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I haven't glanced at a teardown yet, but I believe the new Mini doesn't have two SATA ports. As such, you'd need to supply your own PCIe SSD and I'm not sure which form factor they're using in the Mini. DIY Fusion is probably more trouble than it's worth in the new Mini.
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Oct 26, 2014 05:09
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lostleaf posted:I'm pretty sure this was discussed recently but i couldn't find itin the last couple of pages. Anyway, does anyone know if the newest mini is simple to turn into a fusion drive? The new (Late 2014) Mini has two proprietary ports on its logic board, one is SATA for the hard drive, the other is a PCIe 2x for the SSD. If you order a new Mini with a Fusion drive, you will get a carrier that holds both a platter drive and an SSD blade similar to the ones in the rMBPs and MacBook Air, each is connected to the logic board through a separate cable and port. If you order a Mini with just a hard drive, you will get a carrier with the hard drive and a SATA cable installed. If you buy one and only specify an SSD then the carrier only has the SSD and requisite cable installed. What's kind of painful is that due to Apple limiting the PCIe slot to a 2X channel, the 2014 Mini SSD's never going to operate faster than about 400 MB/sec or so. The rMBP's and MacBook Airs have PCIe 4x ports for the SSD, but strangely the Minis and iMacs only get PCIe 2x; guess they wanted to differentiate those models. DIY Fusion is doable only if you like ordering parts from shadowy dealers over eBay. Better to just order the option at purchase. quote:I know that the ram is a bitch to upgrade. It's soldered onto the logic board on the Late 2014, it's for all practical purposes impossible to upgrade. Buy what you need at purchase time. Binary Badger fucked around with this message at 06:34 on Oct 26, 2014 |
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Oct 26, 2014 05:26
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illBilliam posted:You can have Apple ship it to your local retail Apple store and you can pick it up there if you don't want it shipped directly to your apartment. Oh believe me, I would but the nearest Apple Store is an hour away. I'll probably just have to deal with the details of shipping.
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Oct 26, 2014 05:43
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Well... that sucks. Thanks for the info.
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Oct 26, 2014 05:51
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Binary Badger posted:What's kind of painful is that due to Apple limiting the PCIe slot to a 2X channel, the 2014 Mini SSD's never going to operate faster than about 400 MB/sec or so. The rMBP's and MacBook Airs have PCIe 4x ports for the SSD, but strangely the Minis and iMacs only get PCIe 2x; guess they wanted to differentiate those models. But this isn't so? System Information shows my late-2013 rMBP shipped with a x2 SSD, and googling seems to indicate the 2014 rMBPs still use x2 SSDs too. It's gen2 PCIe, so the max bandwidth of a x2 link is actually 1 GB/s. OWC transplanted a x4 SSD taken from a Mac Pro into a rMBP and it seems the motherboard supports a x4 link to the SSD. http://blog.macsales.com/25878-owc-gets-1200mbs-from-ssd-in-2014-macbook-pro-with-retina-display Wouldn't be surprised if the Mini and iMac also support x4 but ship with x2 drives.
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Oct 26, 2014 11:06
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beergod posted:If I get, say, a 256gb external SDD and install OS X (and windows) on it, and boot from it but run programs from the internal HDD, will still "feel" like an HDD system or will it feel like I have an internal SSD installed? Install the OS and programs on the SSD, use the internal HDD for media storage as mentioned before. The suggestion I'd make is to partition your HDD into a small OS partition and a media partition. Keep an OSX install on there in case you ever need to disconnect the SSD but still want to fire up the computer. You can rename the backup OS partition on the HDD with a period in front of the name so it'll be hidden from your desktop.
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Oct 26, 2014 14:16
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I have two identical-model Macs (old Macbook Pros with 10.6.8 on them) and actually need to transfer the data from one to the other (one is damaged but the hard drive is fine), can I just pop out the hard drive drive of one and slap it into the other without issue or are their activation worries? This doesn't have anything fancy like Adobe software or Microsoft Office or anything that would require activation except maybe iTunes, is that the only thing to worry about?
