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Intel Mac mini at MacWorld San Francisco in January?

Dothan...it's here today

johnnyjibbs said:
I wouldn't be surprised if the Mac mini was the first to go Intel as it is the lowest power Mac (excluding eMac for education users). That said, it's a mighty small space to put a hot P4 or Celeron into - must be a Pentium M processor or something if it's using an existing one.
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Apple's been telling developers to code for the existing Pentium M "Dothan" chips.

This fits well with a MiniMac intro in Dec/Jan.
 
Perfect

I just bought a Mac Mini for my kitchen's HDTV and I was thinking how its just as powerful as my nearly maxed out and upgraded sawtooth tower. I would love to replace that big boy with a little mini resting under the 23 incher...so this would be just perfect. So far I am quite impressed with the mini and since I stopped doing heavy graphic/video work it would be a great solution.

4 Macs...8 iPods...and a whole lotta Apple lovin!!!

-E
 
kwajo.com said:
i think it makes sense to start with the mini. think about it, most people using the mini are going to be using iLife and those sort of bundled apps, which of course will be Intel ready right at the shipping date. it's a lot harder to introduce a pro machine early and expect all the business critical apps that professionals use to be ready bug-free right off the bat
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Bingo! Give this man a prize.
 
kwajo.com said:
i think it makes sense to start with the mini. think about it, most people using the mini are going to be using iLife and those sort of bundled apps, which of course will be Intel ready right at the shipping date.
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I agree... and if there really will be intel mac minis in January, I might just have to splurge to get my mom one to use at home-- seems like lately, she's had more of an interest in this thing called the internet. :p She works in the high tech industry and yet has no clue about the internet or how to even use a MS word. :eek: I'm hoping a Mac mini will be basic enough and simple enough to not overwhelm her.
 
johnnyjibbs said:
must be a Pentium M processor or something if it's using an existing one.
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Of course it will be, the P4 architecture is dead. All of Intel's processor lines will be based off the Pentium M core from next year.

It makes sense for Apple to use older and cheaper Centrino chips in a Mac mini just prior to new generation dual core chips being released, which no doubt will go into the Power systems.
 
I guess I agree with you guys about the mac mini getting the first intel chips. As much as I would LIKE the Powermac to get it first, it does make more sense for the mini to be the test.
 
mac-er said:
I don't understand why they cannot go ahead and do the transition instead of dragging it out. They've already confirmed that OS X will work on Intel. They've confirmed that all the software out right now will run on Intel with Rosetta.

Who cares if the developers are ready?
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Because we're talking about an architecture change over five different product lines. These things take time, can you really expect Apple to release new Intel iBooks, PowerBooks, minis, iMacs and PowerMacs all at once? That's just crazy.
 
I've always thought the the first Intel Mac announcement (and MAYBE shipping?) was most likely in January.

Many developers are ready, Rosetta seems to do great in many other cases, and low-end consumers (Mac Mini market) have less varied needs--AND fewer demands for top performance--than pros. If they had to run a few things on Rosetta, on a chip faster than G4 to start with, they'd be OK for a few months. And most of their common needs would be bet by Apple's OWN bundled apps which are excellent and already Intel-native.

In short, the transition is such a big shift that it WILL have rough edges no matter WHAT, but a Mac Mini in January COULD be practical all the same. I say 2-in-3 chance.

Followed, I hope, by PowerBooks ASAP! :)
 
Abercrombieboy said:
If they do this the Mac Mini will be WAY faster then the iMac G5. No one would buy an iMac after January.
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I disagree... w/ an iMac you get a gorgeous display as well; I think they're two pretty different machines and that there are distinct pros and cons for many a customer... plus, you know that some people will still long for a G5. ;)
 
Yay!

I hope this is true! I am in desperate need of a new computer. Because of my course of study I need a Windows box for programming and a Mac for everything else. I only have enough money for one computer. This would be so great! I could buy one computer and have everything I need: Windows for when I have to code Windows apps and Mac OS X for everything else I do.

