New Mac Mini Announced! [MERGED]

[bimmerfreak0]

Well I can clearly see the IR port on the new server option, but the only IR port I can "possibly" see is about 5 mm on the right side of the dvd slot...although that almost moreso looks like a light.

Can anyone confirm whether or not the new mac mini (non-server) has an IR port???

 

[BobHail]

I´m afraid to think how overpriced the Mac Pros are going to be!

 

[okatidubi]

Has anyone ever wondered the only reason they raised the price was the fear of affecting iPad sales? I'm referring to the US pricing, not the ever rising Euro pricing after each product is released.

$599 for the previous mini vs $499 for the 16GB iPad. As a consumer, I would rather pay another $100 for a CPU. This is absolutely a money-making decision.

By increasing the gap between these two products, the probability of one getting the iPad is greater. Also, since someone above said that a Mac mini with Apple peripherals cost much more than the base iMac, I, personally, can say that the new low end Mac - for current users and switchers - would be the base iMac (or a MacBook for that matter).

The Mac Mini might still be targeted at users who wants to switch to the Mac platform, but it's definitely taking the shape of a computer cum entertainment box. I won't be surprised if the Apple TV will be discontinued in the near future.

 

[Shanpdx]

Sorry if it is already answered the HDD is it 2.5" or 3.5"

one inch thick have to assume 2.5"

1) no 4GB
2) no SSD option
3) expensive
4) too late to the game; this specs should be there three years before.

there is a alternate aka Macbook, wait and buy during thanksgiving sales...

 

[CptnJustc]

Yes, yes... we all know about the VAT, that's not the point.

The point is that the discrepancy between the US and EU prices on the new Mac Mini is 15-20% larger than on their other Macs. In the 15 or so years I've kept an eye on Mac pricing, this is an unprecedented move that goes way beyond currency fluctuations. So what is this?

The euro's fallen about 20% against the dollar in recent months. If that doesn't reverse soon, I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of the Mac line in the euro zones bounces up in price, rather than the Mini coming down. Some of you folks may find yourself regretting not taking advantage of this brief disconnect....

Of course, if things stabilize over there and the euro's strength returns, maybe it'll be the Mini's price coming back down -- after another update.

 

[KnightWRX]

Is Canada punished when the USD is doing poorly? Like "meh, they're North Americans, it's all the same to us so hit them with the price hike as well!"...?

Punished ? We're at parity or close to and yet we pay 5%-15% premiums on everything. Believe me, I know the pain. (though I'm about 45 minutes from the border so getting stuff on the cheap is always an option...).

 

[boz0]

You are paying for the form factor, pure and simple. Just think how bloody small this thing is!

It wasn't all that big to begin with, and it was definitely much cheaper. Size alone isn't a serious argument when you compare the mini with its own previous models.

 

[celo48]

Looks awesome! I wish they did not jack up the price though. Now, it is time to upgrade the Mac Air???

 

[Hattig]

The Macbook's price was fixed some time ago.
C) The current economy state. That would be my guess.

The MacBook was updated very recently, so they had the chance to change the price then. I think Apple has simply made a massive mistake in their non-US pricing. I just wish they would include something for that - iWork for example - to soften the blow.

 

[michaelmac]

When you factor out the VAT there is a massive price difference between US and UK/Europe. I have fired off a 'Dear Steve' email to ask why the premium?

Thinking about it these things are put together in China, shipped through a global deal with DHL or similar and contain the same contents apart from the plug (the paper is multi-language and most is on the CD).

Is it the plug that costs the extra $150 or so? Of course not - the usual justification is that it costs more to retail/sell to the smaller markets than the US. With web-ordering though how is this so? Sticking a label on that gives a US address or one in London is surely the same price for shipping?

Way too much for a bare bones computer. Would have loved one of these but factor in one or two options and you are heading in to silly money.

What happened to the days when technology updates used to come through with better specs for less money than the model they replaced.

Apple, you are getting greedy...

 

[Homerpalooza]

Unmagical

SD port in back? Integrated Power Supply? This is going in my media cabinet. It doesn't need to look gorgeous guys. I didn't look at all the amplifiers out there, and pick the prettiest one. I picked the best one.

More than the HD, the next highest failure item is the Power Supply, and it creates a lot of heat. Apple's "designers" failed on this one. Sorry.

Huge Apple fan, but touting the ability to change the memory yourself is ... idiotic to me.

Apple is so cocksure of their design, the solicit ZERO feedback, and just expect everyone to lap it up. Fail.

 

[Tundraboy]

Ouch!!!!!

WOW this little puppy is way to expensive!!!!!! Way to go Apple again!!!!! People will eventually get tired of you selling dated technology in a good looking package!!!!

 

[kalsta]

i prefer Microsoft's keyboards and mice. the Apple ones are the cheapest crap you can buy. nice hardware but crappy accessories.

Are you serious? Everyone I know who has used one of the newer Apple keyboards (aluminium, with the low-profile keys) loves them. I could never go back to typing on a clunky old-style keyboard.

I haven't used Apple mice for a very long time though. I don't think there's anything cheap about them — just relatively poor ergonomics.

 

[reel2reel]

WOW this little puppy is way to expensive!!!!!! Way to go Apple again!!!!! People will eventually get tired of you selling dated technology in a good looking package!!!!

Is there anyway to filter out the whiners on this forum? I don't see a button for it.

