New Mac Mini Announced! [MERGED]

[natejohnstone@g]

I too was VERY excited when I saw the new Mac Mini ... but the lack of Blu-Ray yet again will ultimately keep me from purchasing this. I'm looking for a Home Theater Hub, and wanted it to be Apple, but it looks like I'll have to make due with my PS3 for now.

I really don't understand Apple's reluctance to enter into Blu-ray ... back when I first heard that Steve Jobs was on the Blu-ray "board" or whatever, I was excited, but now it seems to me that he's a foil and not an ally.

Downloadable movies will not rule the day in the way music does ... not for a while yet. A movie is a lot more expensive, more important, and thus far the quality of iTunes downloads is so inferior to Blu-ray it's not even funny. It won't be until the next generation of media ... if not two generations from now ... that you'll see downloaded and steaming movies equal physical media in sales.

Not only that, until there is an awesome open-source and portable media storage option, I personally PREFER physical media when it comes to movies and games--it's just plain eaiser, and I don't have to worry about my Blu-ray movie wallet "failing" thereby loosing all my movies (I've had 4 hard drives fail over the last year ... not fun).

 

[OrganMusic]

Nice update if a bit underwhelming. Anyone else think it's a bit oddly timed with all the ios4 fanfare still in full swing?

 

[Anuba]

The whole point of the mac Mini was to get windows users to switch over to the mac on the cheap. But now, for a PC user, this price would seem outrageous.

That was the point originally (in 2005), but the "switcher bait" strategy was abandoned a long time ago. The Mac Mini is all about green computing and small form factor now... I guess Apple sat down and though "who will pay more for less?" and realized that A) treehuggers, and B) SFF junkies were the perfect prey.

 

[wizard]

Just spent a few minutes reviewing the Mini on Apples web site - NICE!

I'm really impressed with the new Mini and really don't get what all the bellyaching is about. It is a very nice upgrade if you ask me.

Could it be cheaper, well sure so could my iPhone, my Chevy Truck, my house and a lot of of other things we buy. But looking at this machine the specs, the new chassis and other associated features and it is hard to call the new Mini a bad value. The only thing I wish Apple would get its act together with respect to the spec sheet, it would be nice to know how fast the SD port is for example.

Besides this is a very low power machine, most people will make up the price difference in the first year, with power saved, over a massive desktop running Ubuntu. Frankly measuring the minis value against massive desktop computer running some generic OS is a bit silly. Instead people need to find truly comparable hardware and then look at pricing. It simply isn't that bad.

I do like the trap door approach on this unit, that is one nice piece of innovation. I'm glad to see the SD slot too, even if Apple isn't telling us the whole story. A GPU that doubles performance is nothing to sneeze at either.

I'm just waiting for the tear down. Hopefully ifixit is on the job.

Dave

 

[Eidorian]

Besides this is a very low power machine, most people will make up the price difference in the first year, with power saved, over a massive desktop running Ubuntu.

I don't believe that's possible.

 

[wizard]

It is more than just these issues.

That was the point originally (in 2005), but the "switcher bait" strategy was abandoned a long time ago. The Mac Mini is all about green computing and small form factor now... I guess Apple sat down and though "who will pay more for less?" and realized that A) treehuggers, and B) SFF junkies were the perfect prey.

If you are the sort of person that leaves his Mini or Mini Server on all the time, its low power usage will actually save you money. Especially over the low cost machines many are comparing to in this thread. People simply aren't comparing Apples to Apples here it is more like comparing Apples to old Pears.

As to paying more for less I'm not sure where you got that idea, by any measure the new Mini has a lot to offer that clearly shows it to be an upgrade over the old model. A very nice upgrade.

Compared to other SFF machines the Mini really isn't expensive at all. For many a SF machine makes a lot of sense as it reduces clutter around ones desk or work area. It comes as not surprise that the old Mini was big in the RV and boating markets.


Dave

 

[Oneness]

I have a 1.66ghz Mini that I upgraded to a 2.16ghz C2D. I think the new design is absolutely beautiful. I always thought the the 2nd generation shuffle was the best design Apple (or any tech company) had ever come up with, but I am going to have to rate the new Mini higher.

