New Intel Mac mini

[Stridder44]

What if its all one giant early April Fools joke?

 

[Regular_John]

Seriously what will make you people happy when it comes to an announcement? Your never getting your g5 powerbooks, move on.


I vote for a MR name change:

 

[timon]

The DVI/HDMI is an issue because that means that everyone with TVs that has an HDMI input needs to spend more $$ and buy a DVI/HDMI converter... Considering HDMI is "the standard" and Apple is marketing the mac mini for the living room, THEY SHOULD HAVE INCLUDED HDMI. I know, I know, more cost, but they should have!

Another thing - why in the hell doesn't the mac mini do DVR???!!! THAT IS JUST OUTRIGHT INSANE!!!! They would sell SOOOOOOOOO many more units if it did... I would buy one right now if it did DVR... okay, I'm pissed!

(maybe a future software update!!??? Please please please!!!! soon! soon! soon!)

You have no idea what your talking about!

You either buy a DVI to HDMI cable or a DVI to DVI cable depending on what your monitor requires.

HDMI does you NO GOOD unless you have a HDMI surround sound receiver that will send the video on to the monitor. I don't even know why monitors even use HDMI for input other than the connector size. Their audio system can come close to supporting digital audio.

With the mini you send the DVI to the monitor and then the optical to your surround sound receiver and your done.

Oh and before you talk say that HDCP is only supported on HDMI it's not. HDCP is also supported on DVI and the hardware in the mini can support HDCP whenever Apple wants to turn it on.

Some people just don't understand this stuff🙁

 

[Yvan256]

can anybody confirm if it uses a 3.5inch SATA drive or we are still using notebook drives here?

either way, this is still beyond awesome

There's no room in a Mac mini for a 3.5" drive.

 

[timon]

Dude, they're NOT the same thing. HDMI includes HDCP (high-bandwidth digital-content protection) and if you can't output that then your little home media computer can only play 540p tops, ever. HDCP will downgrade and "restrict" your output to non-HD levels, which is a big deal.

In short, if you intend to support HD, you have to be on board with HDMI/HDCP. Very few televisions support HDCP over DVI (just so happens that mine does) but if your's doesn't, your screwed! 😱

Again you don't understand how HDCP works.

An HDCP compliant monitor will display from any sender be the sender HDCP compliant or not. If the montior is not HDCP compliant then a HDCP compliant source may not send to the montior.

And as I said in another post, HDCP works with both DVI and HDMI! Panasonic has several HDCP compliant montiors with DVI/HDCP inputs!

 

[ezekielrage_99]

I've been saying since decemeber that the new iBook and Mac Mini will have the Intel Core Duo in it.......

After all didn't Apple buy up a whole heap of Intel Core Duo 1.66GHz and didn't use them for the MacBook Pros?

I am still more happy about the fact they didn't put those Celeron M's in the Mac Mini, that would really suck. Also this might give us a VERY good indication of what Apple will be putting into the iBooks (MacBook?) when an Intel version is released.

It's nice when you're right 😀

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/180302/
(my post is 184)

 

[Yvan256]

You'd be surprised. I can't even tell you which Radeon I have in my powerbook. I used to know, but numbers don't stick in people's heads, not unless the video card is a very important thing to you. I would bet a significant portion of the mini-buying public would walk out of the store rembering (at best) the system had a one-thousand-something ATI.

Granted, but I was talking about the average buyer being able to "compare" video chips in computers. Even if he doesn't know anything, he'll assume "ATI Radeon X1600 is better than ATI Radeon X200". He can't do that if comparing "ATI Radeon 9200" with "Intel GMA 950" (unless he deduces the Radeon is "almost 10 times better" because of the number).

Ahh, but -- "this one shares the cpu, and uses system memory. This one has an second cpu and memory just for displaying graphics" is easier than explaining fill rates and pixel shaders. And when people hear <X> is faster than <Y> they want to know how much.

Even with that explanation, that means the G4 Mac mini has a better graphic chip than the Intel Mac mini.

As someone said earlier: we're not shocked because Apple didn't put a high-end GPU in the Intel Mac mini (even though all other specs are just amazing and even overkill for most people - i.e. "optical audio out"?!), we're shocked because Apple have made a step backward with the GPU... And it was going so well, when checking the GPU upgrades of the iMac and iBook...

 

[balamw]

There's no room in a Mac mini for a 3.5" drive.

Which is why it really would be nice for those seeking a bit more performance for a media PC if Apple would offer a headless iMac in a pizza box style case.

