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Mac Mini To Be Discontinued?
- Thread starter Planner Dude
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so this would no longer be called the mac mini, but appletv plus right?
product differentiationis pretty key. they will kill off mini or MOVE IT AWAY from te AppleTV not give it a hdmi etc, and a optional gfx card? in a mini?pointless if you ask me.
They would never use the same enclosure as the MacPro ...
Issue #1 would be brand dilution.
Issue #2 would be cost
Issue #3, with it being stripped down, why use that large an enclosure?
Expect a Minitower or such other form, perhaps Aluminum a la the purported new design direction for iMacs, or the frosty plastics a la current iMac/MBs
For all those worried about losing the mini, don't worry, it will be replaced by the all new "Mac Invisisi", so small you can't even see it and capable of holding your entire library of ripped DVD's. How do you plug in peripherals you ask? No need. Just leave the ends of the cable exposed and the new Mac Invisi will float around the room rapidly to interface with each of them.
I want my headless Mac to be a round orb floating above my desk wirelessly connected to everything (including power source) NO forget the power source... my Mac is nuclear and doesn't need a power cord. And give it the option of running either the latest Intel chips or that new IBM 4.7GHz PPC chip. And it can make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich... And hack the iPhone so it can use the Sprint network.
Yeah.. I will buy that.
Simple business practices tells everyone that if a product isn't selling or making the enough to keep it going then its not worth it to keep producing it. So obviously if true, the MacMini didn't sell very well. Its a low end computer and by the time you get a keyboard, mouse, and display, you're in iMac territory as far as price goes and the iMac is a far better computer than the MacMini. Yes, the MacMini has its places, but more often than not, people will go for the iMac instead. Its an end to end solution.
Take this for example, why was the MacMini originally released? It was to TRY and compete in the low end computer segment. Mainly the $499 Dell type thing. Well compared to a Dell, the MacMini isn't a very good deal at all. The Dell is an end to end solution. It comes with everything you need right out of the box. The MacMini doesn't, plain and simple.
I honestly can't see the MacMini as being a money maker for Apple. This is why it doesn't come with a keyboard and mouse. Apple had to design a package that would not cost them as much for shipping (which is a big cost for Apple) to make as much money off this as possible. Yes, the MacMini did switch a bunch of people, but so did lots of other Macs. It wasn't just the MacMini that did so. In business, if a product isn't making you any money, or not enough money to keep it going you kill it no matter how well people like it. Apple is in business to make money, not keep a select group of people happy.
I'm sorry that it was a good computer for you and some others here, but sometimes you just gotta let things go. Some things don't last forever.
BTW...the iPod Mini was probably the best selling iPod until it was replaced by the iPod Nano. Everywhere I go I see people with iPod Mini's, not regular iPods or iPod Nanos. I don't know what people are trying to get at there. It was kind of funny because people thought it wouldn't sell very well at all because it was only $50 less expensive than a 20GB iPod and it only had 4GB of HD space, yet it was Apple's best selling iPod. It out sold the the regular iPod by a bunch.
Also, nobody has true numbers of any types of sales because Apple doesn't release those numbers.
I think he means "Happy" Gay.... because he is Gay enough to post comments without thinking.
So not... getting into the let's keep it real realm. Economy, market strategies and what not. I am a fanboy but I have learned to control my powers.
Most users (general users) don't upgrade anything on their machines, maybe RAM or HDD space... most use their machines through the warranty then buy new ones... in about three --> four years.
My father used his HP laptop for almost 10 years before he bought a new one (he was broke as was I) and he never once thought about upgrading a thing... what for after something is older than it's projected life...
For computers... that is 3 --> 4 years. If that.
The dumb thing is that if they were such poor sellers, then how come I can't find one on eBay really, really cheap?
I've been keeping an eye out for a G4 mini "on the cheap" to use for running old PPC software as a way to keep my office from being too cluttered, because when its time for me to do my PPC->Intel chip transition, I want to keep a PPC machine around (for old software) and my G5 PowerMac is a big on the LARGE size. It seems that a "good" price for a G4 mini is still $350-$400, which is 75% of original price on a 2 year old computer. YMMV, but that level of value retention is extraordinary in electronics...very much like the 12" G4 Powerbook.
-hh
My thoughts exactly ... perhaps Apple is basing decisons strictly on price points? For a few hundred more $ than a mini you get way better performance. Want a larger screen? Drop $200 and get a 19" lcd, then you get a nice machine, PLUS portability, and the keyboard comes included!
