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Unboxing and Disassembly Photos of the New Mac Mini

Eidorian said:
Now just weasel a SATA cable onto the outside and connect a fast 3.5" to the mini. ;)
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Ha! That's not a bad thought, if you don't mind a stray bit of intestines dangling around the mini. Hopefully someone will do some fancy mods and display them to the world in the near future.
 
Having an upgradable CPU and being able to switch the ODD for another 2.5" HDD would make the new mac mini pretty cool IMO. Not quite a xMac but probably the closest we'd get from Apple anytime soon.
 
whether the photos are real or fake, shared video memory FTL :confused:
but i guess that's how they can sell the entry levels for that price
 
Lesser Evets said:
It looks like a good little computer for very basic user needs. Anyone needing more internal storage and power has to step up to the iMac. Pity. I was REALLY going to be impressed with full sized drives in a mini.
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You can buy an external box that is the same size and shape as the Mini. The box holds a "full size" disk drive, up to 1.5TB and connects back to the Mini with firewire. It makes a neat stack. If 1.5Tb is not enough buy two.

There are several versions of this idea. Here is one a picked at random
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer Technology/FWU2MSV2/

Couldn't you in theory cut the ODD slot a little wider and run a SATA cable through there?
Click to expand...
See above URL for a slightly neater looking way to add a drive
 
MasterNile said:
Couldn't you in theory cut the ODD slot a little wider and run a SATA cable through there?
Click to expand...

Actually, I just knocked up a quaint little idea, and admittedly I have NO IDEA about the architecture of the Mini, but...

Could you build a mini tower affair with drive slots like inside the MacPro, 4 drives on easily removable trays, and a space below for the mini to be "bolted in" with felt clamps?

MiniTower.jpg


You just need to open the mini, disconnect something in there, plug in the 4 drive SATA cable with the mini adapter, and go off with a media tower you can wallow in?

Again, I have no serious idea of how the drive architecture can handle that in the mini. The little ribbon drawn at the back is just to show there is only a single cable needed to connect the mini to the drive tower with a small mod.

EDIT: OH, and you need a power source for the drives as well, I guess, with power cables. That's not too hard. Could be made to transform the mini into a tower system for those loving video and music on their computer.
ChrisA said:
You can buy an external box that is the same size and shape as the Mini. The box holds a "full size" disk drive, up to 1.5TB and connects back to the Mini with firewire. It makes a neat stack. If 1.5Tb is not enough buy two.

There are several versions of this idea. Here is one a picked at random
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer Technology/FWU2MSV2/


See above URL for a slightly neater looking way to add a drive
Click to expand...

Oh cool. Thanks! I didn;t see any of the add ons people make.
 
ChrisA said:
You can buy an external box that is the same size and shape as the Mini. The box holds a "full size" disk drive, up to 1.5TB and connects back to the Mini with firewire. It makes a neat stack. If 1.5Tb is not enough buy two.

There are several versions of this idea. Here is one a picked at random
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer Technology/FWU2MSV2/
Click to expand...

Probably better to use 2x1TB or the new 2TB HDD, the 1.5TB seagate have bad reviews

Edit: the external is a decent solution but you lose some speed, using the ODD SATA would allow full speed
 
Wow. I'm getting the max ram and processor on that thing. I don't wanna go inside!

If the internal HD is 5400 rpm, would access to an external 7200 over fw800 be comparable? How about two of them daisychained... anyone know? (Mybook Pro 500GB + Studio 500GB if it helps - the Studio has an eSata port that I don't see being able to connect to the Mini?)
 
So damn disappointing!

It looks the same and the specs are nothing to write home about.

Worst of all is the pathetic high price this tiny box is now showing off!

I mean really, what's wrong with Apple?

MacMini was sold to be AFFORDABLE... But I guess compared to their other models it is..

Oh wait! I'm wrong, you can buy a MacBook for almost the same price if you max out the specs on the top mini...

Retarded much?
 
Mr Maui said:
You'd think people would be happy that the thing was updated (after all the complaining about that) but then there is always a complaint about price.

I've heard complaints about the price being lowered because of the tough times ... would people seriously say it was OK to raise the price when the times got better? Not a chance. Once a price is lowered, it would pretty much be stuck.

Remember, the mini is designed to be a low-end "intro" computer to get people familiar with the ease and functionality of Apple computers. It is NOT designed to be a computer to compete with low-end PCs.
Click to expand...


