Not really. This episode is sponsored by SkillShare. The learning platform for creators, with over 17,000 tutorials. Sign up today with the link below. Mac Mini just received its first update in over four years. But that ancient relic, vis-à-vis the 2014 Mac Mini, was actually slower than the 2012 Mac Mini thanks to two fewer cores So, as you can imagine, Mac Mini fans have welcomed this 2018 refresh with wide open arms. However, Apple's entry-level computer, like many things Apple now makes, is not so "entry-level", with a $300 price increase over its predecessor, bringing the price of Apple's cheapest computer to over $800. On the plus side, the base model is now a quad-core processor with the choice to opt for a hexa core. The spinning hard drive of yore has been replaced by a PCIe SSD, albeit a very small 128 gigabyte drive, and like I demonstrated in a previous video, the RAM is now user upgradeable which it was not before. All of those sound like good things. So what's my beef with this little pancake? Well, unlike the higher-end Mac Mini configurations, I'm not really sure who this $800 Mac Mini is for. I think some context will help explain a little. Remember the famous "Get a Mac" ad campaign? You know, the one starring John Hodgman as PC, and then that one guy from Alvin and the Chipmunks is the Mac? Yeah, well that coincided perfectly with the release of Mac Mini. Believe it or not, it hadn't been super-easy for Apple Circa 2006 to sell low-end PC users and families on the idea of a Mac when they had to shell out $1200 minimum for an iMac, but letting them replace their old computer with a petite $499 Mac Mini, while keeping the same display, keyboard and mouse that they were already using, uh, changed that whole dynamic and Mac Mini became enormously successful as the Mac for PC switchers. From 2006 to 2012, the machine saw a new iteration nearly every year, and the base model Mac Mini shared Generally the same CPU as the base model iMac which was typically more than double the price It was a legitimately good deal for several years So is it true that the 2018 Mac Mini is still the golden child in Apple's lineup? Well, if we take a look at Geekbench, everyone's favourite artificial benchmark, It sure looks like it. The scores are just slightly less than the base model iMac, but really it's pretty close. Par the course for Mac Mini, right? Video's over! (laughs) Not so fast. Uh, Mac... Benchmark guy, because the performance actually takes a downturn in any extended workload. Similar to what we saw with MacBook Air in my previous video, with Mac Mini out of the box in both Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro, exporting a 4K video to H.264, the machine hits the CPU's T-Junction, or maximum operating temperature of 100 degrees Celsius, within just 60 seconds, and you know what that means kids! (unintelligible) Thermal throttling. These kids are going to take my job! Kids are so smart nowadays. Yup, the i3 Mac Mini was throttling 200 to 400 megahertz when exporting video, that is abysmal. Thermal throttling. Especially considering the processor isn't even capable of turbo boost. Weirder yet, Even when I was doing something moderately intensive, while the computer never Beach bawled everything slowed down a lot. Even dragging around and resizing windows felt a little laggy. I've never seen that before on any Mac and so I thought maybe I had a defective model But I got a second and nope, the results are the same Now these measurements were taken before I pulled the Mac Mini apart a few weeks ago And once I did, I had to replace the stock thermal paste, so I used Arctic mx2, which is pretty inexpensive thermal paste But it works well for its price; and upon reassembling the machine I ran the benchmarks again not expecting a huge difference. But holy balls! Not only does the computer not thermally throttle anymore. at all. But it doesn't even surpass 91 degrees Celsius and that's with the same ambient temperatures. The thermal paste Apple uses is pretty thick and dry. Look. It's the same stuff they use in everything and they're not stupid So there's probably a reason they use it Maybe it lasts a few more years than normal paste, or maybe it doesn't shift in shipping I don't know but what I do know is that it sucks and it's a shame That without pulling apart your entire machine and re pasting it you're paying for performance that you're not actually getting and that just seems wrong Now you can make the argument and someone will Oh Quinn Well, someone who's does video editing isn't going to buy the i3 Mac Mini That's that's not who the machine is for and you're right Kinda, but that argument falls apart once we start to talk about price this machine costs $800 and if you haven't already Take a look at the comments section below because there are PC boys that are shrieking that's a ripoff Mac suck And do you know what if you're looking at the raw hardware price of all Mac's they're all overpriced compared to comparable pcs but if you want Mac OS and those people exist, I know because I am one of them and by the way, It's not just because we're idiots Mac's are just better at certain workloads than a PC and certainly vice-versa. Both platforms are good Oh, and by the way, since when was it a crime to have a preference? Give me a break deep breaths Some people want a Mac and to those people a PC isn't an option Well, unless you're going to build a hackintosh, but that's a completely different subject. You don't fix the thermal paste, which look normal People are not going to be doing the machine performs Very similarly to the base model 2017 21 and a half inch iMac now that iMac doesn't have an SSD It uses a one terabyte fusion drive which kind of sucks but the CPU Despite being dual core actually performs similarly in Geekbench and sadly has slightly better Editing performance when dealing with video thanks to just simply better cooling hardware And you also get a nice keyboard and a mouse and a nice. I'll be at low resolution 1080p display I kind of forgot that I was dassault at 1080p iMac gross Now the higher spec Mac Mini serves a different market as an iOS development machine a home server a data center computer And so I don't want to mesh those models into this video But if you're on a budget and you're looking to buy apples cheapest Mac, you should really consider your options I mean look, I just found this open box But otherwise new 2017 21 and a half inch iMac with a 4k screen for under $1000 the 2018 Mac Mini is not a bad computer percent, although with the stock thermal paste I'd argue that actually it is but even if you're daring enough to fix that it's just still Mat, it's no longer the groundbreaking $499 Mac Mini We've always had It's just hard to be a Mac fan right now because Mac Mini has fault the rest of Apple's lineup this year with a relatively Uninspired met update but a gut-wrenching price increase it just it sucks But you know what doesn't suck and never has a gut-wrenching price increase. Let's go sheriff skill-shot provides creators with over 17,000 creative business tech and lifestyle classes I'm currently in the middle of watching interior decorator busts Because I'm actually looking at building a better set than the one behind me because you know Even though these new lights are kind of cool this light This sets gives you just a little bit stale and while it's not beautiful anyway I've learned about the science behind color triads which helps pick colors that mix well together and create more dynamic environments than a mere complementary color would This is just one short example of the millions of things that you can learn through skill shares entire catalogue with a premium membership improve your value and open new doors with skill sharing an annual subscription is just $8.25 per month better yet the first 500 people to use my link can get two months of skill short cranium. Absolutely for you Thank you so much for watching I hope you've enjoyed if you didn't well, you can hit that other button If you did hit the thumbs up get subscribe for more awesome tech videos like these but most importantly and as always Stimson as me
Why why why does Apple use horrible thermal paste?
My question is, is the same sentiment held with an upgraded model? say, a 6-core i7 with 32 GB RAM?
It seems obvious that the base i3 model isn’t going to outperform anything, and a general waste if you intend on using it professionally. But is a higher end model just as head scratching of a purchase?
Well that is unfortunate. Here's to hoping the big Mac Pro refresh isn't worth what it literally looked like before (ie: a trash can)