this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2024
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This is ridiclous

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[–] [email protected] 76 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Wait, WHAT?

They put the powerbutton on the underside?

For fuck sake Apple...

[–] [email protected] 82 points 5 months ago (2 children)

"Our new Mac Mini is so powerful, so extraordinary, you'll never want to turn it off." -- Tim Apple, probably.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Or they got inspired by the Ericsson Cobra telephone.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Lol, Tim Apple. Who was it that said that? Was it Biden?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Oh good, that's better.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Uh how often are you having to power on your Mac mini? I think mines been off like twice last year.

Having the power switch away from where I often blindly poke around to plug cables in, sounds like a good choice.

[–] [email protected] 75 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Damn, that is some amazing copium....

They had a well established place for the powerbutton, why change it?

As an IT guy, if I worked with Macs this would be terrible to work with

[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 months ago

As an IT guy, if I worked with Macs this would be terrible to work with

You know, now that you say it, I'd bet that's exactly why they did it. They probably want to fuck over companies that would otherwise have racks of Mac Minis (for clusters, colocated servers, etc.) and force them into Mac Studios or Mac Pros instead.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

Well first off if you look at the picture, this is a much smaller device. If the power switch was in the same place as the larger case it would be on the side edge.

Secondly because it’s now moved into a space where it’s not going to be accidentally hit, and requires an intentional effort to press.

That’s great, how many IT guys have to manually go around turning off hundreds of computers at the switch instead of running some automated method across the whole network? Such a rare and unlikely situation that the average home consumer and user of a device such as this really doesn’t ever have to factor in.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

As another IT guy at a university, having to manually turn on 30 computers in a classroom for updates or whatever is already a pain in the ass. Wake on LAN is not a reliable solution. Havin to manually flip over every box, then putting them down, and then fixing the cables that got yanked... I'd throw those fuckers in the trash.

The Dell Optiplex 3080 Micro's form factor is perfectly tiny without compromising user comfort.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

It looks like it's raised up off the desk by the circular portion in the center. Still annoying to press but a finger probably fits under there.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

You're a Windows shop? Why don't you deploy a policy that prevents users from shutting down computers?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

Mainly because our students are idiots and will complain if the computer doesn't turn off. Or worse, take independent action and hold the power button, or actually yank the power cable. Maybe I should just lean into it and convince them that the monitor is the computer.

Jokes aside, how could I implement such a policy? I've only found one that hides the power buttons from the start menu, but Windows still responds to ACPI.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Jokes aside, how could I implement such a policy?

The policy you’re looking for is in Computer Configuration->Policies->Windows Settings->Security Settings->Local Policies->User Rights Assignments->Shut down the system

This policy takes account or group names from your local or domain AD as its variable (like Domain Admins). After it’s successfully applied, only those users or groups will be able to shutdown the machine gracefully.

Create a new GPO or edit an existing one and apply it to the ADUC organizational unit containing the computer objects you need to target.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Thanks, but that's the same one that I found. It removes the power button from the start menu and disables the shutdown command, but the computer still responds to ACPI and even the keyboard's power-off button.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

You can handle those issues with power, setting group policies, and inhibiting action when the power button is pressed (that includes keyboard power buttons). Nothing will stop the user from killing power by holding the physical power button down, except for changing that setting (if available) in the BIOS.

Computer config->Preferences->Control panel settings->Power options

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Why would they be idiots for wanting to turn these computers off?

If the computers aren’t running something important while not in use, I think they should turn them off as we’re already wasting far too much energy.

I might be missing something, but it sounds like leaving your car running or leaving lights on in your home the whole year.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago (2 children)

There are use-cases where a computer should not be turned off by its user for the purpose of remote management. I'm dealing with one just as I'm writing this comment.

There's an exam in a classroom. In 20 minutes I'll have to run an ansible script to remove this group's work, clean up the project directory, and rollback two VMs to the prepared snapshot to get ready for the next group. I've put a big-ass banner on the wallpaper telling the students not to shut down the computer, and already half of them are off.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

Okay in such a case I understand why these machines shouldn’t be turned off.

But, for normal people using their computers for admin/gaming, I still think it’s one of the easy ways of saving a bit of energy.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Oh my. Good luck!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Most computers go into a deep power saving mode when they aren’t in use. Far less than a light bulb or power brick.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

it’s not going to be accidentally hit

How often do you accidentally press a power button on a desktop computer? I don't even do that on my laptop, where the power button is close to the keyboard.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

My phone case has a magnet in it (so it mildly sticks to metal surfaces).
I've put it on a laptop and accidentally triggered the "lid close" sensor

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Is your power button at the back of your pc next to the usb and hdmi ports? The place you dont look when trying to plug in a memory stick by feel.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

Of course not, who would put a power button on the back or bottom of the computer? Front, side, or top are the places it goes for almost every computer out there.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Not sure why you're getting downvoted. The only time I use the power button is when there is an issue which has been like 4 times in 3 years maybe? I think people complaining about the power button location have never worked with macOS and are used to shittier standby in other operating systems.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 months ago

I've never owned any Crapple stuff and never will, but even I can see from the thumbnail that the circular vent is lifting the whole unit off the desk, so slipping your finger under to switch it off is going to be a bit odd the first time, then you'll instinctively know where the button is.

We've been doing it with monitors for decades

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

On the one hand, I agree. Apple has positioned their power buttons with the assumption that the devices wouldn’t be turned off very often for quite a while now. It was on the backside of the previous mac mini design and also on the backside of the 2013 trashcan mac pro, for example.

That still doesn’t make it less annoying though. We use a lot of macs for work, including aforementioned mac minis and mac pros and we do turn them off regularly because there’s no need for them to use power 24/7. Having to turn them around to find the power button is just stupid. That’s form over function in its finest. But if you’re the type of person who never turns off their computer, obviously it doesn’t really matter.

That’s not to say, that the new mac minis aren’t remarkable machines. The redesign was necessary and is very good in general. It’s a tiny powerhouse. They could’ve just chosen less of afterthought of a power button location.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I feel like it’s such a waste of energy when powering off your computer when you’re not using it is so easy.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The standby drain is negligible and it allows for the device to stay updated and synced.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

A lot of negligible things added together can make a lot.

My computers are perfectly up to date by just running the software update manager while using them.

But of course, being veggie, not having kids, biking or walking has a bigger impact than just turning off your computer.

As I have two lovely kids and my work involves a lot of car travel, I can’t blame you for not turning off your computer though 😇

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Startup power consumption is a LOT depending on how much needs to open.

For work my i9 laptop spends about 3 minutes chugging down 60-100 watts. An M1 Mac mini draws 5 watts fully powered on and idle. Sleep the machine draws less than a watt. The idle power of the power supply just being connected to the wall is going to use more power than that.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 5 months ago (1 children)

It's very bad idea to put power button under the bottom, Who think the designer should need to be fired here

[–] [email protected] 52 points 5 months ago

Wouldn't surprise me if it was the same guy who put the charge port on the magic mouse on the bottom.

That at least has a logical excuse if dumb as hell, this has zero reason to be like this