MWSF: Mac Mini thoughts
The Mac mini is a reality, and a marvel of Apple engineering. They
managed to pack a full computer (minus the keyboard, mouse, and monitor) into a 2 inch by 6.5. inch by 6.5 inch
container that weighs in at 2.9 pounds and costs either $499 for the 1.25 Ghz G4 model or $599 for the 1.42 Ghz G4
model.
If you spend the extra hundred dollars you get an 80 gig hard-drive, otherwise you will have to settle for 40 gigs,
which might not make too much sense if you own a 60 gig iPod photo.
Both models include 256 MB of RAM, as well as the iLife ‘05 suite and Appleworks. I find both of these inclusions to
be rather odd choices.
It is no secret that OS X loves RAM, so the more the better. Why give a machine that is supposed to woo new people to
the Mac a largely insufficient amount of RAM? If people plan to burn a DVD while listening to iTunes and surfing the
net with the base models of the Mac mini they are in for a shock.
While we are on the subject of RAM, I feel I should point out that the Mac mini maxes out at 1 gig of RAM and that is
all in one slot. This machine is definitely not for a power user, so no fear that these will eat into Powermac
sales.
And why include Appleworks? iWorks ‘05 was just announced and will be
shipping on the same date that both the Mac mini and iLife ‘05 will be
(January 22nd) so why not include iWorks with the Mac mini instead of the program it is supposed to replace?
However, with all that being said you still get
a lot of computer in a little space with the Mac mini. I envision a lot of people picking one of these up to serve as a
media server, and as a back up machine for their main Macs.
As you can see the Mac mini has lots to offer in the back as well; from left to right we see the power switch, power
in, ethernet, modem, DVI/VGA, 2 USB 2.0 ports, a 400 Firewire port, and a security slot (a very good inclusion since
these things are small and light).
One final note of interest, Apple points out that you can use a TV with the Mac mini as a display either with a DVI
connector or an optional S-Video/Composite Video adapter.
Does the Mac mini represent Apple’s first steps towards a full fledged set top device? Will you be buying one, or
more? If not, why? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
jon said 7:58AM on 8-13-2005
i am sorry but i read that the mac mini was supposed to work with every standard industry monitor according Steve Jobs, yet they re instated that to be almost every monitor now.
apple just told friends of mine after sending them to service centers a few times for there problems with the mac minis video card that it sthere dvi adapters and they have no solution for this.
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Fazal Majid said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
I was going to buy one, but stopped when I saw the price Apple charges for a 1GB RAM upgrade: $450, three times the going rate. Details are sketchy right now, but the tech specs state a RAM upgrade has to be done by an approved tech. It's not clear just how hard it is to remove the case. It seems to be held by platic clips (look at the design page).
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PXLated said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
RAM Upgrade...that's a little spendy. Bet there will be solutions (work-arounds) out shortly.
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jbelkin said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
It comes with a combo drive - superdrive $100 extra.
While I did sort of turn it over, I did not study to how you can open it - the clips might be correct as that is vaguely what I saw but even if you need a screendriver like slot loading iMacs or the eMac, it's a 5-minute process if you feel comfortable doing it but my guess is that it does pop opne and you just drop it in - I can't imagine that Apple would choose to "bury" the RAM slot - if nothing else for heat reasons.
PC2700 RAM lists at around $70 for 512 and $155 for 1 GB though it only supports 1 GB total so you can either add a 512 or swap out the RAM and buy 2 512. (These prices are from dealram.com).
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Kevin Barth said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
My initial thought when I saw this was not only "Media server" but "Media center." But having looked at the specs, I have two major problems with it:
1) As previously mentioned, RAM is both chintzy to start out and outrageously expensive to upgrade. Rumor has it they will be releasing 2 GB chips, which is more like it for an upper limit, but I shudder to think how much that is going to cost! I spent less for my entire video editing PC WITH SOFTWARE than that 2 GB chip is likely to cost!
2) You need an add-on just to get AUDIO into that box, and presently you can't get video in there at all. What kind of a media center PC can't be used as a DVR?
Still...I'm sure this will have its market niche.
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Scott said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
I was thinking this would be great for my parents (they're in there early 50s), especially because it comes with the vastly updated iPhoto, which they would love, and iMovie. 80 gigs would also be good enough for video editing, right?
However, I tried to throw the things in that would be nice to have for my parents upgrade to a Mac (I'm a college powerbook user).
The higher end model is not only necessary for the HD space, but also for the processor speed. No way I'm buying a desktop w/ a slower processor than my 12" PB.
On the "Customize Your Mac" page I added RAM up to 512 (I have 768 mb on the PB, and know how RAM hungry Macs are). I'd add wireless, too, since I have an airport express I'll use at home for the whole house upstairs. And sadly, our PC right now is a lower-end Dell (it's decently fast, but cheaper components, like no AGP slots) and thus, it doesn't have a USB mouse/keyboard. This would make buying these a necessity.
