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Mac Mini To Be Discontinued?
- Thread starter Planner Dude
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No, I didn't mean that at all, I meant that the Macintosh has never been a machine that you build yourself, and upgrade every component like non-Macintosh computers have always been.
Your newsflash is rude and not needed.
Hey, as long as wishful thinking is the norm, anyone mind if i cast my vote for an updated Mac Mini with faster HDDs and processors, a cable card, and (most importantly) Firewire 800?
Call it a mini tower, call it whatever you want, just give me a small, low-priced Mac with Firewire 800 to put to work as a media server.
Call it a mini tower, call it whatever you want, just give me a small, low-priced Mac with Firewire 800 to put to work as a media server.
Yes, the Mini is more expensive than AppleTV, but its profit margins will be the lowest of any Mac. The reallly big money to be made from AppleTV won't be from the hardware itself, it'll be from the pay-to-view services it'll eventually provide: streaming movies, programs, videos, etc.
I guess Apple think that too many people are more than happy to have the Mini, rather than AppleTV, as an Apple solution for their particular media interests. But, like most others here, I think that Apple will be making a big mistake if they discontinue the Mini. I really hope they keep it & do some decent updates very soon.
No, I'm well aware of third party solutions that offer more storage and extra ports but I'd rather have one, faster drive that does everything.
this is true...i was one of those people and I love my mini....since they're being discontinued what do you think the re-sell value on these will be?
Current rumors:
- EOL for 17" iMac
- EOL for Mac mini
Facts:
- a lot of Mac mini users buy a Mac mini-sized "HD+Hub", adding to the overall price of the machine, making it in fact even closer in price as the low-end 17" iMac
Apple must be thinking:
- let's discontinue the 17" iMac and make a better Mac mini, people are already paying that price already anyway and it ends up as a cable mess, not a very Apple-esque image.
Coming up?
- new Mac model, either AppleTV (7.5" square) or Mac mini (6.5" square) in size, with a 3.5" hard drive, Core 2 Duo CPU and hopefully a better GPU with dedicated RAM (probably the same GPU/VRAM as the upcoming new low-end iMac).
Mac Cube, mark II?
No more entry-level model with a low price, you say? People have been able to run World of Warcraft on the AppleTV. So all they need to do is "enable" full OS X on the AppleTV and sell a wireless keyboard with built-in trackpad, so you can use it from the living room on your HDTV (which was the real reason to require HDTV in the first place). A lot of people only use a computer for Web, email, IM. Buy music, TV shows and movies from the iTunes Store. Download software. No need for an optical drive in most cases.
Don't want to use it on your HDTV, or don't have one? Use an HDMI-to-DVI adapter, connect a keyboard to the USB port and a mouse into the keyboard hub. Here you go, an even lower-priced entry-level Mac. If you need CD ripping or DVD playbac simply add a USB hub and an external DVD drive.
Let's keep that 17" iMac EOL rumor in mind, too. Something has to be replacing both the Mac mini and low-end iMac. Since there was probably a lot of switchers using the Mac mini (that's what it was created for), maybe they got so many requests for a "mini Mac Pro" that they'll finally make one.
- EOL for 17" iMac
- EOL for Mac mini
Facts:
- a lot of Mac mini users buy a Mac mini-sized "HD+Hub", adding to the overall price of the machine, making it in fact even closer in price as the low-end 17" iMac
Apple must be thinking:
- let's discontinue the 17" iMac and make a better Mac mini, people are already paying that price already anyway and it ends up as a cable mess, not a very Apple-esque image.
Coming up?
- new Mac model, either AppleTV (7.5" square) or Mac mini (6.5" square) in size, with a 3.5" hard drive, Core 2 Duo CPU and hopefully a better GPU with dedicated RAM (probably the same GPU/VRAM as the upcoming new low-end iMac).
Mac Cube, mark II?
