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Much Smaller Mac Mini Coming?
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That's nice looking but I don't think Apple should move the Mac Mini to plastic considering they are making more of the rest of the line in Aluminum\Glass. All of the iPods are now aluminum\glass. The iMac is, the Pro Macs have always been. The keyboards are now Aluminum. The only Macs that are plastic at the moment are the regular MacBooks. To be honest I also prefer aluminum's look and feel over plastic.
I'm taking a wait\see approach. When it comes to updates because Apple has been disappointing me for the longest time. Although I'm getting to the point where almost anything is an upgrade... I'm still kicking it on PowerPC.
speculation wastes time, yet it's always fun
you didn't hear it from me, but i know from a very good source, Imagination & Hope, the refreshed imac, will be released on 1 april and will not only include updated graphics, 2 gig memory standard and keep the optical drive (because removing it to include a portable add on would be insanely annoying) but will lose not only some plastic off the back but will also lose its trade mark chin to present an even slimmer imac design. this new release will distinguish it from the currently late 2007 model because of the inclusion of penryn chips. prices will remain similar.
oh and mac mini WILL cease to exist. apple will however launch a new mac product named mac nano- it still includes an optical drive and will be thinner with upgraded specs. again the source for this is Imagination & Hope.
finally, a new mouse will be launched- no buttons, no scrolly wheel. it will incorporate the intuitiveness of the ipod wheel and mac book track pad.
don't say you didn't hear it first right here!
you didn't hear it from me, but i know from a very good source, Imagination & Hope, the refreshed imac, will be released on 1 april and will not only include updated graphics, 2 gig memory standard and keep the optical drive (because removing it to include a portable add on would be insanely annoying) but will lose not only some plastic off the back but will also lose its trade mark chin to present an even slimmer imac design. this new release will distinguish it from the currently late 2007 model because of the inclusion of penryn chips. prices will remain similar.
oh and mac mini WILL cease to exist. apple will however launch a new mac product named mac nano- it still includes an optical drive and will be thinner with upgraded specs. again the source for this is Imagination & Hope.
finally, a new mouse will be launched- no buttons, no scrolly wheel. it will incorporate the intuitiveness of the ipod wheel and mac book track pad.
don't say you didn't hear it first right here!
Pop the top off and replace the defective key. Of course you could choose to replace it all. I don't know why though.
4D
Yes. I own one. When it's a mini, the same cable (but carrying video and power), runs back to a small box. The small box (Apple remote size) contains the power port, video port, and radio (bluetooth and wifi) antennas.
Just a thought.
4D
Apple, do you hear me?
At this point I'm not feeling so picky about all the minutia. I don't care if the CPU runs at 2.325 GHz or 2.4 GHz. I don't care if the power supply is inside, or outside, or inside out. The important question is: Is there, or is there not, going to be a new Mac Mini VERY soon? Like next Tuesday (April 1, 2008). Apple, I demand an answer!
The applications I must use have grown in complexity and hardware demands. I can barely do what I need to with my current Mini, which was fully loaded when I bought it a year ago. I have had to give up on 3D rendering in SimPlant 11. So if its not going to happen soon, I must go out and invest in a Mac Pro
(I cannot tolerate the chin on the iMacs, sorry. They are very un-esthetic compared to the Cinema Displays, and much less ergonomic.) But since the Mac Pro is one of the oldest, if not the oldest case design in the Apple lineup, with my luck, right after I invest $5000 in a Pro, a new Mac Pro case will be announced.
Who here thinks that its actually counter to Apple's best interests to be so unbelievably secretive about their plans? I think many people keep money in their pockets because they don't want to be disappointed by a model change three weeks after they make a major investment.
Also, in a recent article, it was stated that Apple was currently in the "engineering Build stage" on the Mini. Can someone tell me what this means? I hope it doesn't mean that they are still thinking about how to change the Mini.
At this point I'm not feeling so picky about all the minutia. I don't care if the CPU runs at 2.325 GHz or 2.4 GHz. I don't care if the power supply is inside, or outside, or inside out. The important question is: Is there, or is there not, going to be a new Mac Mini VERY soon? Like next Tuesday (April 1, 2008). Apple, I demand an answer!
The applications I must use have grown in complexity and hardware demands. I can barely do what I need to with my current Mini, which was fully loaded when I bought it a year ago. I have had to give up on 3D rendering in SimPlant 11. So if its not going to happen soon, I must go out and invest in a Mac Pro
(I cannot tolerate the chin on the iMacs, sorry. They are very un-esthetic compared to the Cinema Displays, and much less ergonomic.) But since the Mac Pro is one of the oldest, if not the oldest case design in the Apple lineup, with my luck, right after I invest $5000 in a Pro, a new Mac Pro case will be announced.
