it says on the website; computers don't have any EDID. Monitors do.) and it will then "spoof" the monitor so that when the Detective is attached to the mini's DVI output, the mini will think there is always a monitor attached and will never get confused by an HDMI switch or a sleeping receiver or whatever it is that is causing the mini to lose track of your 27" TV. You will be able to set the mini to the output you desire and from the mini's point of view it will be as though the monitor never gets disconnected so it will constantly output the same format/timing. End of problem.

Can I use my ibook as a mac mini interface?

Hello all, I currently have an ibook G4 2004 , I need to get more hard drive space and need a faster machine to handle some of the more complex applications I've been running. I was wondering if I invested in a mac mini, would I just be able to connect this to myG4 via USB and just use the ibook keyboard and screen to use my mac mini?
I am sure this is all fairly obvious and I'd imagine that this would be possible, would there be any advantages to doing this as opposed to investing in a new system altogether? Any input would be much appreciated.

+wondered If I could just use my laptop as a screen and transfer all the information to the mac mini and run off of the mac mini.+
This question comes up about once a week.
No Mac is designed to replace a monitor and keyboard.
You can, however, connect two Macs with an ethernet cable and using that network connection do screen sharing. But you probably won't like the results for anything except very casual use.
You'd still have to use a real monitor, keyboard, and mouse to setup your new Mini.
Once set up, you'd run a VNC program like Chicken of the VNC on your old Mac, and you'd have Screen Sharing active on your Mini. This would let you control your Mini with the iBook's screen, keyboard, and trackpad.
But as I said, you probably won't like the results. Budget for a monitor.

