What does that have to do with how well they sold/sell?
It's a direct indicator of popularity! Like trying to find a decent used Prius.
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Mac Mini To Be Discontinued?
- Thread starter Planner Dude
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It's a direct indicator of popularity! Like trying to find a decent used Prius.
Uh...are you sure you want to commit to such an asinine thought at the advent of HDDVD and Blu-ray? And take us back to 1992 for a optional external optical drive? You're probably listening to REO speedwagon or similar right now. Hit pause and rethink your comment.
No really. There is no way they'd get rid of an optical drive with so many of us still puchasing software and movies that we need a drive for.
This is very bad news if true. We have 3 Mac minis at our company, including our file server. It's a great computer for general office work.
So what you are saying is that everyone who doesn't want a toy or overkill should get a PC. Excellent business thinking.
You make the most sense, and I am with you on the Hackintosh thing, got any linkies?
At first, I thought it was a bad idea.
But, Apple has been known to "get rid of stuff".
1. Macintosh - they got rid of the 5.25" floppy.
2. iMac - they got rid of the floppy altogether.
3. iMac G4 - they got rid of the CRT.
Now, could they be getting rid of the optical drive?
Use anTV enclosure, but with C2D, up to 2Gigs RAM, and trade out the component video ports for USB and FW.
You can add an external optical drive if you want one...
Call it
I think they will do this on the MacBook Mini ultra portable laptop. I think most machines still need their optical drives until the price of flash drives comes down enough to put an entire OS on one, and the quality of online movies meets the standard set by HD discs. But even then they will still be needed for other reasons here and there... we can always make the dics and drives smaller though. Imagine a drive specifically for the mini discs. Blue Ray mini disc could hold 12GB of stuff. And a dedicated drive would be half the size.
True, if that's the limit of the business's vision.
Exactly - - but could it have been the mini's low price that prompted the trip to the store to buy the iMac?
The problem is that it is hard to determine what percentage of your customers only considered your product because of the enticement of the low priced product {the mini}, but then decided (maybe with prompting) to move to a more upscale, more profitable machine.
This happens all the time with premier products ... its not a coincidence that Porsche has models that are cheaper than the 911, for example.
FWIW, don't think that Dell or HP don't do the same thing too...its just a lot less obvious when all of their designs are the same form factor and equally ugly.
True, but the challenge is in trying to measure a product's worth on the relatively intangible factors. Do you really think that all Chevy Corvette owners were financially {willing or able} to go straight to the Vette without having a Camaro first?
-hh
What does that have to do with how well they sold/sell?
Because if there is low demand for a given supply, the prices will adjust downward. eBay's prices remain high. Ergo, demand is still pretty danged good for two year-old Mac minis, enough to keep them at 80% of their original sales price.
I think cube's point was that the iMac has the additional limitation (beyond the cube) of having a built-in monitor. If the monitor goes south, you have the mini-DVI port as an option, but your computer is a big waste of space. Likewise, if the computer itself is irreparable, too expensive to repair, or obsolete but the screen is still in pristine condition, tough nuggies.
Why does CONSUMER necessarily have to mean all-in-one? Yes, many consumers want simplicity, but many may not want that at the expense of flexibility and reusability. Supposing some of the "secret features" of Leopard prompt interest in more Windows users, we may see potential switchers who already have relatively recent displays and want a desktop in their price range with competitive performance.
I think the bottom line is the Mac mini couldn't have been a contender simply because the small form factor (or price tag?) placed too many limitations on performance, both for the consumer and for Apple. We don't know for sure, but perhaps the Core 2 Duo would have been too hot to put in such a tight enclosure with all the other heat-generating components. (Yes, the Core 2 Duo are tightly-packed in the MacBooks, but the components are distributed horizontally rather than stacked.) Additionally, the miniaturized components may have pushed production costs to the point that the margins are too tight for Apple's comfort. Could it be that a slightly larger enclosure would have allowed the specs to be more competitive with comparably-priced desktops and with better margins for Apple? Maybe the "Wow! This thing is SMALL!" factor doesn't mean as much as Apple initially thought.
No, it can merely mean that the people who own them hold onto them... there's no supply shortage of mini's...
No, you are just making an assumption purely based on how you feel.
A 24" iMac is not a toy just because you can't upgrade anything but the memory. Neither is a 20" iMac or MacMini. Obviously you haven't done much work on a computer lately. You don't need the latest greatest graphics card to make a hit movie, go to an Indie festival and what the highschoolers run circles around the pros.
Honestly... I don't see how your comment makes any sense or relevance to the discussion... sounds like you are just mad.
eBay is certainly no gauge for economics... when I can sell a 16-month old PowerBook G4 for what I paid for it...
Like I said, we'll see who's right when it's gone, but I hope I'm wrong. I like the mini.
Seriously. It's amusing to me that, while computers get faster and faster, the tasks that "low-end" users are supposedly restricted to performing with their "low-end" hardware never changes. In 2000 I was having a blast learning how to record multi-track audio with my 400Mhz PowerMac, a machine which I used as a web developer for around 6 years (w/Photoshop, programming, etc...)
