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Apple Releases New Sandy Bridge Mac Minis and Thunderbolt Display
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Me too!
The fact is, optical disks are still used for many things (and thus we have it as an option)and most of those things Id rather be done with! Downloads, please!
Ive had an Air for 3 years and never got the DVD drive. Never wished for it, eitherexcept for games with key disc protection! Lets hope more machines without optical drives keep appearing (kudos to Alienware, for instance). Get rid of those breakable, scratchable key discs!
Give me a download, and an easy way to back it up (Time Machine and/or iCloud). Burning backups to DVD is expensive and cumbersome anyway.
Then the main reason to still have a DVD drive is for DVD movies (Netflix and the libraryIll still use both occasionally, scratches and failures and all). But most people already have a DVD player they use for that. If notif they Mini is going to be their only DVD playerthen that minority can get the optional external.
Now, for a short time, a vocal minority will THINK they need a DVD drive more than they do. I remember the floppy disk scandal
But yes, some do. And for them, the Mini is now a little less elegant. Still fast and cheap!
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Pricing for New Mac Mini, its soo cheap!!!
I don't know how they do it!!!, Apple just keep coming out with fantastic products at amazingly cheap prices. I mean the new Mac mini base model is just £529/$999, comon people what can get for that price?. Plus on top of that they have removed the optical drive. Wow!, they take away a piece of redundant technology and peoples start taking a hissy fits.
Apple should be charging a you more for taking away the dvd rom. If their any offical Apple peoples on these forums then please can you price the Mac Mini at price of £1200/$1999, that way PC people will be not able to buy them cos they too poor leaving the Mac fanboy/girls to be suckered in with the price, you cant lose Apple.
I don't know how they do it!!!, Apple just keep coming out with fantastic products at amazingly cheap prices. I mean the new Mac mini base model is just £529/$999, comon people what can get for that price?. Plus on top of that they have removed the optical drive. Wow!, they take away a piece of redundant technology and peoples start taking a hissy fits.
Apple should be charging a you more for taking away the dvd rom. If their any offical Apple peoples on these forums then please can you price the Mac Mini at price of £1200/$1999, that way PC people will be not able to buy them cos they too poor leaving the Mac fanboy/girls to be suckered in with the price, you cant lose Apple.
You take your AppleTV and Mac with you. I know, not optimal (and impossible if you have an iMac or Mac Pro).
I am not sure how I feel about the Internet Recovery feature (even though I am not affected). Nice idea, but now you just increased time to get back working to include time it takes to download Lion. Also not sure why they bothered to include the feature in the new MBA, as I am seeing reports of the SSD being soldered on the board (AKA non-replaceable).Just been playing around on the configurator.
The high-end Mac Mini (2.5GHz i5 with 6630M) upgraded to 2.7GHz i7 comes out at £700.80 on the HE store. I think that'll be what I'll get. A quad-core would be nice, but as it's a choice between graphics and processor I'm gonna go for graphics.
Apple's memory upgrade price from 4GB to 8GB of £150
With regards to hard-drive, I'd like an SSD, but Apple's upgrade price of £400 is too much for me, and TBH 256GB would be a bit overkill. I'll probably get an Intel 510 120GB (£200)... but we need to see what the iFixit boys reckon of the insides of these new 2011 Minis. If worse comes to the worse I'll pay an Apple Premium Reseller/Authorised Repairer to put it in (I doubt the Apple retail store would!)
I was gonna be all afraid of Lion's download only... how do we burn it to a DVD and Mac Mini has no DVD drive... how do I install an OS from disc but http://www.apple.com/macosx/recovery/ says
"If your Mac problem is a little less common your hard drive has failed or youve installed a hard drive without OS X, for example Internet Recovery takes over automatically. It downloads and starts Lion Recovery directly from Apple servers over a broadband Internet connection. And your Mac has access to the same Lion Recovery features online. Internet Recovery is built into every newly-released Mac starting with the Mac mini and MacBook Air."My reading of that is that something clever in the BIOS of the Mac will notice that the hard drive installed does not have the recovery partition that Lion makes and will automatically make the recovery partition and download the relevant files to it, and then hitting Command-R will get you into the recovery partition from which you can run Disk Utility or start the Lion download and install.
I would think so, as it was demonstrated to be possible to daisy chain the Cinema Display from the Thunderbolt Pegasus RAID. This should be no different. However it appears that dual external displays aren't supported by the Air, and likely the entry level Mac Mini as it shares the same integrated graphics chipset.
That's what it always says - for example look at the iMac. It means that you can't get the extra RAM at the Apple Retail Store, but you can order it online. It doesn't mean that it's not user upgradeable.
Quad, please!
Right, the higher end with the ATI graphics plus quad would be very nice! I'm wondering if it's easy to change out the HDD for an SSD yourself, I know I can get one a lot cheaper than that.