Who here thinks that its actually counter to Apple's best interests to be so unbelievably secretive about their plans? I think many people keep money in their pockets because they don't want to be disappointed by a model change three weeks after they make a major investment.
Also, in a recent article, it was stated that Apple was currently in the "engineering Build stage" on the Mini. Can someone tell me what this means? I hope it doesn't mean that they are still thinking about how to change the Mini.
IMHO, You have it wrong, I'm afraid.
By keeping all new products secret, they get to 'surprise' customers. In addition, it means that fan sites such as this one spring up. In short, it increases loyalty because people buy into the brand, which in turn promises more to come.
It is clear to all here, that an update to the Mac Mini is impending, and if you think a case redesign for the Mac Pro will somehow influence the performance of one you could buy today, then
its not true If you don't like being 'burnt' by product refreshes, wait until a new model is released. After which, don't check the apple website or the rumors site for 2 years. That way, you will never get angry, and just enjoy the computer you would purchase.
I think there are a lot of people suffering in the world, who would love to have the financial possibility to be burned by Apple releasing a new computer. But then, I guess that doesn't concern you.
In Jesus Christ,
GB,
yes, it is a choice and everyone is entitled to their own personal choice just like their own opinion. apple is trying to make things smaller and less cost efficient. adding a blu ray player or anything like that would just take up more space and cost more obviously
Actually, when I say custom installs, I don't just mean one-off carputers and such. Royal Caribbean, for example, is now using Macs for all their on-ship displays on new ships, and is looking at replacing the current set-top boxes for TV with Macs or Apple TVs. Such usage constitutes potentially tens of thousands of units if deployed across their fleet, which is hardly niche. http://www.tuaw.com/2008/01/16/royal-caribbean-new-ships-carry-mac-infrastructure/
The point is that smaller form-factor allows for new usages not previously considered. Just because you can't come up with anything doesn't mean plenty of other people/companies won't find a non-niche use for smaller hardware.
Very interesting idea. Anyone has pictures of the motherboard of a Core 2 Duo MacBook? (with relative dimensions, such has having the hard drive in the same picture)
Could the MacBook motherboard fit in a 7.7 x 7.7" case like theTV?
Not only would it mean higher volume/lower price for both the MacBook and the Mac mini, it would also mean both machines would (should?) be upgraded at the same time.
Or, taking the same approach... would the iMac motherboard fit in 7.7 x 7.7"?
Well, the old MacBook models had the same components as the Mac mini does now, and the MB parts have only gotten smaller. So yes.
I'm not talking about the components, I'm talking about the actual MacBook motherboard, i.e. open up a MacBook, take the motherboard out, try to fit it inside an
TV case (except for the height)
The point is that smaller form-factor allows for new usages not previously considered. Just because you can't come up with anything doesn't mean plenty of other people/companies won't find a non-niche use for smaller hardware.
QFT.
The mini has already opened many doors here and making an even smaller version would enable folks to consider putting Macs in far more places.
B
I'm not talking about the components, I'm talking about the actual MacBook motherboard, i.e. open up a MacBook, take the motherboard out, try to fit it inside an
http://www.kodawarisan.com/macbook/macbook003.html
Notice how much space the optical dive, battery and hard drive take up in the slim notebook form factor. Mac Minis have to be taller as they place the optical drive on top of the logic board, but obviously there's no screen so they can afford to be less wide, and the external power brick frees up some space too. I'd say it mostly matches up.
That certainly seems like a more likely approach than most of the proposals/pipe-dreams being floated here.
Even if a "half size" mini is in the works, I doubt it would be this soon. The first step would be to simply switch over to the processors Intel is trying to get everyone to adopt. This would seem to be relatively easy, since most of the parts/engineering would be carried over from the MacBook.
But maybe I'm caught up in the wishful thinking frenzy, too, since the second option is exactly what I want to buy as an upgrade from my month-old 1.83 Mini (which would be attached to my plasma).
If you hook it up to a plasma won't it cuse burn in a lot faster and ruin your tv
I'd like to see the following in a new mini:
- Desktop hard disk
- Choice of graphics cards
- Easier to access internals
- Full sized optical drive (not so bothered about this one)
The thought of throwing 8 GB or 16 GB of 'current' flash memory and a full OS X version is a poor idea, since it only has a limited number of read/writes and the small space would prevent a distribution of cycles.
Larger drives (e.g. 64 GB) is not as much of an issue, since there is more memory to do read/write to, the load is more distributed.
This assumes the absence of next gen technologies that would nullify this weakness.
Larger drives (e.g. 64 GB) is not as much of an issue, since there is more memory to do read/write to, the load is more distributed.
This assumes the absence of next gen technologies that would nullify this weakness.