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Mac Mini Photos and Details

It would seem likely that this model will be very quiet, judging by the photos - as there appears to be no room for a fan.

OT - Abstract: Best Sig. EVER. And I have an answer for it as well.
 
Anibus is right

I'm assuming if the entire power supply is in the brick it would include most of the following: +12, -12, +5, -5, +3.3, +5VSB, turn-on, a sense or two (5 and 3.3?), and gnd(s).

If this is the case, I wonder if it's possible to blow the supply without having it plugged into the Mac mini.
 
areyouwishing said:
The 2.5 7200 RPM hard drives are supposed to not be any hotter, or consumer any more battery life than 4200 drives.

Apple could have sacrificed 2 inches and given us a 3.5" HD and an extra RAM slot and probably saved enough money to include a keyboard and mouse, but nope, Apple is dumb.
Click to expand...

I think Apple should EOL the eMacs in favor of a Mac. That's right. Just drop the mini portion and give us a slightly larger Mac than that of the mini. Perhaps 8" x 8" x 3". And include everything you mentioned, perhaps 120GB harddrive, 512MB RAM with an extra RAM slot or 2. And provide it at the same price point as the eMac, $799 - $999.
 
SiliconAddict said:
And more expensive and less accessible in bulk. Apple IS expecting to roll out 100,000 systems a month. Alternatively, 7200 drives ARE excessive but 5400 drives are pretty much the norm. Probably the easiest way to provide a $500 system that and the more BTO options Apple provides the more it costs them in the long run.

LOL. Did it ever occur to you how much heat a 3.5" drive puts out? So not only would they have to make room for the drive, there would also have to be space for air to flow across the drive and a more powerful fan to move that air out of the system. I suppose you would like to have a buzzing fan on the mini all the time.

When it comes to microelectronics and devices like the mini and laptops a manufacturer like Apple doesn’t do anything on a whim. Everything has a purpose and a justification and just because it isn't apparent to the consumer doesn't mean it isn't there.
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Im talking eMac sans monitor... thats not that much bigger than the mini, especially when you are still using a slot load laptop Optical drive instead of the massive 5.25 standard optical on the eMac.

As far as not saving money on the 7200 3.5 40GB, doing ONE search i found a 40GB for $43. Doing a similar search for "40GB 2.5 4200" got me a hard drive for $68.95. I bet Apple's prices would be slightly better because of bulk pricing. There is nothing BTO about it to make a 3.5 drive standard either.

The decision by apple to make the mini ridiculously small is because they wanted to impress people with the size, no matter what the underlining technology is behind the machine. It is not because of anything to do with Microelectronics... look at the micro-atx cases around that have 3.5s in them AND a power supply.. this is not a difficult feat in the least to make this puppy a few inches taller, and wider keep the PSU external still and give the thing a real performance jolt.
 
areyouwishing said:
Apple could have sacrificed 2 inches and given us a 3.5" HD and an extra RAM slot and probably saved enough money to include a keyboard and mouse, but nope, Apple is dumb.
Click to expand...


i could not have said it any better myself.
 
areyouwishing said:
Im talking eMac sans monitor... thats not that much bigger than the mini, especially when you are still using a slot load laptop Optical drive instead of the massive 5.25 standard optical on the eMac.

As far as not saving money on the 7200 3.5 40GB, doing ONE search i found a 40GB for $43. Doing a similar search for "40GB 2.5 4200" got me a hard drive for $68.95. I bet Apple's prices would be slightly better because of bulk pricing. There is nothing BTO about it to make a 3.5 drive standard either.

The decision by apple to make the mini ridiculously small is because they wanted to impress people with the size, no matter what the underlining technology is behind the machine. It is not because of anything to do with Microelectronics... look at the micro-atx cases around that have 3.5s in them AND a power supply.. this is not a difficult feat in the least to make this puppy a few inches taller, and wider keep the PSU external still and give the thing a real performance jolt.
Click to expand...

That's Apple sometimes, style over substance. form over function. etc. etc. etc.

that sugar coded Unix sure is DAMN addictive though! 😀
 
jadam said:
They make 2.5" 7200RPM hard drives?
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Yep, I bought a Samsung 7200 rpm 60GB hard drive for my brother's laptop for Christmas. You can get up to 80GB (that I'm aware of right now). They're out there.
 
I thought this was quite an informative piece from AI, and I didn't realise the eMac was so similar...so if the eMac is EOL and is doesn't get a G5, all that's missing is a low cost Apple display to compete in the same space.

The power supply might also feed the USB power requirements separately...AFAIK there is talk of making wall warts/powerbricks more energy efficient, so maybe that's what all this is about?

PS The making the Mac mini bigger scenario for xyz has been covered before, and although it has faults, we do not know what the design criteria were.
 
