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Intel Atom-Based Mac Mini Due in March?

AidenShaw said:
Using OpenCL to offload the CPU will be very application specific. And initially at the 10.6 lauch, it will be of no or no help since few if any of the applications that you run will have been rewritten to use OpenCL.

It may be useful for a few use cases (e.g. video playback), but in general an Atom + OpenCL won't match a good quad core desktop.
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I agree, but many that buy a Mac Mini would be happy enough with Apple's software at the get go. I could see Apple rev'ing all the OSX shipped apps (QuickTime, Safari, Preview, Finder CoverFlow, etc) to take advantage of OpenCL or at least the ones that would need to take advantage. iLife and iWork could be rev'd for Snow Leopard as well come the Mac Mini's release.

I would not be surprised to see a similarly packed Macbook Mini (Apple's Netbook). Jobs always poo-poos markets Apple is about to enter and they did it with the Netbook niche. It is guaranteed that Apple will release a Netbook this year. Apple has said time and time again that notebooks (including netbooks) are the future. It's gonna happen.
 
preservative said:
I tried a netbook the other week and couldn't believe how fast it was. A micro mac sounds pretty cool. They aren't that bad. Least your energy bill will be better and the birds will thank you for it.
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Yeah, but why!? They're not portable devices. It's plugged in at all times. We're not trying to sustain battery life here. Keep that netbook spec crap in netbooks. Stop neutering the Mini. And they want to shrink it too?


Ugh. God I hope this is wrong. Smaller does not always ≠ better.
 
The problem with the mini is that its underpowered to be a stand alone DESKTOP Mac. Going to Atom just makes the problem worse... unless they would bring out the fabled, famed, hoped for xMac. I WANT A DESKTOP! It doesn't need to be a behemoth like the Mac Pro... but it's got to be more than a netbook for your desk.
 
Prices

Intel does publish a public price list at http://www.intc.com/priceList.cfm - I would expect large volume companies get special deal (this is the unit price when bought in 1k processor lots).

Most netbooks use the 270 - which isn't 64-bit and is a single core. The 330 (32/64-bit dual core) is used in some "nettops". Lenovo sells a 230 (1 core 330) as a Lenovo IdeaCentre H200 for $299 with 1GB, 160GB HD, DVD-ROM, and 950 chipset.
 
For some reason, I feel this is all false. To really make the public wow, I think they may try to put a ton of power in a mini. "The most powerful computer at this size".

Honestly, I wouldnt be surprised if we get a quad core mac mini with a SSD option and a nice graphics card.

I don't see them just upgrading the hardware slightly, I see them really pumping up the mini.

Lets all pray for my rumor instead lol.
 
Don't get your knickers in a twist everyone. No way is Apple going to do this, they have absolutely no reason to.

The only way this could happen is by offering a cheaper Mac Mini with the Atom, and a more expensive model(s) with the Core 2 Duo (or the new low-power quad cores? wishful thinking methinks).

The Atom 330 costs just USD $43 - the use of this + OpenCL + Geforce 9400M could help Apple lower the price of an entry-level Mini to $399, and introduce a much more powerful Mini with a Core 2 (and even 9600M graphics?).

With iMac-level processing power, 9600M GT graphics, a 3.5-inch hard drive, and a slightly bigger case, this could be our new "Headless iMac".

And a new, smaller, Atom and Nvidia 9400M-based Mini would = cheap HTPC, especially with the Nvidia card decoding 1080p video easily.

All pure speculation, but if this happens, many many people will be super happy.
 
Would this thing even be able to run EyeTV encoding HD video?

Why would they release something that would obviously make people want to grab the remaining higher powered old version mini.

Something is wrong here.
 
Kilamite said:
Why on earth Atom?

We are talking about a desktop machine here - don't under power it for goodness sake. A decent CPU - Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz starting level. Anything less and Apple really is taking the piss.
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This is really simple, people. Apple does not want the Mac Mini to cannibalize iMac and Macbook sales (seeing it will be a lower priced machine) so they are going to neuter it. Well, what's neutered will simply change. Before it was the graphics and slow hard drive. Now it'll be the CPU (which means improved graphics won't mean squat if your CPU is too slow to do anything useful). Thus, the Mac-Mini will remain a TOY and not the mid-range headless Mac so many people WISH Apple would sell. It also means Hackintoshes will be around for a very very very long time.
 
oh god no!!!! please no Atom processor. it is a horrible underpowered processor.

also, why in hell would Apple kill off a client base who buy the Mini to do make them into servers? some of these clients buy thousands of them.

i don't think the Mini needs to be crippled further beyond what it is. nor does it need to be smaller. its already small enough.
 
MagnusVonMagnum said:
This is really simple, people. Apple does not want the Mac Mini to cannibalize iMac and Macbook sales (seeing it will be a lower priced machine) so they are going to neuter it. Well, what's neutered will simply change. Before it was the graphics and slow hard drive. Now it'll be the CPU (which means improved graphics won't mean squat if your CPU is too slow to do anything useful). Thus, the Mac-Mini will remain a TOY and not the mid-range headless Mac so many people WISH Apple would sell. It also means Hackintoshes will be around for a very very very long time.
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I hear this 'cannibalize iMac and Macbook sales' alot. In my case, and I would bet many others, it isn't a question of cannibalizing sales. The Mini represents the right price point and setup for me. I don't want an AIO style computer, and certainly not at the price that the iMac fetches. I should be able to BTO a mini with 9400 or 9600 graphics, a 250-320 gb hard drive and 4 gb ram. There is nothing wrong w/ my kbd and mouse, and I like my monitor. Without the Mini, I would NEVER have purchased a Mac...but now that I have, I'm not sure I would switch to an iMac if they discontinue the mini.
 