That said - I would love to get the new Mini, but..... my mini does everything I want it to except play Blu-rays and the new Mini doesn't solve that problem. Until Apple has their 'HTPC" play Blu-Ray I have to count myself out - no matter how beautiful the machine is. And it is beautiful.

 

[Full of Win]

I'm curious, for everyone asking for BluRay, have you tried playing a BluRay on a PC?

The current options are utter rubbish. Especially within Windows Media Center, they just don't work like they should. PowerDVD is complete crap, and it costs $100.

I've got an HTPC running Windows 7 w/ a BluRay drive in it, and its a complete waste. I'd rather take the extra 30 seconds and switch over to the PS3 or a stand alone player than put up with it on the PC.

Until Microsoft integrates bluray playback into Windows 7, and this is presuming that they do it well enough to match a $150 off the shelf player, there's just no need for it.

Ever try to use an MP3 player before the iPod? Parallel port interfaces, limited space, poor organization software. Just because everyone else does a crap job does not mean Apple should follow them.

 

[rgarjr]

I have a 1.66ghz Mini that I upgraded to a 2.16ghz C2D. I think the new design is absolutely beautiful. I always thought the the 2nd generation shuffle was the best design Apple (or any tech company) had ever come up with, but I am going to have to rate the new Mini higher.

That said - I would love to get the new Mini, but..... my mini does everything I want it to except play Blu-rays and the new Mini doesn't solve that problem. Until Apple has their 'HTPC" play Blu-Ray I have to count myself out - no matter how beautiful the machine is. And it is beautiful.

The design looks a lot like the Apple TV.

 

[g4cubed]

They took the mini out of the school discount/promo. That sucks too as I would have gotten one.

 

[SPUY767]

I understand and respect these forward thinking stances they take with old tech. Especially flash. But c'mon. Physical copies of films are NOT being phased out by iTunes. Blu Ray is the only sensible way to store 1080p HD films. iTunes HD films are well, not very HD at all, and incredibly restrictive regarding subtitles and special features content.

Usually when they phase out old tech they replace it with something better. Floppy drive with optical drive. Flash with HTML5. But they are just plain IGNORING blu ray. It's ridiculous and highly frustrating for mac fans/film enthusiasts.

I wouldn't say the Blu-Ray is the only sensible way to store them. I currently have a 2TB external raid which I will be hooking up to this bad boy via FW 800 and I have about 80 BD Movies stored on that drive. They generally compress down to about 8-10GB with no perceptible drop in quality. In the end, I could have 200 BD Movies on that drive. With Mass storage as cheap as it is these days, it's foolish to say that the only way to store 1080p us BD ROM.

 

[mags631]

Any European buying this is dead from the collar bone up! Die Apple Die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been waiting for a Pro machine for about 8 months and have just given in an bought an octo 2.26 Ghz. Having made the decision I've studiously avoided MR in case a great replacement machine came along and soured my joy. After a couple of weeks .. I've given in & had a look .. what is Apple releasing now? .. I'll face the humiliation of having made the wrong decision .. but no ... there's still no new Pro. TFFT! I got the Pro for 500€ less than the quad too!! That's why I jumped. Apple ... everything you do is based on greed and I hate you for that. Having bought this machine ... I can forget about your corporate sh*tting for at least 3 years. I hope you've changed if and when I come back to you.

So long ex MR-ites.

Chacun voit midi a sa porte. Bonne chance!

 

[DeepIn2U]

Beautiful work of art!

* I'm concerned about WiFi & especially BT signal strength and performance with unibody chassis/frame design.
* I'm hoping with this & MBP 13" chipsets that OS X 10.7 is not being delayed due to bare minimal support
* Now I know that the iMac update a few months away will be the FIRST to have an AMD cpu with ATi video card support.

Yeah I think I'm upgrading. Daughter can deal with the current 2Ghz 9400M Mini.