B

 

[DaftUnion]

Specifications

Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 Graphics Core 256-bit graphics core running at 400MHz

Up to 10.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth with DDR2 667 system memory

1.6 GPixels/sec and 1.6 GTexels/sec fill rate

Up to 224 MB maximum video memory

2048x1536 at 75 Hz maximum resolution

Dynamic Display Modes for flat-panel, wide-screen and Digital TV support

Operating systems supported: Microsoft Windows* XP, Windows* XP 64bit, Media Center Edition 2004/2005, Windows 2000; Linux-compatible (Xfree86 source available)

 

[ezekielrage_99]

Seriously what will make you people happy when it comes to an announcement? Your never getting your g5 powerbooks, move on.

But remember the "New G5 PowerBooks" are released next tuesday 😀



😉

 

[timon]

In Europe, in order to have the "HD Ready" designation you must support HDCP. In any event, I wouldn't consider the purchase of a HD set at all unless it had HDMI/HDCP; that's an investment you don't want to have to repurchase.

Your right on not purchasing a non HDCP compliant montior but it does not matter if it's HDMI/HDCP or DVI/HDCP.

 

[vincenewmacg4]

Once again, there are no Macs for below $500! 😡
Couldn't they have a model without bluetooth and Airport Extreme for $499? For people just getting a cheap computer, who needs to stream iTunes through Front Row? The price is what's important to me, not extra features.

Does anyone know if I can still buy a G4 Mini?

I will sell you mine if you are interested.

 

[Yvan256]

OK, OK. Like the rest of you I'm not very thrilled with the new Mac mini, but complaining on MacRumors is not going to change anything. Apple probably doesn't even look at this site.

If you don't like something about the Mac mini then you should let Apple hear about it.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/

Okay... but there's no "Mac mini" feedback page. 😕

Edit: it's in the "PowerMac" page... you select your computer in a pull-down menu. I guess "PowerMac" should read "Desktop".

 

[matticus008]

I was all set to download that, but I read it doesn't support the Apple Remote yet. That kind of defeats the purpose. 🙁

I really need to get an iMac...

If your signature is an accurate account of your computer, the Apple Remote will never work with anything unless you buy an IR receiver. And if you bite that bullet, you can get the Apple remote to work with MediaCentral in about 15 minutes.

 

[dcv]

I was watching the updates from MacRumorsLive and was initially quite impressed (and very tempted) by the details of the new Intel Mac Mini... but then the UK store came back online and I saw the price 😱

When the Mini was first introduced just over a year ago it was about £329. Then last summer it was updated to include BT and Airport as standard and the RAM increased from 256 to 512MB - correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the price stayed the same in the US, but it went up by £30 in the UK.

Today the base model mini is £449 and the core duo is £599.

I don't know what "Intel integrated graphics" is all about, but it doesn't sound very impressive for that price tag. If the price had stayed the same as the original Mac Mini price I'd have probably ordered one by now, just to sit by the TV, but... meh, I think I'll wait for the next round of updates...

I thought the idea of the Mini was a "budget" Mac. When you factor in the cost of the display, keyboard & mouse, you're better off buying the iMac.

 

[leekohler]

Seriously what will make you people happy when it comes to an announcement? Your never getting your g5 powerbooks, move on.


I vote for a MR name change:

Gee- I seem to remember quite a bit of happiness, almost glee when the Intel iMacs and MacBook Pros were announced. I even said I was tempted to buy a MacBook Pro. Bottom line- this is not a good update. And the price increase? Unwise in my opinion.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

Here are the facts on the specifications of the older Radeon 9200 and the new GMA950:

ATI Radeon 9200

- DirectX 8.1 compliant
- Uses R200 technology which was used for the 8500-9200 cards
- The 9200 is actually a *slower* version than the 8500 based cards
- The 9200s use a RV280 core
- Have a core speed of 250Mhz
- Memory speed of 200Mhz
- 128 bit memory interface (12.8GB/s)
- AGP8x connection
- Does support hardware T&L (but very very old)

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon

Intel GMA 950

- DirectX 9.0 compliant.
- Have a core speed of 400Mhz
- Memory speed of 667Mhz (The system's DDR-2)
- Pixel Shader 2.0
- Memory bandwidth of 20GB/s if using 8 lane PCIe or 40GB/s if using 16 lane PCIe
- PCIe connection
- Does not support hardware T&L

So the integrated GMA950 system is faster in every way technically but does not include hardware T&L. But the 9200 uses 2nd generation AI T&L. The X1300-X1800 graphics cards all use 5th generation T&L. That's how old it is.