MegaSignal said:
It would seem likely that this model will be very quiet, judging by the photos - as there appears to be no room for a fan.
Click to expand...

Can anybody confirm or deny for a fact that the Mac mini has a fan? And I don't mean an admirer...
 
Fan

dejo said:
Can anybody confirm or deny for a fact that the Mac mini has a fan? And I don't mean an admirer...
Click to expand...

I work for an Apple reseller in Australia and we had a demonstration of the Mac Mini by our apple rep. It is sooo small, much smaller than it looks in the photos. The quality of the finish on the device is remarkable especially considering it is designed for the budget market.
The Apple rep told us that it does have one fan which draws in air from the base of the Mac mini and blows it out the back. As with most of the G4's the fan will remain off for the majority of the time, its only if you are playing games or doing demanding stuff like rendering that the fan will kick in.

The Mac Mini and Xgrid in Tiger! Affordable server cluster at home here we come!!!

The Mac Mini is shipping in Australia on the 29th January.
 
The fact that there are "extra" pins is completely meaningless - either the extra pins provide a data feed to and from the power pack (simliar to the "intelligent" batteries you find on some electronic products), or they simply provide varying voltages for the different components.

My one problem with using proprietary power plug designs is (and this might not apply to the Mac Mini) that they become near impossible to find spares, or the pins are so small it's fairly easy to accidentally break them when inserting into the socket, and then having to bend them back into shape. I suspect the large volume the Mac Mini is being shipped in will mean the power packs are quite cheap, so probably not an issue.
 
AliensAreFuzzy said:
Ordering mine this weekend, probably won't get it until mid-Fed. Sigh 🙁
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Hah! You think you've got problems. I ordered one on Monday (just past -- IOW, the 17th of Jan.) My supplier reckons it'll probably arrive around March or so... and considering the fun and games we had with the iMac G5 before I cancelled, it wouldn't surprise me one bit.

Damn Apple, focusing on the USA and ignoring us folks Down Under... 🙁 Oh, well. This order, I doubt I'll cancel; there's too much stuff I'd like to do with a pair of Macs (I already have a 1.25 GHz PowerBook.)
 
SiliconAddict said:
When it comes to microelectronics and devices like the mini and laptops a manufacturer like Apple doesn’t do anything on a whim. Everything has a purpose and a justification and just because it isn't apparent to the consumer doesn't mean it isn't there.
Click to expand...

So what justification does Apple have for putting 256 MB RAM as stock, when 512 MB sticks are scarcely more expensive, and OS X runs so much better with 512 MB than 256? 😛
 
miradu said:
Mine came via fedex today - I used free shipping.

It's amazing. iLife 05 is incredible, the upgrades to iphoto and idvd are worth the money alone, (I'm not the biggest gb/imovie fan, so i can't comment that much on it).

The harddrive is noticeably slow, but everything else is awesome. Fast, beautiful. The mini itself is just a perfect work of engineering, except for cables. I've already used up all the ports.. it's a mess back there. *sigh*. I guess that's the reason for an iMac.
Click to expand...

You said that you can feel that the HDD is slow, how is it slow 😕
 
sod a reason to get one, i just want one to have it take pride of place on the desk when my PB isn't there!

one of those and a nice TFT (wish i could afford a 23" ACD too!) would do me fine. anyone wishing to give me £1000 for a mini and 23" cinema display it'd be much appreciated. let's just say it'll help me attain my 1st in computing bsc at university.

*thinks of using 23" screen for developing when all other students are on their crappy 17" crt peecees*


ahem.
🙄
 
TheInevitable said:
Need more ports?

mini_hub.jpg

mini_hub_example.jpg
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Sweet but how much would something like this cost+ could it have an external HDD for backup++ 😛 😕
 
jophilpo said:
To those of you that recieved your Minis today, how many discs were included? I have the iLife '05 Disc. In another sleeve was OSX Install Disc 1 and the OS 9 install disc. Should there have also been an OSX Install Disc #2 included?
Click to expand...

If it's an install/restore DVD (not CD) which I believe it is then there should only be one OSX disc. I would have thought that there should be an Apple Hardware Test disc as well though.
 
TheInevitable said:
Need more ports?
mini_hub.jpg

mini_hub_example.jpg
Click to expand...

Whilst this looke very nice you need to make a minor design change to stop it blowing up the mini! The mini sucks air in through the bottom of the case. You need to provide vents/get rid of the lip to allow it to do this.
 
robbieduncan said:
If it's an install/restore DVD (not CD) which I believe it is then there should only be one OSX disc. I would have thought that there should be an Apple Hardware Test disc as well though.
Click to expand...

With the rev.b powermacs the AHT is on the "additional software" disc, which includes OS 9. I suspect that, in the case of the mini, the "OS 9" disc will have it.
 
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