I see no FireWire support in that circuit diagram.Here's more details on that, and draw the conclusions you want:
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Mac Mini End Of Life?
- Thread starter Dont Hurt Me
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but DDR3 instead
which quite frankly means apple isn't going to put that into their computers until 2010
Err, how does DDR3 substitute for FireWire? Why do you think DDR3 means a wait until 2010 for this chipset?
because DDR3 is still fricking expensive and not really available in laptop components
and not even the mac pro is currently using DDR3 rams so why should the mac mini get it within the next 1 1/2 years ?
after all the mac mini is still using 667 mhz rams and no even 800 mhz modules
ddr3 starts at 1066 mhz
What about a "Modular Mac"
Just fantasizing:
A modular (stackable) mac. Click on top of each other, blu ray / disk extensions / TV-out|HDMI|Component / Hi end graphics / gestures-interface / etc. Mix and match as you like on a very fast bus. Then we can argue about our "mac stack" being the highest...
Not a very economically feasible idea, I admit.
;-)
G
Just fantasizing:
A modular (stackable) mac. Click on top of each other, blu ray / disk extensions / TV-out|HDMI|Component / Hi end graphics / gestures-interface / etc. Mix and match as you like on a very fast bus. Then we can argue about our "mac stack" being the highest...
Not a very economically feasible idea, I admit.
;-)
G
Nice idea gctwnl, but it's actually been mentioned quite a few times ever since those mac nano images emerged.
That said, it's inspired me to start a poll as to which option ppl would prefer:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/445305/
That said, it's inspired me to start a poll as to which option ppl would prefer:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/445305/
I think at this point people would just be happy if Apple updated the thing, I mean really when was the last significant upgrade to Mini? 06?
I think Apple's getting a little too friendly with dongles. The MacBook Air already needs a dongle for just about everything.
He is not talking about dongle, he is talking about a chip that is a firewire controller on the motheboard (external to the chipset). But that is already the case for all Intel-based computers: NO Intel chipset supports natively FW. Manufacturers use a FW controller on a PCI/PCIe lane to provide FW ports. This is nothing new.
x3100
I talked to my dad on Saturday, and I think he is ready to switch back to mac. (He had one a while back, but switched to PC). I think the time machine and the virus security are two main reasons, plus the fact that macs are now able to dual boot and run a couple specialty programs that he occasionally needs.
I recommended that he wait until the mini gets a new graphics card. I think that is the part of the current mini that will show its age most quickly. I can relate it to my current mini (1.25 G4). I am ok with it being a little slow, but because of the old graphics card, I couldn't even show some of the graphics features that were part of Tiger.
He's definitely not a gamer - and neither am I, other than a couple of old games that run fine. But I just think the graphics card is already pretty obsolete, and I am very reluctant to buy until it is upgraded.
I talked to my dad on Saturday, and I think he is ready to switch back to mac. (He had one a while back, but switched to PC). I think the time machine and the virus security are two main reasons, plus the fact that macs are now able to dual boot and run a couple specialty programs that he occasionally needs.
I recommended that he wait until the mini gets a new graphics card. I think that is the part of the current mini that will show its age most quickly. I can relate it to my current mini (1.25 G4). I am ok with it being a little slow, but because of the old graphics card, I couldn't even show some of the graphics features that were part of Tiger.
He's definitely not a gamer - and neither am I, other than a couple of old games that run fine. But I just think the graphics card is already pretty obsolete, and I am very reluctant to buy until it is upgraded.
I'm thinking the same thing. I think Intel announced that they will be reducing Merom shipments to 33% by May. Though some have said that Apple doesn't sell many Minis, I think they sell enough to warrant upgrading them relatively soon.
Besides, there isn't a very big difference between the latest Meroms and similarly spec'd Penryns... just that Penryn has 45nm engraving and requires Santa Rosa (the latter of which is very good news for those holding out on buying a Mini; it guarantees that any upgrade, even if weak, will have SR and hence x3100 graphics).
There's an interesting thought going on over here about the potential of increasing the MacMini's footprint to match the 7.7" square footprint of TimeCap and
tv. It might have been mentioned over here once or twice (hell, in 965 posts, pretty much anything can be mentioned) but it's an interesting thought.-Clive
Clive, do you have any idea if the Mini can play HD streaming TV programs full screen without stuttering? I have asked this several times, but never get a straight answer. According to ABC TV, you must have a 2mbps Internet connection, 1GB RAM, 128MB video memory and a dual processor. Any ideas on this? If there was an Apple store near me, I could find out there, but no such luck.
I'm not sure how "I did it on my 1.6Ghz mini and it works great" is not a straight answer.
I think the Minis are a key product in Apple's lineup. I don't think they'll ever get rid of it, unless they replace it with another "cheaper" alternative. I think it is a key product because it allows new users to get a taste of Macs if they never used it. If I never owned a Mac and got a mini, I would think the next time I'd get a new computer it would be an iMac. It's a product that moves other products later on down the road.
There are a lot of factors that will determine this. How is the video encoded (MPEG-2, H.264, etc.)? What's its bitrate? How is its audio encoded? Unless you know these, you can't get a good idea about its ability to play them without actually playing them.
No, I don't have any personal experience, or capability to try it out, but CaveMan above posted an accurate-sounding answer in my book.
Funny, I'm doing the opposite. I've been a Mac-user for a long time, and I always went for the consumer-grade Mac... Performa 630CD, iMac DV SE (G3), iMac (G4). I outgrew my iMac and am looking for something bigger... not much -- I definitely don't need the 8-core server-class processing power of the Mac Pro. I just want a desktop-class Mac with OS X and the ability for me to customize/upgrade the hardware the way I like. Apple doesn't offer this, so I'm going with a computer with the smallest price tag every few years until they do... or until I can afford to aimlessly throw money at Apple for a MacPro... but I don't see the latter happening. I don't really see a mini-tower happening either, but one can dream, right?
-Clive
true that .. the problem is that there are too few products to move up to from a mac mini (which was a nice appetizer for me as you described)
essentially it's the imac (integrated screen+ laptop components again ... urgh) and the mac pro (overkill in price and CPU performance)
neither something i like
I agree. I wonder how Apple could structure this "comsumer tower" so that it was an attractive option, but didn't cannabilize sales too much from the Mac Pro. My guess is that they are worried that if they made it too powerful, they would lose pro sales. That would probably happen some, but I would guess that a lot of pro users are people who want the "biggest and best" and would not necessarily move "down the chain."
On the other hand, I would think that they would have a pretty good shot of getting people to move up from the mini to a consumer tower. For example, I don't really want a built in screen, so I am not likely to move up to the iMac. But I might consider moving up to a consumer tower.
I know this is a little off topic for a thread that is specifically about the mini, but I'm just trying to do my part to get us to 1000 posts.
Nice idea indeed. No imagine if they were all the size of the Time Capsule, and had ports on top than let them all stackthe feat of the one above it were FW800 ports or something to let them all talk to each other and "become" a computer. I think that would be awesome, but it's never going to happen.
The reason: it's too consumer driven. Apple likes to drive the consumer, and not really the other way around. Like Steve quoting Ford about people wanting a "faster horse," Apple would rather make a tight machine like the mini and leave it at that, making you upgrade in 2-4 years.
I thought with today's forum news I'd bump this thread up....
The Mini is going to be like this forum - it just keeps going, and going...
The Mini is going to be like this forum - it just keeps going, and going...
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