Revised Mac mini now shipping?

[oskar]

And yeah, that sure does sound crazy buying things like RAM or other add-ons before the computer arrives. Maybe some of us are on tight schedules, and maybe some of us buy online and therefore it makes sense to buy in advance so you're not left using a suboptimum system while you're waiting for your order to arrive. Really INSANE stuff! Part of the reason manufacturers make specs available is just so people can plan purchases AHEAD of time.

From your comment, I would imagine you just ordered one or more Mac minis a few days ago. Buying accessories before receiving the product is not a bad thing, but I don't think it's very wise to do so. You may eventually end up with something that doesn't work or fit the product.
If you ordered 10 computers and 2 came with higher specs and you bought upgrades for all 10 computers, you actually got a little lucky. Now you can sell those 2 upgrades and get back a little money.
I don't know why people make these things look so complicated.
They're probably people who just got a mini and are outraged that if they should've waited a few more weeks, they could have gotton a mini with a faster drive, more video ram, and a much better superdrive. I'd be dissappointed too. But no need to cry about it. There will always be a better a computer that comes out after the one you bought.

This a situation where no one has a real sustainable motive to complain about. Imagine if when the Intel mac are released, people get an x86 computer instead of a PPC one. I can imagine all the complaining.

 

[ack_mac]

Just called..

I just called 1-800-my apple and tried ordering the updated (1.5GHZ) mini over the phone. Sales girl was very courteous but stated that there is only one spec for her to order (1.42) at this time

I chatted with her for a few more minutes (social engineer that I am) and she kinda laughed when I told her that this (the update) was in the news and that I was pretty sure she knows about the update but obviously has to tow the company line. She did tell me that they (Apple) are getting a lot of calls about this, and that "if there is an update (hint, hint) I should be seeing something on the website soon (hint, hint)..."

Oh well... Couldn't hurt to try...

And the wait continues...

 

[GlynJones]

The problem with the 'Mac Mini Lucky Dip' is that now the cat is out of the bag and the press has also caught wind of it, is that sales may tail off and so it could take longer for the upgraded machine to be officially released.

Also if they delay too long then this could also impact on the very profitable Christmas market.

 

[ScubaDuc]

From your comment, I would imagine you just ordered one or more Mac minis a few days ago. Buying accessories before receiving the product is not a bad thing, but I don't think it's very wise to do so. You may eventually end up with something that doesn't work or fit the product.
If you ordered 10 computers and 2 came with higher specs and you bought upgrades for all 10 computers, you actually got a little lucky. Now you can sell those 2 upgrades and get back a little money.
I don't know why people make these things look so complicated.
They're probably people who just got a mini and are outraged that if they should've waited a few more weeks, they could have gotton a mini with a faster drive, more video ram, and a much better superdrive. I'd be dissappointed too. But no need to cry about it. There will always be a better a computer that comes out after the one you bought.

This a situation where no one has a real sustainable motive to complain about. Imagine if when the Intel mac are released, people get an x86 computer instead of a PPC one. I can imagine all the complaining.

I bought a 80 Gig Samsung 5400 rpm drive that I put in a McAlly USB box while I was waiting for an update. I figured I could get some use out of it while Apple figured out how to give me the ripple effect with the Mini....

I am still waiting (for the ripple effect) but I will stick the HD into my Acer pizza box if I ever figure out a way to restore Win XP on a new disk. No biggie
there, but a friend mail ordered a 60 gig to replace a mirrored one on RAID and got an 80 Gig for the same price. Very nice except that the RAID needed two disk the same size....

I think that it should be the customer that decides on the specs. People have some funny reasons sometimes for choosing a product and we should get exactly what we order. Imagine if someone went and tested a mini in a shop to see if his device, say a bluetooth phone synched and then after the order, Apple upgrades the bluetooth to a version unsupported to the phone...Not nice!

 

[ejl10]

A little free market wisdom:

If you don't like it
Then don't buy it.

 

[MarkCollette]

Its not a bad strategy, but I still think the lack of transparency leaves a funny taste in my mouth, and there will be some cases where receiving more than what's expected is not a good thing (again, I bring up the example of someone buying in advance an external firewire drive for their mini in order to correct what they expect to be a speed deficiency in the internal drive)

Yes, or buying an external DVD burner because you want a fast one, or dual layer one, and then poof, your Mac mini can now do that.

