If true, this would be terrible, terrible news. By myself, I have switched nearly a dozen individuals from Windows PCs by pointing them to a Mac Mini. Even the old Core Solo--which in my opinion should have never existed--was just fine once you doubled the RAM to a gig. At the company where I work, thanks to the small footprint of the Mac Mini and the fact that it's robust enough to do what we need to do, I've been replacing our old, dying Windows PCs with Macs via the Mini. We already had tons of monitors and USB mice (we did buy Apple keyboards). And some of my co-workers who've been using the Minis are now buying Macs at home! I could have never pulled this with an iMac. No, the Mini is not going to be the biggest, hottest seller--that should be the MacBook and iMac. But it is a very important component of the Apple line-up. If they do drop it, it will be a stupid and short-sighted mistake. The best thing they could do is bump the RAM to one gig, juice up the processor just a bit and drop the low-end back to $499.
I myself was thinking of getting a Mac Mini. I want to learn some programming languages, want to experiment with Linux and other OSes. And I'm not going to do it on my main machine where all my important stuff is. So, buying a MIni and hooking it up to an old monitor is perfect for me. I have no interest in an Apple TV; I want a computer. Applle: do not be so foolish!
I think that it was a great machine that targeted the wrong market. Rather than going after low end PC users, it should have been promoted as a home theatre server, with a larger hard drive, better video capability and optical audio, it would have been a killer home theatre machine.
That's something that the Apple TV falls far short on. Apple TV is an economical machine for the technically illiterate. Myself, I have had a PC hooked up to a video projector and surround sound receiver for years and use it as my home theatre system. If I hadn't set that up before the Mac Mini's release, I might have bought a Mac Mini instead.
For those of us who can figure out how to run a video cord from a PC to a TV, the Apple TV just doesn't make sense.
There were 2 Mac Minis on display in the London Regent Street store when I went there a month ago.
TWO.
There were dozens of every other machine - iMacs, MacBooks, Mac Pros ... and two Mac Minis.
It's dead.
Sadly it's one of the more appealing Macs, I was going to get one later this year - I don't want an iMac as I want to share a decent sized monitor between systems, and I simply won't pay for a Mac Pro.
If it isn't updated or replaced, Apple have quite simply lost a sale. I won't be the only one either.
I use them as small workgroup servers for some clients. They're perfect for running intranets, backup controllers, document servers and as shared storage with an external hard drive. Why spend thousands on an XServe when a Mac Mini does just fine? They're just lovely little one-box-on-a-shelf solutions.
I've also got one managing automated accounts between an online web store and a company accounts system (MoneyWorks based) with Applescript and PHP syncing data between them. That's all it does. Anything bigger would be overkill.
When you don't need fancy graphics, but you need OSX, the little Mac Mini running headless with no monitor, keyboard or mouse makes a fantastic little appliance server brick. Log in via Remote Desktop and you're sorted.
For me, it'd be an immense loss to lose Apple's cheap headless mac for this kind of task.
I can only hope Kasper has it wrong or Apple have something like HP/Microsoft's Home Server in the wings or the return of the Cube. AppleTV is just not good enough for any of the tasks I use a Mini for, iMacs are too big and Mac Pro/Xserves needlessly expensive and even the much wanked over mid-tower would be overkill. This sucks if true.
A 'headless' iMac could do the trick ? but the size and price would need to be small enough to make it an easy choice. I think the mini was always aimed at switchers, and low-power Mac users ? it's the perfect stepping stone for PC users to get on to Macs. I've always seen the PowerBook/MacBook range in the same league as the Sony Vaio, but I guess that comparison doesn't really stand up in the desktop market.
if tne news is rite, sad so sad. But what is the alternative?
I was waiting for the next rev of the mini to function as my media center for my EDTV plasma, but when the new MacBooks came out, I sprung for the low-end model, which was just $994 incl. $100 Amazon rebate.
Having a screen is useful, I've found, as some preference pane windows won't fit on EDTV resolution.
As a media center, I needed a full blown Mac (either mini or MacBook), so I could: play DVDs, hook up an Elgato EyeTV Hybrid for DVR, have my entire iTunes library (35 GB and growing), and my entire iPhoto library (10 GB and growing). The AppleTV doesn't fit the bill in so many ways, so it will be very sad if indeed this rumor is true.
[Edit] I justified my purchase of YAM (yet another Mac) by returning my cable box earlier this month (~$900/yr).
Think about it... if you can fit a computer (running a variation of OSX) into the iPhone, why not make the mini even smaller? The big push among computer makers is now the $100-200 computer... the computer "for the rest of the world". Perhaps Steve sees opportunity there and will make the "micro mini" (or "Mac nano") that will serve the entry-level computer market for Apple. It makes no sense to take away a bottom tier product that could entice users to upgrade to "real" Apple hardware further down the line.