 

[joeboy_45101]

Okay... but there's no "Mac mini" feedback page. 😕

Yes there is. Did you happen to tamper with my quote, because I specifically stated that the Mac mini could be found under the PowerMac category. All you would have had to do is select "Mac Mini" from the "What Kind of Computer Do You Own?" slot.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/

 

[ChrisA]

The thing that worries me the most is how it will perform under rosetta emulation - for instance, there is no decent and realtively cheap image processing software availble for intel Macs. How will things like Photoshop Elements run?

You are right. The software is lagging a half year in back of the hardware. But there is a good Intel-native image editor available at www.gimp.org

 

[zap2]

i think this little Mac Mini Looks nice, i mean i don't Game on my Mac, and the only thing i know of that *uses* my graphics card is the wave effect on dashboard, if it does that i'm set!

 

[MacSA]

I was watching the updates from MacRumorsLive and was initially quite impressed (and very tempted) by the details of the new Intel Mac Mini... but then the UK store came back online and I saw the price 😱

When the Mini was first introduced just over a year ago it was about £329. Then last summer it was updated to include BT and Airport as standard and the RAM increased from 256 to 512MB - correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the price stayed the same in the US, but it went up by £30 in the UK.

Today the base model mini is £449 and the core duo is £599.

I don't know what "Intel integrated graphics" is all about, but it doesn't sound very impressive for that price tag. If the price had stayed the same as the original Mac Mini price I'd have probably ordered one by now, just to sit by the TV, but... meh, I think I'll wait for the next round of updates...

I thought the idea of the Mini was a "budget" Mac. When you factor in the cost of the display, keyboard & mouse, you're better off buying the iMac.

This isnt exactly true......... this model (core solo) replaces the previous mid range mini which was £429. The entry level mini had no airport extreme or bluetooth and only a 40gb hard drive and the 1.25 G4. This model has effectively been discontinued.

 

[photomaniac]

You have no idea what your talking about!

You either buy a DVI to HDMI cable or a DVI to DVI cable depending on what your monitor requires.

HDMI does you NO GOOD unless you have a HDMI surround sound receiver that will send the video on to the monitor. I don't even know why monitors even use HDMI for input other than the connector size. Their audio system can come close to supporting digital audio.

With the mini you send the DVI to the monitor and then the optical to your surround sound receiver and your done.

Oh and before you talk say that HDCP is only supported on HDMI it's not. HDCP is also supported on DVI and the hardware in the mini can support HDCP whenever Apple wants to turn it on.

Some people just don't understand this stuff🙁

BS... I totally understand! you didn't see the point that I was talking about using this in THE LIVING ROOM!!! I have a TV with an HDMI input... that means I will have to purchase a DVI to HDMI converter. That is the truth! and there is no way around it!

 

[FF_productions]

not a bad update..this transition is going even faster...and I'm starting to lose complete confidence in PPC.

 

[spade]

Here some details to the integrated graphic card. I'm stressing the bold below at the near future of the mini. This card it seems can do 1080p, I think Sony is just now beginning to sell 1080p sets, but these are very pricey.

Here's the link.
_________________
Up to 2048x1536 resolution for both analog and digital displays

Consumer Electronic display (Digital TV) support

Display hot plug support to automatically detect new display connection while system is operating (CRT and DVI)

Two Serial Digital Video Out (SDVO) ports for flat-panel monitors and/or TV-out support via Advanced Digital Display 2 (ADD2) cards or Media Expansion Cards

Intel Media Expansion Cards available providing TV-out and PVR capability

Multiple display types (LVDS, DVI-I, DVI-D, HDTV, TV-out, CRT)

Dual screen support through ADD2 digital video devices

HDTV 480i/p, 576i/p, 720i/p and 1080i/p display resolution support

Interlaced Display output support

16x9 and 16x10 Aspect Ratio for widescreen displays

2x2 Panel Scaler

 

[balamw]

My current theory

For some reason, Apple seems to be accelerating the Intel switch.

Maybe they've just run out of G4 parts (as might be suggested by the stealth Mac mini upgrade), or maybe they're just trying to make sure that there are as many Front Row equipped Intel based machines available/deployed as possible before something else can happen. Maybe they see this as a necessary precursor to the rumored movie store.

For most non-3D-gaming uses the upgrade is a good one, but clearly, upping the price on the Intel mini doesn't seem like a good way to increase sales, but as I have stated before I believe this increase will only be temporary. They should easily be able to move the Core Solo mini released today to $499 when the cost of the Intel Core CPU drops in the second half of the year. Their choice may also be a reflection that the $499 mini just wasn't selling as well as its more expensive cousins.

Personally, today's release has only pushed me closer to picking up a 17" iMac to play with.

B