An insert in the slot from the inside to close it up would be enough. These machines would be hidden away. Looks aren't that important. Or they could leave it open for better cooling of the dual drives.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GregAlexander
Interesting. You're right of course - but would Apple plan a cool-looking little product for the desktop on the one hand, while presuming the aesthetics are unimportant in server farms on the other hand?
Or would they actually take a step back and look at a better way of selling to the server farms? A custom machine that stacks very nicely, doesn't have wireless networking or DVDs, etc. If they ARE looking at that, then the rumour of future MacMini might not really be a mini at all, rather an Xserve-Lite.
Maybe the insert has 'das blinken lightens' that display HDD (dual SSD - ?!?) activity...
Looking ahead, he claims to have confirmed two of the following with "100%" certainty, while another is a highly probable guess based on recent changes to Apple's product lines:
The Mac mini will adopt the new Mini DisplayPort that was recently showcased on the Macbook line. This will save considerable port real estate on the back of the Mac mini.
Do you guys think that the new 24 inch display for notebooks could also power mac mini via its MagSafe connector? I think the new Display could be a wonderful companion for mac mini as well.
DisplayPort, 802.11n, and the Nvidea chipset are nearly certain. DDR3 and the removal of FireWire seem very likley. 128GB SSD might be a BTO option. 2GB RAM might be integrated as with the MacBook Air.
I've been following the mac mini quite closely and I believe it will evolve into the following:
2.0GHz or 2.4GHz processor
Intel Core 2 Duo 1066MHz frontside bus 3MB shared L2 cache
2GB (two 1GB) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM Option: Up to 4GB DDR3
160GB or 250GB Serial ATA, 5400 rpm NVIDIA GeForce 9400M with 256MB of shared DDR3 SDRAM
Now you'll be thinking - where did Gavin get these details, does he know something that we don't know - All I can say is (it's the current spec of the new macbooks)
All I hope for it that the Mac Mini is user upgradable (RAM and Hard Disk) - i.e. with a Phillips screwdriver, and now with a wall paper scraper and a hail Mary!
I don't see any information here. These people are basically saying what a lot of people are saying, which is that the Mini is a very useful machine and Apple would be really stupid to get rid of it. Amazon sales mean very little because as I said in the other thread, the matte MBP model is the highest selling Mac laptop on Amazon (second overall) but look what they did to matte.
I'll reserve judgement until I see an all-metal Mini with firewire, displayport, Nvidia chips, faster hard drives, easy access and a reasonable price. We'll probably find out in about 3 weeks.
Price will likely go up a bit if they do introduce a new model as they normally use the same parts as the Macbook as mentioned. They could keep prices down by removing the optical drive altogether. I don't even use mine any more. Add an extra USB port and I'll get two externals if I need to. If the prices go up by the same as the Macbook, it would make it a fair bit less cost-effective to use them in a server rack and they don't need the optical drives.
Do you guys think that the new 24 inch display for notebooks could also power mac mini via its MagSafe connector? I think the new Display could be a wonderful companion for mac mini as well.
I think you've got the idea. There's no way in the world that they developed this new display just for use as a second display with laptops. Talk about a small niche market!
I'll bet the new mini will be a 6" x 6" x 1" aluminum block, internally a MacBook with no display, keyboard, battery, or optical drive, and will plug right into the MagSafe connector on the new display. If it were me, I'd design it so that extra modules would plug into the top just like legos. Optical drive? Plug it in. Bigger hard drive? Better graphics card? Stack them all up. You'd have a stack of 6" x 6" x 1/2" boxes on top of your main box. They'd have to price it so each configuration would cost a little more than an equivalent iMac, but then they would have an expandable Mac that could never be mistaken for an e-waste beige box.
Personally I would LOVE a Mac mini with 1TB HDD. It would be the ultimate media PC. However, it would eat into Apple TV sales so I doubt Apple would make such a device.
(P.S. I'm also getting really annoying Jesus ads on AI now )
Mhhhhh, a new Mini... that would be pretty much the only thing that would disrupt (or at least severely delay) my "Buy a Macbook" plans right now... I certainly hope that Apple will breathe new life into this machine!
Quote:
Originally Posted by merdhead
Yes, if you have an angle grinder.
That line made my soul bleed. *huggles his trusty first-gen Mac Mini* Nuuuu, I won't cut you up!
Quote:
Originally Posted by melgross
They wouldn't really have to. An insert in the slot from the inside to close it up would be enough. These machines would be hidden away. Looks aren't that important. Or they could leave it open for better cooling of the dual drives.
