Mac Mini price drop/upgrade soon?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Hi guys



I'm one of those guys that's looking to switch to Apple.

I'm currently still working on a P4 1.6Ghz Dell with only 256MB RAM, but am looking to change soon.



Considering Computers aren't really a priority to me, I'm looking to spend as few as possible, and want to keep my screen + speakers and all the rest.



So, the Mac Mini would be perfect, but at the moment, I think it's quite pricy, and considering the recent Core Duo price drops, I was wondering if you guys think Apple is gonna update the thing or at least cut the price of it anytime soon? Thanks in advance.
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 34
    furious_furious_ Posts: 88member
    i would expect a bump around september - but i think that would be the earliest (to MacBook specs)



    of course i have no proof of this



    why? well the mini is the switcher machine, so apple has to keep cost low. september is around the start of the christmas buying season.
  • Reply 2 of 34
    I'm also on the fence about replacing this G4 400 Mhz tower with the mini. Wasn't the last upgrade in February? Or rather, wasn't that when the switch to intel chips happened in the mini?

    I think the mini needs to be upgraded next month, that would be six months since last upgrade. RAM needs to be brought up to 1Gig also.



    I agree its over-priced for what it is right now.
  • Reply 3 of 34
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by code mechanic

    I'm also on the fence about replacing this G4 400 Mhz tower with the mini. Wasn't the last upgrade in February? Or rather, wasn't that when the switch to intel chips happened in the mini?

    I think the mini needs to be upgraded next month, that would be six months since last upgrade. RAM needs to be brought up to 1Gig also.



    I agree its over-priced for what it is right now.




    Yup. I'm waiting for Apple to price it right and make it right. I'm hoping by late August for back to school they will come to their senses and price it right.

    If they made a matte black iMac I would probably go for that, but it doesnt seem likely.
  • Reply 4 of 34
    xflarexflare Posts: 199member
    Im hoping for a price drop/change in specs too. The core solo Mini is a pretty bad deal I think.
  • Reply 5 of 34
    gargar Posts: 1,201member
    First things first: the iMac.



    Whine as loud as you can because the 1GB ram standard in the Mac mini is far, far, far away.



    And indeed the 1.5Ghz Core Solo isn't a good deal. But don't expect the specs being upped to MacBook level.

    The Mac mini is the entry level Mac with a corresponding price.

    Expect 1.67-1.83Ghz Core Duo's and maybe a price drop.



    After the iMac has been updated.



    [edit] I don't consider the 1.67Ghz Mac mini a good deal either. [/edit]
  • Reply 6 of 34
    leonisleonis Posts: 3,427member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by xflare

    Im hoping for a price drop/change in specs too. The core solo Mini is a pretty bad deal I think.





    Both solo and duo MacMini have poor value from day one. Now it's even worse when MacBook is released.



    Compare the CoreDuo MacMini with a low-end MacBook. When you are getting the mini with monitor, keyboard, mouse. The cost is higher than the MacBook. Not to mention Mini has slower processor and you can't take it anywhere like MacBook does.



    I would call the CoreDuo Mini a rip off.



    I like my MacBook, by the way
  • Reply 7 of 34
    xflarexflare Posts: 199member
    How much do you think the core solo chip costs Apple? And as far as i'm aware, was there ever a 1.5ghz solo chip? I thought it was 1.66?



    And you are correct about the MacBook..... you are, effectively, getting a monitor, a mouse (trackpad), useable speakers, keyboard and a much faster chip. None of which come with the Mini.
  • Reply 8 of 34
    I believe the Mini will be updated but not until september at the earliest, Apple will give the mini a bit of an overhaul for the Mac Expo in Paris and I believe it will have:



    1.83GHz and 2.0GHz

    512 MB of Ram

    new Intel G965 Graphic chipset

    Quote:

    News from Computex Taipei 2006.