These things add up quickly and now it's a $732 mac, which doesn't make it so cheap for being sorta slow with not a ton of RAM. Might as well spring the extra and get included decent sound with the iMac.
Still, as people said, it will have its niche. However, I doubt that many people really have USB keyboards and mice, or would realize that their current PC keyboard/mouse don't use USB.
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Travis Dixon said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
If I were in the market for a PC, this would definitely be in major contention. The price point is good, but I would have to go for an upgrade in RAM and the superdrive, as 512mb is a minimum for my computer needs (VERY frequent music and videwo downloader/player). I would also need an 80gb HD minimum, as I have 40g of music alone, and another 10gb of video. In the end, I would probably end up getting an Imac, as it may be cheaper in the long run.
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Udolpho said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
"Marvel of engineering"? Not quite -- the Mac mini is basically a laptop minus its keyboard or monitor. If you can see beyond its shiny new case, it is simply yet another novelty Mac that the few early adopters will be disappointed in and Apple will quickly drop it or any reference to it from its happy happy joy joy marketing repository. But in the midst of the cult revival meeting I'm sure all this seems terribly impressive.
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Cody Bryan said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
What would we say if Microsoft was selling a computer without a keyboard and mouse? Lets not mention the lack of a monitor. I think the idea is sound, but Apple should have included a keyboard and mouse. Without those, I dont think it will win over to many Windows users.
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Udolpho said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
Microsoft is -- it's called an Xbox. All the modern game consoles overpower the Mac mini -- the nextgen consoles will moreso, and they are cheaper to boot.
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John Federico said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
I'll buy one. Actually, I'll buy two.
The first will replace my wife's Sawtooth. She uses it primarily for email, office apps and light photo retouching. I'll max out the RAM and she'll be quite happy. It will plug nicely into her existing Trinitron monitor.
The second will be for my parents, whose ancient 400 mhz PC has been falling apart for years. Again, they'll be able to use their existing components, so the cost for the upgrade will be minimal.
The Mac mini is perfect for this market segment: consumers who want to upgrade without replacing everything.
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Kurt Vander Bogart said 9:34PM on 8-26-2005
The Mac mini will absolutely fly off the shelves. Why? 1) The one button mouse and the non ergonomic keyboards that Apple produces don't cut it for a lot of people. 2) Most people are not intested in HD video editing, but need a system that will give them e-mail, web, music, digital photos, word processing and basic publishing. 3) People can upgrade their digital experience SIGNIFICANTLY by purchasing a Mac mini and a Shuffle for less than $700 bucks. 4) The software on the Mac will sell the mini. This will be a problem for Dell. WOW!
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elbastardocalvo said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
What's keeping me from buying this and using it as a media server is the lack of digital audio out. From what I can tell, the audio out port is headset/line out only. In order to get Dolby Digital, etc. out of this box, we'll need a $100 adapter like the M-Audio transit, which raises the price to $599 without any RAM or HDD changes. Bummer.
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TRANS4MER said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
It's only $550 bucks! What do you expect? One things for sure, It's still better than having to worry about viruses and spyware all the time. I'd rather take the lousy memory over having someone hack into my computer.
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whitlock said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
I just bought a Mac mini. Looks like a solid product to me, and the first NEW Apple product I could afford
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Owen Densmore said 10:15PM on 9-03-2005
On use as a server: Can the critter be booted without keyboard, mouse and screen?
I'd love to use it as a general home server. I'd presumably have to set it up to boot into the various services I want to use via startup-items, and use a cron job to make sure they are all still working.
But none of the sites I've seen has discussed the server usage of the device.
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Tony Hoyle said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
I saw this on the BBC news website and immediately bought one - it's *exactly* what I've been looking for - an affordable mac.
I already own the sundry items - just need a box.
One thing I don't know though.. do macs support any kind of terminal server? The last one I used didn't. If not I guess VNC has been ported?
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isaac said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
This is basically a barebones machine for lower demand/entry level users, that is it's niche, if you are a power user apple already has products for you (if you can afford them). After a while most likely the luxury options will be made standard, liek the ipod got better and cheaper as Apple developed the product, i assume the mini mac will be the same. Just wait for the next couple updates for more features
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J Wood said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
Apple has created a machine which fits their switch campaign beautifully. You don't buy this as your first machine...you already have the keyboard, mouse, monitor,etc. and just want a sweet, inexpensive mac.
How many people really need an audio input? Spend a little for more ram if you think you need it. If you need a digital audio out, buy an external firewire device ($99 griffin).
For $500 bucks I'd recommend everyone give it a try for web browsing/media server. Remember though, you get what you pay for. There's a reason why the other machines they sell are so expensive.
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norebonomis said 3:58PM on 8-11-2005
if i had the extra money i would get one and hook it up to a plasma tv, use it as a media center, hell with a bluetooth mouse + keyboard i might even surf the web in the livingroom, allthough it seems like it'd be kind of a slow machine.
all it needs is video in, like HD or coaxial, and some new iSoftware for recording tv shows and viewing digatl guide.
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