Right, the higher end with the ATI graphics plus quad would be very nice! I'm wondering if it's easy to change out the HDD for an SSD yourself, I know I can get one a lot cheaper than that.
There is no reason for it not to work, but the old ACD needs to be the last device in the chain.
Anand has proven that this functionality works when he tested the Promise R6 and the TB ACD has been designed to work in the same way as any other TB device that allows daisy chaining. The only question is whether the particular computer you're connecting to (I guess the 2011 Mini) can actually support two displays. I see no technical reason for it not to.
Just bummed out for no 30" or higher displays.
They are incredible and too bad Apple seem to have abandoned them.
They are incredible and too bad Apple seem to have abandoned them.
I don't see why people want to cry about this. Just do what I did and buy an external BR/DVD drive. It works much better and it's less noisy than the Apple "super" drive.
Might be more useful if you checked the facts. Suggesting that someone else isn't as smart as you and then completely misunderstanding the issue... The complaint is that with tax it should cost £594, yet it costs £699. Hence the complaint about a £105 mark up. So who is smart?
Don't know what to think?
FWIW's.
I'm in the market for a new Mac Mini and have advised others of their benefits, had a surprise to notice Mac released updates today and not finished reading all this thread, but a few observations.
I'd have happily invested in the Mac Mini server had it come with discrete graphics, that it does not is a disappointment - further, upgrading the server to 1.5T HDD costs approx. US$100, upgrading the regular MM to 750G costs approx. US$135 here in Hong Kong "WTF" - for that I can purchased a 2T WD FW800 External running at 7200RPM and boot from it.
Apple lose my vote for failing to put discrete graphics in server option, failing to fathom a way of putting a Quad Core in regular MM, duel cores being yesterday.
I also agree that video RAM is weak and 500mb would be sweet point.
Indeed, why not just put a 3.6Ghz i5 in the beast as with the iMac in 2010, I'm sure that beats the pant's off both the i5 SB and i7SB option - maybe a heat issue.
Had Apple put a quad core in the basic MM I'd have run out and purchased, as it stands, I'll wait a few months and buy a used one if it crops up.
As for dropping optics, yes I use optical drive occasionally but have been running all my Macs with an OS install partition for more than a year, just like Macbook Air, also, I've got Windows 7 as an ISO and have just tried loading its image file into Parallels, not an issue - indeed all my software is on ISO's or DGM's nowadays and not DVD, all my media content is now DL'ed from the Internet, certainly not Apple Store - if you Rip, yes its a pain, but USB DVD drive from Apple looks nice but expensive - quite a few used available - so on dropping the optical drive I'm neutral, neither a plus or significant loss.
As for RAM, 2G is a joke, 4G minimum and 8G optimum - loads of 2G sticks available as lots of Macbook Pro RAM for sale after user upgrade to 4G sticks - so buy used RAM and not even new RAM as its Apple RAM - that solves that problem.
My overall assessment, base model MM - should have retained optic, without it its basically under spec'd, high end MM, - if BTO option included quad core i5/i7 as BTO would buy now, without this option I'll hang around for a used model hopefully with i7 upgrade and will buy - Server model, without discrete graphics a huge let down - it really could have been the machine to have as a great HTC - as it stands, no real need to upgrade from my 2010 2.4Ghz model maxed out to 8G of RAM, it does all I want it to do and has optics.
For those in the market, TB is no biggie at the moment and suggest 2010 Server model as an option to 2011 mid tier model.
My opinion may change once benchmarks become available.
FWIW's.
I'm in the market for a new Mac Mini and have advised others of their benefits, had a surprise to notice Mac released updates today and not finished reading all this thread, but a few observations.
I'd have happily invested in the Mac Mini server had it come with discrete graphics, that it does not is a disappointment - further, upgrading the server to 1.5T HDD costs approx. US$100, upgrading the regular MM to 750G costs approx. US$135 here in Hong Kong "WTF" - for that I can purchased a 2T WD FW800 External running at 7200RPM and boot from it.
Apple lose my vote for failing to put discrete graphics in server option, failing to fathom a way of putting a Quad Core in regular MM, duel cores being yesterday.
I also agree that video RAM is weak and 500mb would be sweet point.
Indeed, why not just put a 3.6Ghz i5 in the beast as with the iMac in 2010, I'm sure that beats the pant's off both the i5 SB and i7SB option - maybe a heat issue.
Had Apple put a quad core in the basic MM I'd have run out and purchased, as it stands, I'll wait a few months and buy a used one if it crops up.
As for dropping optics, yes I use optical drive occasionally but have been running all my Macs with an OS install partition for more than a year, just like Macbook Air, also, I've got Windows 7 as an ISO and have just tried loading its image file into Parallels, not an issue - indeed all my software is on ISO's or DGM's nowadays and not DVD, all my media content is now DL'ed from the Internet, certainly not Apple Store - if you Rip, yes its a pain, but USB DVD drive from Apple looks nice but expensive - quite a few used available - so on dropping the optical drive I'm neutral, neither a plus or significant loss.
