Given Apple's upsell strategy perfectly working on iToys, maybe they believe that who's not satisfied with Mini specs jumps directly to the Pro
iOS is always going to be different because it's not up against Windows. The Mac will always have to play second fiddle to Windows so the strategy for promoting the two shouldn't be the same. Windows users are attracted to Windows for largely the same reason people are attracted to iOS—because that's what everyone else is using. Macs don't get that benefit.
Heck I know a number of software developers who will only use Windows, but bought iMacs to run it on, simply because of the design aesthetic.
I would hazard a guess that they are very much the exception to the buying public. Developers always have oddball demands of their machines.
I would go so far as to say that just like the low end Mac user, Apple is not really interested in serving the Windows customers who don't want to pay a premium either, and that approach doesn't seem to be hurting their Mac sales one bit.
Let's stop repeating Apple's marketing chatter, shall we? If they aren't interested in catering to the low-end, then the Mac Mini shouldn't exist at all, neither should the iPhone 5C. Apple very desperately wants to cater to the low-end without damaging their high-end business. And that's perfectly understandable. But talk of the low end here isn't even relevant. We're talking about a
mid-range, headless product between the Mini and the Pro. None of the Windows users I'm thinking of were looking for cheap machines. They were willing to pay, but to get what they wanted, they had to start climbing up into the Pro prices which is, I think we can all agree, unreasonable for individual users. And from what I've seen, an all-in-one like the iMac generally doesn't appeal to the Windows crowd.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: the iMac needs to die. They can keep redesigning it, making it thinner with each iteration (at the cost of features users will want) but there's no avoiding the obvious. It's time for the iMac to go and make room for a really good mid-range, headless Mac.
Apple may not have the dominant platform, but they are selling more Macs year after year relative to the rest of PC industry that caters to Windows. And friends like mine partially explain some portion of that, however small.
That's great and I love that, but it sidesteps the point I'm making. For many years Apple put out campaigns trying to lure Windows users away and try a Mac. And for all that time, they offered nothing that would appeal to a majority of those potential switchers. It makes no sense.