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Comment by Diederich | Hacker News Reader

> much smaller mac mini

Eh...why make it smaller when you can give it room for extra storage? In the 'old days' I'd have also mentioned giving it room for extra memory too. :(

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Rather than extra storage, how about just more room for a larger cooling solution, whether there's a fan or not. With Apple Silicon, it seems like performance is going to be dictated by the ability to dissipate heat, so I'd rather have a larger Mac mini that can dissipate more heat and boost for longer than a smaller one.

Nowadays most computer CPU performance is constrained by heat, but M1 on Mac mini is exceptionally constrained by its SoC design thanks to its efficiency.

I don't need that much more space for storage (modern SSDs are teeny, and I don't need physical hard drives anymore for home computing).

Cooling though. Give me a bigass heatsink and a fan.

Why? So far the reviews I've read have found no evidence of thermal throttling. It is so power efficient it doesn't need a large heat sink to run at peak speed.

It also hasn't been put to a serious test yet since it's underpowered compared to mid range desktop CPUs I can put into a mini PC case.

Benchmarks for things I care about like large compiles haven't really come out yet, so I'm waiting for final judgment.

Half hour compile of Webkit. Seems like a pretty good test. Faster than an 8 core Intel laptop, much less energy usage. 20% slower than 12 core 48 GB Mac Pro. So, per core performance is better than a desktop with a ton of RAM.

https://twitter.com/panzer/status/1328700636926332928 https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/17/yeah-apples-m1-macbook-pro...

Which CPUs were benched?

I don't see Apple giving users the option to upgrade their Mac Minis to third party storage solutions.

That's possible and perhaps likely, alas.

So yeah, if we're in the universe where there's zero expandability, and their silicon is super powerful with low heat requirements, I guess they may as well make it smaller.

I hate non-upgradability as much as the next HN user, but it's worth noting that external USB SSDs (Samsung T7 and others) are now pushing 1GB/second at lower and lower prices. I recently got a 2TB model for $220 or so.

I say that not to excuse Apple, but perhaps some others are like me and are surprised at how fast the portable models have gotten.

It has room physically, but there's no place to connect it.

Modern memory and storage are so small there's no reason to keep the size. Have you seen how much empty space there is?

The Mini in Mac Mini is no longer Mini. But it could be More Mini. Make it Mini.

Storage has been external for years now. None of the upgradable internals need a large footprint.

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