Mac Mini Updated (All Core Duo)

[Multimedia]

$899 iMac Is A Threat To The Mini - albiet server in a drawer

Really confused as to why they just didn't skip to Core2.

Supply. Apple won't be able to get enough Core 2 Duos for a few months. Then they will switch at same speeds to Core 2 Duo.
But with the Academic 1.83 GHz iMac only $899, they may have to also speed bump both up one level to 1.83 & 2GHz where the L2 cache doubles to 4MB in Merom.

 

[Angrisano]

I'm a bit disappointed by this latest update as well. I'm still waiting for a headless Mac that will support my 19 inch dual monitors for under $2K. I recently built a nice Shuttle mini PC (not much bigger than the mini) with a P4 3ghz processor, 2gb ram, 250gb hard drive, 256mb graphics card and Litescribe DVD burner all for under $500.

Now I don't expect to pay so little for so much when buying a Mac. In fact I'm willing to pay double for the same specs. The trouble is, right now in Apple's line up you simply can't do it. Where is our mid-range expandable tower? I don't need all the power of the quad Xeon and my pocketbook doesn't need to pay that price.

I just want a decent middle of the road, expandable Mac for around $1K. I can build two really nice PCs for this price. Why can't I get one Mac?

 

[pixelvandal]

frustrated

I can not believe how long it has taken me to finally bother to register here...And it has taken the release of an iMac to do it. I have never wanted an iMac, I've always been a 'pro' user - video editor, shake operator etc. I am still perfectly happy using my G5, plenty of grunt, and to be honest - wasn't really tempted to buy a MacPro, not for a little while anyway.
Then Apple drops the 24" iMac & I'm suddenly thinking, OMG I wan't one of those, in fact i think I will 'retire' my G5 (to a render machine anyway)...then I start reading the same retarded posts about Apple not having a mid sized desktop machine, complaining that they want more hard drive bays, that they 'have' to buy an iMac as a AIO...
For god sake's wake up & smell the roses...buy the iMac, stick your existing monitor on it & have twice the desktop...Apple will never release a mid-sized tower...
Who really wants more internal drives anyway? I have no less than eight external firewire drives, I fill them up so quickly that I wouldn't want to have them internal anyway...so stop complaing and shell out for an external drive - they're much more flexible & with FW800 plenty speedy - even for HD capture.
And do we honestly need to complain about the graphics card again??? Get over it the 7600 is a fine card, after all this is a 'consumer' workstation. If you really want to stick ten drives in your machine, six video cards, 4000Gb of ram - buy a MacPro - it's what they are built for!
I realise that you can never satisfy everyone all the time, but as a loooonnnngggg time Apple user I can honestly say that Apple are providing us with plenty of options, realistically more than ever before.

PS - please stop whinging about your MB & MBP in the iMac thread, I'm sure there's more appropriate venues...

 

[Angrisano]

I can not believe how long it has taken me to finally bother to register here...And it has taken the release of an iMac to do it.

Ironically I've been a longtime reader myself and just registered because of this article, though for exactly the opposite reason as you.

And yes I realize my complaints about a mid-range tower probably seem pointless to most. But the iMac just doesn't seem to meet my needs. I'm happy with my current dual monitors (which match in size and resolution) and I'd prefer more than a 128mb graphics card.

Moreover, I've been a Mac user since 1993 and never owned a single LCD-based Mac which didn't have a dead pixel. That's about seven Macs, including my current MacBook. Bad luck, I realize but I'm just not buying an all-in-one desktop from Apple.

 

[iBookG4user]

Dude, the MBP was updated in late April of this year, why would you think it'll be updated four and a half months later??

A very slight upgrade to the processor hardly says anything about when an update will come to the MBP. But I certainly hope it comes before October.

 

[digitalbiker]

Ironically I've been a longtime reader myself and just registered because of this article, though for exactly the opposite reason as you.

And yes I realize my complaints about a mid-range tower probably seem pointless to most. But the iMac just doesn't seem to meet my needs. I'm happy with my current dual monitors (which match in size and resolution) and I'd prefer more than a 128mb graphics card.

