@dushman I am a former Mac user myself. I gave up on Apple because the software quality went downhill in the first place, to the point where I could not use it anymore without the urge to smash the computer every ten minutes 🤬 The hardware followed soon afterwards.
It was a great deal of disappointment like 10-15 years ago. And there were not a lot of good options at the time. Now there are and I don't see it as a problem anymore 🤷

@allison @iska@mstdn.starnix.network @coyote @dushman @idiot You can see a good example of such a justification on the attached image 😂
The absolute most of Apple's customers don't have a slightest clue about thermal design. They will buy storage options that overheat A LOT and it is a huge issue with the tight cases we have nowadays.
This was a non-issue ten years ago and they were user-replaceable at the time. When they started the MacBook Air line and later MBP Retina the all-glued-in approach came up.

@allison @iska@mstdn.starnix.network @coyote @dushman @idiot I gave up on Apple and stopped keeping track on the new models, so I can only speculate why they did this. It might be easier for them to follow the same hardware design principle everywhere and since it's soldered-in on the laptops, it's the same on the Mini. It might also be more efficient supply chain wise to use similar parts in desktops 🤷

@allison Why Apple then, still like the OS (OS X? macOS? Whatever it is called now)?
There is a wide selection of PCs on the market in the vein of Mac Mini. System76 has it, Purism has it, a few lesser-known brands have them, ARM-based too.
Some can accommodate both SATA and M2 drives at the same time, up to 64 gigs of RAM, newest CPUs — you can't have a decent GPU in it, but otherwise a real powerhouse in a small box!

@allison Yes, you are most probably right!
I am a man of the last decade in this regard. It did matter in the CRT days, but not anymore, not for me. I know there are nice things like HDR, HiDPI and way higher refresh rates, but I'm still perfectly fine with my two 30" Cinema Displays 😄

@allison Yes, CRTs=eyestrain. Even IPS-panels are a bit hard on the eyes IMO. I turn off the second display when I don't need it.
Now I see, your demands are pretty specific. The solutions to save you from the monastery should already be on their way though. I mean even midrange phones have 120 Hz now. ARM-based desktops and laptops will follow suit soon enough as mainstream moves away from Intel.

@dushman @allison Phones are getting too powerful. The cheap Chinese device I've got myself this year for two hundred bucks can build mesa in a couple of minutes. This is crazy! Who needs all this computing power? And it's even got 120 Hz!
At least it can make it through 6 days on a single charge which is very good!

@dushman @allison https://www.gsmarena.com/asus_rog_phone_6_pro-11648.php
This one has more RAM than all of my boxes, except for the Mac Pro 🤯

@dushman @allison I don't think it's on par with the game consoles though. Because even with all the quirks you can't make the heat dissipation efficient enough.
The laptops also have these nice 8 core CPUs, but still get throttled under continuous workload in half an hour or so.

@allison @iska@mstdn.starnix.network @coyote @dushman @idiot And don't get me wrong, I don't like this approach myself. When they presented the first MacBook Air I hated that abomination. But then I realized that a lot of people appreciate such a design and that the path Apple has chosen is just not for me. But to each their own, so I just moved on and took a look at companies for which compact size it not the top priority.