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New Mac Mini at Macworld San Francisco 2009?

diamond.g said:
With or without Cable Card?
Click to expand...

With CableCard would be utterly fantastic,

Other than the tyrannical licensing that CableCard seems to require, and why it seems so hard to come by.

The Mac Mini/AppleTV-computer, with Cable Card, would probably cost $2k, or something insane.

HTPCs with CableCard functionality seem to be insanely high priced, as well, and most of it seems to be licensing via a special licensed BIOS tag from Cable Labs, to enable CableCard functionality in a computer.

Plus, the licensing from Sony for BluRay playback, and HTPC consideration for the MPAA/industry... It is a wonder that computerized home theater is possible at all.

Tyrannical crazy policies. I can understand legitimate intellectual and property rights, but protectionist business practices, and draconian measures end up doing more harm, and loses more potential growth, than it ever does good.
 
Is it just me, or does the display port virtually eliminate the benefits of the mini... namely the ability to keep your old display. Now, when you buy a new mac, the only way to keep your old display is to buy one upwards of $3000 in a Mac Pro. Lame.
 
A few things to consider:

  1. OpenCL is very important to Apple, I truly doubt any new Macs will be built without support for it. So whatever comes next month it will have some sort of support for OpenCL. This means most likely in the video chip.
  2. When the 9400M came out Nvidia described the chip as a colaboration with Apple and that the original concept was for a desktop chip. I don't need to be whacked over the head to read between the lines here. There is a very good possibility that a 9400M++ chip for desktops could be in the works for Mini. Apples goals here would be the elimination of one chip on the motherboard design while keeping thermals under control. In other words this is still a low power chip relative to most desktop hardware but will come with a few more execution units for better performance. Instead of a 5x performance increase expect 8 - 10x. You can take this to mean that the new Mini will me more than a Mac Book in a box.
  3. I'd like to believe that Apple isn't going to abandon Firewire, it simply has a feature set that can't be beat currently. However there will be lots of competition for I/O space on future machines, so I can see Apple instituting a mezzazine type expansion card slot. This will give people options as to serial I/O so they can have Firewire, eSata, XYZ networking port or whatever is their hearts desire in the machine. An expansion card slot is the best way to deal with competeing demands that are reasonsable. The negative here os that the unbundled port costs you money now.
  4. I'd love to see Apple go hybrid with storage. That is a small Flash drive for the OS and a normal magnetic drive for user data. Done right the SSD used for system storage only really needs to be fast for reads, this would lead to very snappy performance of apps that go to disk allot to read code segments. User data and log files would be directed to the magnetic drive. The question becomes this how large does the flash drive have to be, I'm thinking 48 to 64 GB which should be manageable cost wise. The thing to remember is that we are looking for fast reads only so slower to write flash would work fine. Such an implementation could do a lot to make for snappy on even modest processors.
  5. I'm really hoping that the hardware supports standard memory and at least 8GB of it. Apple has been a bit slow here and I believe they need to realize that some people do need that space.

A short list. My guess is that Apple will go farther with this new machine than some here want to believe. Apples goal will be to make the machine compelling for it's pricepoint. It is something they have done before when introducing a new product so they certainly can do it again. I expect that this new Mini is to have a five year life span in the marketplace so it should be an interesting design.

My greatest fear is that Apple will choose form over function and screw a good portion of the user space. We can hope note but the new notebooks don't exactly light a fire with electronic innovation.

Speaking of which the new Minis housing is likely to be Aluminum, atleast partially. What I'm hoping for is that they control expenses here and either go stamped or die cast. If they go diecast the could go with a Zinc Aluminum alloy which can be cheap and effective in these sorts of applications. CBC machining a housing for a low end product like the Mini does not seem to be wise in my opinion.

----------------------------

Sadly I'm getting all worked up about this yet I know I don't need a new machine. Speculation is so much fun ;)


Dave
 
wizard said:
  1. I'm really hoping that the hardware supports standard memory and at least 8GB of it. Apple has been a bit slow here and I believe they need to realize that some people do need that space.
Click to expand...

I guess that Apple has realized that the people who need that space are in the market for the MacPro.



wizard said:
My greatest fear is that Apple will choose form over function and screw a good portion of the user space. We can hope note but the new notebooks don't exactly light a fire with electronic innovation.
Click to expand...

I hear you.
 
