Apple debuts new Mac minis with five times better graphics

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  • Reply 161 of 206
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    1) Get an AppleTV instead, unless you really want it to be a computer for your TV and not a media extender. Then you can just use a single HDMI cable.



    2) Get a mDP or mDVI to HDMI or DVI connector (whatever your TV has) at Monoprice.com. As well as an optical audio cable, though a 3.5mm to RCA audio cable will work, too.



    If you have a Full-HD TV, you'd be disappointed with the max 7120p that AppleTV outputs.



    I connect my MacBook Pro to my HDTV to view photos, email, web surf and even do presentations from VectorWorks. Maybe even crank up World of Goo or Call of Duty 4!



    There's something incredibly cool about showing photos and being able to switch to Safari and Google to find some info, look at satellite photos or maps or even find local music online. I can even pass around my wireless keyboard and mouse! You CANNOT do that with an Apple TV! The mini is MUCH more flexible!
  • Reply 162 of 206
    dobbydobby Posts: 797member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Frank777 View Post


    I'm anxiously awaiting the first reviews of how the new Mini runs Adobe's Design suite.





    I'm anxiously awaiting the updates on how to replace 1GB with 4GB ram and replace the 120GB HD with an SSD. Already got my plastic putty knifes n magnetic screwdriver at the ready



    Dobby
  • Reply 163 of 206
    drboardrboar Posts: 477member
    The Dell Studio is a design object with plenty of way more powerful Dell Computers aviable at the same price point as well as much cheaper ones of similar performance.

    Apple does not have a entry level mac any more, what they have done is taking the macbook remove a 13" screen, keyboard and batteries, folded what is left in a very small box and charge the same price more or less.



    An example I have a G4 tower (1.2 GHz, 1.5 GB RAM 750 GB HD) and a 2 year old 1920x1200 TFT.

    Replacement options.

    Mac Mini. =I have to settle with a to small HD and have to allways use an external drive.

    iMac=Why pay for a monitor when I allready have one

    mac Pro=the former low end octacore seem to be a better deal than the current quadcore.

    macbook= Relly do not need a portable as I prefer to have my documents on gmail or a usb-stick if I need to move them.



    Perhaps the next Mini in 2012 will be better....
  • Reply 164 of 206
    aizmovaizmov Posts: 989member
    Apple really blew it with the Mini update.

    A $100 pricecut, plus 2GB and 2.2 C2D as standard would cut it for me.
  • Reply 165 of 206
    cycomikocycomiko Posts: 716member
    Quote:

    Mac mini is the world’s most energy-efficient desktop computer.* When it’s idle, Mac mini uses less than 13 watts — that’s 45 percent less energy than ever before.



    *Claim based on energy efficiency categories and products listed within the EPA ENERGY STAR 4.0 database as of February 2009.





    As far as I can tell, there is also the eeebox in the EPA Energystar database. Does the mac mini with its fancier GPU and larger CPU really use less energy than an eeebox with a 1.6 atom and intel GPU?
  • Reply 166 of 206
    rokkenrokken Posts: 236member
    United Kingdom is really the only place in Europe I've seen that sells these new machines pretty much at the same price as U.S after you take currency into account. In all other countries that use Euro, Krone, they are charging around 120 Euro more than before.



    If they want to adjust the pricing with currency so the margin doesn't go down in the other countries, why not keep the correct pricing so the margin doesn't go up? I usually don't call Apple's products rip-off because I think they well worth it, but not when you were paying as much as the others yesterday and suddenly have to pay that much more than the others for nothing(nothing more than what people in U.S and GB receive).
  • Reply 167 of 206
    ssassa Posts: 47member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dm3 View Post


    I can't believe its taken Apple a year from the last too minor update to come up with this. How many Apple developers does it take to screw in a light bulb?



    Apple's marketing is less than optimal. They still refuse to target the HTPC market. Slightly bigger case, allow 3.5" hard drives, more storage for HTPC and lower price point for switchers.



    Other than that, its an acceptable although not extraordinary minor update.



    Inclusion of FW800 seems confusing, mostly with the conspicuous removal of firewire from the aluminum Macbook. That appears to have been a mistake.



    I agree that with how long it took I somehow expected a slightly more radical upgrade, but this upgrade really brings this machine back into the limelight for people to at least consider it.



    Nevertheless I really think that Apple should have considered making the Mac Mini slightly thicker and offered either a 3.5" HDD or a 2 2.5" HDDs for a RAID setup. The Mac Mini's small form factor makes it ideally well suited for two tasks: SFF server or an HTPC. Those interested in the machine as a HTPC would probably prefer the larger HDD because HD content makes 500GB an absolute minimum and 1-2TB highly desirable. Those running these machines as server though would probably prefer to have 2 2.5" HDDs so that they could have some redundancy. Right now the machine doesn't seem perfect for either target audience.