? Why didn't Apple just have 2 MiniDisplay Ports?

With electronic distribution via iTunes, the Mac will never have bluray. Apple looks at the optical drive as a whole as obsolete, much less a format they have already replaced.

Truth.

This is soooooo being placed next to my TV, finally.

Hell now, the TV is moving to the computer desk!

Now I need a seriously cool, comfortable and solo chair with a hide-away tray for the keyboard and Magic Mouse and small mini table to stow the keyboard mouse when not in use. I recall IBM headquarters here in Toronto had a chair that I'm after but couldn't find the manufacturer of it.

 

[tofa.nheu]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
LOL man, i totally you.

Macrumors feeds my greed and desire for more. Everyday i check MR scared to find that theres something new that I'll want. I look at buyers guides, and keep waiting and waiting!

The mac mini is so damn sexy. HDMI was the deal maker!

 

[Anuba]

As to paying more for less I'm not sure where you got that idea, by any measure the new Mini has a lot to offer that clearly shows it to be an upgrade over the old model.

I mean paying more for less as in paying more money for less power, less connectivity, zero expandability compared to a tower. When Apple dropped the "switcher bait" strategy they went looking for demographics who would pay more for less, and found SFF junkies + treehuggers. The latter are willing to pay tons extra for eco-food and wimpy cars, so naturally they'd pay extra for a wimpy "green" computer as well. I'm not knocking people who use it 24/7 and want to save power... this was in the context of Apple's shift in strategy for the Mini, nothing more.

Compared to other SFF machines the Mini really isn't expensive at all. For many a SF machine makes a lot of sense as it reduces clutter around ones desk or work area.

If you're looking for less clutter around your desk, then surely a laptop or an iMac is the way to go. The Mini requires extra cables that you won't need with any of those two. That cable mess is something that Apple used liberally in iMac advertising...

I guess you could buy a Mini and an Apple Cinema 24" to get the white cables and the built-in USB hub and the iSight, but then you've only bought yourself an underpowered and componentized iMac for more than the real thing costs, so I don't see the point.

As far as I'm concerned, the only place for the Mini is as a server or a HTPC. I'm using a 1.83 GHz/512 MB RAM/80 GB HD Mini with my TV, playing video via Front Row off my NAS drive. I barely ever use the keyboard or mouse, I just wake it with the Remote. It's great. But hell will freeze over before I pay $800 to replace it. The old one has all the juice I need for this menial task, the smaller size is irrelevant (it's behind dark glass so all I see is the white power LED anyway). I'd be willing to pay $500 or even $600 for a new glorified Apple TV, but $800? No sir.

 

[gkarris]

That was the point originally (in 2005), but the "switcher bait" strategy was abandoned a long time ago. The Mac Mini is all about green computing and small form factor now... I guess Apple sat down and though "who will pay more for less?" and realized that A) treehuggers, and B) SFF junkies were the perfect prey.

Yes, it's like my neighborhood. You pay more for saving gas and parking than gas to another suburb and free parking...

I guess you could buy a Mini and an Apple Cinema 24" to get the white cables and the built-in USB hub and the iSight, but then you've only bought yourself an underpowered and componentized iMac for more than the real thing costs, so I don't see the point..

It's great for those of us who already have a monitor - why would we spend extra on an iMac when we already have a monitor/keyboard/mouse?

Too bad Apple keeps up-ing the price - especially in today's Economy (which they seem to be immune to...:rollseyes

 

[jaykk]

If they can price an iPad for $499, they surely can price mac mini for the same price. Its still a great buy as a Server, not so sure about a desktop. iMac or macbook is the way to go.

EDIT: The reason iPad is at $499, is because none of other competitor can match the price/quality. So Android did indeed help in reduction in price. Apple have no competition on Mac arena. Windows doesn't count. If Chrome OS becomes a reality, may be we can expect cheaper mac.

 

[Jaro65]

I really don't understand Apple's reluctance to enter into Blu-ray ...

They simply do not care what you want. Isn't that really clear by now? They want you to get your movies from iTunes in order to spend more money with them, rather then you buying your silly Blu-ray movies and spend your money outside of the Apple ecosystem.