    The next generation of Intel G965 graphic chipset has been officially named to Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3000, expected to be released between 14th Aug to 18th Sept. It is the first DirextX 9 and Shader Model 3.0 supported Intel IGP product. Differ from other chipsets, in which the 3D rendering unit and video processing unit are separated, Intel GMA X3000 merged them to a single programmable executions unit. The flexible design of the unit ensured every execution unit are kept in busy, thus enhancing the performance. It is easy to imagine that the workers who are capable to handle both 3D and video execution must be working in more efficient.



    In addition, the DVMT memory management has been upgraded to 4.0, providing a faster way to data fetching, and can be shared up to 256M of the system memory. Actually, Intel GMA X3000 has a lot of change compared to the previous version, such as hardware T&L and Clipping, improved Early Z engine with new Occlusion Query, improved Anisotropic Filtering with Dynamic 16 sample, and upgraded 32bit Floating Point Precision. Its Clear Video Technology also supports VC-1(WMV9) and AVC(H.264) hardware acceleration,providing Advanced DeInterlacing、Proc Amp Color Control and High quality Video Scalar. Intel is now coming to be the strong competitor to nVidia and ATi!



    Source: http://www.hkepc.com/bbs/news.php?t...0&endtime=0



    The MacBook will also get Intels new chip, but perhaps a month later (but in time for the holiday shopping season) and the people who say that the mini wont get the 1.83GHz and 2.GHz chips are the same people who said that the MacBook would have a 1.66GHz Core Solo and Core Duo chip... and we {now} know how right they were (Not meant for anyone to be offended, just poking some fun)



    The iMacs will go Conroe, The MacBook Pros will go Merom and the MacBook will eventually have the highest Yonah available.



    Anyways this is just some really educated guessing but I do feel that I am right about this... and if I'm not you guys can come and use me as a piñata
  • Reply 9 of 34
    gargar Posts: 1,201member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Darth_Apple

    1.83GHz and 2.0GHz

    512 MB of Ram

    new Intel G965 Graphic chipset





    Dream al you want.



    Eventually it will get there in 2007
  • Reply 10 of 34
    macroninmacronin Posts: 1,174member
    For those who bitch about Apple pricing?



    Those who know call it the "Apple Tax" for a reason?



    You pay for the extras?



    In the case of the mini, yeah, a comperable-speced system from a PC vendor would be less?



    But it wouldn't be so compact, wouldn't have OS X or iLife & wouldn't look so damned cool?!



    Get over it folks, Apple is in business to make money?



    That's why they call it a for-profit business?



    If you have to pay a (ever so) slight premium, well, I for one think it is worth it?
  • Reply 11 of 34
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    The $599 mini would be acceptable if it had the Core Duo in it. As of now, it is el suckamundo.
  • Reply 12 of 34
    zandroszandros Posts: 537member
    The newest revisions of the 1.66 GHz Core Duo chip are not supposed to include Intel's virtualization technology. This might cause Apple to update?
  • Reply 13 of 34
    imacfanimacfan Posts: 444member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacRonin



    In the case of the mini, yeah, a comperable-speced system from a PC vendor would be less?




    Actually, in a similar (but ugly) form factor, they are much, much more.



    David
  • Reply 14 of 34
    Its frustrating.

    I have the OK from the boss to get the mini, my current tower is dog slow, but I just can't do it.

    I'll have to use whatever I buy for 4, maybe 5 years.

    I don't understand why the "consumer" desktop is so much slower than the "consumer" portable. Usually, its the other way around. The price difference between the mini and the macbook should be easily explained by the fact that the macbook gets you portability, a keyboard, monitor, trackpad, and camera.



    More frequent chip upgrades from Intel should mean less time between upgrades from Apple.



    c'mon Apple. Make my mini.
  • Reply 15 of 34
    gargar Posts: 1,201member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by code mechanic

    Its frustrating.

    I have the OK from the boss to get the mini, my current tower is dog slow, but I just can't do it.

    I'll have to use whatever I buy for 4, maybe 5 years.

