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Mac Mini End Of Life?

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yrsonicdeath said:
Yeah, I've been looking for a steal and really haven't been able to find one.
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Knowing the prices people are getting on eBay and even Craigslist, the steal is in the refurb models direct from Apple w/warranty, when they're available.

If Apple does decide to EOL the Mini, these refurb models and all other sources would be even harder to come by, IMHO. All of those who have waited and waited for the Mini would suddenly be grabbing them right and left.

Unless of course Apple were to replace it with something better :D
 
jdwingnut said:
Knowing the prices people are getting on eBay and even Craigslist, the steal is in the refurb models direct from Apple w/warranty, when they're available.

If Apple does decide to EOL the Mini, these refurb models and all other sources would be even harder to come by, IMHO. All of those who have waited and waited for the Mini would suddenly be grabbing them right and left.

Unless of course Apple were to replace it with something better :D
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with the announcement on the new notebooks ......it's only a matter of time before the focus turns to desktops ....Macworld 2009 ...bring em on , that is unless Steve does the "..... and one more thing " line on October 14th :D
 
I have been ready to jump on a mac mini since christmas. However, I was waiting until the next revision. It seems like it will not happen, especially if a laptop gets released the 14th that is less expensive than the mini.
 
macaco74 said:
I have been ready to jump on a mac mini since christmas. However, I was waiting until the next revision. It seems like it will not happen, especially if a laptop gets released the 14th that is less expensive than the mini.
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....which means we might see a more expensive Mini ....and we know what that means don't we :D
 
I am holding out for an updated Mini. My thought is that it will be nudged toward more current times, and the price lowered. I would expect the update to happen without notice Wednesday morning.
 
FullGaz said:
All I'm hoping for is a silent update at around the same time. I don't want to wait until the desktop updates in november...
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Same here.

For one, I've been waiting since the first refreshes in Spring for the Mini to get its turn. (Current one ceased to be value for money for me around that point.)

For another, as I've said before, I don't need something hugely different from what the Mini offers. I just need up-to-date specs. The current footprint is idea on my computer desk. Dedicated graphics don't matter to me personally, as I don'y do too much intensive stuff plus I have consoles for games. Any talk of removing the optical drive would send me looking elsewhere. (I want to use iMovie and iDVD more, and I already hate using an external DVD burner(*) to use it...)
What the Mini is currently is what i want, only with a bit more "oomph" in the CPU and RAM. And maybe graphics. Silent refresh would suit me fine.

Tiggs

(*) Current iBook is combo-drive.
 
For my own part, altho the fact that its a notebook event means we probably won't see a new mini, and the brick turned out not to be a new cube, the move to nVidia's chipset, if true, suggests my dream of having a headless bluray-capable mac next to my projector is a little closer, since the Intel IGPs didn't look to achieve full bluray capability for at least 2 generations and those would have taken a long time to filter down to the mini.

Presumably, if there is a new mini, apple will break the habit of giving it what the macbook has had for a year, so as to have nVidia across the line. So it will either be brought in line with the macbook (albeit probably the rumoured ultra low-end one) or given an older nVidia chipset.

I'm still buying into the complete redesign rumours, tho. Its been too long. I expect there to soon be a headless mac with a decent dgp, whether its a slightly overhauled mini, or an all product.
 
I will be disapointed if the mini is only bumped, with this new process apple are using they could easily make the top half of the mini out of 1 piece of aluminium and lose the crappy plastic top, I know it might effect wireless performance but that could easily put small unnoticeable arieals sticking out the back
 
Ironduke said:
For me Apple has to put hdmi out on the next mini, they also need to redesign it to allow desktop Hardrives, I know we are moving towards SSD but the mini is a Budget machine (anyway if you can fit a 3.5 drive now, you could fit 2 SSD's later).
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That would be cool, but can any of us honestly see Apple doing that? With the Mini?

They've let the Mac Mini languish so long that I can't see it being the first machine to get HDMI somehow.

Granted...
If the laptops get an HDMI port, maybe the Mini will.
If all desktops get a future refresh, I can see the Mini getting it aybe at the same time
EOLing the Mini as-is, a replacement machine could conceivably get HDMI.

I just can't see them neglecting the Mini for so long, then giving it such a change.