No more entry-level model with a low price, you say? People have been able to run World of Warcraft on the AppleTV. So all they need to do is "enable" full OS X on the AppleTV and sell a wireless keyboard with built-in trackpad, so you can use it from the living room on your HDTV (which was the real reason to require HDTV in the first place). A lot of people only use a computer for Web, email, IM. Buy music, TV shows and movies from the iTunes Store. Download software. No need for an optical drive in most cases.
Don't want to use it on your HDTV, or don't have one? Use an HDMI-to-DVI adapter, connect a keyboard to the USB port and a mouse into the keyboard hub. Here you go, an even lower-priced entry-level Mac. If you need CD ripping or DVD playbac simply add a USB hub and an external DVD drive.
Let's keep that 17" iMac EOL rumor in mind, too. Something has to be replacing both the Mac mini and low-end iMac. Since there was probably a lot of switchers using the Mac mini (that's what it was created for), maybe they got so many requests for a "mini Mac Pro" that they'll finally make one.
I have no idea if this has been said or not...but heres my 2 cents.
Do you think its possible that the
TV could be a replacement for the mini? What if the next revision came with a better processor and a full version of OS X? One of the main uses of the mini [I imagine] is for entertainment systems...so wouldn't it make sense to merge these two lines? Have an Apple TV start at $299... add a full processor and OS in for another $300?
just a thought....
-Vince
Do you think its possible that the
TV could be a replacement for the mini? What if the next revision came with a better processor and a full version of OS X? One of the main uses of the mini [I imagine] is for entertainment systems...so wouldn't it make sense to merge these two lines? Have an Apple TV start at $299... add a full processor and OS in for another $300?just a thought....
-Vince
Actually the main target for the Mac mini is supposed to be switchers who don't want to spend too much to try out OS X. I have no idea if the majority of buyers are using it as a computer or a media computer, however.
In any case, Apple has to keep offering a low-cost Mac if they want to get more users. Or if not low-cost, at least reasonably priced headless.
I suspect most just look at it as a tiny computer that costs $599 or $799 and they don't know anything about the specs. The fact that it's so small and looks like a toy probably has more to do with their decision than things like "Core Duo" and "GPU."
I have no idea if this has been said or not...but heres my 2 cents.
Do you think its possible that the
just a thought....
-Vince
No, I don't think so. Apple TV is a completely different market. It's not a Mac. It's geared more toward the home theater, family market.
"Your computer is the center of your digital life. Your TV is the center of your entertainment life."
There already is such a unit. It's called the Mac mini. Whether or not Apple wants to expand aTV to become a full-fledged computer with DVR and web surfing capability, I don't know. I'd rather they would just upgrade the mini and perhaps revise Front Row so that it functions exactly like the software on aTV.Do you think its possible that the
If Apple TV had been a DVR (or could be expanded like that), THAT I would have been excited about.
Normally everytime the MB gets an update minis arn't too far behind. This time has been an exception, so it would appear to me that the Mini is probaly going through some sorta evolution. A lot of people have been complaining about the price point of the mini and lack of good midrange Mac and Apple has always listen to consumers. Coupled with the fact there has been alot of rumors of imac redesigns/formfactor so I could believe by the 4th quarter of this year an evolution of the low to midrange Macintosh.
most pc-users never build their own machines op upgrade existing one. yes, you can upgrade them, but you can do it to macs as well.
when i bought my 1.25ghz mini, i already had an athlon64 3200+ machine with 1gb of ram, nvidia geforce fx5900 and around 300gb of storage. and not for a second did i see the mini as being wimpy or underpowered. i saw it as a highly desireable and affordble machine with specs that were good enough.
Good point. Current minis are better than (probably) 95% of all computers sold just two years ago. But from what you read on threads like these, one would think the mini isn't capable of playing a game of online solitaire. I think part of the mini's problem is that it's too small, so it's perceived as a toy and not the very capable computer it is.
This is very similar to the machine that I had at the time I got my 1.42 mini, and I got completely stopped using the pc within a few weeks, and sold it within 3 months for practically nothing. But if it had not been for the mini I would have never tried a mac at all.
