I want my display and my computer separate. I want to connect non-Apple displays. Sometimes I want more than three screens. I want to be able to upgrade my graphics card, which I have done on my Pro 2 times. I'd love to be able to chain an arbitrary number of Thunderbolt displays together trading refresh rate for real estate but that's just not how it works, in fact it will probably never work this way.
It's a good idea but the Mini isn't really in the same category as far as processing power and memory capacity go. And this extension chassis is ridiculously expensive for no reason. Still, it's a good alternative if/when the Pro goes out.
Yes, as I note elsewhere, what might be nice would be a "MacMini Pro", with appropriate CPUs, RAM slots, reasonable default graphics, and a couple hard drive/SSD slots, in a sleek, compact box with adequate power supply and cooling.
I'm sure Apple could produce extension chassis at a lower price point than 3rd parties, if they wanted to, but I doubt they want to get into that business.
Yes. Headless Macs are important for those who need high end displays. Depending on your needs, Apple really never was in that market.
Apple's displays are now all glossy, have dropped from 16:10 to 16:9, and most have such color inconsistency across the panel that they're impossible to calibrate. An iMac without a yellow band somewhere on the screen is like a unicorn these days.
"Yes. Headless Macs are important for those who need high end displays. Depending on your needs, Apple really never was in that market."
They were, but it's been a while. Quadra 840AV (1993) , PowerMac 9600 (1997).
At the time, if you wanted multiple screens, the Apple Macintosh platform provided flexibility that you couldn't get on the Windows NT side. Competitors were Silicon Graphics, Sun, and NeXT, but their workstations were way more expensive.
It's obvious that Apple has moved more towards consumers, and financially, it has worked for them. But I too would like Apple to give some love to professional desktop users.