Apple is using the Atom/Ion platform for Apple TV, NOT the Mac mini. Tom's Hardware got it wrong. :rolleyes:
 
An Atom-powered computer is not a real computer, IMNSHO, it's a Net appliance.

Of course, I'm working on building a Core i7 machine right now, so YMMV.

Maybe I'll try installing OSX86 on it. Hey, remember the whole "fastest Windows laptop is a Mac" thing when the Intel MacBooks came out? How about this one: "Fastest Macintosh isn't an Apple" :D
 
Dejavu said:
Apple is using the Atom/Ion platform for Apple TV, NOT the Mac mini. Tom's Hardware got it wrong. :rolleyes:
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Actually not.
As a previous poster stated, the Atom Processor can't even play 1080p properly on a big screen.
SeaFox said:
An Atom-powered computer is not a real computer, IMNSHO, it's a Net appliance.

Of course, I'm working on building a Core i7 machine right now, so YMMV.

Maybe I'll try installing OSX86 on it. Hey, remember the whole "fastest Windows laptop is a Mac" thing when the Intel MacBooks came out? How about this one: "Fastest Macintosh isn't an Apple" :D
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Uh-oh.:eek:
But if this is true, we should be glad that they haven't gone to Celerons next. :D
 
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If they do this in March, it will be perfect for me, since I'll have time to begin the transition to Windows 7.
 
BTW said:
Will it matter if it comes out with Snow Leopard and fully utilizes OpenCL to use the GPU (NVIDIA's of course) for CPU chores?

Cheap CPU (read Atom) + new opportunity for NVIDIA (read discount) = Apple lowering entry point for Mac Mini to $499 and $699.

Don't doubt that, if successful, they would use the Atom in the iMac and make the display super thin. Maybe even giving a BTO option for SSD in the iMac as well. We'd see a $999 entry level iMac. :D
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Thats exactly what I said... they clearly did it to drop the prices! but Im pretty sure there will be c2d one just priced higher..
 
If they are going to use the atom chip at that price, that better be the dual core model or at least the 1.8ghz model and not the 1.6ghz because that is kind of pricey for a 1.6 considering the EEE box is like 400 for a base non celeron model, and the touch screen all-in-one model is what 700-800 base?
 
To hell with the Mac Mini, I've had enough of it. I am going to play my music, movies, and old school console emulators on a MacBook connected to my HDTV.
I really think having a portable media centre makes sense. I have another laptop I use for work and other not so fun stuff, so hey....it might work for someone else too.
 
No way

I am hoping this might be the new server that was touted some time ago.

An atom in a mini would be hopeless.

I mean Steve hasn't even left yet and these rumours are a worry.
 
I have read through a couple of pages of this ranting going on and don't really notice anybody pointing out that this is RUMOR. SPECULATION. Some idiots are actually using the word "NEWS."

Maybe I expect too much on a rumor site, but GDit people. This rumor makes little to no sense whatsoever. Why would Apple make a Mac Mini with less power than the one already out there yet charge the same amount? The Mini and iMac already use notebook components to achieve smaller size. Being a former Mac Mini owner, I never heard anybody say, "WOW. That computer is WAY too big for me to ever own." Therefore, what sense does this RUMOR make?

Don't forget how sure a lot of people were before Macworld about: new iMacs, new Mac Minis, iWork and iLife being completely online, the iPhone Nano.

The Intel Atom is probably being looked at in some other device that Apple makes and some nobody (who are these people?) decided to make a name by floating a rumor. Then the sheep/lemmings just ate it all up.
 
apple wouldnt do this.... they couldnt....they wont!!!... i trust them!!!

seriously but, this would be the last straw.. if they FINALLY bought out a MM that was as retarted as to use an Atom CPU, i would give up and build a small hackintosh.

i need the mini as a HTCP player thingo for my TV, the :apple:TV isnt good enough for me. MacMini please!! not a PatheticMini....
 
I could see this happening in a MacBook Mini, but not the Mac Mini. If this is true then it's a Hackintosh for me, as I'm counting on the new Mini to replace my iMac. I can upgrade to a better PC for the same money as a Mini and get a real processor. There's nothing wrong with the Atom and it's ilk, just don't put it in a desktop machine.
 
knightlie said:
I could see this happening in a MacBook Mini, but not the Mac Mini. If this is true then it's a Hackintosh for me, as I'm counting on the new Mini to replace my iMac. I can upgrade to a better PC for the same money as a Mini and get a real processor. There's nothing wrong with the Atom and it's ilk, just don't put it in a desktop machine.
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im in a similar position to you, its either a GOOD mac mini, or hackintosh (already got one so i know what im doing :))
 
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