Closing the book on Apple's Mac mini
Even while at the top of its game, Apple Inc. can seemingly find faults with just about anything, including a bit of itself. The Mac maker is constantly evaluating the market segments in which it wishes to participate and those which it does not. It's an application of love-hate methodology that inevitably produces its share of casualties.
Take, for instance, the firm's petite line of headless desktop computers known as Mac minis. They retail between $599 and $799, catering to the once critical sub-$800 PC market. Conspicuously, it was that precise market segment in which Apple executives asserted little interest just months before introducing the first Mac mini at the Macworld trade show in January of 2005. Maybe management wasn't fibbing after all.
Since then, the Mac mini has been treated to a rather mundane life-cycle. It has seen just four updates since inception, one of which was so insignificant in Apple's own eyes that the company didn't even bother to draft a press release. Even now, the current minis' 1.66GHz and 1.83GHz Core Duo processors are a far cry from the silicon offered in the rest of Apple's PC offerings. And rightfully so, as the company has seen lower margins from the units, which never gained the sales traction of its more fully equipped iMacs and MacBooks.
Some have gone so far as to call the mini Apple's bastard child; the neglected Mac that never was. At the same time, the history behind its creation and the reasons for its seeming abandonment are comparatively fuzzy. There is some speculation that Apple conceived the Mac mini under pressure from shareholders who wanted a sub-$800 Mac, but never really saw much in the design itself. It's almost as if the mini stood in direct contrast to Apple's fundamentals from the get-go.
In at least one instance, during the winter months of 2005 and early 2006, Apple began toying with concepts to more closely tie the mini to the essential nature of its business. The most public of those, per AppleInsider reports, was a plan to include a built-in iPod dock atop the high-end models. But just like every other bright idea Apple had for the tiny Mac, it was shelved and transformed under more economical standards into a project that would eventually emerge as Apple TV.
In fact, it was about that time in early 2006 when Apple TV really began to take shape inside Apple and the development of the mini began its slow, inevitable decline. Not coincidentally, Apple TV turned out a lot like a next-generation mini, with the stripping-out of the optical disc drive representing the essence of Apple's long-term digital media strategy.
Still, the mini has had its share of selling points. Due to its small footprint and low cost, it was immediately nominated by seasoned techies as the perfect media server for the living room. Some even went as far as installing the the tiny Mac in their vehicles. But with the advent of Apple TV, Apple seems to have shoved the diminutive device into the far corner of what had already been a niche audience.
Therefore, it comes as little surprise that sources, for whom AppleInsider holds the utmost respect, are now pointing towards the mini's impending demise. For it's according to those people that the miniature Mac will soon follow in the wake of its similarly-proportioned counterparts of years past: the PowerBook 2400, the PowerMac G4 Cube, and, most recently, the 12-inch PowerBook.
Whether Apple will squeeze another revision from the mini, and how long it plans to allow existing models to linger, are both unclear. But as the extended Memorial Day break dawns upon us, the point being driven should be clear:
Ladies and gentlemen, AppleInsider believes in all sincerity that the Mac mini is dead.
Take, for instance, the firm's petite line of headless desktop computers known as Mac minis. They retail between $599 and $799, catering to the once critical sub-$800 PC market. Conspicuously, it was that precise market segment in which Apple executives asserted little interest just months before introducing the first Mac mini at the Macworld trade show in January of 2005. Maybe management wasn't fibbing after all.
Since then, the Mac mini has been treated to a rather mundane life-cycle. It has seen just four updates since inception, one of which was so insignificant in Apple's own eyes that the company didn't even bother to draft a press release. Even now, the current minis' 1.66GHz and 1.83GHz Core Duo processors are a far cry from the silicon offered in the rest of Apple's PC offerings. And rightfully so, as the company has seen lower margins from the units, which never gained the sales traction of its more fully equipped iMacs and MacBooks.
Some have gone so far as to call the mini Apple's bastard child; the neglected Mac that never was. At the same time, the history behind its creation and the reasons for its seeming abandonment are comparatively fuzzy. There is some speculation that Apple conceived the Mac mini under pressure from shareholders who wanted a sub-$800 Mac, but never really saw much in the design itself. It's almost as if the mini stood in direct contrast to Apple's fundamentals from the get-go.
In at least one instance, during the winter months of 2005 and early 2006, Apple began toying with concepts to more closely tie the mini to the essential nature of its business. The most public of those, per AppleInsider reports, was a plan to include a built-in iPod dock atop the high-end models. But just like every other bright idea Apple had for the tiny Mac, it was shelved and transformed under more economical standards into a project that would eventually emerge as Apple TV.
In fact, it was about that time in early 2006 when Apple TV really began to take shape inside Apple and the development of the mini began its slow, inevitable decline. Not coincidentally, Apple TV turned out a lot like a next-generation mini, with the stripping-out of the optical disc drive representing the essence of Apple's long-term digital media strategy.
Still, the mini has had its share of selling points. Due to its small footprint and low cost, it was immediately nominated by seasoned techies as the perfect media server for the living room. Some even went as far as installing the the tiny Mac in their vehicles. But with the advent of Apple TV, Apple seems to have shoved the diminutive device into the far corner of what had already been a niche audience.
