Pem’s Tech Blog

I was thinking about getting a Mac Mini for cross-platform game development.  But I was a little disappointed because of the GPU.  My personal gripe is, you are so close to do something cool Apple, why not take out the optical drive and put in a real discrete GPU?  That would be awesome, but I guess Apple is not awesome enough to do that…

 

So I checked for alternatives.  It looks like every single Mac has the same integrated graphics GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory. Everything except:
1) the 24" iMac (no, not the 20" iMac!)
2) MacBook Pro: 15" or 17" only
3) Mac Pro

 

But I was a little excited about the tiny portable screen-less laptop form factor (tiny box, only 3 pounds).  The iMac 24” is huge, and the Mac Pro is huge and hugely overpriced / expensive.

So this means my alternative to the Mac Mini is to get a 15" MacBook Pro, and tear it apart (with an axe and a hammer, and put the video on youtube.com and vimeo.com):
1) tear the screen off
2) tear the keyboard out, and glue hard plastic on top
3) take out the battery

Please leave a comment if you would enjoy watching this video 

This is the problem with an OEM who claims to offer “simplicity instead of choice”.  Yea, that’s “thinking different”.  You have to think pretty different to fall for a marketing scam like that – “simplicity is better is choice”.

 

I know this post is just a silly rant, so please be aware that I am aware of it.  I just thought the Mac Mini sounded great.  Until I started thinking, okay, but the GPU is not good enough.  Why didn’t they do like the Macbook Air and take out the optical drive, and make room for a better GPU?  I would’ve got one…

 

But yes, I also realize my personal preference is not necessarily the right way to decide this.  However, why not offer both?  This is my problem with a marketing campaign that tries to claim “simplicity is better is choice”.  Oh you don’t want choice, what you really want is just whatever Apple says is best.  I call that one.

 

…

 

Let me close by saying I realize that moving from Intel integrated graphics to (either NVIDIA or ATI integrated graphics) is obviously a step up, since Intel graphics is really weak.

 

However, in today’s world, it’s not as good as a discrete graphics GPU (from NVIDIA or ATI).  (And long-term, we’ll see what happens with AMD/ATI Fusion)

 

 

I noticed that the iMac 24” has the option for the GPU I’m currently using in my Windows desktop, ATI Radeon HD 4850:

 

But of course the real issue is more about having the PCI Express slot, and I guess space for it in the case, and maybe good enough heat dissipation…

 

I don’t think I want a desktop tied to an oversized monitor, especially when I prefer to use a KVM, and prefer something more portable (even the laptop screen / keyboard / battery sounds like a waste of space)…  So this is why if I were to theoretically get a Mac right now as an extra non-primary computer for cross-platform game/graphics (OpenGL, DirectX) development, then my options would be:
1) Mac Mini, and just accept the less powerful GPU as good enough
2) MacBook Pro 15”, and tear it apart to remove the screen keyboard battery
3) Or, maybe a better option is to just use a normal non-Apple computer and install OS-X (hackintosh?) on it.  Seeing as it’s now really all the same hardware (x86 and x86-x64: Intel and AMD).

 

However, what I think I’ll do instead is…  Rant about how I wish Apple would take the Mac Mini, remove its optical drive, and put in a better discrete GPU, such as comparable to their MacBook Pro options

Pem (Admin) :: Jul.02.2009 :: Mac OS :: No Comments »

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