I've been waiting for this refresh because I want to use a Mac Mini as a media computer, been holding off on a popcorn hour for this release:

Here is what I require to buy the new Mac Mini:

1) Core 2 Duo CPU

2) Minimum 2GB RAM

3) Nvidia Graphics Chipset

4) HDMI (Or have their Mini-Display Port support audio, and have a Mini-Display Port To HDMI dongle sell for no more than $29.99 in an Apple store for an all-in-one audio/video solution)

5) Support for a second/optional 3.5" HDD, i'm fine that the main HDD is a 2.5" SATA, but we should have the option to add an internal 3.5" HDD, even if that means loosing the Superdrive. This was my idea for adding HDDs: Think of laptops with docking stations, how the bottom of the laptop had the input for a docking station, and when it was docked, everything plugged into the docking station would work on the laptop. Well, I want something similar in the new Mac Mini ... basically a square box that's the exact same dimensions as the Mac Mini body, with pins/whatever coming out of the top of the box like something that goes into an iPod, and then the bottom of the Mac Mini having a docking port like an iPod. Basically the box would accept 3.5" SATA HDDs, which can be stacked under the Mac Mini, but when stacked make it look like one piece. The stackable boxes should also have docks on their bottoms, so numersous HDDs could be stacked. If power and file transfer can go through an iPod cord at USB 2.0 speeds, why not this type of idea for an HDD? If the stackable boxes were around $99 empty, I think many people would buy them, the Mac Mini would have endless amounts of storage and still look sleek, not be too tall unless you add 3 or more HDDs, and Apple would make a lot of money for an empty box. It will never happen, but I think it's a great idea.

6) Native 1080p output, for those of us hooking it up to a HDTV.

I think that's about it.
 
An update can only be a good thing for the mini but I do sadly expect the loss of fire wire. Hopefully video out isn't restricted to only the mini port
 
I'd love to see Apple go hybrid with storage. That is a small Flash drive for the OS and a normal magnetic drive for user data. Done right the SSD used for system storage only really needs to be fast for reads, this would lead to very snappy performance of apps that go to disk allot to read code segments. User data and log files would be directed to the magnetic drive. The question becomes this how large does the flash drive have to be, I'm thinking 48 to 64 GB which should be manageable cost wise.

I've been waiting for this for a long time. I don't even think you need that much flash, enough to let the hard drive spin down while surfing, emailing ... etc. Hell, make the drive internal firewire 3200 ;-) ... ok, maybe esata internal. It would be nice.

I'm in the media center market.
 
In the big picture....

organerito said:
I am curious about a mac, but I'll never pay the same amount of money for something with half the features and power.
Click to expand...

When you can see the differences yourself, you tend to downplay the price differences.

As most folks are not computer security experts, the time you spend trying to delouse your PC is nothing short of a hideous cost IMHO.

Once stayed up to 2:30 in the morning trying to clean up a friend's machine.
 
Mal said:
None of those people are in Apple's target market for the Mac mini. It's a switcher machine, and hardly any PC users have much in the way of FireWire devices (the one exception is a FireWire video camera, where there's definitely a valid reason for keeping it, but it's not enough apparently to convince Apple FireWire needs to stay on a consumer machine).
Click to expand...

They may not be in Apple's target market but that doesn't mean users aren't using minis for this purpose currently. How do you know they aren't?

wizard said:
I'd like to believe that Apple isn't going to abandon Firewire, it simply has a feature set that can't be beat currently. However there will be lots of competition for I/O space on future machines, so I can see Apple instituting a mezzazine type expansion card slot. This will give people options as to serial I/O so they can have Firewire, eSata, XYZ networking port or whatever is their hearts desire in the machine. An expansion card slot is the best way to deal with competeing demands that are reasonsable.
Click to expand...

There have been reports (in this thread) that Firewire cards won't even work in the ExpressCard slot of the current MBP.
 
milo said:
Which is why I said MANY as opposed to ALL. And it's not good enough for apple to hype a machine as "the cheapest mac" if there are PCs that are considerably less (and often with superior specs).
Click to expand...

Define "good enough"? What do you think Apple's goal is related to the Mini? As you point out, there is a market of cheap PCs, in which Apple does not play. With the Mini, Apple has superb product at a price point which qualifies it as the cheapest Mac.

I'm not really following your point, unless it's simply "I wish the Mini were cheaper", which is fine but hardly qualifies it as some crucial truth that Apple is missing.
 
fivepoint said:
Is it just me, or does the display port virtually eliminate the benefits of the mini... namely the ability to keep your old display. Now, when you buy a new mac, the only way to keep your old display is to buy one upwards of $3000 in a Mac Pro. Lame.
Click to expand...

First thing that came to my mind as well at the suggestion of a displayport-only. It would defeat the whole purpose of the Mini for switchers unless an adapter was included.
 
