There are two Apple products that are overdue for an update… and according to a new report from Bloomberg both are set to get a refresh this year… but not necessarily in the ways you might expect.

One is a new laptop that’s said to look like a MacBook Air with slimmer bezels and a Retina display. It’s unclear if this will actually be branded as a MacBook Air or not, but Bloomberg says it’ll be a new “low-cost laptop.”

Bloomberg’s sources also indicate that the Mac Mini desktop computer is getting its first real update since 2014. But the new model isn’t necessarily aimed at the same entry-level market as the current $499 model. Instead it’s expected to be a “Pro” model with “new storage an processor options” that are “likely to make it more expensive than previous versions.

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7 replies on “Lilbits 329: MacBook Mini Pro?”

  1. Mac mini Pro? Riiiight. Because Apple needs 2 expensive, tiny, non-upgradable machines they’ve positioned for “pro” users.
    Seriously, Apple, bring back user replaceable memory, update the processors, make a small SSD the base storage, and keep the price the same. The mini will start selling again.
    Make the Mac Pro an upgradable mini tower again.
    Release a consumer laptop that starts around $700-$800
    Watch your sales start to pick up.
    If we can’t have upgradeable memory in the new Mac mini, then a least give the base model 8 GB of RAM. 4 GB really isn’t enough to run MacOS comfortably as a desktop OS. You’re selling a computer that’s under underspec’d out of the box — that can’t be upgraded to reasonable specs.
    My guess is, they’re just drop the base model, update the processors and slap a “pro” label on it (maybe release it in a darker gray). You already have to spend $700 to get one decently spec’d, so it won’t be much of an increase.

  2. I think I know what to expect here.

    From Apple’s dictionary:

    “Pro”
    Noun and adjective

    1. A person belonging to a profession
    2. A trim level of computer that has no appeal whatsoever to anyone belonging to any profession that might be interested in a computer. Typically does not bear any IO ports that might be needed for any professional work. Never has the ability to be upgraded to keep up with professional work. Seldom repairable.

  3. I’ll believe it when I see it, Apple has been dropping the ball on its Macs for a good while now.

  4. When I was transitioning away from Windows, the MacBook Air was the only Apple laptop I considered. It’ll be interesting to see what they do here. Thin, lightweight, 16:10 aspect, battery life and enough (useful) ports forced me to look deep into MacOS (before settling into Linux).

    I suspect, given Apple’s move toward a more kiosk type solution on their laptops, that ports are going to be hit hard with the refresh.

  5. They are pushing caching servers so hard in the education sector to support their shared iPad model, but currently all they can recommend is buying an armload of spec’d up Mac Minis which are sorely lacking in terms of up to date server hardware. I’m really hoping for a Mini refresh to rectify this, but a pro-oriented model that isn’t geared towards being a good data server for caching would be highly disappointing…

  6. I am anxious to see what Apple can do when they are totally vertical in the laptop and desktop spaces. Maybe these are the last Intel based products that Apple ever makes… who knows.

    1. Well, they can ALWAYS courageously drop a couple of ports. I expect the new mac mini to have 2 usb-c ports; 1 for power and another for video/keyboard/mouse/other connections

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