When I was planning on getting a mini, I wanted two things beyond what my current machine has: more hard drive space, and a DVD burner. When the mini had a 4200 RPM drive, I had to factor in the cost of upgrading the hard drive. Plus, why get a mini with a superdrive that's slow and underfeatured, when one could buy a combodrive one, and get an external burner that's better and upgradeable? So then, know it's better to get a DVD burner, why wait? I got mine already, so I could use it with my old machine, while waiting for a mini.

For a cost conscious buyer, all these factors come into play, so I can understand the frustration of the upgrades, in this context. But, I still wouldn't complain or feel cheated.

I think that the issue here is that, the original Mac mini had too little RAM, to slow of a hard drive, too slow of a DVD burner, and too enemic of a GPU. So, that created an issue of having to evaluate upgrades. Now, all of those are fixed (except for the GPU, but it's not upgradeable), so I think that this won't be an issue anymore.

 

[oskar]

I think that it should be the customer that decides on the specs. People have some funny reasons sometimes for choosing a product and we should get exactly what we order. Imagine if someone went and tested a mini in a shop to see if his device, say a bluetooth phone synched and then after the order, Apple upgrades the bluetooth to a version unsupported to the phone...Not nice!

I agree. That's where the point lays. Only people who got something different from what they ordered or expected should complain if they want to. In this case it's not only different, it's also better, so it's unlikely they'll complain.
People that get what is advertised on the box/store/website shouldn't complain. There is no reason to do so.

 

[oskar]

I think that the issue here is that, the original Mac mini had too little RAM, to slow of a hard drive, too slow of a DVD burner, and too enemic of a GPU. So, that created an issue of having to evaluate upgrades. Now, all of those are fixed (except for the GPU, but it's not upgradeable), so I think that this won't be an issue anymore.

That's probably it. People who bought the first mini or were convinced with the 512MB RAM "update" and bought it, probably feel cheated. They shouldn't though because they did like it before knowing of this possibility. I haven't bought a mini because without a 5200 RPM HD and 64MB video memory, I wasn't convinced. Now even an 8x dual-layer burner is in the future specs! As soon as this new mini is official, and I'm sure I'll get what I paid for, I'll be the first in line.

 

[~Shard~]

Ditto. Knowing what you know you can wait until the upgrade is formally released and buy then. If anything people should be thankfull they are getting a better machine than they paid for...

Yep. It either comes down to people who aren't happy unless they have something to complain about, or people who are unappreciative of getting more than they expected.

I find the whole thing hilarious.

 

[OCOTILLO]

Maybe there is no upgrade?

Maybe Apple changed their minds about upgrading the mini and they are just getting rid of early production units. Wouldn't that be a kick?

If this is the case, if anyone is interested, they better place an order before they are all gone.

 

[oskar]

Maybe Apple changed their minds about upgrading the mini and they are just getting rid of early production units. Wouldn't that be a kick?

It is a possibility, because the things those early updated minis include are too similar to those of iBooks and PowerBooks. The price difference is too much. But then again, I really doubt if Apple changed their minds on selling updates they'd just box them in the same boxes as current minis and "give them away" without no warning.
Somehow I think Apple is trying to make news sites talk about them (the minis). The 30-day trial comes to mind as well. No one's heard anything about that anymore either.

 

[50548]

Wow! You need to calm down.

Please forgive me, hehehe...I have to deliver a Master thesis until tomorrow at midnight...after that I will be able to complain to Apple as well..."I asked for 32Mb of VRAM but I deserve more!!!"

 

[tivoboy]

Okay then... and here you are complaining. I think this is a complaint.... isn't it?

In the hypothetical situation that you HAD NOT KNOWN this upgrade was coming, would you have bought the 1.42 this week?

So, what apple has done... is given you the knowledge. Otherwise, you'd have been over here next week complaining "I just bought a 1.42 last week, and now my system is obsolete!"

nope, I wouldn't have bought this week anyways, was waiting for an upgrade for some performance pop. But now I am CERTAINLY not going to be buying this week, not certain of getting the older one.

So, what has apple done, delayed revenue. I think there are many in the same boat, going to wait to get one, weeks maybe months, and then we are in the fourth quarter. Would have been best to show a strong 3rd quarter for apple.

 

[Hattig]

nope, I wouldn't have bought this week anyways, was waiting for an upgrade for some performance pop. But now I am CERTAINLY not going to be buying this week, not certain of getting the older one.