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Oct 26, 2014 17:32
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My 2007 C2D MBP just poo poo the bed and the left fan died, showing 0 RPM currently. I'm doing a full time machine backup with three hours to go, praying it won't overheat before it's done. I took a look inside and apparently the fan's power cable is completely separated from the logic board along with the plug so I won't be fixing that on my own. So how out of luck am I? This thing is pretty old but runs fine normally. Any chance I could get this fixed?
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Oct 26, 2014 18:20
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univbee posted:I have two identical-model Macs (old Macbook Pros with 10.6.8 on them) and actually need to transfer the data from one to the other (one is damaged but the hard drive is fine), can I just pop out the hard drive drive of one and slap it into the other without issue or are their activation worries? This doesn't have anything fancy like Adobe software or Microsoft Office or anything that would require activation except maybe iTunes, is that the only thing to worry about? How damaged is it? Why not use Migration Assistant?
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Oct 26, 2014 18:32
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univbee posted:I have two identical-model Macs (old Macbook Pros with 10.6.8 on them) and actually need to transfer the data from one to the other (one is damaged but the hard drive is fine), can I just pop out the hard drive drive of one and slap it into the other without issue or are their activation worries? This doesn't have anything fancy like Adobe software or Microsoft Office or anything that would require activation except maybe iTunes, is that the only thing to worry about? Is there a reason you can't boot the one you want to get the information off of into Target Disk Mode? Or am I misunderstanding an you want to save the damaged one and throw away the system on the "good" one? If they are hardware identical, I don't *think* you'd have an issue. iTunes might need to be re-registered depending on how it generates the GUID.
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Oct 26, 2014 20:11
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Stare-Out posted:My 2007 C2D MBP just poo poo the bed and the left fan died, showing 0 RPM currently. I'm doing a full time machine backup with three hours to go, praying it won't overheat before it's done. I took a look inside and apparently the fan's power cable is completely separated from the logic board along with the plug so I won't be fixing that on my own. So the fan connector on the logic board is severed? That probably means a new logic board, right? That would not be a good use of money. You should take the drive out, image it in another computer, sell your 2007 MBP for parts and get a new one.
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Oct 26, 2014 20:16
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I have a 15" macbook pro I purchased in 2008. As I'm sure many of you are aware, it has overheating issues which ruins the logic board. I was doing the "bake it" fix for a few months and it worked fairly well. I got tired of screwing with it and got a refurbished macbook pro, which developed the same issue after 8 months. So now I have two macbook pros with bad logic boards. I can cook them and temporarily get them running again, but I am sick of messing with that. What's the best coarse of action here? Everything I have is mac based but I don't want to pay $1800 for a new mac. Is there anywhere at all to buy NEW logic boards? I can't find anything. I assume I have to take my computer to apple (which has no store around here) to get this fixed? Every logic board I see is pulled off of old macs, which won't do me any good. I assume all of the old logic boards have the same defect.
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Oct 26, 2014 20:37
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Those 2008 MacBook Pros are vintage and no longer serviced by Apple. Am I misunderstanding-did you also buy a refurbished 2008 machine or was it another machine? My opinion is the best course of action is to buy a new Mac. You don't have to spend $1800 either.
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Oct 26, 2014 20:49
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Stryguy posted:I have a 15" macbook pro I purchased in 2008. As I'm sure many of you are aware, it has overheating issues which ruins the logic board. I was doing the "bake it" fix for a few months and it worked fairly well. I got tired of screwing with it and got a refurbished macbook pro, which developed the same issue after 8 months. So now I have two macbook pros with bad logic boards. I can cook them and temporarily get them running again, but I am sick of messing with that. A new Air will be better than a 2008 MacBook Pro in any measurable way, and you can buy two for $1800
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Oct 26, 2014 21:05
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fleshweasel posted:So the fan connector on the logic board is severed? That probably means a new logic board, right? That would not be a good use of money. You should take the drive out, image it in another computer, sell your 2007 MBP for parts and get a new one.
