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New Mac Mini Announced! [MERGED]

Corax said:
Anyway, looking at the form factor and comparing it with barebones and mini PC's... it looks 100 times better, is 100 times better, performs a lot better, is much much smaller, is (standard) better packed, better materials, PSU much better, etc... so price wise it doesn't compete, but it does with design and hardware.
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I have to disagree.
  • looks 100 times better : it's a matter of taste, I like it, but not everyone does
  • is 100 times better : for doing what?
  • performs a lot better : again, in what area?
  • is much much smaller : nope, there are other SFF out there which can easily compete as far as size is concerned
  • better packed : not sure what you mean here
  • better materials : the industrial design looks robust, true enough
  • PSU much better : putting the PSU inside the case is stupid for a HTPC (more heat = more noise), but can be considered practical for a desktop PC. Anyway, I fail to see how their PSU's better than the rest

It's a nice,attractive little piece of hardware, but it's still overpriced.

The previous minis had found their niche, notably including : HTPC, SFF/low power desktop, and cheap entry-level MacOS box. Whichever way you put it, the hefty price tag on the new model effectively boots it out of that niche for many people.

Based on the previous mac minis, it didn't seem stupid to expect a product that fit the same niches. It doesn't, and some of us regret it.

Anyway, you can
 
More cons then Pros

I know I am late to the forum since it started at 4am...

My feeling on this:

Pros:

-neat design/new size dimensions
-easy access to memory
-HDMI
-8GB memory support


Cons:
-$100 price increase!
-barely (or zero...depending on how you compare) CPU speed increase
-same old Core 2 Duo (is Apple finding them at flea markets or what?!)
-only 4 USB ports (it's a USB world)...5 or 6 should have been here
-still pokey 5400RPM drive
-SD slot...and it's on the back?! I have never ever met anyone that's stuck a SD (or similar) memory card into a computer. Waste of space.


Overall this is more of a sexy re-design...I feel that the Mini that has been shipping for years now looks great and is perfectly small enough. Why does Apple feel it HAS to be smaller?! Keep the size and add 2 more memory banks for easier/cheaper memory upgrades...or a faster super drive...or an option for a 2nd internal drive. Or USB 3.0. Or eSATA. Or something else.

$700 for Apple's "cheapest" computer...not even including a basic keyboard and mouse. Way too expensive. I'd rather take my Mini from Sep 2007 and double the RAM and replace the drive with a 7200RPM for a total price of about $110 then shell out $700. Even if I had last year's Mini I would upgrade it for 1/5th the price.

-Eric
 
Atkins said:
That would suppose that I think I am somehow superior to him, which is not the case. I just think it is more safe to think that a big company fixed their prices right.
In fact it is much more arrogant to come and say that Apple did their prices wrong, when you are just an individual with your subjective view of the product and no interest whatsoever in profits etc.
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Though I agree with you that they obviously spend a fair amount of time pricing their products, being a big company with many great minds does not exclude one from making a bad choice. I'm not playing the "omg they raised the price $100"-card here, I just find it hard to understand why this exact product operates with such a different exchange rate than the other ones.

Atkins said:
What amount? A few people on a forum? Don't get me wrong, but MR is hardly representative of what happens out there.
Also, the fact that someone is complaining doesn't mean the price isn't right. Like someone said already will see in a few months how this thing sells. Or not - depends if we have the numbers.
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Agreed. Enthusiasts forums is not a good benchmark, by far, but seeing as the $100-raise raises a few eyebrows, add to that the magically inflated exchange rate, and people might just point their nose elswhere..

*sigh* we'll see though :p
 
It looks very nice but it is a total dud for me. If it is to go into the living room to act as my media server (this is something I would like) then I also need it to have Blu-ray playback support. I don't care about blu-ray writing but if I cannot play BR disks and replace by PS3 with this then it just does not have a place as a media centric device.
 
Was waiting for a new design before we had Mom get a new computer, but I can't wait to explain that the same model computer she paid $500 for several years ago has now gone up to $700. Isn't technology supposed to get cheaper? And $700 for a budget PC- give me a break
 
I have always been tempted to get a Mac mini, as my first newer Mac, but with that price tag in the Uk, the Imac and Macbook are only a bit more :( shame though it isnt cheaper, its stunning!:apple:
 
Bytor65 said:
So as low end PCs get less expensive, low end macs get more expensive.

For the price of a mini you can get a fairly powerful desktop.

Excited about HDMI? Didn't this replace dual link DVI that could drive 2560x1600 resolution displays, that HDMI can't.

Seriously uninterested. I wouldn't mind giving OSX a whirl, but there has never been a Mac that interested me and it doesn't seem to be any sign of that changing.
Click to expand...

The mini display port is there and I think it can drive that resolution.