I'm hoping that it's replaced by a new slightly larger machine running a G965 chipset and E4000 series CPUs with desktop hard drives. Then again, this is Apple we're talking about. they'll probably just discontinue the two Mac Minis and the bottom two iMacs and make the platform even more unaccessible for both the education market those who want to make the jump. One thing remains though that the Mini is a very flawed system and is not competitive due to that notebook hard drive. I hope Jobs and Co is capable of understanding that.
I think the 'mini is a cute machine. But I won't buy one - due to it being a bit under powered. On the other hand, I won't buy a Mac tower due to it's size and noise factor. I had a MDD dual 1Ghz G4 tower and it was loud as everything. I have heard that the newer machines are quieter, but I want whisper quiet.
My mac pro is whisper quiet except for the clicky noises from the HDD. My MBP gets louder under load. The advantages of Intel vs PPC.
The mini was a great little machine when released. Woefully underpowered today. If updated to a C2D and Santa Rosa the price is fine as is.
Meh...AI sources have been wrong before. Killing the mini wouldn't make much sense if there's no replacement for the role...AppleTV can't operate standalone and the iMac is a sub-optimal home server.
If there were a cube sized home server with two HDD bays and ZFS you could have a nice little server to feed the iMac, MB, aTV scattered around the house.
I guess they are ready to take a lump on the chin in the Cinema display product line. I have more mini's and Apple Cinema display's than any other type of mac.
I may have to buy me one just to have around if mine takes a dump...
Oh, and I need to add to the criticism of the article: It might be sourced, but it's not clearly written. The title needs to be more clear about the nature of the rumor, as does the intro. It's like the article was written backwards.
I recently bought a Mini for one use - my front room media server. It is SO much better than the Apple TV it kills me. Every time I here of some new way to hack the Apple TV to get it to do something I laugh - the mini does it allready. I have it hooked uped to my TV now with the S-video adaptor (soon it will be to a new HD set with the HDMI adaptor) and optical audio out to mt surround detup. The Apple TV is currently only stereo. I can play ALL video formats I can find, All Audio formats I can find, play DVDs direectly in 5.1, stream video from the net, watch Joost, and stream-transfer files from all my other computers. Sure it cost twice as much as the Apple TV but with the Apple TV you need another computer anyway! The Mini does it all by itself! It has multiple USB and Firewire ports so expansion is no problem. Soon as I get a HD display I will add the Elgato HD TV tuner and have a HD PVR. Right now it has a Elgato EyeTV attached - works great. I guess what I'm saying is if Apple marketed the Mini as the entertainment hub and not as a do all computer (it's graphics engine and processor ar not as suited for gaming and high end stuff) it would sell many more. I sit across the room with a wireless keyboard and mouse and run everything. If they made front row work with Video_TS folders I would be in heaven, but for now I just go to DVD player and use that. Can you even play DVDs on a Apple TV?
I have almost exactly your setup and sentiments! I cannot agree harder how wonderful the mini is in providing a *FULL-FEATURED* media center including CD/DVD player as well as expandable storage (via ext drives) and the pièce de résistance is that you have a full Mac OS to use and navigate (web, apps, games, etc). All in a small(er) footprint!
Sure it may be a niche usage but it's a great solution and one full of potential as such, if properly promoted. But of course the realist in me knows that the Apple TV signals Apple's future direction.
In the Intel Mac World has the Mini ever made sense? It was designed as a cheap Mac aimed at the PC to Mac switcher. And that is what happened to me with the G4 model.
The thing is it uses Intel's mobile platform and mobile components - all more expensive and less powerful than desktop counterparts. If you buy a Mini, a keyboard, a mouse, a half-decent monitor, you might as well have stumped up that little bit more for a 17" iMac (2.0ghz Core 2 Duo, X1600, 1GB RAM, 160GB HD and super-drive) - a much more capable Mac.
Ok the Mini is small and sexy but it is expensive because of its mobile components. Now that you can actually compare a PC spec to a Mac spec, many PC owners might think about buying a Mac but then look at the spec and think, "I can buy a more powerful Dell with a keyboard, mouse and monitor for less." It is especially so because of its core duo.
Apart from the Mac Pro, all Macs make use of Intel's mobile platform. Obviously you'd expect this in mobile models but not in desktops. It also makes the iMac totally silent. But this means that Apple desktops are more expensive and less powerful than PC desktops using x86 desktop CPU's. Why is it Apple don't use Intel's CPU platform which has the greatest bang for your buck - those designed for the desktop?