Access Mac Mini Server (profile management) through reverse proxy

Hi,
Newbie in Mac's world and yet trying to make it more complicated as it is.
As we recently (last month) decided to equip our sales force with iPads, they were configured through Apple Configurator tool running on a dedicated Mac Mini Mountain Lion.
Now, I'd be keen in moving this configuration to the Profile Manager, part of the OSx Server plugin. So far so good.
Problem is the following : another web server is already on the LAN using both 80 and 443 ports. So all incoming traffic on those ports was routed to this other server. As Mac Mini Server default http/s ports may not be altered, I installed a reverse proxy server (Oracle VM - Ubuntu 12.04LTS - pound), configured to deal differently traffic on those ports according to the domain name (host) of the web request (header). Each 'local' server has been allocated a domain name. Just to be clear, traffic is now routed by the WAN/LAN router, for those ports, towards the reverse proxy, configured to reroute the traffic to the correct destination.
So far so good, it works like a charm, except... as soon as we enter https protocol on Mac Mini Server Profile Manager.
Access from an iDevice to the Mac Mini Server Profile Manager login page is fine, but as soon as password is confirmed, safari is pending and finally a message 'An internal serer error occured. Please try later again' appears.
Looking to both reverse proxy system log and Mac Mini profilemanager.log files to trace the problem, the following lines are produced at this particular moment :
reverse proxy system.log
Jan 15 14:44:03 reverseproxy pound: 91.... GET /devicemanagement/console/apple_theme_v2/en/da56af0a69e733b259dac3991419fa928b4 94a56/resources/images/sprites/me_controls.png HTTP/1.1 - HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Jan 15 14:44:03 reverseproxy pound: 91.... GET /auth?redirect=http://osxsrv.fiks.net/devicemanagement/api/authentication/callback HTTP/1.1 - HTTP/1.1 302 Moved Temporarily
Jan 15 14:44:04 reverseproxy pound: 91.... GET /devicemanagement/api/authentication/callback?auth_token=336952DE-BDDE-4390-82F 7-8475B79FB2D3 HTTP/1.1 - HTTP/1.1 302 Moved Temporarily
Jan 15 14:44:04 reverseproxy pound: (b7680b40) e500 can't read header
Jan 15 14:44:04 reverseproxy pound: (b7680b40) e500 response error read from 192.168....:443/GET /profilemanager/ HTTP/1.1: Success (0.007 secs)
Jan 15 14:44:08 reverseproxy pound: 91.... POST /devicemanagement/api/magic/get_updated HTTP/1.1 - HTTP/1.1 200 OK
OSx Server profilemanager.log
Jan 15 14:44:05 osxsrv ProfileManager[1748] <Info>: Processing MagicController#do_magic (for 91.... at 2013-01-15 14:44:05) [POST]Jan 15 14:44:05 osxsrv ProfileManager[1749] <Info>: Processing MagicController#do_magic (for 91.... at 2013-01-15 14:44:05) [POST]
Jan 15 14:44:06 osxsrv ProfileManager[1748] <Info>: Completed in 492ms (View: 0, DB: 6) | 200 OK [http://osxsrv.../magic/do_magic]
Jan 15 14:44:06 osxsrv ProfileManager[1749] <Info>: Completed in 687ms (View: 0, DB: 5) | 200 OK [http://osxsrv..../magic/do_magic]
Jan 15 14:44:07 osxsrv ProfileManager[1750] <Info>: auth_token doesn't exist
Jan 15 14:44:07 osxsrv ProfileManager[1750] <Info>: Filter chain halted as [:verify_auth_token] rendered_or_redirected.
Jan 15 14:44:07 osxsrv ProfileManager[1751] <Info>: Processing MagicController#do_magic (for 91.... at 2013-01-15 14:44:07) [POST]
Jan 15 14:44:07 osxsrv ProfileManager[1751] <Info>: auth_token doesn't exist
Jan 15 14:44:07 osxsrv ProfileManager[1751] <Info>: Filter chain halted as [:verify_auth_token] rendered_or_redirected.
Jan 15 14:44:07 osxsrv ProfileManager[1751] <Info>: Completed in 4ms (View: 1, DB: 14) | 403 Forbidden [http://osxsrv..../magic/do_magic]
Jan 15 14:44:07 osxsrv ProfileManager[1748] <Info>: Processing MagicController#do_magic (for 91.... at 2013-01-15 14:44:07) [POST]
Jan 15 14:44:07 osxsrv ProfileManager[1748] <Info>: auth_token doesn't exist
Jan 15 14:44:07 osxsrv ProfileManager[1748] <Info>: Filter chain halted as [:verify_auth_token] rendered_or_redirected.
Jan 15 14:44:07 osxsrv ProfileManager[1748] <Info>: Completed in 45ms (View: 1, DB: 43) | 403 Forbidden [http://osxsrv..../magic/do_magic]
Jan 15 14:44:07 osxsrv ProfileManager[1750] <Info>: Processing MagicController#do_magic (for 91.... at 2013-01-15 14:44:07) [POST]
Jan 15 14:44:07 osxsrv ProfileManager[1750] <Info>: auth_token doesn't exist
Jan 15 14:44:07 osxsrv ProfileManager[1750] <Info>: Filter chain halted as [:verify_auth_token] rendered_or_redirected.
Jan 15 14:44:07 osxsrv ProfileManager[1750] <Info>: Completed in 55ms (View: 0, DB: 1) | 403 Forbidden [http://osxsrv..../magic/do_magic]
Jan 15 14:44:08 osxsrv ProfileManager[1749] <Info>: Processing AuthenticationController#callback (for 91.... at 2013-01-15 14:44:08) [GET]
Jan 15 14:44:08 osxsrv ProfileManager[1749] <Info>: Redirected to https://osxsrv..../profilemanager/
Jan 15 14:44:08 osxsrv ProfileManager[1749] <Info>: Completed in 149ms (DB: 5) | 302 Found [http://osxsrv..../authentication/callback?auth_token=[FILTERED]]
I guess the '302 Found' is causing or explaining the problem.
I agree this might not be a Mac issue, so I still knock your doors hoping some of you could at least give a hint for what to search for !
If the pound configuration file is of interest, just ask, but this is pretty trivial, saying basically listen these protocols (http/https) on these ports (80/443) and according to Header content (check destination host) and reroute packet to LAN device (with given LAN IP address).
As the default port(s) of the Mac Mini Web Services may not be altered (so far I know), I guess I am stuck using 80 and 443 anyway.
Maybe should I invest time in changing my other apache server ports to some more exotic 8080 or 88 or whatever so Mac Mini Server Profile Manager default ports 80 and 443 are maintained and can be easily and directly rerouted to my Mac server without any reverse proxy along the way.
Thanks in advance for your help
Alx

HI All,
i'm also using reverse proxy technique to publish my server to the internet. The ip is used by twice domains. The problem is by using the profile manager
after login it redirects the url to the Local Area network addresse instead to the domain.
How to configure this on OS X Server and the Profile Manager Service?
Kind Regards
Oemer

What's wrong with Mac Mini Server's quality ?