While those processors are pretty old, if it can drive my 30" and it's faster than my g5, what's the problem again?

adderz said:
The Mac Mini is in a difficult position.
I think it will:

Same 1.83 and 2ghz processors
Same 1gb ram
Slightly upgraded hard drives (base imacs is 250gb so...)
Nvidia integrated graphics
100% aluminum enclosure
Displayport
Click to expand...
 
mags631 said:
Define "good enough"? What do you think Apple's goal is related to the Mini? As you point out, there is a market of cheap PCs, in which Apple does not play. With the Mini, Apple has superb product at a price point which qualifies it as the cheapest Mac.

I'm not really following your point, unless it's simply "I wish the Mini were cheaper", which is fine but hardly qualifies it as some crucial truth that Apple is missing.
Click to expand...

The mini wasn't bad value back in August 2007 when it was last updated but to call it a superb product in December 2008 is pushing it a bit.
 
I don't know why you guys are speculating so much. The link posted in the first post said this:
Apple will launch an upgrade to its low-end desktop, the Mac Mini, at January's Macworld Expo in San Francisco, according to an Apple corporate employee who contacted Wired.com.
The source, who wished to remain anonymous (to keep his job), could not disclose details about the Mac Mini other than its upcoming announcement at Macworld Expo, which begins Jan. 5. That's where CEO Steve Jobs traditionally launches major products during his famous keynotes (assuming he does indeed show up).
An upgrade to the Mac Mini is long overdue: The product hasn't seen a refresh since August 2007, and Apple computers normally have a life cycle of roughly six months. This long period of silence led many to speculate that Apple was going to drop the Mac Mini from its product line. However, Apple has shown no signs of discontinuing the product. It's also noteworthy that although Apple has been quiet about Mac Mini sales numbers, the diminutive desktop appears to be selling quite well. For example, the Mac Mini has been among the top 5 of Amazon's best selling desktops; it currently stands at No. 3.
Though our source confirms there will be a new Mac Mini announced January, it's unlikely this will be Apple's big product launch at the show. (Last year's major Macworld announcement was the MacBook Air; the year before that was the iPhone.) However, speculation about Apple's next major Macworld launch has been surprisingly quiet, so word about the Mac Mini is the most we have so far.
Here's what Wired.com believes will be in the next Mac Mini, based on trends seen in Apple's latest products:
Similar to the MacBooks, the Mac Mini will sport a silver enclosure composed of a block of aluminum.
Some internal parts will be PVC-free, and combined with its size and low power requirements, Apple will tout this as the "greenest Mac ever."
For video output, the Mac Mini will use the DRM-crippled DisplayPort for connectivity, which Apple is offering to manufacturers for a no-fee license.
It'll have a CD-DVD slot loader (i.e. Super Drive). There will be no Blu-ray player, because Steve Jobs believes the format is a "bag of hurt."
It'll ship with 2 GB of RAM, expandable to 4 GB — up from the current 1 GB, expandable to 2 GB. (The aluminum case should make expanding RAM easier than in the original Mini.)
It'll ship with at least a 160-GB hard drive.
The Mac Mini will come in two options with different processor speeds: a 2.0-GHz Core 2 Duo and a 2.3-GHz Core 2 Duo (up from 1.83 GHz and 2.0 GHz).
Like the higher-end MacBook and MacBook Pro, the 2.3-GHz Mac Mini will ship with an Nvidia video card, making this higher-end model a decent gaming device.
The 2.0-GHz Mac Mini will ship with an Intel video card, perhaps the GMA X3100 graphics card found in the low-end, white MacBook.
The slower model will cost $500, and the faster model will cost $700 ($100 less than the current Mac Minis), in light of the recession.
That's as much as we're going to speculate right now. Have anything you'd like to ad
Click to expand...

Pretty accurate right? Maybe. Maybe not. Gives us an idea.
I thought it was already aluminum though? :D:apple:

-Sam:p;):rolleyes:
 
So this time Macworld could be about desktops..
That would make sense since all the laptops have been updated quite recently
 
rockdog said:
An update can only be a good thing for the mini but I do sadly expect the loss of fire wire. Hopefully video out isn't restricted to only the mini port
Click to expand...

No firewire in the Mini? NO!! That'll be too sad. Firewire is great for external storage.
 
gkarris said:
From Wired:



Hmm, I thought that Steve Jobs mentioned at the last presentation that Apple "doesn't know how to build a $500 computer" - did they figure it out?

$599 for the base 1/120 model (more along the lines of the basic White MacBook)
Click to expand...

I think he was referring to a netbook at or under $500. Mini's lack the keyboard and monitor... so that's how that plays out.

I would love to see a $500 mini starting point. A good salesman should be able to get customers into a Mac at the retail stores like BB pretty easily at that price.
Too bad an iMac makes better sense if you need the keyboard and display. Glad I got mine! :D
 
Steve Jobs hates the Mac mini so much he's not going to show up at Macworld to introduce it. He's going to make Phil Schiller do it. :eek:
 
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