Buy your "fairly powerful desktop" and hook it up to your beautiful HD TV. Sit it right next to the TV, look at it and listen to it. You might at that point understand why some of us see the Mini as a great little machine at a reasonable price. If you don't, well then you got yourself a powerful desktop at the same price as a Mini and you should be happy knowing that you got more for your money.
 
boz0 said:
I have to disagree.
  • looks 100 times better : it's a matter of taste, I like it, but not everyone does
  • is 100 times better : for doing what?
  • performs a lot better : again, in what area?
  • is much much smaller : nope, there are other SFF out there which can easily compete as far as size is concerned
  • better packed : not sure what you mean here
  • better materials : the industrial design looks robust, true enough
  • PSU much better : putting the PSU inside the case is stupid for a HTPC (more heat = more noise), but can be considered practical for a desktop PC. Anyway, I fail to see how their PSU's better than the rest

It's a nice,attractive little piece of hardware, but it's still overpriced.

The previous minis had found their niche, notably including : HTPC, SFF/low power desktop, and cheap entry-level MacOS box. Whichever way you put it, the hefty price tag on the new model effectively boots it out of that niche for many people.

Based on the previous mac minis, it didn't seem stupid to expect a product that fit the same niches. It doesn't, and some of us regret it.

Anyway, you can
Click to expand...
Most HTPC's are IONS...helloooooo are you telling me that the ATOMS and IONS outperform an intel core 2 duo 2,4GHz with and 320M GPU??? So yes, better.
When (the mini-itx with sockets) they have a larger CPU, they suck power, get less silent, still are LARGER (the case), and still, only the most expensive Mini-ITX boards (still with Atom) are with BlueTooth, WiFi and at most 4GB RAM... hello!? And with better PSU I mean it takes up a lot less space (so better in design and tech). Better packed (standard) I mean, Mini-DVI and HDMI standard, compared to MiniITX's that start only with a VGA connector, and digital optical audio. Please, compare ALL details and components and you'll see that only the pretty expensive HTPC's are barely comparable, but still are larger (casing) and can only have up to 4GB RAM.
 
Atkins said:
Ah, that's what I want to know. They really marketed it as such?
Click to expand...
Yes. In 2005 when it was first released, the acronym "BYODKM" was the key word (bring your own display, keyboard and mouse). A "plugin Mac" for your home PC corner, basically. At first, the reaction was "See? Apple *can* make competitively priced computers!". But then people looked closer at the specs and realized it was configured like entry-level PCs were two years earlier... 32 MB GPU, smaller and slower HD (4200 RPM), slower CPU etc. So they achieved the attractive price by taking parts from the electronics graveyard and slapping an Apple tax on the whole package. As a result, the Mini wasn't a very flattering portal into Macdom. So they revised the strategy and made the Mini a "green Mac" instead, with a higher price point but specs that belonged in the right decade.
 
Are the complainers dumb or what?

the reason for the price hike.......

- aluminum unibody
- HDMI
- 320 graphics
- 320 gb
- sd slot


look at all that goodies you're getting for 100 bucks more! :cool:
 
markild said:
Though I agree with you that they obviously spend a fair amount of time pricing their products, being a big company with many great minds does not exclude one from making a bad choice.
Click to expand...
Absolutely. I just think that the big company is the "safer bet" by large.
I'm not playing the "omg they raised the price $100"-card here, I just find it hard to understand why this exact product operates with such a different exchange rate than the other ones.
Click to expand...
No idea. But when you consider the economy and the fact that Apple keeps their prices until a new product comes - this will cover for at least a big part of the difference. Of course, that's just a guess.
Agreed. Enthusiasts forums is not a good benchmark, by far, but seeing as the $100-raise raises a few eyebrows, add to that the magically inflated exchange rate, and people might just point their nose elswhere..
Click to expand...
True that. But it would be nice if we knew who are the people actually buying this Mac the most. If they are switchers - bad. If they are searching for a cheap Mac - bad, good, so-so, if they are people with money wanting a media device - no problem at all.
*sigh* we'll see though :p
Click to expand...
Not sure if we will :) Apple probably won't give numbers here.


OllyW said:
Yes.
On January 10, 2005, the Mac Mini was announced alongside the iPod shuffle at the Macworld Conference & Expo and was described by Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the time as the "most affordable Mac ever".
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Thank you.
 
Anuba said:
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.
Click to expand...

Actually, looks like the SEK is about 11% weaker since the last Mini update. But I don't know about the particulars. It could be that the price of doing business has increased across the continent -- harder to obtain credit after banks checked their Greece exposure, etc. Or maybe you folks just increased your demand for Apple products, and Apple felt like they could charge you more.

Anuba said:
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...?
Click to expand...

You in particular might not. But somebody interested in, say, a MacBook Pro might want to go for it before the prices go up.
 
Speedy2 said:
Yeah right... tens of thousands of failures, Apple had to recall huge numbers, it was all over the press. Oh wait .. I just made that up.

Apple is not the centre of the electronics universe. All kinds of devices have had integrated PSUs for eons. My shaver for instance, my TV, my LCD, my kettle, my landline phone, my stereo, my vacuum cleaner, my iron, well just about everything excluding my laptop. So given the ubiquity of them, insinuating that integrated PSUs would lead to exceptional failure rates is just ... silly.
Click to expand...

