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Mac Mini to be Discontinued?

I am not to suprised about that. The Mac Mini tried to fill a niche that wasn't really there.
While it was the cheapest Mac. It wasn't really a good value. Putting some (rather basic) upgrades in it quickly made it more expensive then an equivalently spec'ed iMac. I think the Niche that needs to be filled is a consumer end Mac Pro replacement. A Desktop PC, with easy to interchange parts that run Mac OS X legally. No small form factor use the good quality but cheaper bigger stuff. In essence a normal range PC around $500.00 that is spec'ed well but not small. For small we have Laptops, the Mac Mini like the Cube tries to get into the area of small PC's which never got a big market.
 
Wild-Bill said:
And with 20 BILLION in cash lying around, I cannot for the life of me figure out why Jobs and Co. are hell-bent on fleecing the customer by charging high prices and systematically stripping their products of features.

Remember when the remote CAME WITH their laptops? Remember when the mini-dvi to dvi and vga cables CAME WITH the MBP's and Powerbooks? My 12" PB CAME WITH both connectors. It also came with FIREWIRE and a matte display.
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You forgot the Apple Remote, now $19. Serious, $19 for that cheap piece of plastic? Sounds about right, what with $225 to upgrade the plastic macbook to a 4gb (~$55) of ram. If you consider the base 1GB, you're somehow paying $75/GB of RAM!
 
KevinPlusPlus said:
C'mon people. Enter the Mac nano. Right out of the iPod playbook.

nVidia chipset - smaller PCB
1.8" hard drive (80 or 120 GB)
Likely no optical drive
Firewire - probably not
Mini Displayport for new LED display(s)
Click to expand...

Takes the inadequacies of the MacMini to a whole new level.
Only $1299.

Seriously, who in God's name is going to buy it, it would be too expensive and almost completely worthless as a desktop.
 
I (still) say.... what until November before scheduling the wake. From what I've read, the Mini's were traditionally not updated at the same time as the portables...... And ...... Why would the new LED display, that is being introduced in November, have built in iSight and speakers, if its designed to only work with the new MBs and MBPs - since they already have an iSight and speakers?

I think Apple has something up their sleeves. It won't be the Mini we know, IMHO, but something that's designed to work with the new LED displays, and perhaps be your network/media hub at home. Apple is pushing the concept of downloaded media content pretty heavily, through iTunes. Its not going to take too long before the new portables fill up with movies, TV shows, music, etc. Perhaps the new Mini is designed to work with Time Capsule, and the new display, and your portable store and stream media to you wherever you are? If the Mini became a media centre that also required Time Capsule and Mobile Me to work fully (i.e. content stored on TC, but streamed to you - where ever you were on the internet - via MM) then I can Apple doing that. Buy one piece of affordable hardware, but really you need to also buy a TC and MM.

Anyway, just speculation..... but wait 'til November. The new display doesn't make sense without a Mini replacement....
 
gkarris said:
No Firewire in the MacBook - go buy a MacBook Pro...:eek:
No more Mini - go buy an iMac...:eek:
iPhone? T-Mobile is too resonable, go pay $90/month for AT&T... :eek:

Gas and food are overrated anyways... :eek:

Like my question all along, "Apple Getting Snobbish?"

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=6469637
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QFT.

And I for one will no longer put up with it. When I can get a MBP's specs for $1299 from HP, or from other brands a machine that kills a MBP for $1400, I'm quitting MacLand for good. I will no longer put up with incredible prices for products in very limited product lines.

I was gonna give Apple another generation of computers to get things right, but now I'm not so sure even waiting till then is worth it.

I'm completely fed up with Apple's overpriced, limiting products.
 
Let's just say they tried to make the new nVidia board work in the mini and it was way too hot or too noisey. Next step - report it up and then the decision comes back to essentialyl state - what can you make that is similar and quiet - we could then rebrand and sell it with new fanfare...Or it could just be gone...
 
I was waiting for a new Mini for a very long time, but finally Apple kill the poor Mini, ok I say goodbye Apple, hello Hackintosh.
 
Well that's a scunner ! I was going to get my 11yr old one for his Christmas....
Back to the drawing board on that one then.
 
A bad idea

The Mac Mini is a very useful platform. Not only do end users benefit from a small machine that makes a great server, media server, co-lo box, cheap alternative to the bigger macs, etc. but Apple benefits as well.

