I actually kinda like that. The amount of times I've accidently shut down my laptop through the dock (very similar shape as the mac mini) just (un)plugging a cable and bumping the power button is ridiculous
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apple calls it "feature"
Apple designers: I wAnT tO bE dIfFeReNt
I can’t wait for all the Apple haters to absolutely lose their shit over such an inconsequential thing.
I’m not an apple hater, I have a Mac mini. However, our power goes out fairly regularly in the winter, and it’ll get old having to get the thing out of the back of my desk at start it again pretty bloody quickly, it’s an obviously daft place to put it.
You can power it on using the keyboard. There’s a power button there.
Is the keyboard not bluetooth anymore? The computer would have to be on to connect to a bluetooth device. If they still had wired keyboards on the other hand...
Ah, if I used a Mac keyboard then I’d probably have known that. I generally don’t really like Mac peripherals, I’ve got a full size mechanical keyboard and a thumb wheel mouse. I get that it’s not an insurmountable problem, but there’s only one face out of the six that you can absolutely guarantee isn’t going to be immediately accessible, so why put the only button on the whole machine on that face, as opposed to next to all the I/Os?
Can you also use that button for hard reboots? Because I use the power button for that with some regularity.
Terminal: sudo systemsetup -setrestartpowerfailure on
That’s the most useful thing anyone’s said so far, thanks. My current mini is hard enough to get at, as it’s under the back of the desk, so I’ve used this, as even though the power button is in a vaguely accessible place, there computer isn’t. Why would I want it taking up room on the top that could be used for synths I can’t play, and coffee I haven’t drunk?!
Set your energy saver preferences in System Settings to automatically restart the computer after a power failure.
Do you not already have to reach behind your current Mini to turn it on in the instance the power goes out?
Now instead of reaching around, you just would have to reach to basically the same area and press a button underneath. Unless you have a bunch of junk on top of the computer, it's going to take the same amount of effort.
It looks like the foot/base bit isn’t tall enough to get a finger to the button without lifting the thing up. That seems daft to me. You’re having to move the whole unit about to push a button
Mine is rotated sideways so the button is on the corner nearest me. I care more about good access to the cables than I care about the ooh aesthetics of looking at the smooth front. Bottom of the fucking device is not what I call good access.
Apple fanboy here. This will prevent me from upgrading from my M2 Pro Mini. I'll likely end up buying a Studio at some point if they don't come out with an iMac Pro.
It's genuinely one of the dumbest things Apple has done. And that list is growing with nearly every product they release.
You’re refusing to upgrade because of the location of a single button that you’ll hardly ever use.
Don’t pretend that’s reasonable.
What’s unreasonable is Apple’s design philosophy.
I don’t want to have to unbuild my desktop and unplug everything from my computer just to turn it back on. I don’t even know how I would use this computer in my setup. Because Apple didn’t want to expose a power button. Or because they chose to cut corners.
I actually have to press this all the time when my mini freezes or there has been a power failure. My mini has quite a few cables plugged into it and a stack of drives on top. So yeah lifting it up to press a button is decidedly inconvenient and inelegant. It’s not killing anyone’s babies but we’re talking about product design here. Inconvenient and inelegant are 100% fair game.
As I said, in another comment, you should focus on what is causing the freezing, not where a button is.
Even if it’s not a big deal, it’s a form over function decision and I was hoping Apple is over that by now.
I've seen a decent number of people mention that current placement is too easy to accidentally hit while plugging something in. I've also experienced that.
However, if you think Apple is ever going to get over form over function, you're very mistaken. It's literally their entire identity.
It’s not, we solved this issue before the invention of the computer, just use a capacitive touch sensor, you can literally make any power button completely invisible, this is malicious design.
They did that on the old G4 cube, it illuminated when it was powered on to show where the capacitive power "button" was, but it was basically invisible when the device was powered off.
But why? Same question for the Magic Mouse?
It’s a subtle hint that you don’t have to power off your computer between uses. Most modern computers go into an ultra low power mode when not in use.
or maybe so the mac can be used as a home hub?
Sure. But even without it you don’t need to turn it off
Finally, a power button my stupid cats can't sit on and turn the computer off with.
Laptop? Oh yeah, they'll turn that off. Gaming desktop? Yep, but only if it's annoying for them to have done so. Home server? Yes, but only because they know that's the most annoying thing to power cycle.
Apple's new power bottom.
I had a mini sitting there for about a year before someone pointed out it was upside down on my desk. I thought the side that says "Mac mini" was supposed to be facing up? But no, apparently it's the Apple logo side. With the power button on the model name side, I think that could fuel a nice, juicy OCD argument with my coworker?
I'm gonna guess the hard drive and RAM are still not upgradeable by us?
Why would they switch back?
What do you mean „still“? They moved away from that for years now, they won’t be going back.
The RAM is built into the M4 chip... So unless you are cutting the chip open and doing soldering no
That’s never changing. You can connect a separate storage drive but it’ll be slower than the built in one.
Sheesh. How often do you need to reach for the power button? It's got solid state storage. Just flip it on its damn side and stop whinging.
Other people don't use computers the same way I do, therefore they must be whiny idiots.
they probably know people don’t actually turns off their devices lol
Easy solution: