New Mac Mini (October 2014) as XBMC Machine
#16
(2014-10-18, 13:50)jjd-uk Wrote:
(2014-10-18, 11:22)solamnic Wrote:
(2014-10-18, 06:36)ozkhan1 Wrote: No hd audio on Mac mini.


Poor refresh rates because of underlying os. Slow resp0nse while browsing library, etc.

No hd audioHuh?

OS-X does not support HD audio, however if you run Windows under Bootcamp then you should be able to use Intel Windows drivers to get HD audio.

The New OSX Yosemite still does not support HD audio? Huh
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#17
(2014-10-18, 18:37)solamnic Wrote:
(2014-10-18, 13:50)jjd-uk Wrote:
(2014-10-18, 11:22)solamnic Wrote: No hd audioHuh?

OS-X does not support HD audio, however if you run Windows under Bootcamp then you should be able to use Intel Windows drivers to get HD audio.

The New OSX Yosemite still does not support HD audio? Huh

I guess because OS X has never come close to offering Blu-ray support, and unlike Windows there aren't lots of commercial Blu-ray player programs, there is no real 'official' need to support it. The only official source for Dolby True HD and DTS HD MA/HR is Blu-ray (and HD-DVD I guess if you are in to antiques) - though Dolby Digital Plus is more widespread?

Or put it another way - until iTunes movies are DTS HD/Dolby True HD - I wouldn't bank on it?

Or am I mistaken?

HOWEVER - there is an argument that as Macs are in widespread use in the Post production and content creation business - including Blu-ray mastering (there are DTS-HD production tools for the Mac) then being able to replay HD Audio does have some practical merit...

One thing to be aware of (apologies if it has already been mentioned) is that the new Mac Mini (like the Macbook Air and Retina Macbook Pro - and 21" iMac) has soldered RAM which cannot be upgraded. Previous models had SODIMMs which made upgrading trivial.
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#18
Unless there is a major shift with Apple, I don't see mac os supporting hd audio. It's one of gates' s legacies.
If I remember correctly he referred to bluray as "a world of hurt"
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#19
Jobs not Gates....
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#20
Whoops. Haha. Can't believe I effed that one .. Thx willem. It's corrected. That was funny Smile
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#21
(2014-10-18, 06:36)ozkhan1 Wrote: Poor refresh rates because of underlying os. Slow resp0nse while browsing library, etc.

OS X has had no issue with refresh rate switching for a while now. There are no slowdowns in the GUI, either.

(2014-10-18, 07:41)Willem55 Wrote: Apple Firmware/OS and open media players sound like a contradiction in terms to me.
But I'm sure that within Apple constraints xbmc/kodi will work fine for the Apple fans.

Don't spread this bullshit here. There are zero "constraints" when it comes to Mac OS X. Rip on iOS all you want, but anyone saying Mac OS X and Apple's x86 hardware is "locked down" is full of it.
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#22
It's a nice machine if you need OS X, but even as a hardcore mac fanboy, this is overkill for XBMC/Kodi ;)

It would at least be tempting if Apple still had user upgradable RAM on this unit.
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#23
(2014-10-18, 22:39)Ned Scott Wrote:
(2014-10-18, 06:36)ozkhan1 Wrote: Poor refresh rates because of underlying os. Slow resp0nse while browsing library, etc.

OS X has had no issue with refresh rate switching for a while now. There are no slowdowns in the GUI, either.

(2014-10-18, 07:41)Willem55 Wrote: Apple Firmware/OS and open media players sound like a contradiction in terms to me.
But I'm sure that within Apple constraints xbmc/kodi will work fine for the Apple fans.

Don't spread this bullshit here. There are zero "constraints" when it comes to Mac OS X. Rip on iOS all you want, but anyone saying Mac OS X and Apple's x86 hardware is "locked down" is full of it.

I disagree with the slow downs part. Unless I beef up my mac mini to twice the ram of a nuc, the underlying Os and programs are going to be a constraint on the hardware resources and affect kodi prrformance.
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#24
You can disagree all you want, any person with a mac can test this and see that it runs XBMC just fine with the minimal that Apple puts in there (4GB). Mac OS X is not a resource heavy OS. I don't expect everyone to like Mac OS X, but there are certain things that are facts and not opinions. Maybe you have some broken set up when you tried it, I don't know, but I can tell you that it runs with zero "slowdowns" compared to the same hardware running Ubuntu or Windows 7/8. Maybe something that is more bare bones, like OpenELEC, will give better performance, but for modern, mid-range (as far as desktops go) hardware like this it shouldn't even be noticeable in the XBMC/Kodi GUI.

I suppose I could post a video showing this, but this is the first time I've ever heard anyone claim that OS X causes XBMC/Kodi to have GUI slowdowns on any hardware made in the last 5 years.
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#25
I only briefly owned a Mini. I always appreciated the external design of them and one day I impulse-bought an open box 2012 base model from Best Buy for about $450 or so ($600 new). I was running an HP tower with an i7-2600 CPU with Windows 7 Media Center and Plex Media Server. I loved the idea of replacing it with that little Mini, but I knew that the tower I already owned was more capable, so I couldn't justify it and ended up returning it.

