I predict an aluminum mini
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Mac Mini Not Dead Yet?
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Like this one!
http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=108852&stc=1&d=1206132969
Apologies I posted it before the epic 1000+ thread!
Sweet. The next Mac mini revision is going to replace two slower, louder, power-guzzling machines: my Power Mac G4 (whopping 733 MHz), and my FreeBSD server (will run it in a virtual machine). It'll be strange when that room is suddenly so quiet.
It's already very worthwhile for its intended market. I got the 1.83 version as an emergency stop gap, but now find myself in no rush to upgrade quickly as I orginally intended. For basic things most people do -- email, web surfing, word processing, light spreadsheets, modest photo work, etc. -- the Mini is a delight. I don't even care that mine has no superdrive, as I still have an unopened stack of blank DVD's I bought a couple of years ago (although I do have the security blanket of access to a superdrive on my old G4 Power Mac, if I ever do have the need).
Love to see all the things that people have suggested, but I'd be very happy if they'd just upgrade to the current Macbook processors and include the ability to upgrade RAM without safecracker skills.
I'd buy an upgradable "mini tower" version in a heartbeat if one were ever offered, but I'd have to agree with Apple's apparent thinking that a configuration like that would cannibalize iMac sales. Still, there clearly is an eager market for an in between modular Mac. We can dream, can't we?
Well, here's a couple proto-minis here, about an inch in size...rather "Apple, why don't you throw these in one of them!":
(intel Xeon Clovertown x5365 3GHz 4-core chips)
(intel Xeon Clovertown x5365 3GHz 4-core chips)
My little mini that I got & self-upgraded last summer (1.83 CoreDuo, 2GB ram, WD 250GB) is a total workhorse. I keep it on almost all the time, with BTMM I keep my files on it that I can access from the road, it rips DVDs fine with handbrake, it's basically my home system. It also frees up the Pro for advanced video and my MBP for mobile-everything. The mac mini fits perfectly in my flow and if I replaced it with another, it'd become a media center box.
Good to see that the mini lives on... mine will become some kind of server or media centre too once it is no longer my main computer.
It is just so reliable, quiet and small...
Please, no Combo/ SuperDrive split Apple. If a $500 laptop can offer a DVD writer, the $600 Mac mini should offer a DVD writer. Well, I guess I can dream. I guess the split makes it worthwhile for people to pay an extra $200, for the DVD writer which costs Apple pennies more and a processor that costs Apple $30 more.
I guess the split makes it worthwhile for people to pay an extra $200, for the DVD writer which costs Apple pennies more and a processor that costs Apple $30 more.Agree, I'm getting ready to upgrade/replace my home theater system in the next year and I'm trying to find an elegant solution. I DO NOT find it elegant in this day and age to have a pile of components piled up next to my TV with a remote for each and then some uber-remote that is supposed to pull it all together for me and make it seamless (not!)
So at a minimum I need a TV, speakers, amplifier, and then some number of inputs. For inputs I'd be happy with CD/DVD/Blu-Ray, cable/satellite, and my iTunes music library. I think I'm past the point where I need an AM/FM receiver.
I feel that if the Apple TV had a Blu-Ray drive, that would be fantastic. Unfortunately that still gives me four remotes. Amplifier, Apple TV, cable/satellite, and perhaps the TV (if it doesn't consolidate well with the cable/sat remote.)
I'm curious to hear about other people's setups. I'm not a Best Buy home-theater-in-a-box type consumer but I'm also not a $20,000 spender either. For me there is a sweet spot somewhere in between before you start hitting diminishing returns.
Good, but YAWN! Where is the CAR Mac Mini, Apple?
Good, BUT, where is the CAR version of the Mac Mini, Apple? I don't want this crappy MS Sync technology -- give us an Apple choice!!!
Do you want this garbage?:
Good, BUT, where is the CAR version of the Mac Mini, Apple? I don't want this crappy MS Sync technology -- give us an Apple choice!!!
Do you want this garbage?:
The mac mini has been the only mac I have been interested in buying, just I haven't had the spare $$ to justify what is to me a fun item as opposed to a machine I would intend to use alot of the time. That and a dSLR camera rates higher.
Give it a nice upgrade and I might just change my mind.
Give it a nice upgrade and I might just change my mind.
So your suggestion is basically that they should make it better and faster while making it cheaper?
In all seriousness, I think Apple should radically re-think the mini. What I would do is to MBA it. I mean, make it even smaller (about same size as appletv is) and give it intel atom CPU. They could even make the ram non-expandable like in the MBA (it simplifies the design and makes it cheaper to manufacture). The machine would be fanless, and prices would start at around $399, $200 less than today.
Then, they could re-release the Cube. That machine would have more powerful c2d-CPU, 3.5" HD, an integrated GPU provided by nvidia or ati and a PCI-e expansion-slot for optional faster graphics or other expansion. Prices could start at around $899 or so.
That's what I would do.
To be honest my 2 GHz MacMini does the job, lets be honest to those of us not in the IT industry a home computer basically gets used to browse the net, organise your email and photos and act as a hub for all of your iTunes content.
Does anyone actually need more power at home, the place the MacMini was designed to be?
However, I am very excited about my new Black MB which should be delivered by Tuesday. But that isn't about computing necessity, its about having a cool accessory! Oh and being able to bring work home with me...
Does anyone actually need more power at home, the place the MacMini was designed to be?
However, I am very excited about my new Black MB which should be delivered by Tuesday. But that isn't about computing necessity, its about having a cool accessory! Oh and being able to bring work home with me...
I'd love that, Blue-Ray before the MP.
Yeah, 'cause that's going to happen.
[Insert reference to username].
Faster graphics, definitely if apple wants to hit the home gaming market, x-plane 9 needs more! 3.5" HD also a good move, as home computers do tend to store all the ripped movies, video footage from holidays etc.
I think sales are low of the Mini because they don't keep the things very up to date...
Also, stick a damn DVDR in all your machines and stop making it the model differentiators. Rediculous.
Also, stick a damn DVDR in all your machines and stop making it the model differentiators. Rediculous.
I am glad, I just came from the Apple Store in Natick, MA, and there was a single mini on display, there were like 8 Airs, 10 iMacs, etc. Just that lonely mini connected to a 20" cinema display.
I hope it comes soon, I want one for a media server.
I hope it comes soon, I want one for a media server.
That's "Natick," to you.
I'm glad it's not getting killed off, but if it stays around, it needs to be kept current. Every other mac has been on santa rosa for months now, and some are on to Penryn while the mini still languishes with merom/napa. Keep it current or kill it off, enough of this second-class-mac stuff.
