The Mac Mini Turns 1,000 Days Old Today

The last time the Mac Mini was updated was October 16, 2014. Today is July 12, 2017. I had to use an online calculator to be sure, but the results are exactly 1000 days since the last Mac Mini update. This isn’t nearly as bad as the Mac Pro update debacle, but it’s still worth noting.

Money

Even Apple customers are money-conscious, so the fact that the most affordable Mac is 2.74 years old is an issue for some. Macs are famed for their longevity, but in an era where MacBooks get a refresh every year, the Mini is getting left out.

Image of Mac Mini with Thunderbolt Display.
Mac Mini with Thunderbolt Display.

The Mini is essentially a cheap iMac without a display, starting at US$499. It’s a desktop device that lets you hook up your own peripherals like a monitor, mouse and keyboard.

Will we see a new Mini this fall, announced alongside the new iPhones? We hope so. Until then, drink 8 beers (or shots if you can take it) to commemorate this event, because 1,000 in binary is 8 in decimal.

Do you have a Mac Mini and are frustrated by the lack of updates? Drop a comment below.

11 thoughts on “The Mac Mini Turns 1,000 Days Old Today

  • This is so sad. The Mac Mini was my first Mac in 2007 and I still like my 2012 version running all of our iOS builds.

    I really hope there will be a new Mac without a display soon so that we can upgrade our continues build environment. I guess there have to a lot of other Mac and iOS developers with the same needs.

  • Always dissapointed that Apple can’t work out how to fit the guts of an iMac or even a MacBook Pro into the mini case. It’s always a crippled version of the slowest iMac, not even as fast as the MacBook. However, buy one of these for the cheapest way to legally run OS X. MY 2008 mini still runs as a media centre, and my 2011 mini is my main desktop. They last for ages.

    1. I know what you mean. I’m fairly certain that Apple could do that. When the 12″ MacBook came out for the first time, they boasted how much they shrunk the logic board.

  • What I truly don’t understand about Apple especially these days is their inability to make a product which is not a blockbuster. Very unimpressive and uncreative computer companies like Dell or HP have always and continue to make low-end computers. These have a relatively non-premium look and feel; they’re easy to refresh regularly because they use standard parts; and they don’t cost a fortune to develop. If Apple wants to sell a $600 computer, selling hardware that’s 3-4 years old is less embarrassing to them apparently than just making a cheap-to-develop, modest mini-ITX based system with the current generation of hardware??

    Apple wants to be seen as a BMW, with only high-end products. Synonymous with “the best available.” So they would say they have no low-end. So the Mini has to be just as premium and expensive to develop as the Mac Pro. Yet they turn around and let it languish for 3 years at a time. Imagine if BMW offered two cars in its lineup that didn’t get any changes at all in 10 years but they just kept selling them. (I think 10 is a fair comparison based on how much faster computers obsolesce.)

  • I have been waiting 2 years for a new Mac Mini. Ever since the 2014s got panned, and the leftover 2012s skyrocketed in price, it made sense for me to wait. Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please offer a new Mac Mini!

  • This makes me really sad.

    Back in 2006, The Mac Mini was the 1st Apple computer that I could actually afford and it weas my entry into the Mac universe. I loved that computer because it allowed me to get the hell away from the dumpster fire that was Windows Vista.

    The fact that Apple has abandoned (after 1,000 days without an update, there is no other term that fits) this machine the way it has makes you think that they care very little to attracting new customers to the Mac platform. This is strong evidence that as far as Apple is concerned, desktop computing is the past and the present and future are the iPhone and the iPad.

    Entry level computers at an affordable price be dammed. Just terrible.

  • Mac Mini’s are what I have used and loved for many years. I still have a late 2012 Mini I use as my main machine with a decent i5 in it, 16GB of Ram and a SSD. Another 2014 Mini is in use in my home also. Mine is still going fine even though its from 2012. No complaints or slow downs making me think of upgrading. I do wish they would update it though, maybe with USB-C ports to start and the CPU update the rest of the products got recently. I hope they will keep it around since it was my least expensive entry into getting a Mac and apple needs those products. If the price to enter is so high, it will hurt their future customers.

  • The High Sierra support stretches back across 4 models of Mac mini — the 2014, 2012, 2011, and 2010. So your 2014 unit should keep going with new OS versions for another 3-4 years.

    And get back to me on celebrating the binary anniversary next month, when it hits 1024 days. Yes, I’m pedantic.

  • It’s gotta be close to not being able to run the latest OS-X. At some point they have to “put up or shut up” with this model. They can’t be selling a Mac that won’t run the current OS.

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