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Oct 26, 2014 21:17
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Bob Morales posted:A new Air will be better than a 2008 MacBook Pro in any measurable way, and you can buy two for $1800 Except screen size.
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Oct 26, 2014 21:21
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Resolution will be the same though. It's really a non-issue. to estimate the worth of it: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=2008+macbook+pro+for+parts&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc
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Oct 26, 2014 21:25
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1997 posted:Those 2008 MacBook Pros are vintage and no longer serviced by Apple. It was a refurbished 2008. At the time I thought refurbished meant it got a new logic board. I guess I was wrong. Either that or the new boards had the same issues the old ones had. I have a PC as my primary laptop now. I just wanted to get my old computer(s) up and running so I could use the programs (like adobe suite) on them. I prefer the 15" screen for things like photo and video editing. If I got a newer used mac, could I pull and clone the HD from my old mac without an issue? I had Lion as the OS on my old mac so it's pretty up to date. I'm just trying to figure out the best (and cheapest) course of action. I don't want to buy a new mac. I am tired of Apple making it impossible to fix or replace anything on their computers.
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Oct 26, 2014 22:08
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Stryguy posted:I am tired of Apple making it impossible to fix or replace anything on their computers. I'm sure you know, but apple isn't exactly moving towards making it easier to fix their computers (seems to be the opposite). If that isn't what you want, long term the only thing to do about it is vote by not buying their computers next time.
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Oct 26, 2014 22:19
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BobHoward posted:But this isn't so? System Information shows my late-2013 rMBP shipped with a x2 SSD, and googling seems to indicate the 2014 rMBPs still use x2 SSDs too. It's gen2 PCIe, so the max bandwidth of a x2 link is actually 1 GB/s. I stand corrected, Late 2014 Mini and Retina iMac are 2nd generation PCIe.
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Oct 26, 2014 22:27
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flosofl posted:Is there a reason you can't boot the one you want to get the information off of into Target Disk Mode? Or am I misunderstanding an you want to save the damaged one and throw away the system on the "good" one? It was mainly an  thing as I'm trying to do this while caring for a newborn. Turns out it worked without issue, and just as well since in dismantling the computers I found other issues I didn't know about (like a swollen battery that was making it very hard to "click" the trackpad in the "new" one) and was able to put all the bad parts into the one bad Mac. Now if I get a new battery and a keyboard replacement this old Macbook Pro might actually be usable.
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Oct 26, 2014 22:33
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carry on then posted:Thanks for the info. Jump into the deep end. Get a 15" with the quad-core and the eGPU. Stryguy posted:I just wanted to get my old computer(s) up and running so I could use the programs (like adobe suite) on them. I prefer the 15" screen for things like photo and video editing. First of all, photo and video editing on a 2008 MBP has got to be excruciating by today's standards, right? Is that really worth it? Hell, even a 3 year old Air for ~$500 is gonna be a significant step up. To answer your HDD clone question, it shouldn't be a big problem. If you can get Migration Assistant working on it, then you should have an even easier time of moving to a new computer. And finally- I get where you're coming from with your complaints but the truth is that, along with being less user-reparable, these newer computers are also way more reliable and high-performing than their predecessors. There's a lot less reason to be up in the guts of your machine when the likelihood of mechanical failure is so much lower and the combined benefit of the parts and their integration (lightness, battery life, SSD performance) outweighs the accessibility drawbacks. The loss is really a lot less major than a lot of people make it out to be, IMO.
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Oct 26, 2014 22:50
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Electric Bugaloo posted:The loss is really a lot less major than a lot of people make it out to be, IMO. I think it's only a lot of people, if that, on web forums. I'd also like to know which illustrious competitor makes comparable laptops whose components can be exchanged freely.