Hi,
I am an owner of the Unibody Mac Mini Server 2010 for my business server.
When i bought it after two days use the HD started to fail. One with bad blocks and the other one with I/O errors. OSX froze many times. Did many tests and it showed bad blocks on one HD the second just failed some times.
The HD that are included are HTS725050A9A362.
I took the Mini to an Authorized Repair place. They replaced one HD. Gave it back to me. I then realized that they only replaced one HD. Took it back again and then they replaced the second one as well. All fine took it back home installed everything again.
I have now use it for 3 months. Couple of weeks ago i woke up to a message box saying that the Mini has beed shutdown by some error. Could not find out what that error was but things looked to be running ok so i left it like that.
Today i woke up to a dead mac mini. It would not boot. It was sitting with the spinning weel so i made a reset of the RAM or whatever it's called you know Command + P + R. That made it go a little bit further. It now stopped with the Folder icon blinking meaning it could not find a boot disk. Hmmmm i thought. This can only be a disk error. Tried to boot with DVD and do repair but it did not work out.
To rescue my data from the second disk i booted in target mode and used my iMac to copy stuff over. Let me tell you that, that was not easy. Target mode worked like ****, maybe because of the first disk which was damaged dunno. When at last i opened the folder with my stuff the copy speed was ok. Funny enough i also managed to copy data from the disk that could not boot in target mode but i can't boot it so the disk is not really dead.
Now my problem is this. What to do ? I have warranty but i have a feeling that theese HD are not reliable so if Apple repairs the Mini again they will replace with the same HD which i am not interested in. I am willing to invest in 2 new HD myself which are not the same brand but i don't want to void the warranty and open the box.
I should add that i have 2 x 4gb memory inserted which is not Apple. I bought exactly what Apple recommend on their web page (CORSAIR 4GB DDR3 1066MHz model. CM3X4GSD1066 G). I do not think this has anything to do with the problems i see but i thought I'll mention it.
I can also mention that after first time the HD died i kept an eye on the temperatures and i had HD temperatures around 35C. The CPU was around 48-50C and the server was idling at 80-85%.
What can you recommend me i do ? Maybe all the problems that i have are just ****** quality by Apple. Maybe they squeezed the internal components to close and they run into these problems. I just don't know what i should do. It's not like that this is a computer...it's a server and MUST run continuously.
donnib

Are you certain the RAM is not causing this issue?
Was the original (2Gb-4Gb) RAM fitted when the 1st issue appeared?
Apple does not offer the current Mac mini + server with 8Gb RAM. It is likely that non OEM RAM can cause corrupted data on the HDD(s).
Is it not possible to fit the original RAM, format/reinstall the HDD and test the Mac mini the way it was shipped?.
The current Mac mini is positioned as a home or small business server plus there is no hardware reporting as found in an X-Serve. The HDD(s) used are as reliable as one would expect from a portable drive. Like the previous Mac mini's, the current models are reliable with few known issues until you replace parts that Apple may not have used in testing.
Since the arrival of the late 2009 mini, Apple uses sensors on the original HDD(s) which cause problems (either no boot or loud fan noise) if a different brand or model is fitted. The HDD needs to be compatible with the sensor(s). The 2010 Mac mini has taken it even further in that respect covering each drive with Mylar wrapping as well as the sensor. Apple really does not want users to swap parts out.