While certainly a possibility, this doesn't sound like Apple to me. Would they really patch up their uber-neat, custom-made case like that? However, it's possible that they'll shuffle the case-making process around so that the slot for the optical drive becomes the last step (or one of them), so that they could branch off production lines there (one branch that cuts the slot into it, one that doesn't). That would eliminate a lot of redundancy (production lines would be the same most of the way) while still giving you a custom case. (Disclaimer: I am not intimately familiar with the Mini case-making process, so this is just my blind guessing.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacRonin
Maybe the insert has 'das blinken lightens' that display HDD (dual SSD - ?!?) activity...
I want to buy a Mac mini, but I need FireWire. What do you recommend? Wait until the new one comes out, or just buy the current? I would hate to wait until January only to find out that Apple removed the FireWire, and that the older version has run out in stores. But faster graphics would be nice. Quite a dilemma.
You can wait until they announce a new version. If you don't like the new one, order the old one from the clearance store.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IQatEdo
One of Apple's best computers!
(If only it had an old world serial port!)
In my experience, a USB to RS232 adapter works just fine.
Thank god! Thank you, AppleInsider, and macminicolo.net! My god, I didn't even think of all the mini-server applications! Instant scalability--neat idea! But, as I expected, there are many, many commercial installations that take advantage of the mini's unique form factor and stable OS. They also appear to be serving a variety of both media and not-so-media related roles in their installed commercial applications (slot machine back-ends?), which I think is very, very cool. It really is the ultimate kiosk machine and small-system controller/server/whatever. Now, I can confidently await the new MacMini's introduction, hopefully this fall, to complete my home theater, home automation, video surveillance (although, no off-the-shelf, OS X-based CCTV software exists that I know of--it's all Windows-only based stuff), art installations, and other cool, home-project kinda applications! All hail, the mighty MacMini lives another day!
there are currently 3 products totally unsupported: the mini, appleTV and Time Capsule.
no comment on the mini here again, but appleTV (their hobby) is lacking of a few features and Time Capsule, well... overpriced and totally useless given the state of the art amount of data all of us have at home. no expansion option available so far.
The other "fact" is the left over macbook white. Cute to keep it in their list, but what for? well, to match the transition they are undergoing. An entry system sort of as a good excuse for what?
So I would assume sort of a media/file-server to happen. its either a combination of:
1. Mini + newer hardware (MacBook)
2. Mini + appleTV -> media server
3. Mini + time capsule features (which would be the best, given it has an accessible hardware)
On the other hand, which wouldn't surprise me too much, would be to shrink it to state-of-the-art.
And for sure the mini is selling well. Probably not millions of units as the iPhone, but its the only headless device left (ignoring the MacPro... exchange rates!).
Steve, are you listening? Put the mini in a mini tower (design doesn't matter, if you want, make it a brick ;-) ), let us handle the hardware and we'll buy this product! Even for the price of the current mini you are far off the low price segment here in europe.
Comments
An insert in the slot from the inside to close it up would be enough. These machines would be hidden away. Looks aren't that important. Or they could leave it open for better cooling of the dual drives.
Interesting. You're right of course - but would Apple plan a cool-looking little product for the desktop on the one hand, while presuming the aesthetics are unimportant in server farms on the other hand?
Or would they actually take a step back and look at a better way of selling to the server farms? A custom machine that stacks very nicely, doesn't have wireless networking or DVDs, etc. If they ARE looking at that, then the rumour of future MacMini might not really be a mini at all, rather an Xserve-Lite.
Maybe the insert has 'das blinken lightens' that display HDD (dual SSD - ?!?) activity...
Maybe the insert has 'das blinken lightens' that display HDD (dual SSD - ?!?) activity...
I'm not sure how to respond to that.
Looking ahead, he claims to have confirmed two of the following with "100%" certainty, while another is a highly probable guess based on recent changes to Apple's product lines:
The Mac mini will adopt the new Mini DisplayPort that was recently showcased on the Macbook line. This will save considerable port real estate on the back of the Mac mini.
Do you guys think that the new 24 inch display for notebooks could also power mac mini via its MagSafe connector? I think the new Display could be a wonderful companion for mac mini as well.
DisplayPort, 802.11n, and the Nvidea chipset are nearly certain. DDR3 and the removal of FireWire seem very likley. 128GB SSD might be a BTO option. 2GB RAM might be integrated as with the MacBook Air.
I've been following the mac mini quite closely and I believe it will evolve into the following:
- 2.0GHz or 2.4GHz processor
- Intel Core 2 Duo 1066MHz frontside bus 3MB shared L2 cache
- 2GB (two 1GB) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM Option: Up to 4GB DDR3
- 160GB or 250GB Serial ATA, 5400 rpm NVIDIA GeForce 9400M with 256MB of shared DDR3 SDRAM
Now you'll be thinking - where did Gavin get these details, does he know something that we don't know - All I can say is (it's the current spec of the new macbooks)All I hope for it that the Mac Mini is user upgradable (RAM and Hard Disk) - i.e. with a Phillips screwdriver, and now with a wall paper scraper and a hail Mary!