But for those arguing in favor of a NUC, I still don't see it as having a clear cut value/performance advantage over a Mac Mini. I just took a quick check at Newegg and I'm seeing the following:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...-_-Product
$350
i5-4250 w/Intel HD 5000 graphics
PassMark score: 3462
CPU, RAM, HD (SSD only?) user-upgradable
smaller case, but less attractive
2 USB3 ports
external power brick
no built-in IR
no HD included
no RAM included
no OS included

2014 base Mac Mini
$500
i5-4260U w/Intel HD 5000 graphics
PassMark score: 3651
No upgradability
larger case, but more attractive
4 USB3 ports
power supply all internal
built-in IR
500GB HD
4GB RAM
Mac OS X included

If you're willing to live with the lack of upgradability, the base Mini might still be a good deal compared to a similar i5 NUC.

Now, if you are looking to just use this as a client, you may not need an i5 at all, and you can get a Celeron-based NUC for as little as $150. But if you just need an XBMC client, even that NUC may be more expensive than you need to spend. If you can live without 24p and some HD audio and VC-1 support, my Fire TV works pretty well, costs less than $100, and doesn't require any hardware upgrades. The newer Android TV boxes will hopefully be even better.
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#26
Dual booting openelec osx is viable in a mac mini (2014 edition)?
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#27
(2014-10-18, 22:39)Ned Scott Wrote:
(2014-10-18, 07:41)Willem55 Wrote: Apple Firmware/OS and open media players sound like a contradiction in terms to me.
But I'm sure that within Apple constraints xbmc/kodi will work fine for the Apple fans.

Don't spread this bullshit here. There are zero "constraints" when it comes to Mac OS X. Rip on iOS all you want, but anyone saying Mac OS X and Apple's x86 hardware is "locked down" is full of it.

This is the biggest CRAP I ever read: There are zero "constraints" when it comes to Mac OS X. discussion was not about what you can RIP but about what you can playback...
There are playback constraints with about every OS and just like with android.. OSX has a few..

Now if you call stating that "BULLSHIT" I call stating there are no constraints "BLATANT LIES"

Anyone care to sum up a list on what playback functionality for instance openelec offers/allows that OSX does not... in in my perception of the English language you can call the difference constraints..
Ned you should stop those personal attacks they're getting too obvious..
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#28
Since English may not be your native language, I think it should be pointed out that where he said "Rip on iOS all you want" that first, he's talking about iOS there and not OS X... and second, "rip" in this context was probably a bad choice of words, as he's not referring to "ripping a movie" but rather "rip" in the sense of "tear down" or "criticize".

Basic gist: he's saying iOS is "locked down", but OS X isn't.
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#29
So OS X does allow DTS HD-MA and TrueHD pass through, BD (ISO).... and all this talk about running a different OS on it to make it work is nonsense?
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#30
(2014-10-19, 10:24)Willem55 Wrote:
(2014-10-18, 22:39)Ned Scott Wrote:
(2014-10-18, 07:41)Willem55 Wrote: Apple Firmware/OS and open media players sound like a contradiction in terms to me.
But I'm sure that within Apple constraints xbmc/kodi will work fine for the Apple fans.

Don't spread this bullshit here. There are zero "constraints" when it comes to Mac OS X. Rip on iOS all you want, but anyone saying Mac OS X and Apple's x86 hardware is "locked down" is full of it.

This is the biggest CRAP I ever read: There are zero "constraints" when it comes to Mac OS X. discussion was not about what you can RIP but about what you can playback...
There are playback constraints with about every OS and just like with android.. OSX has a few..

Now if you call stating that "BULLSHIT" I call stating there are no constraints "BLATANT LIES"

Anyone care to sum up a list on what playback functionality for instance openelec offers/allows that OSX does not... in in my perception of the English language you can call the difference constraints..
Ned you should stop those personal attacks they're getting too obvious..

There are zero playback constraints on OS X. OS X is no different than Windows or any Linux-based OS in this regards.

The only thing even close is a lack of drivers for HD-audio for the GPUs, and that is simply a case where Apple hasn't provided those drivers, not a case where Apple prevents people from running the drivers. That's no different than someone not having ported a game to a specific OS. The lack of a port for a game is not a restriction of freedom by Apple.

HD audio is the one and only thing that you can "playback" on OpenELEC that you can't using XBMC via OS X, and even then it is only true for some GPUs. There are situations where HD-audio is physically possible on the GPU, but where every supported OS lacks the proper drivers. I seem to recall you gushing over one such Android-based box that also lacked proper HD-audio support.

Let me be blunt, what you said is basically trolling. That's not even saying "there are some technical limitations, such as HD-audio isn't supported", which would be okay to say, or "I don't think Apple is as open as they should be", which is a fair opinion to have. Telling people that Apple restricts playback on OS X is false. That is the definition of "spreading FUD". You don't get to do that here.

You also have it backwards about "personal attacks". If I call you out on bullshit, it is not because I don't like you, it is because you are saying something that is bullshit. The fact that I also don't like you is simply because you tend to spout out bullshit.
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New Mac Mini (October 2014) as XBMC Machine0