The problem with decreasing the size of the Mini by way of using Macbook Air parts is the price will be increased while usability will be decreased. All to fit a desktop into a tinier case. It would be taking an already niche form factor with moderate usability and turning into an even smaller niche form factor with limited usability. I would think this would be undesirable to more people than the mini currently is.
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Much Smaller Mac Mini Coming?
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The problem with decreasing the size of the Mini by way of using Macbook Air parts is the price will be increased while usability will be decreased. All to fit a desktop into a tinier case. It would be taking an already niche form factor with moderate usability and turning into an even smaller niche form factor with limited usability. I would think this would be undesirable to more people than the mini currently is.
The Reality Distortion Field works in mysterious ways. I could fathom Apple - somehow - coercing consumers into thinking it's a good idea.
Consumers are idiots. They are the reason prosumers never get the tech they need. "Oh, well 95% of the population will never use 'X'..."
INFIDELS!
-Clive
Actually I think Apple's market share is somewhat stunted because so many consumers savvy. I talking about PC users who might be interested in a Mac, but...
1. Already have their own monitor, so the iMac is out.
2. Don't want to spend that much money on such a weak offering as the Mini.
3. Don't want to spent that much money on a Mac Pro.
The fact is, there's a $1500 difference in price between the most expensive Mini and the least expensive Mac Pro and that price gap reflects a wide gap in power too. Honestly, I believe that if there were a mid-ranged headless option, Apple's market share would jump a few points.
enough allready
i vote to close this thread. no new ideas have been written since around post #20. Around 500 useless posts ago.
it has now been 1 month since this apparent rumour was released and we've seen nothing.
the mini's tech specs are more than enough for what it is supposed to do ie. mail safari and iLife.
we all love the numbers and the kit but really, get over it...
i vote to close this thread. no new ideas have been written since around post #20. Around 500 useless posts ago.
it has now been 1 month since this apparent rumour was released and we've seen nothing.
the mini's tech specs are more than enough for what it is supposed to do ie. mail safari and iLife.
we all love the numbers and the kit but really, get over it...
i vote to close this thread. no new ideas have been written since around post #20. Around 500 useless posts ago.
it has now been 1 month since this apparent rumour was released and we've seen nothing.
the mini's tech specs are more than enough for what it is supposed to do ie. mail safari and iLife.
we all love the numbers and the kit but really, get over it...
Is anybody holding a gun to your head and requiring you to participate or even just read? If not, then don't troll - it's a forum. If you're not interested, then don't read the thread. If its very existence offends you, then you're worse off than anybody in here.
Apple has the smaller sized form factor with Airport Extreme (802.11n) or the slightly larger Time Capsule. I have both and they're 1.25 inches tall. Plugin MB Air's external Superdrive (if Apple marry's it to this set up) and one has a new Mac Nano with Superdrive.
Yeah, because the MacRumors community is the deciding factor in whether or not Apple upgrades and redesigns its machines.
Oh, and arn is His Jobsness.
mac mini media server???? Is that not what most mini owners use their mac for anyway???.... maybe we might see a mac mini "take two" reincarnation and provide some sort of competition to windows media centre. I guessing it would fit nicely with itunes music, video rentals and whatever else apple tries to sell us.
forums are just that, forums.. where people are free to express opinion. unfortunately, you seem to be a fanboy and at the mere utter of anything remotely negative towards Lord Jobs you quiver at the lip and get personal.
I was merely stating that if half of you guys had read all 500 posts then you would see that there are indeed about 4 statements that have incessantly been re-hashed.
True, but it seems by expressing your opinion, you are asking other forum users to stop expressing theirs.
I agree. That's why I became frustrated when you came in and told people to stop expressing their opinions.
You logic is poor. Your post (the one to which I responded) made no negative comment about Apple or Jobs.
There are very few original ideas in the world. We generally learn by rehashing ideas until we squeeze out some understanding and perhaps something new out of them. It becomes particularly challenging in forums as people drop in and our of discussions. You should get used to it because this is as good as it gets. Luckily you've been blessed with the right and ability to stay out of conversations which don't interest you. I just think that getting into conversations which don't interest you because you can't even stand the fact that they are happening might be a sign of insanity.
Actually a lot of Mac mini users buy it for the small form-factor and desktop functionality; they don't use servers and I would assume more than half either don't know how to run a server or couldn't give monkeys ass about it.
The mini is a nice desktop and it does what many people need computers for: browsing the web, emails, IMs, chatting, videos, music. It runs multimedia applications; it allows video and photo editing. You don't need a Mac Pro for any of these things. If you have a limited budget the Mac mini is a good way to go.
If you're going to run it as a server then why would a graphics card matter at all? The current product has enough RAM, the CPU is fast enough, just upgrade the HDD to the 500GB version! You don't need more than 2GB of RAM on a server if you're buying mini! If you need more than 2GB of RAM on any server, the mini is not the way to go; you need to save up and buy a XServe.
Even though many posts in this forum, and probably every forum on the internet, are simply reiterations of someone else's comments, people who agree with those comments may feel the need to show their support. It helps "get it off their chest" in a sense. Personally, I think it is healthy for people to take in ideas, analyze them, and then spit them back out; it helps to get those ideas known.