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Oct 26, 2014 23:37
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flavor posted:I think it's only a lot of people, if that, on web forums. I'd also like to know which illustrious competitor makes comparable laptops whose components can be exchanged freely. The bigger issue is really the downtime that's generated because you have no choice but to go through an Apple Store, which means making an appointment (days and you have to go there yourself) for your repair (could be weeks for some issues), versus PC-equivalent manufacturers having 3 years on-site next-business-day support as standard. For home use that's one thing but we started supporting a mostly-Mac company at my work and they might actually switch away because they're finding the turnaround on repairs to be pretty much unacceptable, even with AppleCare.
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Oct 27, 2014 00:06
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AASPs may give you faster service. But you are right that Apple doesn't really have an excuse to take as long as they do when many PC manufacturers can give their business customers such a good experience.
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Oct 27, 2014 00:40
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univbee posted:The bigger issue is really the downtime that's generated because you have no choice but to go through an Apple Store, which means making an appointment (days and you have to go there yourself) for your repair (could be weeks for some issues), versus PC-equivalent manufacturers having 3 years on-site next-business-day support as standard. For home use that's one thing but we started supporting a mostly-Mac company at my work and they might actually switch away because they're finding the turnaround on repairs to be pretty much unacceptable, even with AppleCare. Are there any nationwide companies that are worth a poo poo that sell Macs with on-site service plans? MacMall or something?
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Oct 27, 2014 00:43
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univbee posted:The bigger issue is really the downtime that's generated because you have no choice but to go through an Apple Store, which means making an appointment (days and you have to go there yourself) for your repair (could be weeks for some issues), versus PC-equivalent manufacturers having 3 years on-site next-business-day support as standard. For home use that's one thing but we started supporting a mostly-Mac company at my work and they might actually switch away because they're finding the turnaround on repairs to be pretty much unacceptable, even with AppleCare. I was looking at it from the perspective of that user, not an enterprise situation. (Plus, honestly, if the unavailability of a single machine causes you any significant amount of lost professional productivity, you've set up your workplace the wrong way. Yes I know lots of people and places are too cheap or ignorant for that and backups.) If one of my machines went down it's be too bad, but I'd only have to invest 15-30 minutes to move to another, if that.
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Oct 27, 2014 01:03
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Sounds like my best bet is to get a used mac, clone the HD, and piece out my old ones. Are the macbook pros made in the last 3 years better than the 08's? Obviously the 08-09's had issues. I have read that 2011 models had problems too. Any other years / models I should watch out for? I hate to have another one fail after a couple of years of use.
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Oct 27, 2014 01:04
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flavor posted:I was looking at it from the perspective of that user, not an enterprise situation. (Plus, honestly, if the unavailability of a single machine causes you any significant amount of lost professional productivity, you've set up your workplace the wrong way. Yes I know lots of people and places are too cheap or ignorant for that and backups.) If one of my machines went down it's be too bad, but I'd only have to invest 15-30 minutes to move to another, if that. No argument there. These guys did have spares but not enough of them; they're cheapskates, and had a few short-notice hires, and then a few of their Macbooks shat the bed within a few days of each-other because of a known defect. And they're cheapskates.
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Oct 27, 2014 01:11
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Stryguy posted:Sounds like my best bet is to get a used mac, clone the HD, and piece out my old ones. It's late 2014. I wouldn't look at anything that was made more than 2 years ago, mid-2012 at most. I'm not aware of any major problems with those models. But honestly, no offense but you're sounding a little bit like someone who sets himself up for disappointment again and again by your buying decisions. The least I would do is instead of buying a "used" Mac (not sure whether your idea of "used" includes refurbished), I'd definitely get a refurbished one and add on AppleCare either immediately or within the first year, while you still can. That way you'll have peace of mind for 3 years. After that, please move on, sell the old one and use the money to buy the next.
