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Much Smaller Mac Mini Coming?

kornyboy said:
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

I wonder if less than half the size means thinner like the AppleTV or less than half the size in all dimensions.
Click to expand...

If it's half the size in all three dimensions, it will result in a product with a volume of 12,5 percent of the current one.

100%x0,5x0,5x0,5.

I doubt that will be the case.
 
I, for one, am going to get a new Mac Mini at the next revision. Either it will be the new model if the specs are good or the current model if the new one doesn't fit my bill.
I want a Mini to put in my living room, behind (yes, you read correctly, behind) my 37" LCD. I need it to run Front Row, Perian, Flip4Mac, Safari, iChat and a few games if possible (I don't need a MacPro for that). So I need a Mini that has DVI or HDMI, SPDIF out, 3 to 4 USB (Logitech KB, gamepad and webcam) and 1 Gigabyte ethernet. I'd be happy with a 2.1G C2D or better, 2G RAM and the integrated X3100 but I have to agree that dumping the optical drive for a graphics chip would be the best option for me.
I wouldn't mind if it was the same form factor as now but smaller is better so go for a reduction in height. In fact, what has stopped me until now is only the integrated graphics alone.
The new model will definitely be better than the current one so I'm sure it will be my next buy, unless Apple goes the Air way and dumps all the useful ports.
 
exactly my thoughts....and i thought the same thing about the iMac.

I was furious when they made the new iMacs smaller and kept the price the same. it's a DESKTOP for crying out loud! it doesn't NEED to be the thickness of a notebook! They could have updated the iMac specs, kept the same thickness, and DROPPED the price! now it looks like they're going to do the same thing with the Mac Mini!

Come on, apple! get your priorities straight!
 
Bad Paper said:
Is it, now? Who knows this fact, how, and why? I cannot imagine Apple wasting its resources combing these fora for their market research. Apple is interested in capturing market share, not pleasing Kool-Aid drinking fanbois.

Everytime someone whines, "Come on, Apple..." or "Come on, Steve..." and pollutes MR with a laundry list of desires, they are wasting our time. GTFO.
Click to expand...

You are asserting that you know little about modern-day marketing, nor the world's greatest little marketing tool of today: the internet.
 
Oh come on, everybody knows it'll be called the "Mac nano"... gotta take advantage of name recognition! Everybody and their sister has an iPod nano by now, everybody associates the word "nano" with Apple already. :apple:

(I apologize if I'm repeating this, it seems so obvious... but I'm in a hurry and don't have time to read all eight pages already in this thread!)
 
Its probably been said already, but how much smaller can you get the Mini with an optical drive? Unless they take out the optical drive, but that doesn't sound like a smart move.
 
KindredMAC said:
You're close.... the Mac Air.

Think about it.... they already have the $99 optional SuperDrive that "supposedly" only works with the MacBook Air. All it would take is some software or firmware on the Mac Air's side to make it recognizable to that system.

I wouldn't mind this at all. Make the Mac Air have the following specs and I would buy it in a heartbeat for my entertainment system:

2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Penryn
160GB HDD
2GB pre-installed RAM, non upgradeable
1 x FW400 port
2 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x Gigabit Ethernet port
1 x HDMI port, with included HDMI-to-DVI cable adapter to use with LCD screens
1 x Combined optical digital audio output/headphone out (minijack)
Airport Draft N
BT 2.1 + EDR
New version of Apple TV's Take 2 software that can be run like any other application in OS X Leopard for those that have the Mac Air connected to an HDTV.
Click to expand...

I would buy one right away if it was like that :D
 
I am actually shocked that people think taking out the optical drive is a good idea. I mean what the hell do you need the mac mini smaller for?
 
not smaller, better

Dear GOD we don't need a smaller Mac Mini.

If you can make it smaller
give it a proper graphics card,
a blu-ray drive
more RAM and
at least 1TB hard disk...

by all means... make my day!
 
pjarvi said:
If they switch to using laptop memory in a horizontal layout, they can easily reduce the height by at least 1/3rd. Remove the optical drive and there goes another 1/3rd drop in in height. Now what you've got left is an AppleTV.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "if they switch to using laptop memory in a horizontal layout"? The Mac mini does use laptop memory, and it's horizontal (parallel to the motherboard).