Therefore, it comes as little surprise that sources, for whom AppleInsider holds the utmost respect, are now pointing towards the mini's impending demise. For it's according to those people that the miniature Mac will soon follow in the wake of its similarly-proportioned counterparts of years past: the PowerBook 2400, the PowerMac G4 Cube, and, most recently, the 12-inch PowerBook.
Whether Apple will squeeze another revision from the mini, and how long it plans to allow existing models to linger, are both unclear. But as the extended Memorial Day break dawns upon us, the point being driven should be clear:
Ladies and gentlemen, AppleInsider believes in all sincerity that the Mac mini is dead.
Comments
lame sensationalism. appleinsider can be really sad. its obvious this was posted just to generate traffic. why would they post the title in RED on the front page? im gonna have to look for a new mac site, that was sad.
it would make sense to kill it and push apple tv.
if you look at all the push for it the Imac was always the one shown i think we'll see a great new imac and Jobs bury ~(wrongly) the mini........
black armbands alround on that day
Damn, I'd love that computer.
-Clive
First the mac mini is excellent for someone who want an afordable machine and the freedom to choose the size of the screen ! The macpro do the same but it's huge and is very expensive !!
The apple TV is not a computer even if inside it look like a computer !!
How can apple gain some market share without affordable computer ?? This is impossible and i am worried that apple in the future will focus on ipod, iphone and mac TV and no more on computers ??
it would be nice if it was clearly stated at the beginning that this was horse SH#T. that way people wouldn't have to waist their time reading this. even if true, the headline made it seem that it was already fact.
lame sensationalism. appleinsider can be really sad. its obvious this was posted just to generate traffic. why would they post the title in RED on the front page? im gonna have to look for a new mac site, that was sad.
I'd have to agree. This article needs to be a lot more clear. Do they have some tip indicating that they will kill it or is this just an opinion piece? The way it's written is way too confusing.
Assuming it is just an opinion piece, I have to disagree completely. The Mac Mini forms an integral part of the Mac line, offering the Mac experience to lite users with low budgets. I think it will stay around
This is for a niche of nickle-pinchers and media-center freaks. It is simply not a mainstream computer. Axe it!
I'd have to agree. This article needs to be a lot more clear. Do they have some tip indicating that they will kill it or is this just an opinion piece? The way it's written is way too confusing.
Assuming it is just an opinion piece, I have to disagree completely. The Mac Mini forms an integral part of the Mac line, offering the Mac experience to lite users with low budgets. I think it will stay around
It's not opinion. "Sources" were cited.
Best,
K
Why not giving us what we want?
PS: Welcome to AppleInsider MichaelProvence (du sud de la France? Quelle ville?)
The original PowerPC minis were a couple hundred cheaper, IIRC. The Intel Mini's are too steep and don't come with enough RAM to justify purchasing one of them over a low end iMac. Even the graphics card suffers in comparison. And no keyboard, monitor, mouse... what do you expect?
Don't give me this "you're paying for the small size" nonsense. If one can get a new 1.88-2GHz mini with 1 Gb ram for $600 - that's a price point that would sell. You can't even get that with the refurbs.
Why would you hook up a beautiful little computer to a dirty old keyboard, mouse and monitor?
This is for a niche of nickle-pinchers and media-center freaks. It is simply not a mainstream computer. Axe it!
Actually probably just about any PC users, who won't pay for an iMac and don't want their monitor replaced. I fitted the profile about perfectly and several of my PC owning friends want one too. I'm also planning to buy more of them for work purposes (need more low-cost OSX machines for testing purposes), so I hope it's not true. The price point is really critical.
it would be nice if it was clearly stated at the beginning that this was horse SH#T. that way people wouldn't have to waist their time reading this. even if true, the headline made it seem that it was already fact.
lame sensationalism. appleinsider can be really sad. its obvious this was posted just to generate traffic. why would they post the title in RED on the front page? im gonna have to look for a new mac site, that was sad.
wow. someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning
i don't think it is horse ****. usually when kapser publishes something it is pretty close to spot on. heck they havent even updated the mini in like a year, as if you could not have guessed this was where it was goingn
MRG
-Roy
it would be nice if it was clearly stated at the beginning that this was horse SH#T. that way people wouldn't have to waist their time reading this. even if true, the headline made it seem that it was already fact.
Dito except for that part "horse SH#T" I'd have chosen a more poetic way to say that...
Nevertheless why would AppleTV replace the MacMini? They are completely different devices to me... MacMini is a computer, AppleTV is just an entertainment box... Or at least it was meant as such, as someone turned it into the cheapest Mac computer...
I don't think the Mini is dead... CinemaDisplay+MacMini looks better than the big tower of the MacPro...
ps I love AppleTV!
-tj
The mini is perfect for some type of user, what i never forgive to Apple its that i wanted a cheaper tower, not a strip down enclosure that I cant fit an upgrade video card since, I like video games 8(
I dont want a Mac Pro but a an smaller case with 2 pcie slots (one 16 lanes) a low end or close 128mb video card than I can replace for a 256 or even a second crossfire card. A quad processor would be nice but expensive rigth... So make it an option! Deliver it with one of those Intel Core 2 Duo's extreme. We all saw the extensive use of the so dim size of memory with the Intel Hardware, why not add 2 extra slots or at least support more memory size (x2 2gb sticks)
Well.. thats what i think and want. I hope Apple listen to us this time.