The Mac mini is the best Mac ever created by Apple. Powerful, small and quiet. Besides, being modular to use large Apple Cinema Displays with it. Great. I only hope that if Apple discontinues it, it is to introduce the Mac supermini, with eSATA (four ports) and FireWire 800 (four ports), as well as faster and larger disks (one or two 1TB 7,2000 rpm inside).
The new headless Mac should be like THIS!
http://apple.weblogsinc.com/entry/1128136479381114/
Original at
http://www.mackompass.de/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=2
The new headless Mac should be like THIS!
http://apple.weblogsinc.com/entry/1128136479381114/
Original at
http://www.mackompass.de/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=2
It's called a loss-leader or earn em and grow em approach. GOBS of companies do it ... you've probably heard of a few of them, like Ford, Chrysler, GM ... do you think Chevy makes a single DIME on a Cobalt? No ... but the idea is that once you're "in", you'll eventually upgrade to a product that makes them money. Buy a Mini .. oh, you like it? Well here's a snazzy MBP!
If this happens, I'm going to be all over the clearance sale.
I was waiting for the "next" mini to replace my dual-G5 Tower. I was hoping for something that would be a quieter "upgrade" that could dual-boot for games, but I'll settle for a "sidegrade" to the current mini if they sell them off cheap enough.
I was waiting for the "next" mini to replace my dual-G5 Tower. I was hoping for something that would be a quieter "upgrade" that could dual-boot for games, but I'll settle for a "sidegrade" to the current mini if they sell them off cheap enough.
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...
Not only not scientific, but completely irrelevant. You spent one hour at one store on one day and are basing the sales of an entire product, which has had 6 different versions over 3 years and has been on sale on every continent, as well as Apple's (massively successful) online store? Just stop before you dig yourself in any more.
Never used a mini, have you? I'm a pretty high level nerd, a database admin by profession, and I've only ever come up with one thing my G4 mini couldn't do: play games. So I bought an Xbox360 and connected it to my Dell 19" LCD via VGA (mini on DVI) and it's quite perfect.
Aside from email, listen to music, "writing letters:
eyeroll, I write and host (for testing purposes) websites which use PHP scripting and SQL db's, I use the Gimp and PS for mid level photo work (not just cropping and color balancing - image compositing, "artistic" manipulation, etc), I use iMovie to create original stop-motion animation (in HD) and iDVD to burn them to disc, I do a ton of video conversion (all legal - sans DCMA which I chose to ignore - TiVo and DVD to iPod), and probably a ton of other things I can't think of right now.I'm looking forward to upgrading to an Intel mini sometime soon... I've been holding off for an update to see if I want a new one, or just get an even better deal on the current generation. Having 3x the CPU power and 2x the RAM (plus an audio input) will be terrific!
If Apple discontinues the mini and doesn't replace it with another sub-$1000 headless Mac, the (current low-end model) mini I'm going to buy soon will be my last Mac purchase... maybe ever. I'd honestly build a "hackintosh" with a cracked copy of OS X before I bought an AIO desktop or spend over $2000 on a computer.
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 an
TV 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 itMac
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 an
TV 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
Mac
Value retention on electronics is actually quite poor. They deteriorate the quickest. And if you are trying to reduce clutter than you're better off just running the PPC apps through rosetta on the Intel machines. And Ebay is not a market analyst site, you can't really base how well a machine is doing by what you can buy off of Ebay.
The Mini did sell well though, just that recently... it isn't doing too good. And if Apple updates the specs and keeps the price the same, getting a decently outfitted machine will push the price to the 17" iMac specs, so you are better off getting an iMac that is one unit. Unless you want to stick the mini somewhere you can't fit an iMac like your car or under your TV.
Haven't read through the whole thread, so don't know if anyone had made this point or not....
Unless they are cancelling the Mac Mini to merge the mini and apple tv line, I don't see it happening. I really see that merger happening, but not just a discontinuing of the mini.
I really, really loved my mini and plan on getting one again some time in the future as a kitchen server or something. Truely a great little computer.
Unless they are cancelling the Mac Mini to merge the mini and apple tv line, I don't see it happening. I really see that merger happening, but not just a discontinuing of the mini.
I really, really loved my mini and plan on getting one again some time in the future as a kitchen server or something. Truely a great little computer.