And even if you remove the optical drive you will not remove 0.67" in height, that drive probably takes 0.50" at the most (I don't feel like re-opening my Mac mini's case again).
 
binky2033 said:
Great. Something else to get lost in the sofa cushions.
Click to expand...

HAHAHAHAHAHHA!!! I enjoyed that very much, thank you.

Yeah I think it should stay the same size, or if anything get bigger. It is a desktop. It needs a real GPU. I would like to get a Mac desktop soon and shoo away the last of my PCs. However, I see no real need to if I'm going to lose a ton of performance just to enjoy Leopard, when I just use my Macbook at my desk anyway. And no need to take out an optical drive to decrease size, no one will buy a stationary computer without an optical drive, that's silly, it's not appealing in the way the MBA is. And on the note of Blu-Ray, it is doubtful we will see it in a small-time consumer Mac Mini before we see it in the high-end Mac Pro.

Keep the size, up the performance, call it a night.
 
Brad Gamma said:
I am actually shocked that people think taking out the optical drive is a good idea. I mean what the hell do you need the mac mini smaller for?
Click to expand...

Stick around this forum long enough & nothing much will shock you. ;)

I think this rumour is BS, but if it were true, it's the worst piece of news I've heard for a while. Though I'm ready to buy an updated Mini, I'll do some serious rethinking if the new Mini gets much smaller & becomes a triumph of style over substance.
 
i hope they wont be sacrificing power for the sake of further miniaturisation..

its like having a cute,naked ewok and a wave of the magic wand..it changes
into a small ugly gremlin..

i rather have that naked ewok ..and fit him wif spears and body armour making him/her/it/shim??? cute yet powerful...

Bicawawa!
 
gregorsamsa said:
Stick around this forum long enough & nothing much will shock you. ;)

I think this rumour is BS, but if it were true, it's the worst piece of news I've heard for a while. Though I'm ready to buy an updated Mini, I'll do some serious rethinking if the new Mini gets much smaller & becomes a triumph of style over substance.
Click to expand...

Brilliant post--you succinctly encapsulated the essence of this "rumor." I agree with you 100%
 
albusseverus said:
Dear GOD we don't need a smaller Mac Mini.

If you can make it smaller
give it a proper graphics card,
a blu-ray drive
more RAM and
at least 1TB hard disk...

by all means... make my day!
Click to expand...

One day in the near future the Mac Pro will be the size of a nickel and then people will still want it smaller. It doesn't need to be smaller until it is smaller then people sure don't want the old big model. Yeah I know it would be nice to have all the stuff you mentioned - one day it will have that and more and still be small enough to fit into a flash stick the size of a stick of gum.
 
1. Drop the optical
2. Increase the amps on the USB to that of the MacBook Air (for external drive usage)
3. Drop the price to 500$
4. Use the same form factor as the :apple:TV.
5. Make the HD user replacable.
 
Apple already has put the motherboard in the monitor (iMac). The mini is about bring your own monitor, mouse, and keyboard. The logical next step, considering "thin" being in at Apple, is put the motherboard in the keyboard. Just a little thicker than the current keyboard. Optical drive slot in the back edge. Depth a little deeper makes room for a potential multitouch pad.

If they don't do it this year, they'll do it next.

That's my prediction.

4D
 
4DThinker said:
Apple already has put the motherboard in the monitor (iMac). The mini is about bring your own monitor, mouse, and keyboard. The logical next step, considering "thin" being in at Apple, is put the motherboard in the keyboard. Just a little thicker than the current keyboard. Optical drive slot in the back edge. Depth a little deeper makes room for a potential multitouch pad.
Click to expand...

Uh... so what happens if there's a problem with one of the keys? replace the whole unit?

-Clive
 
4DThinker said:
The logical next step, considering "thin" being in at Apple, is put the motherboard in the keyboard. Just a little thicker than the current keyboard. Optical drive slot in the back edge. Depth a little deeper makes room for a potential multitouch pad.
Click to expand...

Ah! The return of the C64 :p

I guess it was a mini of a kind back in the 80s compared to the Apple // family, that is.

Have you seen how thin the current Apple KBs are?

Personally I think it's more likely that they'd go for a brick not much bigger than an external hard drive.

B
 
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