Mac Mini won't boot, distorted startup chime, gray screen

Hi all --
I've seen similar posts (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12170891&#12170891) but thought I'd start a new one, mainly because I haven't heard anyone mention the startup chime.
I woke up my 2007 stock Mac Mini Friday morning and the cursor was frozen. Unplugged and replugged the mouse to no avail. Couldn't force quit, so I had to power down. Restarted with a badly distored startup chime (not "speaker breakup" from excessive volume, just distortion, and some "stuttering") and a gray screen that didn't go away. Restarted many, many times. Inserted Snow Leopard DVD to run Disc Utility but it wasn't recognized -- just a gray screen. Tried resetting the PMU and SMC with no results. Tried booting into single-user mode (with a wired USB keyboard) to eject the DVD, but no luck. Tried open firmware, but nothing. Once in an while I would get the Apple icon and a spinning progress bar that never went away.
Took it to the Genius Bar, where they tried to boot from a Firewire drive, with no success. The best they could do was tell me my 17-month old Mac was out of warranty. That confirmed, I took it home, cracked it open and removed the Snow Leopard DVD (with a credit card) to insert the install disc it shipped with. That didn't work. A couple of times it looked like it would, but then after the spinning bar I got the multilingual system bomb message. Tried to run Hardware Test, but nothing. Put in original Disc 2... and that gave me a flashing folder! Progress! Forced the DVD out and slipped in Disc 1. That started to read, and then I got some kernel-panic looking text and a shutdown. My last attempt was to create a USB boot drive from the original install discs, but my old Sawtooth won't let me run the installer.
Is there any hope at this point? I just bought the thing last May, so I've had it less than a year and a half. The distorted startup chime makes me think the logic board is fried and no amount of fooling with the startup drive will make a difference. The only thing out of the ordinary in this case was that it went to sleep last Thursday night with a DV camera hooked up via Firewire.
I'm not thrilled about giving Apple any more money for another Mini, but I'm heavily invested in Logic Studio so I don't have much of a choice of platform.
I'm pretty sure I'm doomed, but I thought I'd post anyway. A quick internet search shows I'm not the only one with the gray screen of death on a fairly new Mini. Thanks in advance for any pointers.

Thanks.
The Genius was able to get to the Apple logo and spinning... thing (what used to be the beachball). His theory was that as long as the Snow Leopard disc was in there, the boot process would never get to the Firewire port. Once I got home I literally pried the Snow Leopard disc out and put in the original install disc. But any progress whatsoever ends in the system bomb message.
Thing is, I had tried to eject the disc by booting with the mouse button down. But on restarting, the laser in the optical mouse flashes quickly, once. I don't think the USB ports are going "live" at all... so I can't get into single user mode, safe mode, hardware test, anything. The Genius' keyboard was no help in that regard. So yeah, I suspect a hardware problem.
A search of "gray screen of death" shows this happening to a lot of models.

Looking towards buying a Mac Mini

My G4 Cube has died it's last death. The HD is gone. I had backed up a couple of days before, so I'm not in hysterics, but I am bummed ( I did lose some stuff, but nothing that I hadn't printed out and saved). I'd owned the Cube since April 2001. It had been through two hard drives, one new video card, several crashes that were "fixed" via DiscWarrior, but this time the Tek Serve folks said, "it won't boot at all except form our bench drive." Meaning, my HD is no more. I could replace it for about $200.
But what's the point? At 500 MHz, it's too slow to run all the neat things I want it to run - including Classic Applications. I also had purchased an impressive (to me) collection of peripherals, like a DVD drive (my cube only had the CD RW), etc.
Thusly, my relationship with the Cube was bad generally. Analogous to the old car that kept on breaking down no matter what you tried. It was serviced under warranty, but now it's been classified as "vintage" so there's little support out there - why should I even bother with something similar...?
But: the Mac Mini is appealing because it's compact and will allow me to use all the neat peripherals I have, it's fast, etc., etc., etc.
Questions:
1. I am an engineer and have the desire to run some applications that would normally only run on windows, I would thus plan on using Parallels. From other discussions, Parallels works great!
2. [Edited by Host, please do not speculate on future Apple products.]
3. Overall, you Mac Mini owner, is the Mac Mini generally good? Are you happy with it? Is it robust? That is, do you expect it to start up regularly and use it 8+ hours a day for all sorts of things? Is it a good investment? I'd like to think that once purchased (with the Apple care and such) that I'd get five solid years' worth of production out of it.