Then and now.
I cannot even dream of buying a Mac Mini if the base line model doesn't have 2.0GHz C2D processor and 1GB memory. I would also love 7200rpm hard drive, even as an option, but currently the specs are really outdated.
Actually that's the opinion of many PC users when talking about Mac users:
"Mac users buy pretty machines and don't know anything about hardware."
Apart from the Dell, HP, etc customers I can assure you that most of the PC users I know check the specs before the size of the machine. Yes, even those that are computer-illiterate know more about hardware than software (one of the reason they stay on Windows).
When looking at a Mac mini in person, however, they're all shocked at the small size. Seeing 6.5 x 6.5 x 2.0" on paper and in real life is a bit different. ;-)
The thing that pushes PC users away from switching is the fact that only a Mac Pro ressembles a PC tower (lots of RAM slots, graphic card that you can upgrade instead of a GPU soldered on the motherboard, 3.5" drive bays, etc).
All-in-ones like the iMac are not even taken into consideration (no need to repeat the arguments here) and the Mac Pro is too expensive. That only leaves the Mac mini as an option, which is as bad as a laptop when it comes to upgrading its components. And if you do upgrade components, they are laptop parts (usually more expensive, slower, less capacity, etc).
The fact that it has a really weak GPU (don't forget that even a low-cost graphic card is almost as good as the one in the iMac and probably has at least twice the RAM), only two slots of RAM (expensive laptop RAM on top of that) and a slow, expensive and small-capacity 2.5" laptop drive really doesn't help. Add the fact that the low-end model doesn't even have a 30$ DVD burner, and you get lots of people staying with their Windows PC Tower. If you want them to switch and buy basically the same hardware they already have/could be buying, you have to match the hardware, especially since they can now do a direct CPU comparison. They won't take OS X and iLife into account since they know nothing about it.
So, if the Mac mini is too expensive just for being small and Apple is really terminating the Mac mini and 17" iMac, it makes room for a new, more expensive headless Mac, right? It only needs one slot for the graphic card, maybe 3 or 4 RAM slots, and 1 or 2 drive bays for 3.5" HDs.
Without the LCD screen, I think Apple can pull it off quite easily. The question is: will they?
Same thing for me, I was using an Athlon 2400+, 1GB, 200GB and Radeon 9600/128MB. After using the Mac mini for three weeks I noticed I hadn't booted the PC for about two weeks. Since the resale value was too low I decided to keep it instead, so I could maybe one day install some Linux distro or whatever. Never happened, it's still in its box.
The Mac mini G4/1.42GHz is still running fine with 1GB RAM and the 80GB/5400rpm drive I put in it, however I do wish it had a better GPU with more VRAM, that I could add more system RAM and that the HD wasn't a small, slow 2.5".
I keep seeing the same "problems" quoted for the Mac mini:
- weak GPU
- no PCIe/PCIx slot (or whatever it's called, I stopped caring about such specific things after switching)
- 2.5" drive
- limited RAM
Come on Apple, new, better headless!
Yes Apple could have played up the design a bit.
Simple as it is, the Mini is not exciting at all.
Plus there were some glarring ommisions made in the specs.
But overall it was an expensive computer if you were not using as a switch machine....already own a keyboard, mouse and display.
I loved the form factor and considered buying one many times but after factoring in the anciliaries the price always stopped me.
I just hope they have a replacement in the pipeline as I believe it is still a very relevant and needed computer in some new form or other.
Not that I'm disagreeing with everything you've said, since you've made some good points and I personally would love to see a better headless option from Apple but...
With this statement, you're discounting a large chunk of computer buyers (those who buy Dells and HPs). I would guess that the people you know are more knowledgeable than the majority of the computer buying public. A lot of people see an ad on TV or in a magazine and call up with a dollar figure to see what they can get for that amount, or they might ask a friend to help. Or, they go to Best Buy and ask the salesman for something that looks cool. Many don't know the difference between memory and a hard disk. To them, the Mac mini looks too small.