Moreover, I've been a Mac user since 1993 and never owned a single LCD-based Mac which didn't have a dead pixel. That's about seven Macs, including my current MacBook. Bad luck, I realize but I'm just not buying an all-in-one desktop from Apple.

You are not alone. I think there are a lot of Apple users right now who would love to see Apple release a mac-mini pro.

It would fill the niche between the all in one iMac and the MacPro.
It would be slightly larger than a mini. It would be Conroe based with socketed CPU for future upgrades. Include a graphics card slot with a choice of built to order high-end GPU options.It would have the output connections of the MacPro. It would also have room enough for a 300 GB HDD and DL Super-Drive.

The price would range 1199 - 1899 depending on the built to order options.

All in all, a sweet mini-mini tower with power enough for most, and the elegance to act as a HD video, audio , game machine, etc mult purpose machine.

 

[Angrisano]

You are not alone. I think there are a lot of Apple users right now who would love to see Apple release a mac-mini pro.

Well I posted it in another thread however I just built a PC with some amazing specs for under $500. It was a P4 3ghz, 2gb ram, 250GB HD, 256MB GPU, DVDR, bluetooth, wifi. The kicker is it's a Shuttle so it's tiny, not much bigger than a mini, and it's made of aluminum. The thing is very Mac like. And being able to build it so cost effectively, really ticked me off.

Because no matter what I'd get on the Apple side it would either cost much, much more or it would be hobbled in some way (GPU, monitor, etc.). In the end you have to realize that as a Mac user you're paying more for a brand and for the ability to run OS X. That's fine, provided you can find a system which meets your needs.

(yeah it's late and I'm cranky)

 

[~Shard~]

PS - please stop whinging about your MB & MBP in the iMac thread, I'm sure there's more appropriate venues...

Please stop whinging about iMacs, AIOs, minitowers, etc. in the Mac mini thread.

 

[AidenShaw]

Please stop whinging about iMacs, AIOs, minitowers, etc. in the Mac mini thread.

...but we know that the mini-tower is inevitable....

 

[aafuss1]

Is the 160GB BTO HD perpendicular?

 

[~Shard~]

...but we know that the mini-tower is inevitable....

Well of course, but that still doesn't excuse his hypocritical post.

 

[budugu]

Is the 160GB BTO HD perpendicular?

yup!

 

[Silentwave]

...but we know that the mini-tower is inevitable....

For your sake, Aiden, I hope it does come out

 

[tortoise]

Now that iMac is Core 2 Duo, the Academic $899 17" iMac is a mini killer config.

Except that I want to use my 24" monitor...

 

[KevanDual2.5]

What do you mean by "G5"??? PowerPC is long gone from Macs.

As other people have recognised..... the reference to G5 is in relation to the design not the chipset inside.

 

[KevanDual2.5]

You are alone on this one - the end of the G5 iMac has already happened, in fact it happened a long time ago when Apple introduced the first Intel iMacs. Hate to break it to ya, but G5 iMacs haven't been around for a long time, nor does a 24" G5 iMac even exist.

As for this new incarnation of the Intel iMac though, it totally depends on Apple's strategy. If they want to leave it as a desktop computer, yeah, it probably doesn't make sense to get much bigger. However, if they want to eventually incorporate a TV tuner and make it even more media-centric, and have it evolve into something else, then this may just be the beginning, not the end.

As other people have recognised..... the reference to G5 is in relation to the exterior, not the chipset.

I don't know whether you're right or wrong about a possible design change in the near future, but your terminology is wrong.
The G5 iMac is not a model. The G5 is a CPU. The iMac has not been a "G5" (or, to be more correct, has not had a G5) since January.
It's just "iMac." A G5 with a Core 2 Duo chip is like spouting off how you have a great "Intel Pentium Athlon machine made by AMD." People will see right through the ignorance.

Some people have recognised that the reference to G5 relates to the exterior design, not the chips inside.

 

[ZoomZoomZoom]

Dude, the MBP was updated in late April of this year, why would you think it'll be updated four and a half months later??

Because Apple is no longer in a hardware reality distortion field.
Because the MBP is a part of a Pro line, and the consumer iMacs have merom.
Because merom easily swaps in place of yonah at the same price.