[Post Edited by Hosts]
In addition, because of my generally BAD experience
with the G4 Cube, I don't want to get hosed by
purchasing a slower machine a month before a faster
one comes out. As a loyal Apple customer for quite a
while, I think I deserve to be a bit skeptical.
Whether you like it or not, attempting to discuss Apple's future plans or products that as yet don't exist IS a violation of the terms of use of the site here, because as you'll know as a long-time Apple user, Apple doesn't discuss it's plans or policies with anyone. As such, they created this site as a user-to-user forum for the specific purpose of discussion of technical matters relating to existing products. A brody may not have expressed it in an elegant manner, but your question could do nothing but solicit responses from those who can't contribute anything but speculative responses, and since those would be highly likely to get the thread removed completely, would not be in your own interests to see posted.
You are at liberty to avail yourself of any of the other sites which discuss Apple products and seek information about future plans there, though in truth you'll still get nothing more than guesswork - which seems to me a rather poor foundation on which to make a purchasing decision.
There is nothing, however, to prevent you seeking help with potential upgrades - as has actually been detailed here before, including information about possible processor swap-outs for minis which you'll find if you search for it.
That said, with a history of Apple systems use, you have earned the right to be a bit skeptical! All the more reason I'd think to ensure that regardless of what might or might not be the next product off the production line, the system you buy actually meets your needs, since if it does, the fact that it will be replaced at some point (as all systems are of course) will not matter because it will continue to meet that need.
The question therefore seems to me to be whether the current mini can run the software you need at sufficient speed to allow you to work, or whether you'd be better with a PC. Since it appears from your comments that you're going to require Parallels (or BootCamp) and Windows, the only advantage of buying a mini is if you would like to continue use of MacOS in addition to your Windows-based work or not. Only you can answer that, but it does reflect on the one real advantage of buying a mini - that doing so will give you the option to run both, while buying a PC will give you only Windows.
If, and only if, you would like the option to run both operating systems, the mini is an excellent system to choose. Not perfect and not lightning fast, but with 2Gb RAM it would outperform your now-deceased Cube by a significant factor. In context, it would give you roughly equal performance to a G5 dual processor system, and in processor-intensive work, actually be able to outperform it.
The limitations of the mini are that it contains a laptop 5400rpm drive and doesn't permit internal expansion (other than maxing out the RAM). However, it can be expended with additional storage and peripherals by adding them externally, so the core system does not really limit your options in the way that many people at first assume.
Since overall reliability seems to have been pretty good, there is not reason NOT to buy a mini unless the system isn't capable of supporting other needs, or if you have no wish to continue to run MacOS. I would certainly urge you not to base your choice on what may or may not be next - you will always be disappointed that way because even if you wait and get the latest/greatest thing when it comes out, it's not going to stay latest/greatest for long! My G5 was once the fastest system available, but while it's been overtaken by just about every mac in the product range, it still delivers the same power and runs the same software as it always did, and gives truly excellent service. In the world of Macs, as you'll know from your Cube, software does advance quite dramatically over time, but rarely to the point that it creases to be backwards compatible with earlier systems, so the imperative to keep hardware 'up to date' isn't entirely the same as in the Windows environment.

My Mac Mini won't turn on after being stored please help"

I stored my Mac mini for several months as I do every year but this time it won't turn on. Please help! It's an older version probably 2006-2007.

check out this discussion.
you should definitely get a decent UPS to protect your investment.
something like the APC Back-UPS ES 700 should suffice.

Mac Mini Server - Is it really good enough?

Hi
The new Mac Mini Server configuration may be great for small workgroups wanting to collaborate on Wikis, calendaring and a little bit of file sharing, but when it comes to backup, this little baby really doesn't cut the mustard. So, how to backup your valuable data? AIT-2 Turbo drives have Firewire interfaces, but AIT technology is/is being discontinued and LTO is only available as SAS or SCSI and there's no way to connect it to a Mac Mini. For a small amount of data, an Iomega REV drive can be used, but if you configure a Mac Mini Server as per Apple's suggestion on their store with a Promise SmartStor DS4600, all of a sudden you've got 3TB of data storage and no effective way of backing up.
Has anybody else thought about this and perhaps thought of a solution? I'd be interested to know.
Paul

Hi,
I would say in this situation Time Machine is your best bet, backing up to either a USB/Firewire device, or a NAS box of some kind.
Failing that, you can get USB tape devices from a wide range of suppliers (they are actually standard SATA/SAS/SCSI devices usually, and simply feature a converter in the enclosure).
I think the real questions you need to be asking here are:
-How critical is the application/data you are thinking of hosting on your Mini?
+-If it's highly critical, you need to look at investing in a high end NAS/tape device, or maybe finding a way to cluster two Minis together...+
+Remember that your chosen backup solution depends on how you need to protect the data. For example, if you are simply wanting to protect against data loss due to a hard drive failure, a solution that mirrors the disk directly (or at the end of every day) will be good.+
+If you need to have periodic snapshots of your data going back over x number of days, your system will automatically become alot more complex and expensive.+
-Is the cost of what is required in securing the data going to make the option of selecting a different system (such as the Mac Pro or a low-end/second user X-Serve) more cost effective.
+-The Mini is intended to be a desktop machine. Look at any server on the market (PCs too!) and you will see that even low-end workgroup servers tend to feature at least 2 disks!+
I hope this helps,
Jon