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Oct 27, 2014 01:13
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Stryguy posted:Sounds like my best bet is to get a used mac, clone the HD, and piece out my old ones. Don't buy the 2011 models if you want Handoff with your iPhone.
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Oct 27, 2014 01:23
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You're the only one who really knows your budget and your needs, but you should consider the total cost of ownership of buying a 1 year old Apple refurb with a warranty versus a 3 year old Craigslist special.
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Oct 27, 2014 03:40
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Jumped straight off the deep end and bought a hex core Late 2013 Mac Pro, refurbished, and when it arrived, quickly reinstalled it from scratch with Yosemite. Within a few days, it already failed once to wake from sleep mode. One thing I also noticed was that it had an orange light glowing from inside the machine, showing through the bottom vents, to the right of the connector panel. This, and combined with other issues I've experienced and heard about Yosemite, has led me to back down to Mavericks. That didn't fix the sleep issue, as it happened again a few days ago. I have since disabled sleep mode. Is this something I should RMA it over? Also, since it was a refurbished model, I wasn't able to buy it with expanded storage, otherwise I would have gone straight for the 1TB SSD. As such, I'm already eating into half of the 256GB drive, with gigs upon gigs spent on things like iOS .ipa backups, Xcode, iOS development symbols, iPhoto, my iPhoto library, etc. I'm kind of hoping I'll be able to score a bigger drive some day from OWC, and do something creative with the existing drive once that happens. That, or set up some sort of ThunderBolt enclosure thing that doesn't cost a small fortune like this computer did.
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Oct 27, 2014 05:51
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kode54 posted:Is this something I should RMA it over? Nah, don't worry about it at all.
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Oct 27, 2014 05:56
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Dr. Tim Whatley posted:Nah, don't worry about it at all. I can't tell if you're being serious here, since I'm not terribly familiar with the prevalence of sleep issues.
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Oct 27, 2014 06:00
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kode54 posted:Jumped straight off the deep end and bought a hex core Late 2013 Mac Pro, refurbished, and when it arrived, quickly reinstalled it from scratch with Yosemite. Within a few days, it already failed once to wake from sleep mode. One thing I also noticed was that it had an orange light glowing from inside the machine, showing through the bottom vents, to the right of the connector panel. This, and combined with other issues I've experienced and heard about Yosemite, has led me to back down to Mavericks. That didn't fix the sleep issue, as it happened again a few days ago. I have since disabled sleep mode. Is this something I should RMA it over? I would. Older tower Mac Pros have red failure diagnostic LEDs inside; when they're lit something bad has happened. If the orange light you're seeing is the cylinder-Pro version of the same thing, you have real hardware problems for sure.
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Oct 27, 2014 06:10
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kode54 posted:I can't tell if you're being serious here, since I'm not terribly familiar with the prevalence of sleep issues. Sorry, take it to Apple immediately.
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Oct 27, 2014 06:21
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BobHoward posted:I would. Older tower Mac Pros have red failure diagnostic LEDs inside; when they're lit something bad has happened. If the orange light you're seeing is the cylinder-Pro version of the same thing, you have real hardware problems for sure. I hope not, but I'm taking it in just the same. Dr. Tim Whatley posted:Sorry, take it to Apple immediately. Pity I won't be able to upgrade the SSD outside of returning it and buying a non refurb model. It was already stupid enough that I bought this just days before the Retina iMac launched.
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Oct 27, 2014 07:23
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I don't know why he was being all sassy about it. If your new computer has problems then take it to the shop. If you pay that much it should work. And yes you did gently caress up by not getting a retina iMac instead.
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Oct 27, 2014 07:47
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kode54 posted:I hope not, but I'm taking it in just the same. No, you really really should just bring it to the apple store. Do you think the issue will just magically resolve itself? If it's still in the return period you could get a retina iMac instead.
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Oct 27, 2014 07:52
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