Let the people speak without 40 lashes for similar statements. After all, we are mere humans.
all fair comments. i totally respect that. i guess i didn't expect a backlash like this. the forums that i frequent are more forgiving to challenging statements. i am reading this thread, like everyone here, hoping for some new mac mini kit. in future i'll dare not stray from conservative comments and Jobs forbid, put anyones fragile egos out of place
My department replaces Power Mac G4s with Mac minis. We'd love a much more easily upgradeable Mac though.
If you simply refrain from coming into a discussion calling it "useless" and telling people to "get over it", you might find people here more receptive to you. Maybe you could admit that your entry into this thread was a bit crass rather than further insulting us by questioning the strength of our egos.
I bought the old one with the rumors and all, but I didn't like it. I would still consider one if it came out, but I doubt I will really buy one. If I do buy an Apple desktop it would be a Mac Pro.
im lookn to buy a mini for my switch over.ive got my own mon and will get mac keyboard etc. at least with the mini it will save me 300£ cause if i were to get a macbook id have to worry bout the casing cracking and the monitor issues plus id wonna get the applecare. with a mini i wont worry bout the applecare and i wont need to worry bout the screen etc. god,the white macbooks are so like the xbox 360 with there problems but people still buy em. lol
All things to all people
Apple only makes 3 desktops. I'll take a wild guess that I'm not the only designer who can't justify the expense of a mac pro (or want the large footprint) but who also can't live with the glossy imac screen.
The mini is a lot of things to a lot of people and I think that's what makes it great - it's versatile. I think the best that Apple can do is give it the same kind of upgrade that the iMacs just got but essentially keep it the same, then it can carry on doing what it does best - be a mac with a brilliant form factor that can be used as a desktop, a media center or a server. Then each individual user can decide what they want to do with it.
Is that original enough? I'm afraid I wouldn't know because I couldn't be bothered trawling through every single post that's been written on this subject to check if I'm repeating something someone else may have said.
Apple only makes 3 desktops. I'll take a wild guess that I'm not the only designer who can't justify the expense of a mac pro (or want the large footprint) but who also can't live with the glossy imac screen.
The mini is a lot of things to a lot of people and I think that's what makes it great - it's versatile. I think the best that Apple can do is give it the same kind of upgrade that the iMacs just got but essentially keep it the same, then it can carry on doing what it does best - be a mac with a brilliant form factor that can be used as a desktop, a media center or a server. Then each individual user can decide what they want to do with it.
Is that original enough? I'm afraid I wouldn't know because I couldn't be bothered trawling through every single post that's been written on this subject to check if I'm repeating something someone else may have said.
Having been so impressed when I switched to an iMac last month I've been eyeing up a Mac Mini to replace my old Shuttle HTPC running MCE 2005.
From what I've seen of Front Row on my iMac it'd be quieter, easier, smaller, simpler. I'm waiting to see what updates they bring for to the Mini (if any, if it's not discontinued) as to whether I buy one or an Apple TV and a standalone DVD player.
I basically need standard DVD playback, AVI/mp4/mp3/MOV playback and PVR for Freeview (either on a Mac Mini or could use my iMac for that if I go the Apple TV route).
I didn't mind getting the iMac at the "old" spec- I still think it's good value overall as a package and even though it's just been updated, I'm still happy with mine. But the Mini's too expensive for the spec as it is. Fingers crossed they'll give it a good boost, I still think it's an attractive option for switchers. It was only the fact my old monitor was dying that swayed me to an iMac instead.
Micro & Mini!
How about they make a micro in addition to the mini. Perhaps these rumors about making it smaller are for a new micro(small form factor, no optical drive or GPU, simple beautiful and cheap). Then make the mini more powerful with a real GPU, better RAM and HD and ports. The micro could be around the $400-$500 range and the mini $600-$700 range. I think this would really really satisfy a LOT of people. This would also make it tough for those generics (Psystar) as this would be very competitive.
I personally know of people who were about to switch over to Apple but didn't because Apple doesn't have any good sub $1000 options. They didn't want an all in one iMac (because they already have a nice large LCD) nor a mini(not powerful enough), nor a laptop. So they ended up with another windows machine!
APPLE PLEASE READ THIS!
Kan-O-Z
How about they make a micro in addition to the mini. Perhaps these rumors about making it smaller are for a new micro(small form factor, no optical drive or GPU, simple beautiful and cheap). Then make the mini more powerful with a real GPU, better RAM and HD and ports. The micro could be around the $400-$500 range and the mini $600-$700 range. I think this would really really satisfy a LOT of people. This would also make it tough for those generics (Psystar) as this would be very competitive.
I personally know of people who were about to switch over to Apple but didn't because Apple doesn't have any good sub $1000 options. They didn't want an all in one iMac (because they already have a nice large LCD) nor a mini(not powerful enough), nor a laptop. So they ended up with another windows machine!
APPLE PLEASE READ THIS!
Kan-O-Z
a lot of people are missing out on apples because of the lack of cheaper comps...its unfortunate