Yeah.. your apologizing for Apple is pretty sad. You want us to profusely thank apple simply because this thing was 'updated' after 1.5 years? Really? 'Complaining' when its warranted is exactly what forums are for. As most people here are fans of apple (myself included) you'd think critical analysis wouldn't be looked on so spitefully from people such as yourself. And it's to Apple's benefit to upgrade their products- you know, so they can sell them? It's not some gesture they do out of the goodness of their hearts. Stop acting as if its some favor they're doing for us, and we need to thank them for it then shutup.

The truth of the matter is that as most rational people here have realized that Apple have managed to make the mini an even worse value than before- an impressive feat. One could argue the same about the iMac and the MacPro updates.
 
Lyra said:
Oh wait! I'm wrong, you can buy a MacBook for almost the same price if you max out the specs on the top mini...

Retarded much?
Click to expand...

Too bad there's no MacBook that can power two external displays. I have a Wacom Cintiq 12WX and a Dell 2709 that powers my Mac, PS3, and Wii. I'm using a MacBook Pro early 2008 atm an though it has one built-in DVI, It's a real PITA to swap between the Dell and the Wacom. I previously used a Mac Pro to perform this simple as hell function. Now I can use a Mini. Yay!
 
Slurpy2k8 said:
Yeah.. your apologizing for Apple is pretty sad. You want us to profusely thank apple simply because this thing was 'updated' after 1.5 years? Really? 'Complaining' when its warranted is exactly what forums are for. As most people here are fans of apple (myself included) you'd think critical analysis wouldn't be looked on so spitefully from people such as yourself. And it's to Apple's benefit to upgrade their products- you know, so they can sell them? It's not some gesture they do out of the goodness of their hearts. Stop acting as if its some favor they're doing for us, and we need to thank them for it then shutup.

The truth of the matter is that as most rational people here have realized that Apple have managed to make the mini an even worse value than before- an impressive feat. One could argue the same about the iMac and the MacPro updates.
Click to expand...

Hear, hear! Well said.

And in Australia the bottom Mac mini has gone up AU$200!! That's just a smidge under 25%. Yes the dollar's worse, but it's been a lot worse and the Mac mini has never cost as much. I hate to say it, but I'm looking at hackintoshes now.
 
The Mini could make a very nice, cool-running, quiet HTPC.

Unfortunately, even with the new NVDIA chipset, I am wondering if the 2.0 CPU can run comfortably a BluRay movie. Running Vista, of course, since OS X still doesn't support BluRay playback.

I think Apple kind of missed the boat on this one, both in terms of software and hardware. Too bad, really, since the first Intel Mac Minis (back when) were really a good buy, IMO. But times have changed.
 
macUser2007 said:
The Mini could make a very nice, cool-running, quiet HTPC.

Unfortunately, even with the new NVDIA chipset, I am wondering if the 2.0 CPU can run comfortably a BluRay movie. Running Vista, of course, since OS X still doesn't support BluRay playback.

I think Apple kind of missed the boat on this one, both in terms of software and hardware. Too bad, really, since the first Intel Mac Minis (back when) were really a good buy, IMO. But times have changed.
Click to expand...
I think you'd be more interested in looking at the 9400M's decoding performance on the Windows side anyways.
 
I could hackintosh a same spec machine for less, due to Apples recent price increases, for the first time hackintoshes have actually become economically viable, before they were about spec for spec, cost for cost, but now... Apples just going to loose sales due to their price increases, and i doubt the price increases will make up the lost revenues from lost sales, especially in the recession and now OS X can be installed on almost any machine with en EFI-X card.
 
Lesser Evets said:
The vent thing on the package vs. reality is so bizarre. I thought for sure yesterday's photos were fake because of that, but these leaks were all accurate, amazingly enough.
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Heheh, you'd be surprised what us bastard graphic designers will do or a bit of fun.:D

That said, I thought Apple would have had higher QC than most.
 
ChrisH3677 said:
Heheh, you'd be surprised what us bastard graphic designers will do or a bit of fun.:D

That said, I thought Apple would have had higher QC than most.
Click to expand...

Oh, believe me, I know.
I just agree that it is strange it slipped through quality control.
 
I'm very happy it turned out to be real, I was wrong, I called fake.

But eek, the UK prices. I know it's not all Apple's fault, but it's just too much. No new Mac for me for a while I think.
 
Lyra said:
So damn disappointing!

It looks the same and the specs are nothing to write home about.
Click to expand...
How else did you want it to look? It's as small as it can be while keeping the optical drive. The specs are a solid upgrade; the 9400M is *far* better than Intel's integrated graphics, dual display support will help a lot of users, and FW800 finally allows fast external storage.

Oh wait! I'm wrong, you can buy a MacBook for almost the same price if you max out the specs on the top mini...
Click to expand...
Or you can buy the base mini, add RAM and a 24" LCD, and still be under $1000.
 
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