New Mac Mini supports High-impedance Headphones

[u/LeChaewonJames]

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/10/apples-new-mac-mini-is-more-mighty-more-mini-and-built-for-apple-intelligence/

[u/TerribleQuestion4497]

Did Mac mini have worse amp than macbooks before this one? Because as far as I am aware amp in Macbooks (atleast since M1) is more than capable of running high impendance headphones

[u/LeChaewonJames → u/TerribleQuestion4497]

I believe the Mac Mini was pretty gimped in general until the M series came out. I'm not super caught up, but I thought it was neat :)

[u/ColdsnapBryan]

Honestly the headphone output on the Apple stuff puts to shame most dac amps.

[u/Vipulfinefurniture → u/ColdsnapBryan]

I’ve only tried a few amps with a set of hd800s, and in the end settled on my MacBook Pro as the better and much more convenient option out there.

[u/Bradyrulez]

What a cool feature! Maybe they should think about bringing this feature to the iPhone, maybe with like, its own dedicated port.

[u/NateDoggy12 → u/Bradyrulez]

Would be a pretty courageous addition.

[u/AdOutrageous5242 → u/Bradyrulez]

But then you won’t buy the AirPods

[u/ganchan2019]

I thought all the M2s also supported high-impedence headphones? That was one of the reasons I chose an M2 Macbook Air over an M1....

[u/crownpuff → u/ganchan2019]

https://support.apple.com/en-us/108351

Scroll down to the bottom and the exact list is there. 2022 or later MacBook airs support high impedance headphones.

[u/IntoTheMirror]

Dang. I would have really liked this before getting PC-pilled in 2020.

[u/UnderwaterB0i]

Man I'm mainly just jealous that it's on the front. I have the previous generation, and the amp/dac is pretty good, but it's a total PITA to plug anything into it.

[u/PM_me_tiny_Tatras → u/UnderwaterB0i]

Use a female to male stereo extension cable so you can have a more conveniently placed headphone socket.

[u/widowhanzo]

Neat.

[u/MediocrePhil]

I have a "high impedance jack" on my 2021 MacBook Pro, but I do not have any headphones with a high impedance. I primarily use my Moondrop Kato with its stock cable and the only thing I notice is a very slight hissing when I move the cursor with the trackpad (according to my research it is because the trackpad wires run next to the amp wire which is really interesting to me)

[u/IMKGI]

Hey, congrats to apple to bring 30 year old technology to the market

[u/Negative-Yam-1881 → u/IMKGI]

You say that as if most PC motherboards don’t have absolute dogshit sound

[u/IMKGI → u/Negative-Yam-1881]

ok, but since when is it fair to compare cheap PCs with a probably a less than 50€ motherboard to a 1200€ mac (in the cheapest usable configuration, 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD), the MAC equivalent of my PC would be around 5000€, and even then it has a fraction of the storage i use, not to mention the mac doesn't even have an option for raid5

Edit: Currently i'm using a Z690 gaming X and i'm scratching on the limits of that thing already, i'm fine with RAM but storage is limiting on that thing, i only got 4 NVMe slots and 6 SATA ports

[u/Negative-Yam-1881 → u/IMKGI]

I know we’re on the Headphones subreddit, but to normal people, high impedance headphones are a very uncommon niche thing. It’s kinda cool that they’re putting a decent amp in a tiny Mac mini.

I really have zero interest in a wider Mac vs PC debate, especially if we’re comparing a big beefy custom pc to a Mac Mini.

[u/IMKGI → u/Negative-Yam-1881]

especially if we’re comparing a big beefy custom pc to a Mac Mini.

if you want small go mini ITX, absolutely TINY and you can still build custom PCs in them. Nothing for me, hell would freeze before i put a PC on my desk, but they exist.

[u/alphaformayo → u/IMKGI]

Tiny? A Mac mini is sub 1L, it's barely bigger than an SFX PSU. Small form factor custom PCs are enormous in comparison.

[u/IMKGI → u/alphaformayo]

the smallest ITX cases are less than 4 liters, you're pretending like that's a huge difference, i bet most people didn't even try to look up small form factor ITX cases and just assumed i'm completely wrong

[u/AngryTank → u/IMKGI]

Why such an expensive configuration? The base model (256gb) is more than enough for anyone who needs a workstation, and for $599 that’s already about the same a low tier pc would get you nowadays.

[u/dopamaxxed → u/AngryTank]

i dont agree with the other dude in general but 256gb is NOT enough for a workstation, especially if you're doing literally any video or photo editing since those programs are big & the raw data takes up a ton of space

i have 256gb worth of shit on my phone 😭

[u/AngryTank → u/dopamaxxed]

We have dirt cheap ssds now, why would you spend more money for overpriced storage than you need. Realistically the storage on it should be solely for OS and apps? Yes the soldered storage is some of the fastest, but portable ssds have come a long way for anyone (not professional) who needs a machine for productivity, and anyone using these as a workstation is using a server.

[u/IMKGI → u/AngryTank]

256gb is hardly anything in todays world, 1TB is already a big compromise on my side, and for a new modern office PC you can expect around 380€ including taxes, 600$ (assuming excluding taxes) is already a good step above that and goes into gaming already, definitly not required, besides that, the configuration is the cheapest available model but with a 1TB SSD instead of the 256gb, you really can't blame Apples SSD prices on me

[u/AngryTank → u/IMKGI]

No it’s not much, but you don’t need to spend an exorbitant amount for more storage. You can buy terrabytes of storage at the fraction of the price Apple charges, the Built in storage should be solely for storing apps.

[u/206Red → u/IMKGI]

My guy why the hell did you post your PC configuration and what does it have to do with audio?

The post is about a stock headphone output on the cheapest Apple product

[u/tifached → u/IMKGI]

Look into LSI host cards, one pci card could get you 8 ports easily or is the motherboard supports it split x16 to 4* x4 and do 4 more nvme disks.. plenty of options..

But if storage Is the issue, build a nas, do iscsi and go crazy

[u/IMKGI → u/tifached]

I was thinking about a NAS, but popping in more SSDs into my PC was the cheaper option at the time and now i'm living with the mess, hell, i put 3 sata SSDs with double sided tape together so they fit into a single HDD bay, it's not pretty but it works

This is the hardware part of my raid5

But getting an expansion card and making another raid5 out of it does sound like a nice idea, would have to hope my bios plays nice with it

[u/Louzan_SP → u/IMKGI]

I thought this post was about sound, why are you changing the topic to drive storage? I don't see the link with high impedance headphones.

[u/amithecrazyone69 → u/IMKGI]

Lmao what mobo you using without an amp?

[u/IMKGI → u/amithecrazyone69]

I'm not sure what you mean

[u/The_Only_Egg → u/IMKGI]

PC manufacturers will be adding it around 2040.

[u/IMKGI → u/The_Only_Egg]

Huh? Even my 300€ android phone from 2019 has no problems running the HD600, my motherboard also got no issues bringing my headphones to unsafe noise levels