Closing the book on Apple's Mac mini

[LuKreme]

On 25-May-2007, at 10:16, Adam Bridge wrote:
> Wow - ONE report that the mini MAY be going away and there's panic in
> the streets. Geesh. To me the tea leaves don't look so cut and dried
> and I have to wonder if someone isn't trying to play the market in
> some way by manipulating news.

It's been a long time since there was any movement on the mini, and  
an even longer time since there was any significant movement on the  
mini (1.5/1.6Ghz over a year ago refreshed to 1.66/1.83GHz woo).

Everyone has been waiting for the core 2 to roll into the mini for a  
while now, and for a slightly better option than the GMA950 graphics.

Heck, if they just went to 1GB standard, core2/802.11n and maybe  
80/120GB drives at the current price points that would make me happy.

As it is now, the mini is simply too expensive for what you get.

> I remember the screams for a small low-cost machine - the space the
> mini filled. It wasn't quite what people wanted because it wasn't easy
> to upgrade but it was an entry level Mac with a relatively low price
> point.

I think the mini was a great machine when it came out... well, the  
intel version at least.  It just seems a shame that Apple has left it  
idle for so long (16 months)

> Would a revised form-factor give them more flexibility? At what level
> of performance will a new mini rob sales from the Mac Pro?

No one is trying to decide between a mini and a mac Pro, let's be  
serious.

> I've always looked at the Mini as laptop without a display with all  
> the tradeoffs
> that that implies.

Trouble is it is lagging a long way behind the laptops.  If it was a  
MacBook without a display, I'd be quite happy:

2.0 GHz C2D, 1GB RAM,  80GB Drive, Combodrive, $599.  Sold. (MacBook,  
$1099)
2.2 GHz C2D, 1GB RAM, 120GB Drive, Superdrive, $799.  Sold. (Macbook,  
$1299)

> Geesh - rambling - I'll go out and hack weeds a while - but seriously
> does Apple have an eco-system need that needs a mini that makes
> economic sense? Would an "improved" form-factor help them (return of
> The Cube...bwaa haaa haaa)? Or maybe the original idea behind the mini
> didn't match their sales projections.

Improved form factor?  I think the mini's form factor is just about  
perfect.  It couldn't be smaller without eliminating the optical  
drive, and I don't think that's a good idea.

-- 
A marriage is always made up of two people who are prepared to swear  
that only the other one snores.