Micro ICSP header pins should be optional

The beauty of the Micro is obvious - small and compact.
Too bad it's marred by the ICSP headers - they should optional, same
as the connect headers. They just stick out too much, and many of
us don't need them. If you try to use the board as a component you
either have to roll your own, or squeeze hard, or snip headers. Ugh.

Problems steel present, my situation, when direct load fail, this header is last chance of board to live. Maybe smaller, but not all have access to by exotic, so steel present i think. :disappointed_relieved: XD

maxmike:
either have to roll your own, or squeeze hard, or snip headers. Ugh.

With a solder sucker and a soldering you can remove the header pins in less than 2 minutes, and still save the header for use in another project. It's even faster if you got some hot air gun or, in my case, a Dremel Versatip in hot air mode.

OTOH, I agree that there should be another standard for a smaller ICSP header. We have 4 or 5 standards for USB connectors, so a standard for a smaller ICSP header wouldn't hurt. Keep in mind that the ICSP headers we have in our Arduinos is already the small, 6-pin header. The usual header other MCUs use is a 10-pin header.

Like some wise man once said: the beauty of standards is that you can have many of them.

I can just see explaining myself - "gee, we need a girls with a desoldering gun in the
production line." Or assembling, debugging and testing a clone without knowing how
many units I'll need. I'm a fan of more simple options and fewer complicated standards.

maxmike:
"gee, we need a girls with a desoldering gun in the
production line."

I wouldn't use a Mini as part of a product with high enough volume to justify a "production line". In that case, I'd rather roll my own board, including other components and parts the Mini will be connected to, have it manufactured and assembled in China, and profit from the much lower costs of parts and production.

Most so-called industries today are nothing but a small office with a phone line and fast internet, with production outsourced to China. These industries only handle reseach & development, some marketing and sales to the resellers or end-users. Many 1-man business are like that. Some of them don't even have or need a warehouse.

You should look at this Sparkfun version of a 32U4, similar to the Micro, but smaller and completely header-less.