(If only it had an old world serial port!)
I'll reserve judgement until I see an all-metal Mini with firewire, displayport, Nvidia chips, faster hard drives, easy access and a reasonable price. We'll probably find out in about 3 weeks.
Price will likely go up a bit if they do introduce a new model as they normally use the same parts as the Macbook as mentioned. They could keep prices down by removing the optical drive altogether. I don't even use mine any more. Add an extra USB port and I'll get two externals if I need to. If the prices go up by the same as the Macbook, it would make it a fair bit less cost-effective to use them in a server rack and they don't need the optical drives.
Say hello to the Mac Nano
Even thinner
Close to MacBook specs
Black & Silver to match new displays
Do you guys think that the new 24 inch display for notebooks could also power mac mini via its MagSafe connector? I think the new Display could be a wonderful companion for mac mini as well.
I think you've got the idea. There's no way in the world that they developed this new display just for use as a second display with laptops. Talk about a small niche market!
I'll bet the new mini will be a 6" x 6" x 1" aluminum block, internally a MacBook with no display, keyboard, battery, or optical drive, and will plug right into the MagSafe connector on the new display. If it were me, I'd design it so that extra modules would plug into the top just like legos. Optical drive? Plug it in. Bigger hard drive? Better graphics card? Stack them all up. You'd have a stack of 6" x 6" x 1/2" boxes on top of your main box. They'd have to price it so each configuration would cost a little more than an equivalent iMac, but then they would have an expandable Mac that could never be mistaken for an e-waste beige box.
Well, that's what I'd do, anyway....
Personally I would LOVE a Mac mini with 1TB HDD. It would be the ultimate media PC. However, it would eat into Apple TV sales so I doubt Apple would make such a device.
(P.S. I'm also getting really annoying Jesus ads on AI now
Let's hope they don't neglect it.
Yes, if you have an angle grinder.
That line made my soul bleed. *huggles his trusty first-gen Mac Mini* Nuuuu, I won't cut you up!
They wouldn't really have to. An insert in the slot from the inside to close it up would be enough. These machines would be hidden away. Looks aren't that important. Or they could leave it open for better cooling of the dual drives.
While certainly a possibility, this doesn't sound like Apple to me. Would they really patch up their uber-neat, custom-made case like that? However, it's possible that they'll shuffle the case-making process around so that the slot for the optical drive becomes the last step (or one of them), so that they could branch off production lines there (one branch that cuts the slot into it, one that doesn't). That would eliminate a lot of redundancy (production lines would be the same most of the way) while still giving you a custom case. (Disclaimer: I am not intimately familiar with the Mini case-making process, so this is just my blind guessing.)
Maybe the insert has 'das blinken lightens' that display HDD (dual SSD - ?!?) activity...
...KITT LED Light Scanner mod, please?
I want to buy a Mac mini, but I need FireWire. What do you recommend? Wait until the new one comes out, or just buy the current? I would hate to wait until January only to find out that Apple removed the FireWire, and that the older version has run out in stores. But faster graphics would be nice. Quite a dilemma.
You can wait until they announce a new version. If you don't like the new one, order the old one from the clearance store.
One of Apple's best computers!
(If only it had an old world serial port!)
In my experience, a USB to RS232 adapter works just fine.
there are currently 3 products totally unsupported: the mini, appleTV and Time Capsule.
no comment on the mini here again, but appleTV (their hobby) is lacking of a few features and Time Capsule, well... overpriced and totally useless given the state of the art amount of data all of us have at home. no expansion option available so far.
The other "fact" is the left over macbook white. Cute to keep it in their list, but what for? well, to match the transition they are undergoing. An entry system sort of as a good excuse for what?
So I would assume sort of a media/file-server to happen. its either a combination of:
1. Mini + newer hardware (MacBook)
2. Mini + appleTV -> media server
3. Mini + time capsule features (which would be the best, given it has an accessible hardware)
On the other hand, which wouldn't surprise me too much, would be to shrink it to state-of-the-art.
And for sure the mini is selling well. Probably not millions of units as the iPhone, but its the only headless device left (ignoring the MacPro... exchange rates!).
Steve, are you listening? Put the mini in a mini tower (design doesn't matter, if you want, make it a brick ;-) ), let us handle the hardware and we'll buy this product! Even for the price of the current mini you are far off the low price segment here in europe.