The Mac Mini is very similar to the Apple TV/ Time Capsule and possibly other future devices. It makes sense to leverage the Mac OS, and to build a multitude of small box shaped products with similar hardware, because Apple has come up with many great specialized appliances. Apple could easily take back the market from Cable/ DSL routers that they lost to Netgear, and Linksys by using their excellent UI, AJAX experience, design for simplicity, etc. And there is plenty of opportunity with set top boxes, PVRs, etc.

Killing the Mini is a bad idea. I've bought or recommended many of these machines, and it would be a big shame to lose the low end, commodity style hardware for the Apple Market that exists for the Linux/ PC market.
 
Wild-Bill said:
I don't expect much out of Apple anymore. ....
Pro-level hardware and software have taken a BACK SEAT in favor of the quick-buck consumer gadgetry.
Click to expand...

True, I'm preparing myself mentally to switch back to Windows when my current hardware wears out. OSX is the better OS but with these hardware limitations, I don't know... Windows starts to appeal to me more and more. In the previous years I have bought cheap Windows systems for work when I needed them for the software (pre-Bootcamp). I wouldn't hesitate buying a Windows PC for the hardware. I hope Apple comes around and starts offering more choice in hardware.
 
Even if Apple updated it with the specs of the current MacBook, I doubt sales would rebound much, if at all.

The model just no longer has strong appeal to retail sales - and that is where Apple sells product. I imagine most of us here on MacRumors:Forums are not primarily retail buyers for our computer equipment (outside of Apple products, by necessity) so our opinions on the Mac Mini really don't reflect the general Apple consumer.

For them, the MacBook and iMac are perfect models offering everything they need in a new computer.

They don't have brand-new third-party LCD monitors they want to keep. Even if the Mini had the same CPU, HDD, optical drive and GPU of the iMac, those people need monitors so the iMac is the better option (that is why I bought an iMac and not a Mini).

They don't have FireWire hard drives and scanners and audio/video equipment they need to ensure can be plugged in to their new machine. So the lack of FireWire on the new MacBook doesn't affect them.

And Apple no longer needs an "inexpensive" model to entice people to try the OS X and Macintosh platforms now that every model runs Windows as a fall-back.

Like the old eMac, the Mac Mini's mission has been completed. And like an old soldier, it will never die, but just fade away...
 
There are a thousand uses (beyond the conventional) for a small headless Mac OS X based computer aka Mac mini.

Removing it would make me seriously question the wider viability of OS X in general.
 
Killing the Mini would be an unwise move for corporate penetration

Without the Mini I wouldn't been able to move my company entirely to Macs. We even use a few Minis as (very reliable) servers.
The Mini sells a lot here in Brazil (a lot more than iMacs) probably because people have less money to spend - and we can guess the same happens to whomever wants a Mac but don't have the dough for an iMac (or hate the mirror-like glossy screen) or a MacBook.
It would make much harder for companies to move to Macs because the cheapest desktop option is the $1,199 iMac.
Of course Apple may not be interested in the corporate market... Then just kill the OS X Server and the XServer already, Apple!
 
jbernie said:
It has gone past the point where they should either kill it or upgrade it. It doesn't need to be bleeding edge, but it really needs to be more than it is right now.

Second option, cut the price by $100-150 and keep the current specs. They might find a new/bigger market at a lower price point. i.e. a starter pc for younger kids.
Click to expand...

The cpu / chip set are not being made any more so that can be put as a main line system.
 
dwl017 said:
The new entry level Mac is now the Mac Book, I personally feel that Apple has no interest of any sort in the headless computer arena and have moved on without addressing all the winning crying little children that say there life is over with out a Mini replacement.
Click to expand...

I concur.

The loud whining minority that's screaming for a "headless" or entry-level junk midtower needs to give it up. It will NOT happen, EVER. Apple will never sell a junk midtower expandable Mac and cannibalize their WORKING market strategy.

Did I mention that their market strategy WORKS. 20 billion bucks in the bank...

Can't afford a Mac? That's not Apple's problem, or anyone else's but yours.

Beric said:
QFT.

And I for one will no longer put up with it. When I can get a MBP's specs for $1299 from HP, or from other brands a machine that kills a MBP for $1400, I'm quitting MacLand for good. I will no longer put up with incredible prices for products in very limited product lines.

I was gonna give Apple another generation of computers to get things right, but now I'm not so sure even waiting till then is worth it.

I'm completely fed up with Apple's overpriced, limiting products.
Click to expand...