How to install OSX 10.6 client in Mac Mini Server 10.7 Lion Server

I am ordering a Mac Mini Server with Lion Server 10.7, with 256GB SSD and 750GB HD. I want to use Snow Leopard (client/workstation) instead. Previously I have already purchased retailed version of 10.5 clients and 10.6 client upgrade. Please advise the best approach from the followings (or more suggestions from you guys...).
(A) The boot disk (likely to be the SSD) will be re-formatted and re-installed by "clean" installation of 10.6 client. But I am not sure whether all hardware drivers for the new Mac Mini (2011) are available in the 10.6 client disk. Also, it seems to me that installation disk of 10.7 server will not be provided. So I shall not be able to re-install server version again if I want to change this Mac to a server sometimes afterwards. Of course I would like to keep this server software for investment protection, no matter I use it or not. If 10.6 client can be installed, I shall use bootcamp to install Windows 7 also. So there will be 2 partitions to be usable aparently.
(B) The factory-installed OSX 10.7 server is kept, and one more partition is created (with Disk Utilties). Snow Leopard workstation 10.6 will be installed at this new partition. If 10.6 client can be installed, I shall use bootcamp to install Windows 7 also. So there will be 4 partitions, including 10.7 server, 10.6 client, 10.7 recovery drive and bootcamp for Windows 7. Since I want to put all OS software at the SSD (faster boot-up and better performance), the drawback is that each partition is with less space.
Do you guys have other ideas or suggestions?
[Background]
In fact I want to make use of its strongest computing power (amongst available Mac Mini computers in store), quad-core CPU & dual disks, to run music applications (DAWs). Operating systems are put at SSD, and data is put at traditional harddisk. As some music applications (e.g. Calkwalk Dimension) only support 10.6 currently, I need to down-grade from Lion server to Snow Leopard workstation. Also I think applications can run faster in a hardware with workstation OS (rather than server version). Please correct me if this belief is wrong.
Thanks / Howard.

If you completely wipe the original Mac mini boot drive you will wipe the Server.app software an dlose it. You should make a backup first, perhaps by saving the entire boot drive as a Disk Image file on to another drive.
In terms of install 10.6, the 10.6 DVD will not boot on the new Mac mini even if you connect a DVD drive. You need to put the Mac mini in to FireWire Target Disk Mode and connect it to an older Mac that will allow booting from that DVD, then install on to the Mac mini (over FireWire), you then need to upgrade it using the 10.6.8 Combo Updater this will add the drivers needed for the new Mac mini.

Mac mini

I have 2 questions. I'm considering purchasin a mac mini and I'd like to know which is best! Investing £80 extra on additional RAM or a faster processor? I've been to ooads of sites and I'm currentky favouring the faster processor but there is so much cinfoicting advice.
My second question is to do with which connection I buy to an exiting screen. Should I buy a Mini Display Port to VGA adapter or Mini Display Port to DVI adapter?

Question 1. It all depends on what you intend to use the Mini for. If you're going to do code compiling or video editing, the faster processor will help but... More RAM is always better, and an SSD will increase speed over a regular HD. I have the Corei5 with 16Gb and it handles what I do (web/graphic design and audio/video editing). Since the Corei5 is hyperthreaded, it functions like a quad core.
Question 2. The mini comes with an HDMI-DVI adapter. You can use a MiniDisplay-DVI for a second display, or you can use MiniDisplay-VGA and either will work as well as the other, the only difference being a "slight" diference in "color temperature" with VGA compared to DVI. I have two identical AOC2269W 23" monitors; 1 is DVI the other VGA. The VGA is slightly "warmer" (less blue) than the DVI. I could get a MiniDisplay-DVI adapter and a new DVI cable, but I've adjusted the "temperature" on the VGA so they are close enough that I can hardly tell the difference.

Mac Mini Investment?

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