Mac mini makeover considered likely for Macworld

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
A new source claims that Apple's long-overdue revision of the Mac mini will make its appearance at Macworld Expo early next month.



Claiming to have obtained the information from a "corporate" employee of Apple, Wired has allegedly heard that a refresh of the compact, headless desktop is due at the start of the show.



The rumor is accompanied by little else besides a speculative wish list based on Apple's recent trends in design and components, such as a unibody design and newer Core 2 Duo processors.



Still, the report corroborates things that AppleInsider has privately heard about the matter. It also supports a number of outside claims that an update is approaching; of these, a reported Apple executive care rep's advice to be patient has been the strongest sign of an impending upgrade.



What any new Mac mini would include is still uncertain, though two months ago Macminicolo asserted that it had validated as many as three new features that would make their way into the new system.



Of these, the most feasible were the switch to Mini DisplayPort -- a move Apple has publicly promised for all of its Macs -- and the ability of the mainboard chipset to address more than 3GB of RAM, which is currently limited by the Mac mini's roughly two year old hardware.



The more aggressive claim instead suggested Apple would attempt to please business and server operators by letting buyers replace the optical drive with a second hard drive that could increase the total storage for the computer.



Whether any of this occurs is still up in the air, as Apple has yet to commit to a Steve Jobs keynote at Macworld despite the event being just three weeks away.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 174
    If this is indeed true, I couldn't be happier. I am still using the last G4 Mac mini produced by Apple. I have been waiting (hoping) for an update to the Mac mini architecture before I take the plunge and upgrade.



    I just hope that they don't do something crazy like remove the FireWire port. That would not be cool. I'm sure many server farms have no need for that, but I certainly do.



    Long live the Mac mini!
  • Reply 2 of 174
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    A new source claims that Apple's long-overdue revision of the Mac mini will make its appearance at Macworld Expo early next month.



    Claiming to have obtained the information from a "corporate" employee of Apple, Wired has allegedly heard that a refresh of the compact, headless desktop is due at the start of the show.



    The rumor is accompanied by little else besides a speculative wish list based on Apple's recent trends in design and components, such as a unibody design and newer Core 2 Duo processors.



    Still, the report corroborates things that AppleInsider has privately heard about the matter. It also supports a number of outside claims that an update is approaching; of these, a reported Apple executive care rep's advice to be patient has been the strongest sign of an impending upgrade.



    What any new Mac mini would include is still uncertain, though two months ago Macminicolo asserted that it had validated as many as three new features that would make their way into the new system.



    Of these, the most feasible were the switch to Mini DisplayPort -- a move Apple has publicly promised for all of its Macs -- and the ability of the mainboard chipset to address more than 3GB of RAM, which is currently limited by the Mac mini's roughly two year old hardware.



    The more aggressive claim instead suggested Apple would attempt to please business and server operators by letting buyers replace the optical drive with a second hard drive that could increase the total storage for the computer.



    Whether any of this occurs is still up in the air, as Apple has yet to commit to a Steve Jobs keynote at Macworld despite the event being just three weeks away.



    Here's my mini lineup for 2009.





    1. $499 mini- 2Ghz 800fsb Core2 Duo,1GB RAM (512MB x2) 80 GB hard drive, Nvidia mobo with 9400m graphics, GigE, Wifi, Bluetooth. No Superdrive. Mini-DisplayPort



    2. $699 mini - 2.2 Ghz 1066 Core2 Duo, 2 GB RAM(1GB x2) 160 GB, Nvidia mobo with 9400m graphics, GigE, Wifi, Bluetooth and Superdrive. Mini-DisplayPort



    There we go. The $499 mini becomes the perfect computer for secondary or tertiary needs or the perfect children's computer. I rarely us my DVD Burner and in a home with networked computers it makes more sense to simply create your video or audio creation and send it to the Apple TV in the living room. Software is easily installed over a network on Macs. It begs the question "why are you trying to sell me the same product over and over?" I don't need 8 DVD burners in my home.
  • Reply 3 of 174
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post


    Here's my mini lineup for 2009.





