No new Mac Mini or iMac

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  • Reply 81 of 240
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macxpress View Post


    Why they don't update it in between is beyond me, but its not going to fix anything by bitching up a storm here.



    Nope.



    Quote:

    I really wonder how many people bitching on this forum was really going to buy one? I know there are a few, but really how many?



    Me, but dunno really. I can't imagine that the mini has ever been a stellar seller.



    Quote:

    Finally...Apple is NEVER going to tell you when its releasing future products. They simply aren't going to do it. They never have, so why start now? To some extent not very companies tell you when things are going to be released before they're actually announced.



    They haven't because they haven't really needed to. MWSF and WWDC were two points folks could plan on getting some data points. If they really are moving toward nothing but special events out of the blue that's just plain annoying rather than secretive. 'Sides, there was value in the buzz associated with "What will Apple do next?" around these annual events. One that served Steve and Apple well.
  • Reply 82 of 240
    @homenow@homenow Posts: 998member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by backtomac View Post


    Nehalem Xenon chips are due in March.



    I predict there will be a special event in March, or late February at the earliest, and the entire desktop line up will get updated.



    And that'll be it for year for desktop machines. The laptops will get a refresh in the fall.



    Hasn't Apple been about a month or so behind Intel's release for most of the Macs they use them in for most releases for the past few years? If so that put's the release to April or May.



    Also has Apple ever released 3 new computers at one press conference? Seems a little too much for one event, they typically string them out a bit more.



    I see it as more realistic that they will put off the PM till WWDC and announce it with Snow Leopard. A special event for the Mini and iMac sometime in early February.
  • Reply 83 of 240
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by @homenow View Post


    Hasn't Apple been about a month or so behind Intel's release for most of the Macs they use them in for most releases for the past few years? If so that put's the release to April or May.

    .



    Mobile quad core parts are available now. Can't say for sure how long they've been shipping though.



    I know Apple haven't done an entire desktop upgrade before but it makes sense to me. If they're going to hold a special event they'll need to make it worth everyones time.



    Who knows?
  • Reply 84 of 240
    dhagan4755dhagan4755 Posts: 2,152member
    While you guys are bitching away at how the new Mac minis and iMacs were absent from Macworld, and how could that be, the processors have been available, consider this...I think iLife '09 is what's holding up the new mini and iMac. Although there have been exceptions to this rule, Apple's pretty much had a tradition of not announcing new products until the previous products they announced have started shipping. If we use that benchmark, I don't know if we'll see Mac minis or iMacs until the end of January when the 17-inch MacBook Pro and iLife '09 starts shipping — more specifically iLife '09. That would be an awfully long time to wait, IMHO, for updates to the desktop lines which are sorely needed at this point. But...they usually like to have an immediate availability with these products and if their major update of iLife apps isn't ready to be loaded onto the machines at the factory...
  • Reply 85 of 240
    Complaining about the Keynote is a cliché, but I will do so only for one reason:



    The mac mini is outdated, sure, but why not even a price drop in 14+ months. The white MacBook lost 100 bucks. Why can't we see even $50 dollars off the mini?



    In real-world applications, the mini now and the updated mini will likely not be too different, excepting the video card possibly (i'm saying this as most mini users are ms word/internet people I think), but paying 650 bucks (In Canada) for this machine is a little high.



    having just got an office and a nice samsung screen, I was looking forward to a new mini with a better video card to drive the 2048 line 23" screen which i'm not sure will look great on a current mini. But more importantly I just don't want to pay 650 dollars for a really old machine and, while I agree apple can charge what it wants and offer what it wants, it seems to me they mustn't sell many of these things at that price.



    End of January makes some sense due to iLife. If its much longer I will be tempted to wait for Snow-Leopard ... and by then Quads will be around the corner.



    It never ends.
  • Reply 86 of 240
    phongphong Posts: 219member
    The Mac Mini will never be updated. I've been saying it for a while now and I keep being right. The same excuse has been mentioned time and time again. Just wait a few more weeks. Apple is waiting for the other products to ship. I've been hearing that since August and I was ready to buy back then.



    The real truth is that they're going to leave the Mini alone until April 2010 or whatever ludicrous gall drives them to. Then they'll ditch it in favor of some stupid idea that replaces it. In all likelihood, that's exactly what's been holding it up. They keep trying to replace it with stupid ideas, but then say to themselves, "no wait, that's a stupid idea."
  • Reply 87 of 240
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by @homenow View Post


    Hasn't Apple been about a month or so behind Intel's release for most of the Macs they use them in for most releases for the past few years? If so that put's the release to April or May.



    Also has Apple ever released 3 new computers at one press conference? Seems a little too much for one event, they typically string them out a bit more.



    I see it as more realistic that they will put off the PM till WWDC and announce it with Snow Leopard. A special event for the Mini and iMac sometime in early February.



    It depends. While for some (a majority) they are a month behind, other times, especially with the mac pro, they have gotten chips from intel first, 2 to 4 weeks before anyone else.
  • Reply 88 of 240
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinea View Post


    Nope.