    Now that the base model not only has a dual core processor, but also a SuperDrive what exactly is the selling point for the higher end Mac Mini anymore? As some people have noted you could upgrade the HDD to a 500GB drive and 4GB of DDR3 for about the same price as Apple charges $200 for the more modest upgrade of a 320GB HDD and 2GB of DDR3. Either Apple should cut the price on the higher end model or they should give you something to make the upgrade worth your while. The profit margin will no doubt be good on the higher end model, but I think that the sales of the higher end model will be really weak compared to previous generations of the Mac Mini. AFAIK the lower end Mac Mini model has consistently outsold the higher end model by a wide margin, but I think that the sales of the higher end model will only decline even more.



    If I were Apple I would also look into the possibility of an optional BD-ROM drive. For an additional $150-200 you get the drive plus a new version of iDVD that plays back Blu-ray. Since the Geforce 9400 is HDCP compliant and has sufficient processing power to handle it the only thing missing is playback software. Including that along with a minor improvement in memory and HDD would make a very provocative upgrade that a lot of people would take.



    As it stands right now the higher end Mac Mini seems like stupid purchase on launch day and in 3-4 months when HDDs and DDR3 memory are even cheaper nevermind 6-9 months from now when this same model may still be the most current model only somebody who is absolutely clueless that one can upgrade their own memory or HDD is going to take Apple up on the $799 Mac Mini. Heck, even if you weren't comfortable doing it you could pay somebody $50 for their labor and still come out ahead today nevermind 3-6 months from now.
  • Reply 168 of 206
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SSA View Post




    As it stands right now the higher end Mac Mini seems like stupid purchase on launch day and in 3-4 months when HDDs and DDR3 memory are even cheaper nevermind 6-9 months from now when this same model may still be the most current model only somebody who is absolutely clueless that one can upgrade their own memory or HDD is going to take Apple up on the $799 Mac Mini. Heck, even if you weren't comfortable doing it you could pay somebody $50 for their labor and still come out ahead today nevermind 3-6 months from now.



    I disagree. The mac mini upgrade is the only one that has taken an appreciable step forward in functionality.



    1. Faster graphics

    2. Latest Wifi Networking

    3. Dual monitor support

    4. DDR-3 and 1066 bus



    The processor didn't jump that far but the 4GB memory ceiling helps. I think it represents the best real world value for consumers. Sure it's not a gaming machine but it can game enough. It comes pretty well stocked in it's SFF. Gigabit and Bluetooth included.



    I find it far less perplexing to understand where the money is going versus the Quad Core Mac Pro which seems artificially inflated in price.
  • Reply 169 of 206
    trumptmantrumptman Posts: 16,464member
    I'm fine with these updates. It is pretty cool to imagine a mini having dual monitor support. I really wish Apple weren't so stingy with the RAM and HD updates but the prices are so cheap it is hard to sweat that too much. In a household like mine where a couple G4 towers are still being used daily, this would be a no-brainer for replacing them.
  • Reply 170 of 206
    woohoo, have been waiting for the mini bump. now i'm just gonna wait til the snow leopard bump and i'll be picking one of these up
  • Reply 171 of 206
    hiimamachiimamac Posts: 584member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ecking View Post


    Exactly! Only 2 macs do not have firewire of some sort! The macbook air and the aluminum macbook. Where are all the firewire is a pro feature apologists!? Even for the slimness they could have found a way to make it work on the current aluminum macbooks.



    Look, personally, I am estatic that Apple released a decent GPU with FIREWIRE on a device that is under $1000. If it runs GAMES (3d), it will run Motion, Illustrator and perhaps FCP unless in the EFI Apple somehow crippled FCP, Pro Apps (would no be surprised), but lets hope I'm wrong.



    Anyway, FIREWIRE WAS NEVER EVER EVER EVER about being a PRO DEVICE.



    I'll explain this again and see if someone can explain why Apple did this.

    With the first generation Macbook, Rev 1, rev 2, rev 3, OPEN_GL benchmarked at 70%, 120% then 171% when the Macbooks got Leopard. Keep in mind, you still couldn't play games but according to barefeats, you could RUN PRO APPS, especially MOTION, FINAL CUT. Personally, I benchmarked all the machines first hand when I worked for Apple. This story gained a lot of traction and PRO users started buying the MB for a 2nd machine (emphasis on 2nd machine), but when the next rev came out, it was a X300 or X1300, and the bench mark for OPEN GL went all the way down to 70% again rendering MOTION and PRO APPS Useless, it didn't do anything else, no improved battery life, no faster benchmarks, not cheaper, so, you have to ask yourself, why did they do it? They did it to cripple PRO apps running on the macbook Pro.