So yes, I will also continue using my PS3 for my Blu-rays. Sad, but that's the reality.

 

[gkarris]

They simply do not care what you want. Isn't that really clear by now? They want you to get your movies from iTunes in order to spend more money with them, rather then you buying your silly Blu-ray movies and spend your money outside of the Apple ecosystem.

So yes, I will also continue using my PS3 for my Blu-rays. Sad, but that's the reality.

Well, the studios like it too. Everyone has to BUY their OWN copy (DRM). You can't "trade it in" or "buy one used". More money for the studios and they don't have to manufacture Physical Media.

I hear eventually the Studios want to go this route and I saw some article online that essentially, Blu-ray (and physical media) is eventually going to die...

 

[SeattleMoose]

Wonder How The $99 Apple TV Fits With Mini/Apple TV?

Like the new design. Don't like the price hike. Gonna hold off until this supposedly $99 Apple TV pans out.

Not sure how the new Apple TV/Old Apple TV/Mini will all coexist yet.....and more importantly, which one(s) to get.

 

[joemama]

Why?

I ask this question seriously:

Why would someone get a Mac Mini over an iMac? Yes, there is a $500 difference but the iMac has so much more. Faster, more memory, more hd space, a monitor, etc.

People seem to be excited over the HDMI connection on the mini. Why? Would this be a computer that would stay next to my TV? Would it act as the monitor? You can't stream 1080p from iTunes, so you wouldn't watch movies from it, would you?

Can you record TV to the mini via HDMI? Basically, sell me on the mini, please.

 

[lilo777]

Besides this is a very low power machine, most people will make up the price difference in the first year, with power saved, over a massive desktop running Ubuntu.

It also consumes less energy that a truck. What's your point? If you want to save on energy and on price - buy low power PC like this DELL Studio Hybrid:

 

[alent1234]

Mac mini has faster graphics now. And some of us don't like the keyboards and mice that apple ships. And some people already have monitors.

 

[DeepIn2U]

I have to agree with other comments. A good upgrade, but a little disappointing in a few areas.

Positives:

• Of course it looks beautiful — it's Apple.
• Built-in power supply is a big plus when you're trying to reduce clutter. (You never saw that power brick pictured in any of the old promo shots!)
• HDMI is nice too. (I use an adapter cable currently with my home theatre setup.)

Negatives:

• The price. (Personally, I would have accepted a larger box with a cheaper price tag.)
• Still no Blue-ray. (Apple just has to understand that people still buy movies on disk. Withholding Blue-ray isn't going to switch us all to buying movies from the iTunes store.)
• No front ports. (I know, ports at the front would be ugly, but a USB port at the front would make it a lot tidier to sync all those iGadgets. On our HT Mac mini, we have an iPod cable that just lives on this machine, so we're not forever fumbling around at the back of the machine, accidentally pulling out cables, etc.)

* Power Supply going internal is ENOUGH for me to upgrade! I HATE cable management with router, external elephant HDD enclosure, and Speaker system adapter bricks!!!
* Price!! Its WAY too high especially with the Canadian dollar just pennies (5-10cents range lower than the US dollar for the past 6mths minimum with NO PRICE adjustments! This will screw us over for the iPhone 4 price as well (something that ONLY the past day I'm considering returning to unless RIM's Torch 9800 Slider is worth it; to me).
* No Blu-Ray. This never mattered to me before, but as I'm closer to purchasing an HDTV - my family's first next month - Most of the TV shows [BSG all seasons, V - The Arrival, and Stargate Universe] are not available in 720P/1080P for download in Canada until long after the season is over. I don't want to be restricted to the iPhone for watching; although that is helpful.

iMac Mini 3D or MBP 13" or await for MBP 13" upgrade in the winter a la AMD chip+ATi.

 

[alent1234]

It also consumes less energy that a truck. What's your point? If you want to save on energy and on price - buy low power PC like this DELL Studio Hybrid:

Mac mini is cheaper