For some odd reason Apple introduced the 24" iMac with a different motherboard design to the 17" & 20" models. Again that increases costs - 2 board designs rather than 1. Why? The 24" iMac board design is the future of the iMac platform? Or it is a temporary stopgap design until the nextgen of iMac but its being used to test out some ideas around user's GPU choice?
Another odd one - Boot Camp. What possible reasons would I have to use boot camp to run Windows rather than say Parallels? I can only think of one reason and that is playing Windows games. But why would I want to play Windows games on my Mac when the only GPU available to a Mac owner that a gamer can take seriously is the 7900XTX that is only available for the Mac Pro.
May be the lack of Mini updates, the odd things listed above, the rumor that started this thread, are because Apple are finally listening to people and re-energizing their desktop offerings. Updated iMacs and the headless Mac. A headless Mac would bring many advantages. It would allow Apple to create a highly configurable machine that would suit many people and many price points - from the buyer after the cheap Mac with entry dual-core CPU, Integrated graphics, small hd, combo-drive etc to the serious gamer who wants a quad-core CPU, two dual-core top of the range GPU video cards, large hd, oodles of memory etc. Every body is happy.
Comments
I myself was thinking of getting a Mac Mini. I want to learn some programming languages, want to experiment with Linux and other OSes. And I'm not going to do it on my main machine where all my important stuff is. So, buying a MIni and hooking it up to an old monitor is perfect for me. I have no interest in an Apple TV; I want a computer. Applle: do not be so foolish!
That's something that the Apple TV falls far short on. Apple TV is an economical machine for the technically illiterate. Myself, I have had a PC hooked up to a video projector and surround sound receiver for years and use it as my home theatre system. If I hadn't set that up before the Mac Mini's release, I might have bought a Mac Mini instead.
For those of us who can figure out how to run a video cord from a PC to a TV, the Apple TV just doesn't make sense.
TWO.
There were dozens of every other machine - iMacs, MacBooks, Mac Pros ... and two Mac Minis.
It's dead.
Sadly it's one of the more appealing Macs, I was going to get one later this year - I don't want an iMac as I want to share a decent sized monitor between systems, and I simply won't pay for a Mac Pro.
If it isn't updated or replaced, Apple have quite simply lost a sale. I won't be the only one either.
I've also got one managing automated accounts between an online web store and a company accounts system (MoneyWorks based) with Applescript and PHP syncing data between them. That's all it does. Anything bigger would be overkill.
When you don't need fancy graphics, but you need OSX, the little Mac Mini running headless with no monitor, keyboard or mouse makes a fantastic little appliance server brick. Log in via Remote Desktop and you're sorted.
For me, it'd be an immense loss to lose Apple's cheap headless mac for this kind of task.
I can only hope Kasper has it wrong or Apple have something like HP/Microsoft's Home Server in the wings or the return of the Cube. AppleTV is just not good enough for any of the tasks I use a Mini for, iMacs are too big and Mac Pro/Xserves needlessly expensive and even the much wanked over mid-tower would be overkill. This sucks if true.
if tne news is rite, sad so sad. But what is the alternative?
I was waiting for the next rev of the mini to function as my media center for my EDTV plasma, but when the new MacBooks came out, I sprung for the low-end model, which was just $994 incl. $100 Amazon rebate.
Having a screen is useful, I've found, as some preference pane windows won't fit on EDTV resolution.
As a media center, I needed a full blown Mac (either mini or MacBook), so I could: play DVDs, hook up an Elgato EyeTV Hybrid for DVR, have my entire iTunes library (35 GB and growing), and my entire iPhoto library (10 GB and growing). The AppleTV doesn't fit the bill in so many ways, so it will be very sad if indeed this rumor is true.
[Edit] I justified my purchase of YAM (yet another Mac) by returning my cable box earlier this month (~$900/yr).
19 days to go!
I think the 'mini is a cute machine. But I won't buy one - due to it being a bit under powered. On the other hand, I won't buy a Mac tower due to it's size and noise factor. I had a MDD dual 1Ghz G4 tower and it was loud as everything. I have heard that the newer machines are quieter, but I want whisper quiet.
My mac pro is whisper quiet except for the clicky noises from the HDD. My MBP gets louder under load. The advantages of Intel vs PPC.
The mini was a great little machine when released. Woefully underpowered today. If updated to a C2D and Santa Rosa the price is fine as is.
Meh...AI sources have been wrong before. Killing the mini wouldn't make much sense if there's no replacement for the role...AppleTV can't operate standalone and the iMac is a sub-optimal home server.
If there were a cube sized home server with two HDD bays and ZFS you could have a nice little server to feed the iMac, MB, aTV scattered around the house.