The key item in that list is the laptop. None of the rest is comparable. You might want to have a think about why laptops continue to have external power bricks.

As for the Airport Express - its 18 month lifespan has been written about plenty.
 
well i may be bashed on the forums for this comment but since the new mini includes an hdmi port i think apple finaly nailed the coffin shut on the apple tv
 
The update to nowhere.

That old iMac is getting replaced with a refurbished 9400M Mac mini, a hackintosh, or Ubuntu. You don't need OS X to fill out unemployment.
 
Everything about it is great except the friggin' price. You're going to jack up the price of the cheapest Mac, Apple? What the hell is Steve smoking these days??

I was going to get one, but I'll wait for a friggin' refurb, maybe even wait until the next one comes out and buy this one refurbed.
 
Speedy2 said:
Yeah right... tens of thousands of failures, Apple had to recall huge numbers, it was all over the press. Oh wait .. I just made that up.
Click to expand...

I take it you don't read the press. Time Capsule failures WAS all over the press.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/nov/04/apple-time-capsule-failures-early

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1559383/apple-issues-time-capsule-enhancements

Even had it's own register of dead Time Capsules - http://www.timecapsuledead.org/


Speedy2 said:
Apple is not the centre of the electronics universe. All kinds of devices have had integrated PSUs for eons. My shaver for instance, my TV, my LCD, my kettle, my landline phone, my stereo, my vacuum cleaner, my iron, well just about everything excluding my laptop. So given the ubiquity of them, insinuating that integrated PSUs would lead to exceptional failure rates is just ... silly.
Click to expand...

The point I was making wasn't that the failure rate was exceptional, just that when an integrated power supply fails, which it's more likely to do in a small enclosure, it takes down the entire appliance.

If you've had a Time Capsule fail, you'll realise that even though your data is safe on the disk inside it, the fact you can't replace the PSU or even extract the drive from the Time Capsule without damaging the unit's rubber base means that your backup is pointless.

If the PSU is external and fails, you can plug in another. That's what's great about laptops too and previously the Mac Mini.
 
KnightWRX said:
Again, Dell doesn't make a better specced computer for the same price, they make a more expensive computer for the same price. I don't care that you don't care about the form factor.
Click to expand...

The point is, the form factor doesn't get you anything. If it were a half-inch wider, would it be anything less than what it is? No. It's impressive that Apple managed to squeeze all that stuff into that box . . . but there's no reason the box has to be THAT small, when it could be twice as compelling with a only little more horsepower.

Peace
Ty
 
Anuba said:
Yes. In 2005 when it was first released, the acronym "BYODKM" was the key word (bring your own display, keyboard and mouse). A "plugin Mac" for your home PC corner, basically. At first, the reaction was "See? Apple *can* make competitively priced computers!". But then people looked closer at the specs and realized it was configured like entry-level PCs were two years earlier... 32 MB GPU, smaller and slower HD (4200 RPM), slower CPU etc. So they achieved the attractive price by taking parts from the electronics graveyard and slapping an Apple tax on the whole package. As a result, the Mini wasn't a very flattering portal into Macdom. So they revised the strategy and made the Mini a "green Mac" instead, with a higher price point but specs that belonged in the right decade.
Click to expand...
Hm, interesting.
I guess that was possible because:
1. Apple is much more known now.
2. Nobody really made some comparable SFF for all that time and nowadays people tend to like SFF a lot
 
It's nice that Apple finally paid some attention to the sorely outdated mini, but I have to agree with the other posters on here, $700 is way too much for what they are offering. It's too expensive to be a media center and not powerful enough to be a full desktop. If it had a Blu-ray drive in it, then I could see increasing the price. But for a small speed bump, a couple ports it should have had years ago and a new metal exterior, there really is no reason for a price increase other than "because they can." My guess is it's the iPad that caused the increase. Now that they have a sub-$500 "computer" in the iPad, they can market the mini as a "mid-range" desktop.
 
My thoughts.....

A nice design for sure, more expensive but not so expensive it becomes prohibitive. You get what you pay for.

Thinking: the lack of BluRay isn't a killer for me because we haven't rented a blu-ray disc or bought one since last winter. Honestly, at the house we're streaming NetFlix content on an almost daily basis - we've forgotten all about the fact that the iTunes movie store has others we can watch on our Macs. We've got bluray discs but they honestly look better on the big
32" lcd rather than my little 23" LCD on my Mac.

I wonder what the heat dispersal is like? Yes the video card isn't a screaming beast but it's adequate for most users. I also wonder if the internal power supply will generate more heat and the thing will eventually burn up? I could easily see 8 gigs in that thing with a huge hard drive and the internal PS creating quite a bit of heat. Still, impressive engineering getting it into that case. I'd wager some will keep the box on one of those under-device cooling fans like they do with laptops.

Not really adequate for my own setup but if I was on a reduced budget I'd consider it for sure. If my G5 craps out once and for all I might have to.
 
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