Mac Mini Still Alive? New Model Coming?

[MacRumors]

MacMiniColo.net, an internet hosting company that has a vested interest in Apple's Mac mini computers, has published a "State of the Mac mini" report in which they claim that they have heard that a new Mac mini is on the way. Specifically, they believe (with some certainty) that it will gain the following specs:

- A new Mini DisplayPort
- Increase in max RAM to 4GB
- SATA Optical drive (instead of ATA/IDE)

MacMiniColo.net certainly has a financial interest in the continuation of the Mac mini and, as a result, may be in the position to have heard about its fate. The hosting company also dispels the notion that the Mac mini is selling poorly and believes that the mini is still a very popular model both for businesses and consumers.

A recent report has raised the question about the fate of the low end Apple Mac, with claims that the model has already stopped shipping to retailers. This report, however, was in contrast to recent claims (March 2008) that at least one more model is on the way. According to our Buyer's Guide, the Mac mini has not been updated for 444 days.



Article Link: Mac Mini Still Alive? New Model Coming?

[Eidorian]

You are my last hope Mac mini for a new Mac.

This image is awesome.

[jackjason]

xmas wish:

new mac micro.
wireless keyboard (bluetooth tiny one) +wireless mouse
new display with isight..

on my ...
hahaha

[latchthekid]

hahah this is so funny! I just read about this article on appleinsider and posted about it in the other thread about the mini being dead. I'm so happy if this is all true. The mini has so many great uses for so many people. Its gonna rock. I want one.

[DARKJ3DI]

about time. its been over a year

[Courtaj]

The "rumour" that Apple has ceased supplying retailers with the current model was pretty ridiculous. I've seen them everywhere and bought one direct from Apple on Tuesday.

This new rumour says nothing about the status of (dare I say it) firewire on a refreshed Mini. Or a processor upgrade for that matter. You'd think if they knew something, they'd at least know that . . .

EDIT. Oh, alright, the Macminicolo report assumes that firewire stays, assuming the Mini doesn't get a unibody casing. Fair enough.

[boer]

I find to hard to believe Apple would abandon the segment Mac mini is in. As to why hasn't Apple updated the mini for over a year, here's the most simple explanation (Occam's razor): The current model has sold well enough and being older tech it provides nice enough profit margins. As simple as that.

[wizard]

I have no doubt that a new machine is coming the question is this: will the box be the same? Frankly the current mini form factor passes up a lot of opportunity for innovation. An even marginally larger Mini offers up hope of a duality like the MB and MBP. That is an integrated graphics model and a more featur full model with better GPU resources and other goodies. Or Apple could ditch the optical drive and go even smaller

Given all of that I would be surprised if there is tie in to the new monitor Apple has.

With respect to the two disk rumor that actually would be real nice feature to have. But hear is my thinking Apple uses one conventional disk interface an adds a Mini PCI Express slot that can be usdled for I/O or to put in place a SSD with a mPCI-E interface. MPCI-E disk drive are of growing interest in the embedded world. Apple could have good success with this move as there is really no need for a chassis for SSD.


Dave

[polar-blair]

Originally Posted by Eidorian

You are my last hope Mac mini for a new Mac.

This image is awesome.

So thats where all the mac minis went. Wow there are loads!!!

Im never had a mini, but I think it would be stupid o discontinue it, either revise it or replace it with a faster and smaller machine, and cheaper too. That even more people will want to switch from Windows.

[SFStateStudent]

I'd pick one up if they had all those extras ^^^ especially the mini DisplayPort...

[ltldrummerboy]

I'd like to see one with black glass, however impractical.

I think the Mini is the ideal home-theatre system. Much better than the tv

[corbywan]

If they have stopped shipping that could just mean they are getting rid of the current stock in anticipation of a refresh.

[BillyBobBongo]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

A recent report by people who have no idea what they're talking about.....

I knew that we'd be seeing a new one of these eventually. This has to be one of the best way to catch those 'switchers'. There's no way Apple would drop this.

I'm expecting a new case design and of course some hardware upgrades. Let's just hope it has Firewire!

[joost538]

I'm in the market for a mini but with the current specs there is no way I would buy one. I am fine with NVidia integrated graphics though and I don't really care about the form factor (i.e. standard size HD would be fine with me).

Just let me buy me a Mac for less than 500 bucks with a 2+ GHz cpu, 250 GB HD and 2 GB ram. The comparison with Dell and other is getting kinda ridiculous for what the mini currently is.

[Eidorian]

Originally Posted by joost538

I'm in the market for a mini but with the current specs there is no way I would buy one. I am fine with NVidia integrated graphics though and I don't really care about the form factor (i.e. standard size HD would be fine with me).

Just let me buy me a Mac for less than 500 bucks with a 2+ GHz cpu, 250 GB HD and 2 GB ram. The comparison with Dell and other is getting kinda ridiculous for what the mini currently is.