    Sure it does. It relieves frustration and anger. Plus it puts Apple on notice that people are tired of the wait.

    Quote:

    Me, but dunno really. I can't imagine that the mini has ever been a stellar seller.



    Amazing everyone wants to buy a new Mini but it isn't a great seller. I'm not sure why this gets constantly repeated as the Mini delivers excellent results for the vendors that carry it and make sales numbers public.

    Quote:

    They haven't because they haven't really needed to. MWSF and WWDC were two points folks could plan on getting some data points. If they really are moving toward nothing but special events out of the blue that's just plain annoying rather than secretive. 'Sides, there was value in the buzz associated with "What will Apple do next?" around these annual events. One that served Steve and Apple well.



    Yep the annual events are very important if you are an Apple customer. They are a very good way to get new tech into the public eye, it will be interesting to see how Apple gets the info out in the future. Or this could be a indication that Apple has a lot of boring products lined up for the future.



    I don't believe the boring part as I do believe the new Mini will ship soon. It won't be boring either but Apple will have trouble getting the word out.



    So yeah I think Apple is doing itself a big disservice here. Maybe they will discover quickly that MWSF did more for them and the allied suppliers than they realized. For many companies an excellent marketing forum is going down the drain. This could have a very negative impact on the Apple ecosystem. It will be interesting to see what happens with respect to this change, ibsee Apple and it's products becoming very boring.



    On a side note if Apple where to have a few events in Las Vegas I might be willing to travel west for the show. San Fran just doesn't have the appeal.



    Dave
  • Reply 89 of 240
    gwmacgwmac Posts: 1,807member
    The sad part about the Mini is that even when it was brand new nearly two years ago, it was already using out of date technology. If I am not mistaken Intel had already released the successor to their 950 integrated, I think it was called X3100 like in the previous Macbooks.



    When you factor in the slow and expensive 2.5" hard drives, slow and limited Ram expandability, what you really have is a pretty low end laptop without even a screen or keyboard. You can easily buy laptops that destroy the current Mini in every spec for about the same price or even cheaper.



    If Apple finally comes to their senses and allows 3.5" drives with similar specs to the Macbook in other areas it could be a halfway decent machine. Still no speed demon, but at least current. Every Mac owner, myself included, are used to paying an Apple tax for as much as twice as much as a similar PC. No getting around that, but you would hope for this premium price you could at least get halfway decent and current specs. Given that Apple took away firewire from the Macbook as well as refuses to include even an expresscard slot like practically every other laptop on the planet, my hopes are not high for a new Mini. It will probably be just if not more crippled.
  • Reply 90 of 240
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gwmac View Post


    The sad part about the Mini is that even when it was brand new nearly two years ago, it was already using out of date technology. If I am not mistaken Intel had already released the successor to their 950 integrated, I think it was called X3100 like in the previous Macbooks.



    The 950 was the latest at the time (Jan 2005). The X3100 was later. On the roadmap but not released for at least a year or more. That said, the X3100 drivers sucked anyway so while it's an improvement the X3100 machines were never really as much better as they should have been.
  • Reply 91 of 240
    rezwitsrezwits Posts: 878member
    I think I remember reading about how Apple is tired of releasing products only at events. This I think is a good thing. I will be glad when Apple gets to a point where they are like Sony or even Microsoft, and come out with a product whenever they want.



    This new scheme of releases would be great. If Apple wants to release 3 different types of external hard drives (example) in a week, then they update the front page of the website that week and it's over. I am sick of them having to have a keynote and a special gala just to release an iPod. Most companies release tons of new product every day, week and month.



    This will start a trend maybe for Apple to be like a normal company, and maybe lead to tons of different Apple products. Instead of 5 here and 6 here and a total (of what seems like) 30 products for the year. If you look at Sony the have thousands of products for sale and exhibit on there website daily. Apple usually has 60-80 products.



    I would like a new mac mini, but I am glad they maybe waiting till Intel releases a quad chip and then right after that is ready for a mac mini, then they will put out a new model. Instead of releasing a mac mini with a dual core just because of macworld and then having to wait a year or more for a new release after that for a quad (hopefully) even though a quad chip from Intel is waiting to be used, but wouldn't because Apple already released a machine...



    Laters...



    just really want a quad mm
  • Reply 92 of 240
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gwmac View Post


    If Apple finally comes to their senses and allows 3.5" drives with similar specs to the Macbook in other areas it could be a halfway decent machine. Still no speed demon, but at least current. Every Mac owner, myself included, are used to paying an Apple tax for as much as twice as much as a similar PC. No getting around that, but you would hope for this premium price you could at least get halfway decent and current specs. Given that Apple took away firewire from the Macbook as well as refuses to include even an expresscard slot like practically every other laptop on the planet, my hopes are not high for a new Mini. It will probably be just if not more crippled.



    3.5" drives would allow for higher capacity but the case would have to grow much larger. Storage really isn't the Mac mini's problem iMO (I own one) it's having faster graphics, CPU and more RAM! More RAM!