So, what has apple done, delayed revenue. I think there are many in the same boat, going to wait to get one, weeks maybe months, and then we are in the fourth quarter. Would have been best to show a strong 3rd quarter for apple.

"I wouldn't have bought this week anyways"

"So, what has apple done, delayed revenue"

Err ... what they might have done, given an official update next week, is bring forward revenue from all the people like you whilst clearing the majority of the old systems at standard retail price instead of at a reduced price.

Unless you think that this transition period is going to last months ...?

 

[lickily]

Buying accessories before receiving the product is not a bad thing, but I don't think it's very wise to do so. You may eventually end up with something that doesn't work or fit the product.

What? Sorry, but that makes no sense to me at all. What does me physically receiving the computer have to do with buying accessories? I mean is it somehow different for me to read online that the computer comes with USB ports than to actually see the USB ports in front of my face? Somehow I shouldn't order any USB peripherals until I can really confirm this? No, in most cases you can order in advance without problem. Its only in this 'special' instance where you might get burned.

 

[ack_mac]

What? Sorry, but that makes no sense to me at all. What does me physically receiving the computer have to do with buying accessories? I mean is it somehow different for me to read online that the computer comes with USB ports than to actually see the USB ports in front of my face? Somehow I shouldn't order any USB peripherals until I can really confirm this? No, in most cases you can order in advance without problem. Its only in this 'special' instance where you might get burned.

Just so I understand, what accessories would you have ordered for the 1.42 mini that would not be compatible with the 1.5? Somebody mentioned an external 7200 firewall hard drive, but that would still work perfectly fine.. RAM? Would still work perfectly fine.. Bluetooth keyboard and mouse? Will still work perfectly fine.. Software? Doubt it will be an issue.. So, what accessories are you trying to buy that you suspect will not be compatible with the updated mini??

If you said that Apple could have handled this whole update better, I would not argue with you too much. But this issue that you are posing (accessories not working) just does not make sense to me...

 

[aafuss1]

CNET article:
http://news.com.com/Apple+offers+Mac+Mini+grab+bag/2100-1042_3-5885485.html?tag=nl

 

[Whyren]

CNET article:
http://news.com.com/Apple+offers+Mac+Mini+grab+bag/2100-1042_3-5885485.html?tag=nl

Wow, that's certainly one of those WTP situations...

 

[c2104338]

It fair to say that this problem is stemming from Apple updating the Mini twice in fairly quick succession- with the first update back in July they were able just ship out the new units and reduce the price of the old. No problems there, it's what they always do.
However, with this second update coming so soon they would need to reduce the price of the current Mini and then FURTHER reduce the price of the Minis they were still trying to get rid of from July.

OK, now for my question: What is going to happen in the intel era when some people have predicted Apple to update lines more regularly? Will this become the norm? Will they purposely hold off updates until old stock has cleared? Will they increase prices to cover possible losses from marking down discountinued stock?

 

[ack_mac]

Things that make you go hmm..

I also wonder if the reason why Apple pulled their mini "test drive" offer so quickly was because of the updates.. The original offfer was supposed to be good through Oct 31st... Can you imagine how many returned mini's they would have had after releasing an updated mini in Oct or even early Nov for Christmas?

Maybe they pulled it knowing that they were going to do the update October...

 

[nels0360]

As I mentioned before, I needed a mac mini this week because I am flying out to my parents place to setup a new mac. Therefore, the way in which apple went about this "update" was inconvinient for me. I didn't want to give them a mac mini without a 5400 RPM hard drive. Disk performance is just not up to par with a 4200 RPM disk.

So today I went on a quest to find an updated mini. The first store I went to was the Rosedale store in Roseville, MN. The manager their was not accomodating at all. I asked if she would be willing to go in back and get me the newest mac mini they had. She stated that there was absolutely no way to tell how new a mini is by the box. So I explained the production week in the serial number to her and she said that she was not going to have one of her employees look through their stock of mac minis with superdrives just to find the newest one. I was ready to pay $700 for the newest one they had and that was the response I got. So I told her to just to back and get me one then. She grabbed one and it was week 27 which was very likely the older model, so I told her I didn't want it if she wasn't going to make the effort of getting me the newest one they had. She wasn't goign to check so I walked out.

Then, I went to the Mall of America store. They wouldn't confirm that they had any upgraded minis but they said they had some pretty new ones. So I had him bring one up. It was week 37, so I bought it. So I got home and opened it up. It has the 1.5 ghz processor, Seagate 5400 RPM 8MB cache HD, & the dual layer DVD burner. I'm going to upgrade it to 1GB as well.