As for the hard drives, I'd be sceptical for them to want to put 3.5" drives in the Mini. Certainly the iMac would get them first, if anything. Or, as with HDMI, a replacement not-MacMini-but-new-small-computer may possibly get them. But I'm still not sure they'd do that.
Heck, even some servers are coming with 2.5" drives in their RAID arrays these days.

That, and they'd possibly have to change the actual case to manage it. Which, actually, I could see arguments both for and against as to why they might or might not.

I just get the feeling that, unless they do a replacement line (new name and everything) or a major re-tooling (Mac Mini in name only), these things remain wishful thinking.

I'd love to be wrong, as (price-points permitting) I'd love to see a slightly better Headless Mac Desktop. But I, like others, get the feeling that's not where Apple's design interests lie. Then again, they've made surprising changes to the lineup before. So only time (and Apple) will tell.
 
I think the 800 item is not a laptop but rather a redisigned MacMini that has been slowly creeping away in the dark as the Macbook acts as the decoy. Noone said that the placemarkers said "laptop" thats just speculation...:D
 
MacsBestFriend said:
I think the 800 item is not a laptop but rather a redisigned MacMini that has been slowly creeping away in the dark as the Macbook acts as the decoy. Noone said that the placemarkers said "laptop" thats just speculation...:D
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That's actually a good point, and an $800 higher end mini doesn't seem that rediculous. Actually it seems more likely than an $800 low end laptop really.
 
Not sure if this has been mentionned yet

But the title of the invite says "The spotlight turns to notebooks." IMHO, the spotlight would mean the main topic is the notebooks but wouldn't necessarily mean the only topic.

Let's say the keynote lasts 2 hours, maybe they'll talk about the notebooks for 1 hour 30 minutes and only 15 minutes for the Mac mini/Mac nano/whatever replacement is coming up (hopefully) and 15 minutes about the Mac Pro (why they can't update it, i.e. lack of better intel CPUs perhaps), but at least give information about the next upcoming update.

After all, the rumored price list mentions 12 prices:
- 3 for the MacBook
- 2 for the MacBook Air
- 3 for the MacBook Pro
- 2 for the Mac mini/Mac nano/whatever (though at 800$ the "Mac nano" idea is not likely and the Mac mini would need quite a lot of upgrades at that price)

That leaves 2 prices.

It could be for a real sub-notebook (dual-core Atom, 10" screen, etc), however we all know Steve doesn't like small keyboards and small screens (i.e. watch the MacBook Air keynote)

The Mac Pro only offers 1 model with lots of options.

So what are those other two prices? If that "12 prices list" is real then it means more questions than answers if you ask me.
 
Yvan256 said:
...and 15 minutes about the Mac Pro (why they can't update it, i.e. lack of better intel CPUs perhaps), but at least give information about the next upcoming update.
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"And now the Mac Pro... we can't do anything with it..."

Apple won't talk about it until they can do something with it. We'll hear NOTHING about the Mac Pro until right before MacWorld when they give it Nehalem.
 
Yvan256 said:
But the title of the invite says "The spotlight turns to notebooks." IMHO, the spotlight would mean the main topic is the notebooks but wouldn't necessarily mean the only topic.

Let's say the keynote lasts 2 hours, maybe they'll talk about the notebooks for 1 hour 30 minutes and only 15 minutes for the Mac mini/Mac nano/whatever replacement is coming up (hopefully) and 15 minutes about the Mac Pro (why they can't update it, i.e. lack of better intel CPUs perhaps), but at least give information about the next upcoming update.

After all, the rumored price list mentions 12 prices:
- 3 for the MacBook
- 2 for the MacBook Air
- 3 for the MacBook Pro
- 2 for the Mac mini/Mac nano/whatever (though at 800$ the "Mac nano" idea is not likely and the Mac mini would need quite a lot of upgrades at that price)

That leaves 2 prices.

It could be for a real sub-notebook (dual-core Atom, 10" screen, etc), however we all know Steve doesn't like small keyboards and small screens (i.e. watch the MacBook Air keynote)

The Mac Pro only offers 1 model with lots of options.

So what are those other two prices? If that "12 prices list" is real then it means more questions than answers if you ask me.
Click to expand...

No questions. New iMac prices...
 
Yvan256 said:
But the title of the invite says "The spotlight turns to notebooks." IMHO, the spotlight would mean the main topic is the notebooks but wouldn't necessarily mean the only topic.