Please, please Apple, let this be true!

P.S. - Could y'all make an inexpensive 15" or 17" LCD to bundle with the new Intel Mac mini?
 
aquajet said:
Because we're talking about an architecture change over five different product lines. These things take time, can you really expect Apple to release new Intel iBooks, PowerBooks, minis, iMacs and PowerMacs all at once? That's just crazy.
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And yet again, the eMac gets overlooked for an upgrade.;)
 
devilot said:
I disagree... w/ an iMac you get a gorgeous display as well; I think they're two pretty different machines and that there are distinct pros and cons for many a customer... plus, you know that some people will still long for a G5. ;)
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Not to mention the fact that the G5's in the iMac are faster than a lot of the Pentium M's floating around.

No, the Mac Mini will get a Pentium M but it will be low-cost and thus not a top 'o the line CPU. Kinda like the current Mac Mini.

steve_hill4 said:
And yet again, the eMac gets overlooked for an upgrade.;)
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That's becasue the eMac is dead AFAIK. Apple killed it.
 
An "early" release of the fist intel macs seems quite plausible because I'm sure that they overestimated when they gave the mid-2006 date just to be safe. They know what they're doing. And you know who THEY are.
 
Ahhhhh,
I was all set to buy a Quad - I just got approved for a loan and want to be doing HD Video (which looks like it has been pushed back a few months any how)
but now it seems like it may not have a shelf life for more than a year
Hmmm
 
mac-er said:
I don't understand why they cannot go ahead and do the transition instead of dragging it out. They've already confirmed that OS X will work on Intel. They've confirmed that all the software out right now will run on Intel with Rosetta.

Who cares if the developers are ready?
Click to expand...

Not all software will work with Rosetta, and those that do may have varying degrees of success. Rosetta does not support Altivec - so performance of these applications will be less than otherwise - it would be like a G3 running software optimised for Altivec enabled processors ( i.e., G4 and onwards ).

Rosetta does not also work with Preference Panes at all...

However all Apple consumer products will most likely be ported to Intel by the time the first Intel Mac is available.
 
bentoon said:
Ahhhhh,
I was all set to buy a Quad - I just got approved for a loan and want to be doing HD Video (which looks like it has been pushed back a few months any how)
but now it seems like it may not have a shelf life for more than a year
Hmmm
Click to expand...
you are kidding right ? that quad will be a powerhorse even into 2007:cool:
 
Hope this rumour is true, the Mac Mini is OK - but its graphics card lets it down. Hope that Apple include a decent graphics ( though I doubt it ).

I'm pretty sure that any Intel based Mac Mini will exceed the performance of the current Mac Mini.


Lord Blackadder said:
That's becasue the eMac is dead AFAIK. Apple killed
it.
Click to expand...

eMacs aren't dead, only available for educational purchases.
 
Stella said:
Hope this rumour is true, the Mac Mini is OK - but its graphics card lets it down. Hope that Apple include a decent graphics ( though I doubt it ).
Click to expand...

I'd be afraid of the dreaded 'Intel integrated graphics' *shudder*
 
Photorun said:
Considering Apple's MO is to "release" something and then actually, you know, HAVE the items available to ship two to three months later (COUGH G5 PowerMac, 17" PowerBook, others, COUGH) I'd say this is feasable.
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Good point. A Yonah Mac mini/Powerbook could schip in March (considering its a week buying period anywa). Then an iBook could come along in March and ship in April. By WWDC, the only ones remaining will be the eMac, the iMac, and the PowerMac, which can all come out over the next year.

Speaking of the eMac (while off-topic), it will have to go Intel at some point or be replaced by a really cheap iMac with a screen protector. I think the latter will happen (a $699 iMac for Education: 17", screen protector, Combo Drive, 80 Gigs, etc.) Not impossible because by then I think screens will be cheap enough for a 23" iMac to appear.
 
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