    I need 4GB and solid GPU performance.

    If I cared about storage I'd be looking for an SSD drive



    I'm sure we'll see something in a month from Apple.
  • Reply 93 of 240
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    I'd love for the Mac mini to include an eSATA port. 3rd party HD makers could then make matching mini bases that would satisfy people (like me) who would want larger and faster boot drives. Just have it come with a 3" SATA cable...
  • Reply 94 of 240
    hudson1hudson1 Posts: 800member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rezwits View Post


    I would like a new mac mini, but I am glad they maybe waiting till Intel releases a quad chip and then right after that is ready for a mac mini, then they will put out a new model. Instead of releasing a mac mini with a dual core just because of macworld and then having to wait a year or more for a new release after that for a quad (hopefully) even though a quad chip from Intel is waiting to be used, but wouldn't because Apple already released a machine...



    Laters...



    just really want a quad mm



    Do you think the revised mini will have a quad-core chip? I don't think there have been many prediction of such on these forums but who knows?
  • Reply 95 of 240
    expatexpat Posts: 110member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rezwits View Post


    I think I remember reading about how Apple is tired of releasing products only at events. This I think is a good thing. I will be glad when Apple gets to a point where they are like Sony or even Microsoft, and come out with a product whenever they want.



    I'm fine with this as well, and they have been doing this with their smaller events such as the iPod release of MacBook presentation. I think that the gripes come from the lack of those events as well. Its been over 500 days since the Mini was refreshed, so its not like Apple has been worried about the right event to do something. Ideally, any computer company should be able to keep up with the current technology out there to put in their machines. Apple has fallen way behind on the desktop front, so much so that people have speculated about the Mini's demise due to its parts becoming extinct.



    Personally, I'd love for speed bumps and such to be handled with press releases and new models in the stores. Pretty easy to handle, and we all wouldn't wait for the next event, since we knew we were getting what was current. However, apple seems to hold off until the time is right, which for the desktops has been longer than average, and then creates their own event. Really, all they seem to want to do is keep up the keynote atmosphere and approach, but on their oen calendar. Big Deal.



    And this all goes back to the "Apple Tax". When Apple comes up with a new product and when you look at its specs ad prices compared to similar PCs, they are always in the same ballpark. The problem is when a year goes by, and the apple machine has the same innards, while the PC model has upped its insides with what is current - that's when the "Apple tax" kicks in.



    Personally, I'd just like to see things like processor speeds go up when faster processors become available, that's it. The fact that they milk these products as long as they can just feels like they want to build hype, and then ride outdated parts late in the product cycle as a means of driving up profits.



    So yeah, I could care less about the Macworld keynotes, but at least they required apple to put something out on a regular basis, something which they haven;t done for us desktop users in a while.
  • Reply 96 of 240
    phongphong Posts: 219member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post


    I'm sure we'll see something in a month from Apple.



    Maybe something, but the Mini will stay exactly how it is.



    The Mini should have been updated three maybe four times since its last one. Why would they do anything with it when they can wait another six months and scrap it?
  • Reply 97 of 240
    I, too, was hoping to buy a new iMac soon but now fear that if I do, Apple will release a new version shortly thereafter. I'm hearing predictions from late January to May for the release. There's no way I want to wait until May so this kind of sucks. Let's say I bought one and 35 days later the new/refreshed iMacs are released - does anyone know what Apple's policy is towards exchanging it? I'm guessing they only let you do it 30 days from purchase but thought I'd see if anyone had heard otherwise.



    If I worked for Apple I would be pushing for an early February release to catch some tax refund purchases...but maybe that's just me.
  • Reply 98 of 240
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rezwits View Post


    just really want a quad mm



    If Apple updates the mini to use a socketed processor with a modern chipset, you'll only be a few screws and a few hundred bucks away from a quad mini.
  • Reply 99 of 240
    lxndrlxndr Posts: 2member
    I'm wondering whether the apple refurbstore gives any clues as to an upcoming new mac mini; it is not available as refurbished item, (just as the 'old' nano which has been replaced already)



    Would this indicate they have gone from switching broken mac mini's with a new one, to repairing the broken ones since they are phasing out this model? Apperantly they are low on stock of mac mini's the refurbs for sale are usually the products they won't be using to swap with users coming in with a complaint



    Anyone any historical experience with this?



    iLife release date gives hint too:



    Quote:

    If you buy a qualifying Mac between January 6, 2009, and March 28, 2009, and it does not include iLife '09, you're eligible to receive iLife '09 for just $9.95 plus tax.



  • Reply 100 of 240
    lxndrlxndr Posts: 2member
    About whether or not the mac mini sells well:



    Quote:

    “With the new Mac mini, Apple has now moved 50 percent of its entire product line to Intel within 60 days—a record transition,” said Philip Schiller



    This is in 2006, meaning that of all mac hardware related sales the mini adds up to 50%.......



    So the question whether the mac mini will be cancelled or not is answered.
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