Mac Mini Update Specs?

[AvSRoCkCO1067]

As has been reported, it's because of high demand due to the back-to-school season. Apple is having difficulty keeping up with that demand.

Apple's wait to use new processors is brilliant, in my opinion. This is a crucial point in the buying season - students need new computers now, not in a month or two.

Quite a few people on this board want Apple to simply announce the next Macbook Pro with Merom, even if it has delayed shipping. That would, however, compel students who need computers now to look elsewhere.

The only reason why Dell can announce Merombooks now is because they offer both the Yonah chips (shipping today) and the Merom chips (shipping in 10-20 days) - I don't see Apple offering both configurations simultaneously.

(1000th post - WOOT!)

 

[gnasher729]

IF TRUE - Just In Time Invintory Management Makes When Yonah Price Falls The Time To Do It. That would be once Merom is shipping - like NOW.

I'm still not convinced this rumor is true. I've got my fingers crossed these two processors are going to be C2D at 1.66 and 1.83GHz - not Yonah.

Only fair & logical reason it might be true would be due to constrained supply of Merom to begin with so Apple has to use all those for MacBook Pro first, then iMac - excluding a Conroe plan -, MacBook and finally mini when supply of Merom is unconstrained like around November-December. By first doing the speed bumps to the Merom speeds with Yonah, they can deliver an immediate benefit to their mini customers without spreading the limited supply of Meroms all over the lines yet.

So after they have enough Meroms for MBP they can switch the MB to Meroms at the same speeds as now, then switch the mini ALMOST silently once that line is satisfied fully. iMac is a big unknown due to Conroe possability.

More I think about it, that is probably what's happening. Intel probably has the order with Apple designed to reduce the Yonah supply as quickly as they can provde enough Meroms to keep satisfying Apple's every growing appetite for more and more C2 Intel processors at the ever growing assembly lines in Taiwan & China.

I think Apple has to use a Core 2 Duo chip in the iMac immediately following the MacBook Pro, before MacBook and MacMini. So if a Conroe iMac isn't developed quick enough, I would expect iMac using Merom, even if it ships that way for two months only.

 

[BenRoethig]

Exactly!!!
I media center like this would sell like crazy... small, simple and elegant. Just imagine how many switchers you would get at the same time.

I don't know about switchers, but it should be a success in the home entertainment center/ media PC market.

 

[APPLENEWBIE]

agreeing too

(Agreed. They need to get that bottom end of the price range covered so that there are options for everyone including students.)

Yes indeed. As noted above, the mac mini is a great gateway drug. It allows people to get in and experiment cheaply. That is what happened in my case. If the entry point were near $1k, I might not have switched.

 

[QCassidy352]

this is Think Secret we're talking about. I don't believe a word out of their lying mouths.

 

[HecubusPro]

Quite a few people on this board want Apple to simply announce the next Macbook Pro with Merom, even if it has delayed shipping. That would, however, compel students who need computers now to look elsewhere.

(1000th post - WOOT!)

I agree with you completely on this point, without having heard it put that way before. And congrats on the 1K post.

 

[milo]

The only reason why Dell can announce Merombooks now is because they offer both the Yonah chips (shipping today) and the Merom chips (shipping in 10-20 days) - I don't see Apple offering both configurations simultaneously.

Why not? They do it all the time. Simply keep the old model available until the new ones ship.

The real reason to not announce models too early is that it just makes some consumers wait for the next model. Might as well keep selling the existing inventory until the new models are ready.

this is Think Secret we're talking about. I don't believe a word out of their lying mouths.

Amen to that. I give this about as much credibility as an apple rumor scrawled in sharpie on a gas station toilet stall.

 

[HecubusPro]

Amen to that. I give this about as much credibility as an apple rumor scrawled in sharpie on a gas station toilet stall.

Huh? What happened there? Didn't Think Secret used to be the place to go for the most accurate rumors? I definitely trust macrumors and appleinsider a lot more than think secret now though.

 

[milo]

Huh? What happened there? Didn't Think Secret used to be the place to go for the most accurate rumors? I definitely trust macrumors and appleinsider a lot more than think secret now though.

They used to be pretty good, but they've been consistently wrong (or make worthlessly vague predictions) for a couple years now.

I don't know that I'd say I trust macrumors. They don't really report any rumors, they just link to rumors on other sites. The trustiness completely depends on who they link to.

 

[HecubusPro]

The trustiness completely depends on who they link to.

Don't you mean "truthiness?" Sorry, I love the Colbert Report.

 

[aafuss1]

No Blu-Ray, as slot load would not be able to have enough cooling-leave it for next Mac Pro.

Combo drive disappears, and is now EDU only. All retail now have DVD burning as standard-like on the iMac. Core Duo on all 2 configs. Perhaps a air-cooled GPU with dedicated RAM for the best modfel.

 

[mrgreen4242]

No Blu-Ray, as slot load would not be able to have enough cooling-leave it for next Mac Pro.

Huh? Why would a BR drive make any more heat than a 12x or 24x DVD drive? Hint: it won't. It's a disc that is the same size and weight and spinning at the same speeds... the only change is the wavelength of the laser reading the disc.

Decoding the data will take some juice, which will make some heat, but no more than any other CPU intensive task.

 

[aafuss1]

X3000 is the integrated graphics component of GMA965. It basically solves the problem of the GMA950 graphics having no hardware T&L. Hence why UT2004 scores sit in the toilet on Mac mini's and Macbooks.

