* A mac is required for iOS development, so it can be used as a build server for teams working in Xamarin. Possibly used in other cross platform mobile development workflows. (Who: mobile developers, Why: to run builds)
* People that need more I/O than a macbook pro can support. In addition to the I/O a MBP has this has 10GB Ethernet, 2 USB A, HDMI, and a dedicated power slot. It's also significantly cheaper than the iMac Pro, while also having 10GB Ethernet. (Who: People working in video, photography, and anyone that heavily uses a 10GB network. Why: Better connectivity)
* Groups with existing macos server applications that want a headless server with cheaper/newer hardware than the Mac Pro or old Mac Mini. (Who: companies with macos server programs running. Why: It's newer better hardware)
* People that want a very small computer. (Who: Everyday consumers. Why: Small footprint. It's the cheapest Mac for people that like MacOS but don't the need portability of a macbook or the monitor of an iMac.)
I'm dreading buying anything from Apple, but I need to compile my React Native app.
I keep waiting for old generation macs to enter the used market to drive down prices. Hopefully I can snag a used one, compile once, and forget about the experience.
Either way, if they keep their same pricing, there's a 12 month break even of buying your own hardware if you don't need to be on a data center backbone.
I could use a friends unused mac....
Thank you for the idea, I seriously didnt consider that.
That said, I can afford the MBP; as a professional, one shouldn't cheap out on tools that help you get your job done efficiently.
It's not the fastest, but all computers are fast enough now that it doesn't really matter to me. It doesn't have a built-in 5K display or high-end GPU, but I'm not a graphics geek so I don't care. I've already got a pair of big displays and a keyboard and mouse and speakers that I like.
It's smaller than my Mac Pro, so it will probably save me a bunch on my power bill.
It's pretty portable so I can take it with me, if I need to. Compared to Apple's laptops, it's cheaper, and doesn't require adapters for HDMI, ethernet, USB-A, or audio-out (i.e., everything I run across in the field).
It probably supports Linux better than a MacBook, so when Apple stops supporting it, I can still make good use of it.
It doesn't have analog/digital audio input/output, like my Mac Pro, which is too bad, but I can solve that with a cheap "external sound card". Those features seems to be on the way out with their professional models, anyway.
The only real downside is that the hardware isn't very upgradable, but that's basically the case with all Macs today, so until it gets so painful that I leave MacOS for Linux again, I'll just have to live with it.
A new Mac Pro might be nice, but it could be a year before we see that, and nobody has any idea what it's going to be. My hunch is it'll be expensive. It hasn't been since the G4 days that the entry-level Mac workstation was $1500.
As a home user, I just might get this instead of building another hackintosh, but my guess is that it will be less interesting priced with a usable configuration. If the memory and storage is user upgradable, on the other hand ...
Edit: if I max out a Mac Pro's memory and storage, it comes to US$4,800. A comparable Mac Mini is US$3,300, and I can spend $800 to double the storage to 2TB. I definitely see us getting these at work.
For home use, I like that I can upgrade the memory, but Apple is predictably marking up the storage big time.
It's pretty offensive. +$600 to upgrade the SSD to 1TB from 256G, when a new 2TB drive at Newegg is $350.
I needed a family computer, to use in a shared space. I looked at the Mac Mini, but new ones had soldered RAM and didn't want to invest in a 2011 used model. I bought a 27 inch iMac because it was the only Mac with up-gradable memory. Have already upgraded the memory to 32GB, so all four of us can be logged in at the same time.
This Mini, with a 3rd party RAM upgrade, would have been perfect. Could have used the monitor, keyboard and mouse I already owned.