Let's say the keynote lasts 2 hours, maybe they'll talk about the notebooks for 1 hour 30 minutes and only 15 minutes for the Mac mini/Mac nano/whatever replacement is coming up (hopefully) and 15 minutes about the Mac Pro (why they can't update it, i.e. lack of better intel CPUs perhaps), but at least give information about the next upcoming update.

After all, the rumored price list mentions 12 prices:
- 3 for the MacBook
- 2 for the MacBook Air
- 3 for the MacBook Pro
- 2 for the Mac mini/Mac nano/whatever (though at 800$ the "Mac nano" idea is not likely and the Mac mini would need quite a lot of upgrades at that price)

That leaves 2 prices.

It could be for a real sub-notebook (dual-core Atom, 10" screen, etc), however we all know Steve doesn't like small keyboards and small screens (i.e. watch the MacBook Air keynote)

The Mac Pro only offers 1 model with lots of options.

So what are those other two prices? If that "12 prices list" is real then it means more questions than answers if you ask me.
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The mac book and mac book pro become one line with 5-6 systems?

With high end 13"-14" systems and low end 15"-17" system + old screen size / power setups.
 
Cheffy Dave said:
If it's not announced ,even as a prototype, on the 14th, it's not ever happening.
Too bad, really, end of an era:(
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I doubt it would be announced as a prototype. The only thing that I can think of that they announced months ahead of time without taking pre-orders has been the iPhone. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Apple TV was announced at MacWorld '07 for pre-orders a few weeks before it started shipping.)

If we want to get really analytical about it, I think we should pay close attention to what Steve says at the end of Tuesday's Keynote. If he says something like, "See you at MacWorld," I think that pushes the expiration date of the Mini, in its current incarnation, to Jan '09. That is, if it's not silently updated between now and then. If he doesn't say something like, "See you at MacWorld," I think the speculation is still open for a desktop refresh between now and then. Keep in mind that the last desktop updates that occurred this late in the year were the Dual 1.8GHz PowerMac G5 and the 20 inch iMac, which were updated via press release in November '03.

Personally, I think a Mini / Apple TV update is more suited for MacWorld '09. Any big new product announcement after this month seems unlikely and too close to the holiday season to warrant another event.
 
zombitronic said:
I doubt it would be announced as a prototype. The only thing that I can think of that they announced months ahead of time without taking pre-orders has been the iPhone. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Apple TV was announced at MacWorld '07 for pre-orders a few weeks before it started shipping.)

If we want to get really analytical about it, I think we should pay close attention to what Steve says at the end of Tuesday's Keynote. If he says something like, "See you at MacWorld," I think that pushes the expiration date of the Mini, in its current incarnation, to Jan '09. That is, if it's not silently updated between now and then. If he doesn't say something like, "See you at MacWorld," I think the speculation is still open for a desktop refresh between now and then. Keep in mind that the last desktop updates that occurred this late in the year were the Dual 1.8GHz PowerMac G5 and the 20 inch iMac, which were updated via press release in November '03.

Personally, I think a Mini / Apple TV update is more suited for MacWorld '09. Any big new product announcement after this month seems unlikely and too close to the holiday season to warrant another event.
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Finally I have registered so I can post a comment on the Mini. I have a 12" Powerbook G4 and have been wanting to get a Mini. Was hoping with all the notebook attention there may be something and I tend to agree with you zombitronic. Guess Tuesday we'll find out one way or the other! :eek:
 
The time isno

I have followed this tread since it started back when I was in high school (well maybe not that long ago :D). My Mini is the unannounced 1.5 G4 with upgraded graphics card. It still runs a lot of games much faster than my wife's macbook. I love the footprint, and that I can mount it in the ceiling with the projector. I have hoped for the upgraded mini with acceptable graphics for two years, and had about given up hope. This is a great machine, and they are missing the boat by not supporting it.

Usually they don't announce the mini upgrades with the macbooks, but a week later. Hope we see it soon.
 
The time is now

I have followed this tread since it started back when I was in high school (well maybe not that long ago :D). My Mini is the unannounced 1.5 G4 with upgraded graphics card. It still runs a lot of games much faster than my wife's macbook. I love the footprint, and that I can mount it in the ceiling with the projector. I have hoped for the upgraded mini with acceptable graphics for two years, and had about given up hope. This is a great machine, and they are missing the boat by not supporting it.

Usually they don't announce the mini upgrades with the macbooks, but a week later. Hope we see it soon.
 
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