It'll never challenge a midrange Nvidia or ATI card, but it'll make the mini and macbook a reasonable enry level gaming platform, which it ain't now.

See http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/G965/index.htm
for some juicy technobabble.

M.

Totally agree-even low end PC's have at least a option for a add-in T&L capable card. Plus the GMA 3000 will do Core Image and Animation very well.

 

[aafuss1]

Huh? Why would a BR drive make any more heat than a 12x or 24x DVD drive? Hint: it won't. It's a disc that is the same size and weight and spinning at the same speeds... the only change is the wavelength of the laser reading the disc.

Decoding the data will take some juice, which will make some heat, but no more than any other CPU intensive task.

The tray load drives I've seen internal photos of have fans in the drive itself.

 

[aafuss1]

Huh? Why would a BR drive make any more heat than a 12x or 24x DVD drive? Hint: it won't. It's a disc that is the same size and weight and spinning at the same speeds... the only change is the wavelength of the laser reading the disc.

Decoding the data will take some juice, which will make some heat, but no more than any other CPU intensive task.

The tray load drives I've seen internal photos of have fans in the drive itself.

The X3000 has Clear Video technology-good for media centre/video playback.

 

[theBB]

Huh? Why would a BR drive make any more heat than a 12x or 24x DVD drive? Hint: it won't. It's a disc that is the same size and weight and spinning at the same speeds... the only change is the wavelength of the laser reading the disc. Decoding the data will take some juice, which will make some heat, but no more than any other CPU intensive task.

Some of the reading, decoding, DRM, error control tasks will certainly happen in the drive itself, rather than CPU. More bits to process and faster data to send through the bus would certainly create more heat.

 

[dizastor]

Oh believe me, I agree with you 100% percent! I would LOVE to see "Mac pro Mini" from Apple.

Mac Pro Cube Mini?

No that's too long...

Mac Pube Mini!
much better

 

[Evangelion]

I've got hard facts to back up my claim. Do you have any for yours?

Those prices might not be valid anymore. And could you mention any of the reasons why anyone would use Yonah instead of Merom, if the prices are identical (more or less)?

 

[Evangelion]

Who says Intel will keep selling Yonahs for long time once Merom comes out?

Link. In short: "You'll note that Intel is quite aggressive with ramping Core 2 Duo up, but going into 2007 over a quarter of Intel's mobile processor shipments will still be Core Duo. "

 

[TangoCharlie]

And Yonah...

Those speeds line up exactly with the T5000 series of Merom.

Intel T2400 Core Duo Yonah 1.83GHz 667MHz 2MB, Retail, BX80539T2400
Intel T2300 Core Duo Yonah 1.66Ghz 667MHz 2MB, Retail, BX80539T2300

Looks like the CPU speeds match onto Yonah parts too

 

[milo]

Those prices might not be valid anymore. And could you mention any of the reasons why anyone would use Yonah instead of Merom, if the prices are identical (more or less)?

Nobody would. But the prices likely won't stay identical - as you point out, unless intel drops yonah prices, they probably won't be able to unload their remaining yonah chips. Just because a price drop hasn't been announced yet doesn't mean it's not going to happen.

 

[Multimedia]

Yonah Duos Short Term 1.66 & 1.83 GHz To Merom In November At Same Speeds & L2 Cache

Those speeds line up exactly with the T5000 series of Merom.

And Yonah:
Intel T2400 Core Duo Yonah 1.83GHz 667MHz 2MB, Retail, BX80539T2400
Intel T2300 Core Duo Yonah 1.66Ghz 667MHz 2MB, Retail, BX80539T2300

Looks like the CPU speeds match onto Yonah parts too

That's why I'm thinking Apple is going to use indentical 32-bit Yonah speeds short term until Intel can keep up with Apple's Merom needs at a reduced price for the stop-gap short-term Yonah supplies. I'm thinking Intel will get caught up by November when Apple will quietly switch the mini assembly lines to Meroms. Almost a stealth switch except the packaging and docs will brag C2D on them.

This makes a lot of sense and adds immediate value to the mini line while Apple can't yet receive enough Merom processors to fulfill their short term needs while Intel is cranking up production. I think losing the single core mini is a huge big deal. Anyone who thinks they don't need two cores just doesn't have experience with that setup.

I think everyone here who is still on a single processor really can't understand why multi-core processing is so important because they don't know what it feels like. If they did, they would be on two or four already. Even the old Dual G4's are a huge advantage over the solos.

 

[tilman]

Fry's Electronics is advertising Core Solo Mini's for $499 today. "Some demo, some open box". That is usually a sign that they are clearing out their remaining stock of an item.

 

[roland.g]

Apple Store Refurbs.

A few days ago all the Mini refurbs disappeared from the Apple Store refurb list. After the Think Secret announcement, not only did they come back, but they added PPC models and a 1.66 Core Duo with 1GB RAM & 100GB HDD. Today, there is only one PPC model listed and that's it. Might be just coincidence, but that's a lot of activity.

Anyone know - Do current models usually disappear right before a speed bump and then reappear at a reduced price when new models are available?

 

[HecubusPro]

Fry's Electronics is advertising Core Solo Mini's for $499 today. "Some demo, some open box". That is usually a sign that they are clearing out their remaining stock of an item.

Is this all Fry's stores, or just the one you're referring to. If it's store-wide, I might actually have to make a trip down to my local Burbank Fry's store after work tonight.