New Mac Mini

Posted on
Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:12 am
Sharek326 offline
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New Mac Mini

Wasn't sure where this post would best fit hope I put it in the correct spot.

Apple announced the new Mini today and the specs look pretty impressive.

With the entry model the PassMark tests have the 3.6 i3 at about 8095.

I wanted to see how it would stack up as not only my Indigo Server but also double as a Plex Server. Which that test would be roughly 4 1080 streams.

The i5 3.0 model has a PassMark of 11949 which could handle between 5-6 1080 Streams

Both Models have a big change as Apple has gone back to swappable memory which was one of the reasons I haven't purchased a newer Mini already.

with my Indigo Server using mostly Zwave and the newer Aeon Labs stick will I have any issues?

Is anyone else thinking about upgrading to the new Mini?

Posted on
Tue Oct 30, 2018 12:19 pm
petematheson offline
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Re: New Mac Mini

For what they are, I thought they are very expensive. Apple tradition seems to be bumping the price by £300 or so on everything lately.

A real shame, at the moment I’m wishing indigo ran on windows as I have a bargain HP Z2 Mini G4 sat there with a Xeon processor, 16Gb memory and 512 SSD for less than £500 !


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Posted on
Tue Oct 30, 2018 12:29 pm
noel1983 offline
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Re: New Mac Mini

I'm in....£3,619 for a space grey mac mini with 2tb of storage and 64Gb ram. Exactly what I need for Indigo!!

Actually hang on I missed the 10Gb networking option +£90 :)

All seriousness it's great they've updated it at all, Apple aren't interested in the 'cheaper' end of the market. Fair enough to them.

I'll jump in on a new macbook air early next year I suspect but right now I'll sweat my kit a little longer!!

Posted on
Tue Oct 30, 2018 12:38 pm
petematheson offline
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Re: New Mac Mini

lanbrown wrote:
If Indigo ever supports a different OS, it won't be Windows.

Say what you want about the price, the hardware lasts a longtime.

The Z2 also uses SATA as the interface for even the SSD drive. Apple isn't using a SATA interface for their SSD. The Z2 only has two USB 3.0 ports two Type C and a display port; that is it. The new Mini has far more ports to it.


Pretty sure mine has 4 type C ports and 4 USB 3, plus 3 display port outputs.

Fair enough for the hardware, my MacBook has lasted ages. But I just need something to do Plex, indigo and security spy which my Mac mini only barely does now, and a shame it’s going to be another £1,200+ for a Mac that does it... doh


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Posted on
Tue Oct 30, 2018 1:46 pm
durosity offline
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Re: New Mac Mini

In all fairness the prices here are way higher than previous partly due to brexit stuffing out exchange rate... if you look at the dollar prices (and ignore the stupidly under powered 1.4ghz model) its only went up $100 since 2014.


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Posted on
Tue Oct 30, 2018 2:28 pm
Sharek326 offline
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Re: New Mac Mini

I think I am going to wait after the holidays and see what kind of reviews it is getting and go with the $799 version..

My current model is stuck where it is since it can't go to the latest OS anyway so that may just become a straight up OS File Server

Posted on
Tue Oct 30, 2018 4:29 pm
jay (support) offline
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Re: New Mac Mini

petematheson wrote:
For what they are, I thought they are very expensive. Apple tradition seems to be bumping the price by £300 or so on everything lately.

A real shame, at the moment I’m wishing indigo ran on windows as I have a bargain HP Z2 Mini G4 sat there with a Xeon processor, 16Gb memory and 512 SSD for less than £500 !


If you could move Indigo to the windows box that wouldn't solve the problem since SecuritySpy doesn't run on Windows, right? If you move to something like Blue Iris for cameras, then you could run that on the HP Z2 and just leave Indigo on the mini you have, right? Plex could probably run either place.

Just trying to do the cost/benefit calculations based on the hardware you have and how to distribute it more.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Tue Oct 30, 2018 5:18 pm
petematheson offline
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Re: New Mac Mini

Just wanting to have it all in one box, particularly as the Mac mini's are such lower power usage. The Z2 would be another thing sucking up electrickery, booo.

Looks like I'll be waiting for a Mac mini to appear on box damaged discount at work. The Z2 is just sitting here at the moment, not quite sure what's best to use it for!