As for RAM, 2G is a joke, 4G minimum and 8G optimum - loads of 2G sticks available as lots of Macbook Pro RAM for sale after user upgrade to 4G sticks - so buy used RAM and not even new RAM as its Apple RAM - that solves that problem.
My overall assessment, base model MM - should have retained optic, without it its basically under spec'd, high end MM, - if BTO option included quad core i5/i7 as BTO would buy now, without this option I'll hang around for a used model hopefully with i7 upgrade and will buy - Server model, without discrete graphics a huge let down - it really could have been the machine to have as a great HTC - as it stands, no real need to upgrade from my 2010 2.4Ghz model maxed out to 8G of RAM, it does all I want it to do and has optics.
For those in the market, TB is no biggie at the moment and suggest 2010 Server model as an option to 2011 mid tier model.
My opinion may change once benchmarks become available.
So the Mac Pro is now the only Mac without TBolt.
Lack of optical drive is really a non issue. External USB drives are much cheaper than the price drop.
Lack of optical drive is really a non issue. External USB drives are much cheaper than the price drop.
DVD/CD Sharing?
I am looking to get my first Mac and am considering the Mini. I've read through all these pages and I don't see this addressed as a potential solution to the "No SuperDrive" issue.
From apple.com...
I have 3 DVD drives in other PCs in my house. Would this serve as a replacement for needing a drive in the Mini? Again, sorry I don't know this answer already, but as I said I don't know OS X and wanted to put this out there. Would it be too slow? Limited functionality? Difficult setup/compatibility? Other?
I am looking to get my first Mac and am considering the Mini. I've read through all these pages and I don't see this addressed as a potential solution to the "No SuperDrive" issue.
From apple.com...
" But if an app you need isnt available from the Mac App Store, you can use DVD or CD Sharing. This convenient feature of OS X lets you wirelessly borrow the optical drive of a nearby Mac or PC. So you can install applications from a DVD or CD and have full access to an optical drive without having to carry one around. "
I have 3 DVD drives in other PCs in my house. Would this serve as a replacement for needing a drive in the Mini? Again, sorry I don't know this answer already, but as I said I don't know OS X and wanted to put this out there. Would it be too slow? Limited functionality? Difficult setup/compatibility? Other?
no optical drive...
I don't know if it has been said, but I'm actually ok with the lack of optical drive...I have an older Mac mini (that can't officially be opened), and when I did the snow leopard upgrade, the drive died on me. After a few calls to Apple, I realized my only solution was to pay them upwards of $500 to open the mini and replace the drive.
Fortunately I had an extra firewire drive sitting around, and have been using it ever since. Basically, drives are going to break at some point, and Apple will charge absurd amounts to open up the mini and replace them. I'd much rather be able to buy a few 'disposable' external drives at best buy, etc. and replace them as necessary...
just my thoughts...
I don't know if it has been said, but I'm actually ok with the lack of optical drive...I have an older Mac mini (that can't officially be opened), and when I did the snow leopard upgrade, the drive died on me. After a few calls to Apple, I realized my only solution was to pay them upwards of $500 to open the mini and replace the drive.
Fortunately I had an extra firewire drive sitting around, and have been using it ever since. Basically, drives are going to break at some point, and Apple will charge absurd amounts to open up the mini and replace them. I'd much rather be able to buy a few 'disposable' external drives at best buy, etc. and replace them as necessary...
just my thoughts...
AFAIK US pricing excludes taxes, and it's always more expensive to do business in the UK, with storage and import duties etc,
Heavier = Yes, but more robust
Slower = No, mine is quicker than a Pro
The people care, let them have the choice. We have got our own reasons for buying a MacBook, let us decide!
Fail!
An HDMI port on the Mac Mini but no DVD drive so I can play my hired DVD's ... what a crock of ****!
Talk about take away functionality; if Jobs was such the 'master' people preport him to be, they'd be a Blue Ray Drive and TV tuner built in (and who cares if it makes it 5mm thicker!)
Assume they're trying to force people to Apple TV as a media server .... and even thats shiter since they took the HDD out of that LOL (and how about a PVR tuner in that).
Media giant my arse!
Fail!!!!
An HDMI port on the Mac Mini but no DVD drive so I can play my hired DVD's ... what a crock of ****!
Talk about take away functionality; if Jobs was such the 'master' people preport him to be, they'd be a Blue Ray Drive and TV tuner built in (and who cares if it makes it 5mm thicker!)
Assume they're trying to force people to Apple TV as a media server .... and even thats shiter since they took the HDD out of that LOL (and how about a PVR tuner in that).
Media giant my arse!
Fail!!!!