Apple Mac mini Computer
Over the past decade Mac mini computers have proven to be a popular choice for church tech and production teams. They’re small and portable, yet powerful enough to run most presentation, lighting and audio software used week in and week out in ministry contexts of all kinds. Just as importantly, these computers have proven to be an affordable way to get dependable, quality performance into primary and secondary environments, providing an easy way for church techs to say ‘yes’ to opportunities that might otherwise proven too challenging.
For instance, Mac minis have been extremely popular for portable churches, as well as many kids and student ministry environments where space is a premium. Mac minis can also be found in mid-size and larger church FOH lighting and audio positions that need basic web, communications and Planning Center access points.
These new machines are actually a big jump forward, especially with the promise of running three 4K feeds from one Mac mini.
Late last year, Apple announced its first serious update to the Mac mini in almost four years, surprising some observers who believed it would eventually be retired from the Mac line. While we haven’t had the chance to get our hands on one for a proper review, in this First Impression we’ll preview the new Mac mini and explore whether it still presents an interesting option for church production ministries.
Good Things In Small Packages
With the new Mac mini, Apple is making clear that they are serious about targeting it to users needing power and results. At the heart of the computer are new Intel Quad-core and 6-core processors, which represent a massive jump in power from previous versions. The Mac mini also boasts Intel UHD Graphics to support up to three 4K displays running simultaneously, two outputs via Thunderbolt 3 and one through the dedicated HDMI 2.0 port. This ability to run three separate signals is a very big deal for churches needing to output a unique video signal for dedicated stage lyric displays.
Apple Mac mini Computer
Fortunately the engineers at Apple seem to have finally gotten the message that I/O connectivity is a still a big deal, as the new Mac minis feature very solid connectivity options.
While the base Mac mini model includes 8GB of RAM, users needing more power can upgrade that to a whopping 64GB of DDR4 SO-DIMM for a serious performance boost. In a similar vein, the Mac mini utilizes solid-state drives that can range from 128GB all the way to 2TB, allowing the end users to decide for themselves what kind of onboard storage they need. The cooling system has supposedly been dramatically improved, which it would have to be given the kinds of processing power the Mac mini is boasting.
Fortunately the engineers at Apple seem to have finally gotten the message that I/O connectivity is a still a big deal, as the new Mac minis feature very solid connectivity options. The new machines boast four Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, two USB3 ports, and HDMI 2.0 connection, a 3.5mm stereo headphone port and a Gigabit Ethernet port, which can be upgraded to 10Gb Ethernet for users needing even faster transfer rates.
Deploying Into Action
The attraction of the Mac mini has always been its combination of smaller size, flexibility, dependability and cost effectiveness, combined with enough power to run mid-range productivity software. With this new generation of devices, the dependability, flexibility and size benefits still seem locked, although the physical footprint of the Mac Mini seems to have grown a bit since it’s last iteration.
On the power side of the equation, these new machines are actually a big jump forward, especially with the promise of running three 4K feeds from one Mac Mini. The only thing keeping these devices from being workstation-class is omission of a dedicated graphics card, which Apple is more than aware of. For users wanting that higher-end graphics performance they recommend paring the Mac mini with the newly announced Blackmagic eGPU Pro.
One of the most intriguing questions about the new Mac mini line is whether they are still the cost-effective solution they used to be. The base model, featuring a 3.6Ghz Intel i3 processor, 8GB of DDR4 and a 128GB SSD drive, starts out at $799, which isn’t at all unreasonable, but also doesn’t put it into the ‘budget’ category either. On the other end of the spectrum, a fully spec’d out Mac mini with a 6-core Intel i7, 64B of DDR4, 2TB SSD and 10Gb Ethernet will run $4,199, which is more than many dedicated graphics workstations.
In Conclusion
All things being equal, the new Mac minis will likely continue to be a solid option for teams needing performance in a very limited physical space. The fact that these new machines have the power under the hood to jump into a 4K world is a big deal. Assuming the base model is actually as powerful as Apple promises, it should be more than enough to run most presentation, lighting and audio software packages being utilized in churches today. We’ll know more when we get out hands on one for a proper review.
Ultimately, Apple computers continue to serve as one of the backbones for church tech ministries the world over. If the new Mac mini can deliver on their promise they will likely continue to be tools that move that legacy into the next decade of ministry.