Just thought i'd let everyone know that some stores do have them, but I don't know how much of an effort they will make to get you one. I can also confirm that the 5400 RPM HD makes a significant performance difference in the mini. My sister has one with the slower drive and it is definately noticable with any disk intesive task.

Now here's a question. What happens when it needs service? Let's say I need a new HD and they put in a 4200 RPM one because that's what I was guaranteed to begin with. I will not be a happy camper. I really hope that they repair the mini to it's shipped state..not just to what the specifications stated.

 

[gravitysux]

The problem with the 'Mac Mini Lucky Dip' is that now the cat is out of the bag and the press has also caught wind of it, is that sales may tail off and so it could take longer for the upgraded machine to be officially released.

Also if they delay too long then this could also impact on the very profitable Christmas market.

I agree, this revision has made me ready to buy the mini, but now I won't buy until the situation is cleared up. And I wasn't already going to buy the 1.42, so I'm not getting a bonus if I'm lucky. For me it was borderline in specs (mainly just the HD speed because I was looking at it as a digital hub, music and tv recording), and this upgrade is what I had been watching for since it first came out. Customers hold off, sales dip, bottom line is affected. I can and will wait, really, and if it was run alongside current models indefinately I would have even paid $50 more to get this one.

 

[balamw]

Maybe Apple changed their minds about upgrading the mini and they are just getting rid of early production units. Wouldn't that be a kick?

Couldn't it also be that they temporarily ran out of 1.42GHz, 32Mb, and 4200 rpm parts and are substituting faster components to just keep production going until they get another shipment of slower parts?

I don't think that's the case given the various mentions of "Mac mini (late 2005)" that have been reported to be seen on apple.com (warranty status, what OS ships), but at least its' conceivable.

B

 

[ack_mac]

As I mentioned before, I needed a mac mini this week because I am flying out to my parents place to setup a new mac. Therefore, the way in which apple went about this "update" was inconvinient for me. I didn't want to give them a mac mini without a 5400 RPM hard drive. Disk performance is just not up to par with a 4200 RPM disk.

So today I went on a quest to find an updated mini. The first store I went to was the Rosedale store in Roseville, MN. The manager their was not accomodating at all. I asked if she would be willing to go in back and get me the newest mac mini they had. She stated that there was absolutely no way to tell how new a mini is by the box. So I explained the production week in the serial number to her and she said that she was not going to have one of her employees look through their stock of mac minis with superdrives just to find the newest one. I was ready to pay $700 for the newest one they had and that was the response I got. So I told her to just to back and get me one then. She grabbed one and it was week 27 which was very likely the older model, so I told her I didn't want it if she wasn't going to make the effort of getting me the newest one they had. She wasn't goign to check so I walked out.

Then, I went to the Mall of America store. They wouldn't confirm that they had any upgraded minis but they said they had some pretty new ones. So I had him bring one up. It was week 37, so I bought it. So I got home and opened it up. It has the 1.5 ghz processor, Seagate 5400 RPM 8MB cache HD, & the dual layer DVD burner. I'm going to upgrade it to 1GB as well.

Just thought i'd let everyone know that some stores do have them, but I don't know how much of an effort they will make to get you one. I can also confirm that the 5400 RPM HD makes a significant performance difference in the mini. My sister has one with the slower drive and it is definately noticable with any disk intesive task.

Now here's a question. What happens when it needs service? Let's say I need a new HD and they put in a 4200 RPM one because that's what I was guaranteed to begin with. I will not be a happy camper. I really hope that they repair the mini to it's shipped state..not just to what the specifications stated.

Can you explain in more detail where in the serial number the build date is? Also, good point about warranty parts.. That would be pretty bogus if they replaced a bad 5400 HD with a 4200 HD, or a 8x SD with a 4x SD...

Congrats though.. Most of us are still going to have to wait...

 

[c2104338]

Couldn't it also be that they temporarily ran out of 1.42GHz, 32Mb, and 4200 rpm parts and are substituting faster components to just keep production going until they get another shipment of slower parts?

I don't think that's the case given the various mentions of "Mac mini (late 2005)" that have been reported to be seen on apple.com (warranty status, what OS ships), but at least its' conceivable.

B

If it was conceivable wouldn't we be seeing 5400rpm drives in iBooks,too. Now that i would buy!!!!