    1. $499 mini- 2Ghz 800fsb Core2 Duo,1GB RAM (512MB x2) 80 GB hard drive, Nvidia mobo with 9400m graphics, GigE, Wifi, Bluetooth. No Superdrive. Mini-DisplayPort



    2. $699 mini - 2.2 Ghz 1066 Core2 Duo, 2 GB RAM(1GB x2) 160 GB, Nvidia mobo with 9400m graphics, GigE, Wifi, Bluetooth and Superdrive. Mini-DisplayPort



    There we go. The $499 mini becomes the perfect computer for secondary or tertiary needs or the perfect children's computer. I rarely us my DVD Burner and in a home with networked computers it makes more sense to simply create your video or audio creation and send it to the Apple TV in the living room. Software is easily installed over a network on Macs. It begs the question "why are you trying to sell me the same product over and over?" I don't need 8 DVD burners in my home.



    I think that Superdrive is the standard now, if anything I think they'll match the Mac Mini up with the new MacBook specs. HD size, graphics, RAM, speed. It makes sense in my head \



    EDIT: Oh, I'm also surprised at how well kept this secret is for once....
  • Reply 4 of 174
    They should merge the AppleTV and Mac mini lines and preinstall both OSes. Put both a Mini DisplayPort and a HDMI port on there.
  • Reply 5 of 174
    I expect a redesign, perhaps something along the lines of the Macbook Air's external Superdrive with the airflow vents of the Airport Extreme.
  • Reply 6 of 174
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post


    Here's my mini lineup for 2009.





    1. $499 mini- 2Ghz 800fsb Core2 Duo,1GB RAM (512MB x2) 80 GB hard drive, Nvidia mobo with 9400m graphics, GigE, Wifi, Bluetooth. No Superdrive. Mini-DisplayPort



    2. $699 mini - 2.2 Ghz 1066 Core2 Duo, 2 GB RAM(1GB x2) 160 GB, Nvidia mobo with 9400m graphics, GigE, Wifi, Bluetooth and Superdrive. Mini-DisplayPort



    There we go. The $499 mini becomes the perfect computer for secondary or tertiary needs or the perfect children's computer. I rarely us my DVD Burner and in a home with networked computers it makes more sense to simply create your video or audio creation and send it to the Apple TV in the living room. Software is easily installed over a network on Macs. It begs the question "why are you trying to sell me the same product over and over?" I don't need 8 DVD burners in my home.



    Never say never but I don't see a new mini coming without an optical drive. This is a computer that's usable without resorting to tricks like network software installations, etc. Grandma doesn't know how to do that yet. Perhaps more to the point, if MacBook's still have optical drives then I believe the mini will as well.
  • Reply 7 of 174
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by retroneo View Post


    They should merge the AppleTV and Mac mini lines and preinstall both OSes. Put both a Mini DisplayPort and a HDMI port on there.



    No need...monoprice is coming out with a MDP to HDMI cable.



    http://gizmodo.com/5110847/minidispl...ice-next-month



    I think the ATV should move to ARM and PowerVR processing. It's only function is to playback media content. It should be based as closely around SoC as possible.
  • Reply 8 of 174
    Not that it matters but, it will probably be the size of the apple tv and time capsule instead of the old mac mini and the airport extreme.
  • Reply 9 of 174
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hudson1 View Post


    Never say never but I don't see a new mini coming without an optical drive. This is a computer that's usable without resorting to tricks like network software installations, etc. Grandma doesn't know how to do that yet. Perhaps more to the point, if MacBook's still have optical drives then I believe the mini will as well.



    Precisely. It's a Network computer though I'd suspect that many people would purchase it for solo needs but if they have problems installing software that's up to them to handle.



    Optical drives have reached their peak for usefulness a long time ago. I rarely use my Superdrive and when I do I'm reminded about how clunky it is. I'd rather just take my iMovie and larger media files and send them to the Apple TV for playback.



    1. It's faster

    2. It's Green (one less polycarbonate disc clogging a landfill)
  • Reply 10 of 174
    ksecksec Posts: 1,569member
    I think it will be like an Dual Core Atom based with MPC Mini,



    It will be cheap , affordable, and quite fast.....