Posted on
Tue Oct 30, 2018 5:31 pm
Londonmark offline
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Re: New Mac Mini

Hackintosh time...?

Posted on
Tue Oct 30, 2018 6:31 pm
siclark offline
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Location: UK

Re: New Mac Mini

I've been thinking of new toys with all this new Mac mini talk. But thinking about it, my 2014 runs indigo and SS with 2 cameras, just about ok, but pushing it. Mainly due to number of plugins I have I think.
I want a couple more cameras in future but do I need to spend £1200 on a new mac mini to do it all, or £300 on another used one and run 2?
Plex runs on my qnap with maxed RAM.



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Posted on
Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:41 pm
RogueProeliator offline
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Re: New Mac Mini

Say what you want about the price, the hardware lasts a longtime.

The Z2 also uses SATA as the interface for even the SSD drive. Apple isn't using a SATA interface for their SSD. The Z2 only has two USB 3.0 ports two Type C and a display port; that is it. The new Mini has far more ports to it.

FWIW, the right non-Apple hardware runs a long time too (as does the Apple stuff.)

I have gravitated towards older PowerEdge servers for a couple of uses -- they are great alternatives when a Windows or Linux box will do for your needs. My Plex server is an old PowerEdge 2x Quad Core Xeon box with only 4GB of RAM (soon to be upgraded) and it can transcode multiple streams without even blinking. It has 15k SAS disks and other server-leave features and you can get equivalent ones for ~$300 on eBay. Of course, it can be noisy and is not as energy efficient as a Mac Mini to say the least, but I can go quite a ways with that for the cost savings. Not taking anything away from your point, just saying that alternatives which are just as good quality and last as long do exist.

I've enjoyed my Mini but it is slower than I feel it should be... going to have to rebuild it and hope it will do its job because I'm not paying that price for the new ones... Could load Indigo on the 2006 Mac Pro but the closet doesn't really need another space heater, have enough of those as-is!

Posted on
Wed Oct 31, 2018 12:01 pm
AlaskaDave offline
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Re: New Mac Mini

Will be watching this thread as I'm likely to be updating my Late 2009 Mac Mini running El Capitan. I've changed its hard drive to SSD and maxed out the ram but struggle running Indigo, Security Spy (2 wired, 1 WIFI camera), and WeatherSnoop. I'm particularly concerned about running RFXCOM receiver for my various Oregon Scientific devices on 433.92MHz on a new MacMini.

Posted on
Sat Nov 03, 2018 5:38 pm
mat offline
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Location: Cambridgeshire - UK

Re: New Mac Mini

My late 2012 died a few months back and not enjoying running indigo on my day to day mbp. Ive splashed out on a new mini base model with upgraded processor so will report back. Delivery due 11th so will report in.

Late 2018 mini 10.14

Posted on
Sat Nov 03, 2018 5:44 pm
kw123 offline
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Re: New Mac Mini

would love to test one of the new minis... but I have 11 macs at home .. have not come up with an "approved" reason togged one

Posted on
Mon Nov 05, 2018 2:46 pm
Different Computers offline
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Re: New Mac Mini

Just thought to mention my experience, since someone said "Hackintosh time?"


First off, I'm a professional Mac support person. I did my research, considered carefully, bought only highly compatible parts according to the hackintosh site I followed for making them work with Clover.

I still couldn't get it all working without hours of help on a Hackintosh discord server. But finally did. Though a Z-stick would not work, and neither would an Insteon PLU. So the whole purpose of what I bought it for was lost.

Did the 10.12.3 update, generally described as safe on my hardware. DEAD. No longer bootable Mac. I could not fix it.

That computer sat for about a year unused, before I recently tried putting Linux on it. That worked, but was a different sort of nightmare.

Also, Perceptive Automation does not support, and barely condones, running Indigo on non-Apple hardware.

I don't blame them.

SmartThings refugee, so happy to be on Indigo. Monterey on a base M1 Mini w/Harmony Hub, Hue, DomoPad, Dynamic URL, Device Extensions, HomeKitLink, Grafana, Plex, uniFAP, Fantastic Weather, Nanoleaf, LED Simple Effects, Bond Home, Camect.

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