 

[Atkins]

That's the same as answer A. And yes, the Euro has some issues but many other European currencies do not. For example the SEK is worth considerably more against the USD today than it was when the price for the old Mac Mini was fixed (March 2009). So it would appear that SE/NO/DK are being penalized for the state of the Euro despite having nothing to do with it. In other words, it's alternative A, "Greece insurance".

Well, it's a kinda complicated. In fact there are many other things, but mostly Apple doesn't change it's prices unless there's a new model, right? So this means they must base their price not only on the current situation, but also on some future evaluations? What do you think?

Has anyone ever wondered the only reason they raised the price was the fear of affecting iPad sales?

Of course not. One is a mobile device, the other a desktop. I hardly see anyone choosing one over the other, just because it's the same price.

The MacBook was updated very recently, so they had the chance to change the price then.

Again, recent or not, it was a different moment.

I think Apple has simply made a massive mistake in their non-US pricing.

Unless you know how exactly they fix their prices, I would say that it is very doubtful a big company would be wrong and you - right.

 

[star-affinity]

hmm, steam works just fine, I don't need the highest details, and since anything more than 30 fps is pure marketing, it will probably be fine. Remember the Wii that everyone bitched and complained about the graphics quality.... And yes, while good graphics specs are nice, playing team fortress on a 60 inch plasma would rock at 1080P...

If you would have said 60 FPS I might agree with you, but 30!? No way.
And of course one want the highest possible graphics quality.

 

[NightFlight]

That pricing is pretty steep for their "value" computer.

I thought the Mini was supposed to be priced low to bring in new customers? $699 for those specs will certainly shy some people away.

Nice that they FINALLY gave it a worthy update, but priced too high.

 

[QCassidy352]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

It's nice, I like it. Great design, and the hdmi and new graphics are both very welcome. Should really have 4 GB RAM standard at that price though.

I can't see buying it as a regular desktop mac over an iMac. I guess if you have the mouse keyboard and display it's a decent choice (iMac is still probably a better value), but this really looks more like a htpc to me.

 

[dwl017]

Over priced big time!

2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x1GB
320GB Serial ATA Drive
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Apple LED Cinema Display (24" flat panel)
Apple Mouse
Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad
User's Guide (English)
iWork preinstalled

Microsoft Office Mac 2008 - Home and Student Edition
Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter

Mac mini - AppleCare Protection Plan


Total cost $2,072.95

 

[ziwi]

Expensive? Yes. Until you look at what the real issues is. The Intel/Nvidia issue forced them to use the Core 2 Duo - which is going up in price due to the I3/I5/I7's rising and reducing the mfg of the C2D's - this drives the price of the processors up - so just in processors you are @ $220 or $260 to start. If using the newer processors then they would be forced to use the integrated intel graphics, which would make no one happy. A desktop i3 processor is 1/2 the price.

The mini still uses laptop parts so more expensive in processor, memory and hard drive.

The choices for apple were new processors with integrated graphics or what they deemed as a better graphics solution continuing to use the C2D, but in making that decision - they are forced to pay a premium for the C2D processors.

Form factor aside - this is the argument for the mid-tower - the price of the mini has come up to the point where yuo could easily rationalize a laptop or iMac without dropping much more in the way of $$. A mid tower would use the desktop parts and be cheaper and more expandable.

Does Apple not have the design capacity to provide something that looks great and falls into that category while using desktop components? There is a real premium in only using the server or laptop components - sure they now have desktop in the iMac - and that is why the cost of those are the most appealing from a desktop perspective - they need to offer something to the rest of the folks who already have or do not want ot dump a screen every 3-5 years.

 

[boz0]

Unless you know how exactly they fix their prices, I would say that it is very doubtful a big company would be wrong and you - right.

The only real answer to that question will come in a few months, when we get to see how well they're selling.

 

[Anuba]

The euro's fallen about 20% against the dollar in recent months. If that doesn't reverse soon, I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of the Mac line in the euro zones bounces up in price, rather than the Mini coming down. Some of you folks may find yourself regretting not taking advantage of this brief disconnect....

And that's why my country (Sweden) said no thanks to the Euro, as did Denmark, Norway, the UK and a few others... so that we wouldn't be dragged down by other countries' mistakes. The SEK has not fallen against the USD, it's the other way around. The USD was worth more when the old Mini was released, which means the pricing is 180° flipped against the exchange rate trend.

I'm also not sure how I would "take advantage of the brief disconnect". It's a lose-lose situation. I could buy the current (ancient) Mac Pro for 23995 SEK (compared to 2499 USD) and get an outdated computer for a very high price. Or, I could wait until the new Mac Pro is released, only to find out that Apple suddenly thinks 2499 USD = 27000 SEK, and buy a non-outdated computer for an astronomical price pulled out of a hat. Which of these alternatives is in any way 'advantageous'? Plague or cholera, take your pick...?

 

[Speedy2]

No one is buying a Mini in the U.S. for $700.

Is that so? Last time I ordered off of Macmall or Amazon, I didn't have to pay sales tax.

 

[ceraz]

If we all agree that this is way too expensive, why did Apple decide to sell it?

First Mac Minis were to designed for switchers and had to provide value for money within the PC market. Times have now changed Apple has enough momentum.

My guess is that they don’t plan to sell much of these; it’s just to fill a catalog and make the iMac more compelling.

 

[Speedy2]

The Intel/Nvidia spat has reduced Apple to choose between OpenCL with a decent graphics processor or an underwhelming Intel IGP that doesn't support OpenCL.

That dilemma only applies to entry level laptop computers. Nothing is stopping Apple from adding a dedicated GPU.