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Mac Mini To Be Discontinued?
- Thread starter Planner Dude
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"Logical" alternative
Judging by the price points and development effort, the iPhone will replace the Mac mini.
It would be a shame to lose the mini.
I purchased a mini for my wife last Fall, after tiring of her constant need for assistance to do simple things on a windows machine. I didn't know if she would be any less computer phobic on an apple, but at the low price point, it was worth the shot.
That low price point, plus the availability of procare, was what sold me on trying her out with an Apple Mini.
And of course, she loves now her Mini, I am no longer bombarded with "how do I do this" questions.
That converted me to Apple (MacBook), and I also converted my parents this winter (iMac).
So please, Apple, don't eliminate the easiest/least expensive way to try the Apple experience - it leads to great things happening.
I purchased a mini for my wife last Fall, after tiring of her constant need for assistance to do simple things on a windows machine. I didn't know if she would be any less computer phobic on an apple, but at the low price point, it was worth the shot.
That low price point, plus the availability of procare, was what sold me on trying her out with an Apple Mini.
And of course, she loves now her Mini, I am no longer bombarded with "how do I do this" questions.
That converted me to Apple (MacBook), and I also converted my parents this winter (iMac).
So please, Apple, don't eliminate the easiest/least expensive way to try the Apple experience - it leads to great things happening.
I'd be interested in seeing acomputer the size of an iPod. No keyboard, mouse, monitor, optical drive. Just a USB port, Firewire port, power plug & mini DVI port on the outside. Inside, 1.8" hard drive or flash. Otherwise, a full fledged computer.
well, if it is true, people will miss it. but I think that Apple will bring small compact desktop but different name, and more powerful. they know how much mac mini has been popular so far. it actually fills with most people's satisfaction in terms of price, performance because generally people just use it for lighter stuff.
Everyone would... but those little hard drives couldn't take that much wear and tear, not to mention the size requirements for other components needed for a general purpose computer.
Of course, you can run Linux on an iPod
That would be a crying shame... I was hoping one day it would get a Blu-ray drive. My Mac Mini is not the computer I use the most, but it is the only one that plays a really unique role in my house. It's my print and file server, iTunes library master / iPod syncer, DVD / other format video player, always-on net service provider, and occasional oldschool game player through emulators (very cool when hooked to the LCD TV).
None of my other computers (and very few computers in general) can do what the mini does because it's a) unobtrusive -- I can leave it running all the time, even if I have a guest sleep in the living room with it; b) small, of course, but with plenty of ports -- fits nicely into my media center, and can managed a lot of devices / external storage; c) relatively low power -- so I don't feel too guilty about it; d) Front Row-enabled.
I guess if the worst did happen, I could buy a MacBook or some such to do more or less the same stuff... but I'd probably be paying twice as much for fewer ports, and probably more noise when it gets ramped up. =/
If/when I do replace it, the old Mini will be welcome in any number of other roles, being so small, silent, and -- dare I say it -- cute.
None of my other computers (and very few computers in general) can do what the mini does because it's a) unobtrusive -- I can leave it running all the time, even if I have a guest sleep in the living room with it; b) small, of course, but with plenty of ports -- fits nicely into my media center, and can managed a lot of devices / external storage; c) relatively low power -- so I don't feel too guilty about it
; d) Front Row-enabled.I guess if the worst did happen, I could buy a MacBook or some such to do more or less the same stuff... but I'd probably be paying twice as much for fewer ports, and probably more noise when it gets ramped up. =/
If/when I do replace it, the old Mini will be welcome in any number of other roles, being so small, silent, and -- dare I say it -- cute.
Tell that to IBM/Lenovo. The X40/X41 series (great little machines!) had a 1.8" hard drive. The weighed on a 2.7 pounds too!
Say it ain't so.... The Mac mini is an awesome computer. It's on all the time, rarely has any issues and just simply runs.
I recently did the upgrade to 1gb (1.42Ghz model) and am ready to do a hard drive and DVD-R drive upgrade soon.
I was looking forward to seeing a Core 2 Duo upgrade, looking to add another Mini to the household.
If the Mini really is gone, what's with all of the rumors about Apple dumping their low end machines? First the low-end iMac and now the mini. Pretty soon, it's going to be $2,000 just to get into a Mac... which would really take 80% of the Mac line out of reach of most individuals for personal use.
I recently did the upgrade to 1gb (1.42Ghz model) and am ready to do a hard drive and DVD-R drive upgrade soon.
I was looking forward to seeing a Core 2 Duo upgrade, looking to add another Mini to the household.
If the Mini really is gone, what's with all of the rumors about Apple dumping their low end machines? First the low-end iMac and now the mini. Pretty soon, it's going to be $2,000 just to get into a Mac... which would really take 80% of the Mac line out of reach of most individuals for personal use.
Exactly. Not everyone needs a hardcore machine. My mom and aunt do email, surf the web, uses iTunes and iPod nano and transfers photos from a digital camera. You don't need too much of a computer to do that. A mini is perfect.
yes. and i hope this makes way for a mid-range tower.
that would be nice.
Agree 100%. See my post above. I (and probably many, many others) would never have ever tried Apple if the Mini did not exist.
instead of killing it, why not simply fix it's problems? if apple can earn money with $299 appletv that has nvidia graphics, why couldn't they earn money with $449 mini that has integrated graphics?
apple: make the mini affordable. specs are important, sure, but focus on making it cheaper.
Good lord! That's amazing. Hmm. I suppose I'll have to reconsider my premises. I spoke based on what I've heard from other people in these forums -- that you shouldn't boot OS X off your iPod, etc, for that reason.
Exactly!
Intel already has reference motherboards Apple could use by simply swapping the BIOS for Apple EFI. Such a board would probably have most everything the "I want a mid-range tower" crowd wants, but have enough limitations to prevent cannibalizing Mac Pro sales. Specifically it would have PCI-express slots, but only one CPU socket and probably only 2 RAM slots. I envision a mini-tower with 3 drive bays, one with the HD, one with the DVD-RW and an empty 5.25" bay that could accommodate either a second HD or a Blu-ray drive. It would use Intel motherboard video to keep the price down, but users could add a video card for improved performance.
So what of the Mac Mini? It's position as a computer is easily replaced by the mini tower. The use of high volume components in a standard form factor would allow it to be priced very aggressively. The Mini's role as a media center is easily taken by a better version of the Apple TV.
Two very important factors to consider when dissing the mini-tower idea:
1. people tend to buy what they're familiar with. Switchers have PC towers at home and/or work.
2. the mid-tower hole in Apple's lineup is currently being partially filled by used towers. There are tens of thousands of Mac users who never buy hardware from Apple. That's a terrible lost opportunity.
Finally, having a consumer machine with upgradeable video would breathe some life into the business of providing Mac compatible video cards.
Jesus
Yes, I've stood at the door on a busy Saturday and counted.
Of course I haven't, but it would stand to reason that the hour I was in there at the Genius Bar, they might have sold at least ONE. About 3 iMacs, 2 MBPS, 2 MBs and one MP.
Not purely scientific, obviously, but anyone that thinks this has been a top seller is nuts.
Just wait until its discontinued...
well, the rumor about apple dumping the 17" imac states that the reason for it would be the fact that 20" imac would cost about as much as 17" would cost. in short: low-end imac would cost as much as low-end imac costs today, it would just have a 20" screen instead of 17" screen.