I'm hopeful for the new MBP rev. They could have introduced C2D MBPs today - why didn't they? Maybe they're doing more than just a processor change, which might be why the iMacs got their update first. (Apart from the 24'' iMac, the rest of the iMac line is largely untouched.)

 

[kadajawi]

Well I posted it in another thread however I just built a PC with some amazing specs for under $500. It was a P4 3ghz, 2gb ram, 250GB HD, 256MB GPU, DVDR, bluetooth, wifi. The kicker is it's a Shuttle so it's tiny, not much bigger than a mini, and it's made of aluminum. The thing is very Mac like. And being able to build it so cost effectively, really ticked me off.

Because no matter what I'd get on the Apple side it would either cost much, much more or it would be hobbled in some way (GPU, monitor, etc.). In the end you have to realize that as a Mac user you're paying more for a brand and for the ability to run OS X. That's fine, provided you can find a system which meets your needs.

(yeah it's late and I'm cranky)

Yes, I was about to build one with a Athlon 64 3000+ (doesn't eat up electricity like the P4... and with RM Clock or so you can reduce power consumption quite a bit additionally. The default voltages are usually far above whats needed, both AMDs I've built run perfectly with 1.1V (standard is 1.4 to 1.45), unfortunately it isn't possible to lover the voltage further), 512 MB RAM, 160 GB HD, onboard graphics, DVDR, in a 9x27.5x35 cm enclosure. Price with Windows: around 400 €. Bluetooth and WiFi is lacking, but shouldn't add too much. In comparison the Mac Mini Core Solo was 600 € at that time. I'd consider both systems comparable... Mini has front row, BT and WiFi, PC has better connectivity (especially on the display side), 100 gig more HD, DVD writer, card reader. Quite a price difference to me.
Lack of OS X + iLife, the upgrade to Core Duo, student discount and the printer promo made me chose the Mac Mini.

 

[artifex]

Okay, I need to upgrade to this one.
Anyone know a good market value to ask for my current Rev. A Mini 1.42, with 3rd party upgrade to 1GB ram? This is my first Apple, so obviously my first experience in trying to sell off my old one to help pay for a new one...

 

[tny]

Some people have recognised that the reference to G5 relates to the exterior design, not the chips inside.

Other people have figured out that the reference to "G5" is a mistaken label for the exterior design, you mean. "G5" refers to the processor, not the design. This design is going to be around for quite a while, I think; the most likely change will be to get rid of the "chin" when they are able to do so.

 

[UnreaL]

Well I ordered the new lower model Mac Mini, this will be my first Mac (and its not even for me! For sister..)

1) CPU being Core Duo not really a problem, sims & firefox etc are not going to strain it!
2) 512mb memory is a let down, but im not waiting or paying the amount extra for 1GB as again she wont use it.
3) No superdrive is a let down, I would have spent the amount extra to upgrade if it was there, but I'm not buying the model with better GPU and slightly bigger harddrive and anyway she doesnt use DVD's.

Basically Bootcamp caused me to convert, without it I would have kept her on PC

Well we'll have to see.

Got it for £360 from the Apple higher education store, cant wait

 

[cmegens]

memory in the new mac mini

Has anybody noticed that the memory upgrade has become cheaper? And has anybody noticed that apple left out the SO-Dimm information? Do you guys think they just left it out on the website, and will there be the SO-dimms in there as we are used too, or could they have changed to normal memory?

 

[ezekielrage_99]

Still cant see any sign of MBPs.*weeps*

Maybe next tuesday...

But remember the iMac and Mac had the first Intel chips, so I think the MacBook and MacBook Pro will get Merom in the next few weeks.... well I hope so

 

[Passante]

Poop. And I was hoping for a $100 price drop.

I see why Apple came out with a 24-inch iMac the same day... we can't complain!

Did I miss something or did the top end mini model go from $799 to $599. Ok. it has a smaller drive and no superdrive. BUt who uses DVDs anymore?

 

[mikolia]

Ugh

I checked around at comp usa, best buy and even the apple store to see if the mini's they had in stock would be reduced in price because of the new ones that came out.

Best buy and Comp USA had no clue that new models were released and would not budge in price. I dont know what the apple store policy is.

Shouldnt comp usa and best buy reduce the price of the core solo minis they have left?