    So, when the latest Aluminum came out (UNI BODY), by omitting firewire they essentially did they same thing, knowing that PRO users would need FIREWIRE for their video camcorders, they were screwed, so it made the MACBOOK able to run PRO APPS but there was no firewire for editing video. Only this time, not only were the VIDEO ENTHUSIAST, plus all the thousand of mom and pops who signed up with One To One (What I did), they complained that they could not connect a cam corder with their new macbook, but musicians were peeved as MOST PRO AUDIO DEVICES use firewire, so thousands of musician were left out in the cold. Not to mention the I.T. pro that could no longer run the MB in target mode. Again, this is not about PRO use for firewire but more about APPLE saying NO PRO APPS with a laptop.



    This can be further ilustarted in that last QTR prooves that LAPTOPS far out sell desktops (and MINIS), not to mention no REMOTE EDITING (mini), so Apple (if not crippled with EFI and you can run PRO APPS) probably figures, the machines are not mobile and they won't lose to much as the PRO will still need a laptop for remote editing, something you cant do with a mini.

    Should be interesting to see if APple threw us a bone of if they crippled it.



    The irony is that Apple would have received MORE sales as the PRO also needs the express slot many times and a MACBOOK with decent GPU and FIREWIRE would have been a 2nd device for most, not first, now there is a good chance the mini might end up in edit bays and audio bays.





    WIl have to wait to see the benchmarks for PRO APPS.



    I think APPLE should redo te FIREWIRE on the MAACBOOK, nothing about design as the slimmy move they did with the 1st-3rd rev proves that the only people affected with the lame X3100, were PRO APP users.
  • Reply 172 of 206
    hudson1hudson1 Posts: 800member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hiimamac View Post


    ....

    I'll explain this again and see if someone can explain why Apple did this.

    With the first generation Macbook, Rev 1, rev 2, rev 3, OPEN_GL benchmarked at 70%, 120% then 171% when the Macbooks got Leopard. Keep in mind, you still couldn't play games but according to barefeats, you could RUN PRO APPS, especially MOTION, FINAL CUT. Personally, I benchmarked all the machines first hand when I worked for Apple. This story gained a lot of traction and PRO users started buying the MB for a 2nd machine (emphasis on 2nd machine), but when the next rev came out, it was a X300 or X1300, and the bench mark for OPEN GL went all the way down to 70% again rendering MOTION and PRO APPS Useless, it didn't do anything else, no improved battery life, no faster benchmarks, not cheaper, so, you have to ask yourself, why did they do it? They did it to cripple PRO apps running on the macbook Pro.

    ....



    Curious... was this a result of Leopard or the change from Intel GMA 950 to X3100 integrated graphics? On paper, the X3100 should have been more capable but maybe that didn't extend to OpenGL.
  • Reply 173 of 206
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hiimamac View Post


    Look, personally, I am estatic that Apple released a decent GPU with FIREWIRE on a device that is under $1000. If it runs GAMES (3d), it will run Motion, Illustrator and perhaps FCP unless in the EFI Apple somehow crippled FCP, Pro Apps (would no be surprised), but lets hope I'm wrong.



    <additional ranting deleted>



    You do realize that the white macbook has firewire and the same 9400M right?



    Quote:

    I'll explain this again and see if someone can explain why Apple did this.

    With the first generation Macbook, Rev 1, rev 2, rev 3, OPEN_GL benchmarked at 70%, 120% then 171% when the Macbooks got Leopard. Keep in mind, you still couldn't play games but according to barefeats, you could RUN PRO APPS, especially MOTION, FINAL CUT. Personally, I benchmarked all the machines first hand when I worked for Apple. This story gained a lot of traction and PRO users started buying the MB for a 2nd machine (emphasis on 2nd machine), but when the next rev came out, it was a X300 or X1300, and the bench mark for OPEN GL went all the way down to 70% again rendering MOTION and PRO APPS Useless, it didn't do anything else, no improved battery life, no faster benchmarks, not cheaper, so, you have to ask yourself, why did they do it? They did it to cripple PRO apps running on the macbook Pro.



    Revs A-C had the GMA950. The reference GMA 950 drivers from Intel aren't the best but at least they were mature.