Wild-Bill said:
Of course they're discontinuing it. First of all, it's got Firewire, so right away that's a no-no. :p And second, why produce a product where the customer has to supply their own keyboard, mouse, and display when they would happily supply you with all that stuff, for a premium.....

I don't expect much out of Apple anymore. Their keynotes starting back in 2007 at the developer's conference, to date have been totally lackluster. They are now pulling out features on their products (firewire anyone??) in order to save money, even though they are saving money in the long run with their new laptop production process.
Pro-level hardware and software have taken a BACK SEAT in favor of the quick-buck consumer gadgetry. (*not saying that the mini is a pro level product by any means). That's where the money is, and that's ALL that Apple cares about. And with 20 BILLION in cash lying around, I cannot for the life of me figure out why Jobs and Co. are hell-bent on fleecing the customer by charging high prices and systematically stripping their products of features.

Remember when the remote CAME WITH their laptops? Remember when the mini-dvi to dvi and vga cables CAME WITH the MBP's and Powerbooks? My 12" PB CAME WITH both connectors. It also came with FIREWIRE and a matte display.

Snow Leopard? "Here's what Leopard should have been, but we redirected too many resources to the iPhone" operating system. Yeah, they'll only charge you $129 for the feature set you should have had with leopard in the first place.
Remember .Mac? Why they changed the name is beyond me. And how they completely screwed up the MobileMe launch is also a mystery. Took them almost three weeks to straighten that fiasco out.

Lackluster keynotes and developer conferences, stripped-down (not in price) product offerings, waning pro-level hardware offerings, glossy this: glossy that. Welcome to the NEW Apple.........minus the Mac Mini. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Adios. Whiners are rarely missed.
 
That would be a bummer if they discontinued it. They should replace it with something else in that case. Maybe beef up the Apple TV instead.
 
MacRumors said:


Gizmodo believes that the Mac mini may have already been discontinued by Apple. According to the site's European retailer sources, Apple has stopped orders for the low end Mac and has reportedly told the retailers not to expect any more.Rumors of the demise of the Mac mini started circulating back in May, 2007, though the most recent reports have claimed that Apple was still working on revising it.

Apple will be reporting their Q4 2008 financial results today, and could reveal more during their conference call.

Article Link: Mac Mini to be Discontinued?
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I would not like to see the Mac Mini die out.... at least not so soon...

Apple has brought up (rather created) this tiny computer as a replacement to the big desktops... not just as a symbol of simplicity.. but also to show that something so small fit all that you would need in a computer.. and still.. making it mobile, cool-looking, and awesome to work with.

I would outrightly oppose the idea of discontinuing Mac Mini. I do not know of any other better mini computer model at the same price point and the package.

Apple could still make several innovations to its own creation - making it smaller :), better :D, more sophisticated ;), and... may be cheaper!!! :p
 
I would have liked the Mac Mini to stay; now how are we going to run low cost OS X servers?

I guess we could find refurbished and clearance MacBook computers at those prices, but still.
 
I've been holding out for a mini update or replacement before Christmas. I'm a PC user, but I love Mac OS, I think it's beautiful to use, and I really need to replace my ancient desktop. I was hoping to replace it with a Mac. But I can't stand the Apple hardware lock in, and I certainly won't be dropping my money on Apple's overpriced hardware, the mini is the only product in my mind that offers value for money. I'm really disappointed about this rumour, as the mini would be my only route into Apple.
 
Beric said:
QFT.

And I for one will no longer put up with it. When I can get a MBP's specs for $1299 from HP, or from other brands a machine that kills a MBP for $1400, I'm quitting MacLand for good. I will no longer put up with incredible prices for products in very limited product lines.

I was gonna give Apple another generation of computers to get things right, but now I'm not so sure even waiting till then is worth it.

I'm completely fed up with Apple's overpriced, limiting products.
Click to expand...

Just wait until Jonathan Ives' runs Apple. Steve Jobs doesn't like buttons, but Ives can't stand ports! ;)

I am also not sure where this is all going to go down the road. I'm not whining, Apple is free to do whatever they want. But at some point it makes me wonder if there's really going to be a computer from them that makes sense for me 2-3 years from now. It's not so much the Mini, as it was the changes to the notebook lines that had me scratching my head.

I could possibly go Hackintosh, but I originally switched to a Mac to avoid those sorts of configuration issues.

OTOH, maybe they surprise us all at next MWSF.
 
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