    After All , Grand Central and OpenCL would speed things up with MCP and Atom
  • Reply 11 of 174
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    The update will be useless unless they change the form and make the mini more expandable. From what we've seen in the new MB family I think we will see a complete redesigned mini (if it happened) including better graphics card.
  • Reply 12 of 174
    expatexpat Posts: 110member
    All I have to say is that they better not kill the firewire port on it.
  • Reply 13 of 174
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NasserAE View Post


    The update will be useless unless they change the form and make the mini more expandable. From what we've seen in the new MB family I think we will see a complete redesigned mini (if it happened).



    Expansion??? This is Apple you're talking about. They don't care about expansion unless the product has Pro in the name.
  • Reply 14 of 174
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post


    Expansion??? This is Apple you're talking about. They don't care about expansion unless the product has Pro in the name.



    I should have said easier to upgrade (HDD and memory) the same thing they did with the MB and MBP. They also need to drop the 2.5" HDD and use 3.5" instead (cheaper, larger capacity, and faster).
  • Reply 15 of 174
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post


    Here's my mini lineup for 2009.





    1. $499 mini- 2Ghz 800fsb Core2 Duo,1GB RAM (512MB x2) 80 GB hard drive, Nvidia mobo with 9400m graphics, GigE, Wifi, Bluetooth. No Superdrive. Mini-DisplayPort



    2. $699 mini - 2.2 Ghz 1066 Core2 Duo, 2 GB RAM(1GB x2) 160 GB, Nvidia mobo with 9400m graphics, GigE, Wifi, Bluetooth and Superdrive. Mini-DisplayPort



    There we go. The $499 mini becomes the perfect computer for secondary or tertiary needs or the perfect children's computer. I rarely us my DVD Burner and in a home with networked computers it makes more sense to simply create your video or audio creation and send it to the Apple TV in the living room. Software is easily installed over a network on Macs. It begs the question "why are you trying to sell me the same product over and over?" I don't need 8 DVD burners in my home.



    That sounds about right, except that both models would have the superdrive.
  • Reply 16 of 174
    wigginwiggin Posts: 2,265member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post


    No need...monoprice is coming out with a MDP to HDMI cable.



    http://gizmodo.com/5110847/minidispl...ice-next-month



    I'm all for having a mini-DisplayPort on the mini even if that means DRM, as long as that also means that we'll be able to purchase and rent HD movies (and ideally, be able to purchase/rent/play it through FrontRow).



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Expat View Post


    All I have to say is that they better not kill the firewire port on it.



    Amen! If it drops the FireWire port it'll be no-sale for me. If it does the above for access to HD content and maintains the FW port, I'll be replacing my old PPC mini for my HTPC, media server, and network drives for Time Machine.
  • Reply 17 of 174
    I have the feeling that it might be a lil bit thinner. I would love if it is able to remove the optical disk and upgradeable HDD. If the optical disk is removed, den can put 2 TB HDD!! That would be like a backup machine.
  • Reply 18 of 174
    I'm thinkin' Geforce 9300M integrated (slightly slower and cheaper then the 9400M), with DDR2 memory still. That would be more in line with its budget status.



    I don't see Apple using an Intel chipset on the cheaper model and Nvidia on the higher model; cheaper to use one motherboard for both.
  • Reply 19 of 174
    razorpitrazorpit Posts: 1,796member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wheelhot View Post


    I have the feeling that it might be a lil bit thinner. I would love if it is able to remove the optical disk and upgradeable HDD. If the optical disk is removed, den can put 2 TB HDD!! That would be like a backup machine.



    For the kind of money they'll be asking for it, I'd rather stick with my Drobo.



    I think is info is a no-brainer. Of course we're going to see a Mini with the new display port. That's like saying it will come with 10.5.6 pre-installed.
  • Reply 20 of 174
    Something to consider: If there is indeed an option to not include an optical drive, they'll be no slot for the disc - a consideration if you ever want to pop a bluray player in there in the future. (assuming that the MM is HDCP compliant, blah, blah)
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