    Revs D-F had the GMA X3100. The Intel drivers SUCKED for the X3100 for a long long time and never really got optimized. The chip never performed as well as it should have on either windows or osx. No conspiracy. And probably one reason that Apple moved to nVidia vs staying intel.



    Second, XBench sucked as a benchmark...which was what sparked that rumor that the new MacBooks with the X3100 were worse at OpenGL than the older MacBooks The Cinebench10 results showed the GMA950 as scoring 1260 vs the X3100 scoring 2030 on the OpenGL tests.



    Finally, your assertion is completely wrong. Bearfeats benchmarked the santa rosa macbooks as faster than the original macbooks in iMaginator, Motion and Cinebench. Not really usable but still faster.



    http://www.barefeats.com/mbook1.html



    Remind me not to trust the Apple "genius" that mans the one to one stations. You'll have to explain how Apple is going to cripple just "pro apps" in the EFI sometime too. Especially given that Photoshop is a "pro app" that worked just fine on the MacBook.
  • Reply 174 of 206
    mj webmj web Posts: 918member
    Let me understand this. The Mini comes with OSX, iLife '09, Nvida graphics, DDR3, Intel C2D, a Super Drive, a $100 printer rebate, iWorks for $40 -- all this for $599 -- and you misers bitch about it?



    Give me a break!
  • Reply 175 of 206
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by domerdel2 View Post


    I'm hoping my ram upgrade will auto-allocate 256 (instead of 128) to the GPU



    @domerdel2:



    I'm very interested in this matter as I wanted to do the same thing, please post any news when you're done, it'd be very appreciated!



    Cheers



    TIA



    nipponjin
  • Reply 176 of 206
    hudson1hudson1 Posts: 800member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nipponjin View Post


    @domerdel2:



    I'm very interested in this matter as I wanted to do the same thing, please post any news when you're done, it'd be very appreciated!



    Cheers



    TIA



    nipponjin



    If you believe this poster on another well-respected site, then this should be your green light.





    "I just bought the lower end mac mini ($599) model at my local apple store and I love it.



    It runs much faster than I'd imagined and I have it currently hooked up to my 24" LED ACD and works great.



    I installed the 320gb hitachi travelstar 7200rpm hdd into it and swapped the RAM out for to 4GB.



    I can 100% confirm that even if you get the lower end mac mini the 128mb of vram goes up to 256vram once you go higher than 1gb.



    So basically DONT BUY THE $799 MODEL, its still almost $150 cheaper to buy the lower end (same 2.0ghz) and buy the 320gb hitachi travelstar 7200rpm hdd which costs only $60 and 4gb of RAM for around $54."






    http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/...1#463001647931
  • Reply 177 of 206
    kgavkgav Posts: 16member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by EvilMole View Post


    Actually, as of today and in the UK, that's not accurate. The closest-equivalent Studio Hybrid (with not-so-good graphics, but twice the memory and HD space) costs £449 versus Apple's £499.



    But, of course, you don't have to buy a Studio Hybrid. You can buy a Studio instead with a not-totally-lame case and better specs than Apple's £649 model for £379 (with 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo, rather than a 2.0GHz one). While paying a little bit more is fine, paying 71% more seems a little extreme.



    Compare like models only do not throw in towers or mini-towers.



    Hmm, I don't think you actually investigated the specs on the dell Studio Hybrid. The base model Dell Studio Hybrid comes with a 2.0GHz Intel® Pentium? Dual Core T4200 vs the Mac Mini's 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. A 160GB hard drive and lists wireless draft-n as an option. And Vista Home Basic. Upgrading to a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, Vista Ultimate bumps the price up to $699 then add Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Elements and it's $798. And the wireless is listed as an option but I can't find where to add it yet.
  • Reply 178 of 206
    pjapja Posts: 6member
    Does it come with a separate copy of Leopard so I can do a custom install and remove all the language packs and printer drivers?
  • Reply 179 of 206
    originalgoriginalg Posts: 383member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh View Post


    Actually, some of the photos were either fakes (where the person had seen one? or was an Apple mock-up) because the fan holes vary depending upon your source.



    http://images.apple.com/macmini/imag...ts20090303.jpg

    http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget....-09macmini.jpg



    Strange...



    Actually not fake! The picture on the outside of the real box isn't a picture of the real product:



    http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/04/a...-and-hands-on/



    pic on box has 9 vents, actual product has 10.



    So much for Apple's attention to detail!!!
  • Reply 180 of 206
    Thank you so much Hudson1 for the link to the post!

    Really appreciate it



    Cheers



    nipponjin
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