    I don't understand why the "consumer" desktop is so much slower than the "consumer" portable. Usually, its the other way around. The price difference between the mini and the macbook should be easily explained by the fact that the macbook gets you portability, a keyboard, monitor, trackpad, and camera.



    More frequent chip upgrades from Intel should mean less time between upgrades from Apple.



    c'mon Apple. Make my mini.




    4-5 years with a Mac mini is a very, very long time.

    Kick your boss.

    The Mac mini is not the Apple "consumer" desktop, that's the iMac.



    It's intended to get you into looking at a Mac seriously, not to sell you the Mac mini but the more profitable MacBook or iMac (etc.).
  • Reply 16 of 34
    dcqdcq Posts: 349member
    As others have said, the most probable timeframe for a mini update is late Aug-early Sept, updated with the new 965 integrated graphics. This is also the key for the release of their media hub.



    As others have said, the mini is not a good value right now. I was going to buy one this spring, but just couldn't make myself. $799 for a 1.66 core duo, small HDD, and no screen/keyboard/mouse was just too much for me to swallow.



    The release of the MB has confirmed the suspicion that it was overpriced. In fact, the only reason I don't have one right now is because of the discoloration issues. (I have big, warm, sweaty, and oily hands.) I want to see how Apple resolves this (this helped confirm my "never buy a rev. A" position).



    Apple needs to remember the purpose of the mini: low cost switcher machine. The fact that it is cute and small shouldn't make Apple demand a premium over their normal Apple-tax rates. I still can't understand why they insisted on creating a form factor that demanded a 2.5" HDD that is slower, smaller capacity, and more expensive for a machine that is supposedly low-cost. If they had made the thing a measly inch wider, they could have increased the machine's speed and capacity and lowered its cost. If Apple doesn't lower its cost back to the $499-$599 range, I'm really afraid that it'll go the way of the cube. Beyond that, I'm guessing that there won't be any low-profile drives for Blu-Ray readers/burners anytime soon. So if Apple wants to have a next-gen reader/burner as an upgrade option within the next, say, year, I'm betting that they'll have to change the form factor and enlarge it slightly (it could easily be done by enlarging the case half an inch for both height and depth, and an inch for width). I would welcome this.



    My hopes for the mini as of september:



    1.83 CoreDuo

    ComboDrive

    120GB 3.5" 7200rpm HDD

    $499



    2.0 CoreDuo

    Superdrive

    160GB HDD

    $599



    2.0 CoreDuo

    Blu-Drive upgrade (blu-ray-ROM/DVD-RW/CD-RW)

    $1599
  • Reply 17 of 34
    imacfanimacfan Posts: 444member
    You're hoping for far, far too much in such a short time. The prices are a bit high at the moment, so a $100 price drop along the line is expected. Also, don't expect too much from the HD - it'll remain at 5400, but might see a 20Gb boost on each. The processors might be bumped to match the Macbook.



    Apart from that, nothing to see here...



    David
  • Reply 18 of 34
    lorrelorre Posts: 396member
    Isn't it possible to install a 7200 rpm laptop harddrive in the mini yourself?
  • Reply 19 of 34
    dcqdcq Posts: 349member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Lorre

    Isn't it possible to install a 7200 rpm laptop harddrive in the mini yourself?



    Sure, if you want to pay 10x the cost per GB. The point I was making is that Apple should switch to full-size 3.5" drives in its "low-cost" machine. No one has been able to give a satisfactory reason for such a move by Apple that I've seen.



    I realize that Apple probably won't change the form factor to allow 3.5" drives. I was just rattling off what would make sense...



    Seriously, can anyone explain why Apple chose slower, lower-capacity drives that are more expensive for their "low-cost" computer?
  • Reply 20 of 34
    lorrelorre Posts: 396member
    Ah OK, I get you point now.



    The reason why is simple, the mini had to be as small as possible...



    Just a tought here: wouldn't the switch to integrated graphics make more room inside the mini available? I suppose an extra graphics card takes up more space than a chip soldered on the board... Not sure if this is correct though.
Sign In or Register to comment.