(Granted, this was in OS 9 - but the OS X bloat factor can't have completely wiped that all away ;-) ).
This is a pity, if it's true - I was looking at purchasing a Mac Mini to use primarily as a recording machine (with a wireless connection to my iMac, which would then be the machine reponsible for mixing, effects, etc...)
Sooo ... that means they're not popular with their owners? You're rather obtuse sometimes, you know that?
That was my point, people who own them love them, thus they keep them.
Exactly.
While I'll admit that eBay isn't necessarily a great example, the classical rules of supply & demand would say that when demand is low, the sellers shouldn't be able to receive such a relatively high price.
Another example of this is the 12" G4 Powerbook.
EDIT: I just did a quick count of mini's on eBay (all types): currently, there's 88 of them listed for sale.
-hh
Well, I can't say I'm surprised. Apple produced it, but never seemed to know what to do with it. And I think the Mac mini suffered as a result. The decision to put laptop graphics in it with the Intel refresh was the point I, personally, stopped seeing any point in it.
The @TV is not an ideal replacement. There is a need for a mid- or low- end headless Mac, but the Mac mini, being as closed and underpowered as it was, was never that Mac.
I can't say I'm that saddened by the loss. What's more saddening is the notion that Apple is going to give up rather than work on understanding the need.
The @TV is not an ideal replacement. There is a need for a mid- or low- end headless Mac, but the Mac mini, being as closed and underpowered as it was, was never that Mac.
I can't say I'm that saddened by the loss. What's more saddening is the notion that Apple is going to give up rather than work on understanding the need.
I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see the Mini go away.
Comparing the prices for the Mini and the iMac it's clear Apple makes far more money on the base iMac (a Mini w/ a screen, keyboard, and mouse, none of which costs Apple very much)
The new, base 20" iMac could cost as low as $1099 (if only to sell to edu for $999), but it would have a 160GB hard drive, combo optical drive, and integrated graphics (more likely priced @$1199)
For an extra $200 over the low end you get 250GB, a 8x Superdrive, and a dedicated (but modest) graphics chip on the middle iMac.
The 24" iMac remains pricey ($400-$500 more) than that.
Comparing the prices for the Mini and the iMac it's clear Apple makes far more money on the base iMac (a Mini w/ a screen, keyboard, and mouse, none of which costs Apple very much)
The new, base 20" iMac could cost as low as $1099 (if only to sell to edu for $999), but it would have a 160GB hard drive, combo optical drive, and integrated graphics (more likely priced @$1199)
For an extra $200 over the low end you get 250GB, a 8x Superdrive, and a dedicated (but modest) graphics chip on the middle iMac.
The 24" iMac remains pricey ($400-$500 more) than that.
Its never been in Apple's practices to do this. You can't sell a computer at a loss for very long. Apple isn't Microsoft has billions up on billions of dollars to do this. Neither you nor I know what Chevy makes off the Colbalt.
I was just waiting for the upgrade.
I didn't have a need for a mac-mini until after 150 days since upgrade. I have just been waiting patiently for the upgrade to jump-in. Sheesh.
It won't go to any other mac than a mini. I guess I can start looking at wintel/linux boxes.
Cripes this is just too dumb.
I didn't have a need for a mac-mini until after 150 days since upgrade. I have just been waiting patiently for the upgrade to jump-in. Sheesh.
It won't go to any other mac than a mini. I guess I can start looking at wintel/linux boxes.
Cripes this is just too dumb.
$6 Billion in the bank isn't enough for you? And yes, they can.
And yes, I have a pretty decent idea of margins on products like the Cobalt. My main client is the auto industry and a coworker spent 30 years in GM as a product line manager. Don't make assumptions about what others do or don't know. It's bad form, and you end up looking foolish.
I don't think the all-in-one design is a limitation at all... Okay... let's look at the facts. The original iMac comes out in 1999... eight years later Apple still makes a consumer all-in-one desktop that pushes most of their marketshare along with their all-in-one laptops.
The whole this going up and that going up relates to many other types of machines as well, so it really holds no weight. I do get Cubes point, the G4 cube had limitations like the iMac except that you could replace the graphics card and monitor... that's good. The MacMini has those same limitations, but adds only the benefit of added your own monitor.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - (-_-)
So where is this going Cube?
Apple axed the Cube (it was deemed a failure), and will axe the Mini as well (only rumored of course) But have made three revisions to the iMac model that had been an all in one for 8 years, and laptops also have no problem with an all in one design, and these all in ones have driven Apples marketshare along with the all in one design of the iPod and future iPhone.
I am starting to forget about where this discussion originated.
What?
I purchased a Thinkpad and a Tablet PC just a few years ago - without an optical drive...
There are many laptops and portable computers out there now without optical drives...
It's not like the optical drive will no longer be available. Dude, just go buy one...
Actually, I was listening to the B-52's...