Vinea
I may have to buy me one just to have around if mine takes a dump...
I hate to be a rumor monger, but perhaps this means they'll slide the iMac down a little in specs to make more room for a mid-range tower... please!
Damn, I'd love that computer.
-Clive
I cannot take another mid size tower rumor. Please God, make it stop.
Yes, less than $500 again would be perfect. For many people that seems to be a real magic price point.
Think 2.5 times that...and a 20 display.
I recently bought a Mini for one use - my front room media server. It is SO much better than the Apple TV it kills me. Every time I here of some new way to hack the Apple TV to get it to do something I laugh - the mini does it allready. I have it hooked uped to my TV now with the S-video adaptor (soon it will be to a new HD set with the HDMI adaptor) and optical audio out to mt surround detup. The Apple TV is currently only stereo. I can play ALL video formats I can find, All Audio formats I can find, play DVDs direectly in 5.1, stream video from the net, watch Joost, and stream-transfer files from all my other computers. Sure it cost twice as much as the Apple TV but with the Apple TV you need another computer anyway! The Mini does it all by itself! It has multiple USB and Firewire ports so expansion is no problem. Soon as I get a HD display I will add the Elgato HD TV tuner and have a HD PVR. Right now it has a Elgato EyeTV attached - works great. I guess what I'm saying is if Apple marketed the Mini as the entertainment hub and not as a do all computer (it's graphics engine and processor ar not as suited for gaming and high end stuff) it would sell many more. I sit across the room with a wireless keyboard and mouse and run everything. If they made front row work with Video_TS folders I would be in heaven, but for now I just go to DVD player and use that. Can you even play DVDs on a Apple TV?
I have almost exactly your setup and sentiments! I cannot agree harder how wonderful the mini is in providing a *FULL-FEATURED* media center including CD/DVD player as well as expandable storage (via ext drives) and the pièce de résistance is that you have a full Mac OS to use and navigate (web, apps, games, etc). All in a small(er) footprint!
Sure it may be a niche usage but it's a great solution and one full of potential as such, if properly promoted. But of course the realist in me knows that the Apple TV signals Apple's future direction.
On the other hand, I won't buy a Mac tower due to it's size and noise factor.
I think the Mac Pro is very quiet. What noise factor are you referring to?
m
The thing is it uses Intel's mobile platform and mobile components - all more expensive and less powerful than desktop counterparts. If you buy a Mini, a keyboard, a mouse, a half-decent monitor, you might as well have stumped up that little bit more for a 17" iMac (2.0ghz Core 2 Duo, X1600, 1GB RAM, 160GB HD and super-drive) - a much more capable Mac.
Ok the Mini is small and sexy but it is expensive because of its mobile components. Now that you can actually compare a PC spec to a Mac spec, many PC owners might think about buying a Mac but then look at the spec and think, "I can buy a more powerful Dell with a keyboard, mouse and monitor for less." It is especially so because of its core duo.
Apart from the Mac Pro, all Macs make use of Intel's mobile platform. Obviously you'd expect this in mobile models but not in desktops. It also makes the iMac totally silent. But this means that Apple desktops are more expensive and less powerful than PC desktops using x86 desktop CPU's. Why is it Apple don't use Intel's CPU platform which has the greatest bang for your buck - those designed for the desktop?
For some odd reason Apple introduced the 24" iMac with a different motherboard design to the 17" & 20" models. Again that increases costs - 2 board designs rather than 1. Why? The 24" iMac board design is the future of the iMac platform? Or it is a temporary stopgap design until the nextgen of iMac but its being used to test out some ideas around user's GPU choice?
Another odd one - Boot Camp. What possible reasons would I have to use boot camp to run Windows rather than say Parallels? I can only think of one reason and that is playing Windows games. But why would I want to play Windows games on my Mac when the only GPU available to a Mac owner that a gamer can take seriously is the 7900XTX that is only available for the Mac Pro.
May be the lack of Mini updates, the odd things listed above, the rumor that started this thread, are because Apple are finally listening to people and re-energizing their desktop offerings. Updated iMacs and the headless Mac. A headless Mac would bring many advantages. It would allow Apple to create a highly configurable machine that would suit many people and many price points - from the buyer after the cheap Mac with entry dual-core CPU, Integrated graphics, small hd, combo-drive etc to the serious gamer who wants a quad-core CPU, two dual-core top of the range GPU video cards, large hd, oodles of memory etc. Every body is happy.
Merge the Mac Mini with a Drobo in one box.
http://www.drobo.com/
Make sure it's got gigabit ethernet and can act as a router so I don't need an airport extreme. Add AppleTV/Airtunes functionality too.
Go on Steve, it's Cube shaped...