Q6600 desktop for ~US$450 from Dell...

Come on Apple.

[salvatorereda]

Its still to expensive bring the price down
maybe more people will purchase it

At its current price i would rather purchase a mac book.

[tonytiger13]

Originally Posted by ltldrummerboy

I'd like to see one with black glass, however impractical.

I think the Mini is the ideal home-theatre system. Much better than the tv

I was gonna come on here and say the Mac Mini doesn't do HD, but it's able to support 1920 x 1080 widescreen, so...nevermind.

I was then gonna see if it can do digital audio, and it can...

Um...I got one, it can't do Wireless-N! No big deal really though unless you stream a lot. And the new Mac Mini will definitely have N.

Then the only other thing is it probably gets louder, but stays cooler. And you have to use two cables instead of one HDMI to handle Video/Audio, but who cares.

Damn, anyone wanna buy my TV? I wanna get a new Mini when it comes.

[OriginalMacRat]

in the past week I have found it interesting how the posters on MacRumors are a bit more level headed than what you see on AppleInsider.

[st0n3]

i worked at one of the busiest apple retail stores in the midwest for 3 years... and I can honestly say, I think I've only sold about 5 mac minis out of the several thousand computers I have sold since working there.

In other words, I strongly disagree with the statement that they are still popular and sell quite well. Especially compared to anything else in the store. I've sold more AppleCares for iPod Shuffles than I have sold Mac Mini units. And that's saying something!

[katewes]

It's the matte screen issue again.

Since the current iMac and MBP have lost the matte screen option, if ever my matte, white iMac dies, I'd be forced to get a Mac Mini with matte external screen.

No way would I buy a gloss screen, and yes, I have used one at my friend's house. The glare and reflections from outside, particularly on a sunny day, are hiddeous. You don't see the glare when the screen is positioned facing away from the window, but when the screen faces the window, it is totally un-usable, if you need to work for hours and hours -- not just fun stuff like movies and photos.

People who say, "Why not just shift the screen" -- believe me, there are some situations where we simply cannot shift the screen away because of the layout of the room etc.

For instance, in most skyscraper offices that have a window, it's common for the desk to be positioned such that the person's back faces the window, i.e. the screen faces the window. In such situations, it's not always possible to shift the furniture around.

Please, bring back the matte iMac and matte MBP. I'm not saying everyone likes matte, but lots of people do. So, to be fair, there should be choice.

People are sucked into believing that it's only a very small number that like matte, i.e. it wasn't profitable for Apple to continue the matte, however, many surveys indicate that 40-50% like matte.

[koobcamuk]

I am pleased because then I can make this little box my media centre and get something with a little more zip in the future. I don't like the iMacs.

[Arnaud]

...I've been waiting for an update, and I'd be happy to see one coming, if ever. Alas, I wouldn't be surprised if it goes the other way around as well.

The current Mini is nice, and in a good price range, but does not meet the requirements of people for Home-Theater PC's: its (video) specs are a tad too short for 1080 mkv, for example. (Whether you like that format or not is another question, I just take it as an example of what you might want to run and is most resources-consuming). It felt a little too short for my wishes of an HTPC, and I didn't buy it. I didn't find anything else better either (for good features, low noise, low price and friendly OS; I'm not interested in Windows maintenance).

Market-wise, it's an outsider. It seems to me that Apple introduced it to lure the Switchers in ("just put on top of your pc-box, for fun, just have a look - and hopefully get hooked"). But the machine itself worked so fine that I think they did lose some market share normally reserved for higher-end machines - as you could get a nice machine with a huge screen for cheaper than an iMac or a PowerMac. Actually, the scary domain of the always-awaited "headless iMac". Granted, not the same horse-power as higher-end machines, but not everybody works on 3D or huge graphics.

So, Apple could ditch the Mini, and think you either satisfy yourself with an TV or a full machine.
Or see the "market" of HTPC and provide something the user might want, at the risk of cannibalizing its own market.

But to be honest, Apple has shown an increasing clear priority on Money over Client Satisfaction in the past years, for me. I think they'll choose the path of highest returns for them, which would mean an offer limited to TV and higher machines - as they will certainly push the rental/sale of movies, say they don't believe (yet) in Blu-Ray, say they believe the HTPC's are a temporary hobby, won't make it easy for users to watch downloaded movies of dubious source, say they do not wish to attend to a certain class of (cheap) users etc.

Oh well, time will say.

[opeter]

Wow, that is a great "rumor". Hope that it will come true.

[peeeter]

It would be quite stupid by Apple to discontinue the low cost model during economic slowdown. It might not be the most higher margin product, but would keep also price sensitive users in Mac ecosystem.

[DoFoT9]

OMG!!! this is amazing!!! yessss!!!!

so excited i cannot wait!!

boo at the new adapter, i have my DVI->HDMI cable all lined up now im gonna have to purchase extra cables..