Clearing up confusion about the Mac mini
I spoke with the product manager for the Mac mini today to clarify a few facts.
- Yes, it will boot headless, meaning with no display or video device connected, enabling you to have what I like to call an iServe.
- While it is strongly recommended that you only have an Apple Authorized Service Provider crack it open and install RAM, hard drives, Airport and Bluetooth, it will NOT void your warranty if you do it yourself. As is standard operating procedure, however, anything you break while attempting anything on your own is not Apple’s responsibility and will not be covered under warranty. I think that is pretty much common sense.
- Airport and Bluetooth can, in fact, be added after purchase. AirPort Extreme card and Bluetooth module attach to
the Mac mini’s motherboard via a special connector and will be sold together as a kit for
$129.
- RAM is the most accessible upgrade once you get the case off. That much is clear from the picture.
- All upgrades other than RAM are not as accessible, but accessing them won’t void your warranty, with list item #2 above in mind.
- The reason the TOP of the Mac mini doesn’t glow and pulse (this is my only gripe so far) is that there wasn’t
enough room to light it once the optical drive went in :)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
JT said 4:16PM on 6-16-2005
Well I just installed 8A425 last night on my 1.25 GHz AlBook. Works great. It feels even more fluid and faster than Panther (I love how Apple's able to keep optimizing their OS!)
And from checking System Profiler (which now actually shows even more information than before)
ATI Mobility Radeon 9600:
Chipset Model: ATY,RV350M10
Type: Display
Bus: AGP
VRAM (Total): 64 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x4e50
Revision ID: 0x0000
ROM Revision: 113-xxxxx-117
Displays:
Display:
Type: Display
Display Type: LCD
Resolution: 1280 x 854
Depth: 32-bit Color
Core Image: Supported
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
So, if this is true, then Core Image does work on this machine, even though this GPU isn't listed on the Apple Tiger page. Hope for the Mini maybe? I'm actually considering selling the PB and getting a Mini since I rarely use it as a portable anyway and the Mini is probably close to 9/10 of the computer the PB is, and I'd have some money left over too)
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Morph3ous said 12:46AM on 6-24-2005
According to Apple this is not true. Opening the Mini WILL void your warranty. There is a very lively discussion about this here:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13716128
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K.K. said 7:59AM on 7-01-2005
Anybody know where I can get an extra power cord/brick for miniMac??? I lost mine during the move and all retailers seem to point me to a dead end or circular reference.
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Turk said 2:02PM on 7-07-2005
I dunno anything...
Is it possible to connect an Airport Extreme Card to the Mac Mini via an 'adaptor'/'bridge' - Either connected to the Mini or the ethernet of a Netger DG834G ADSL router,
I saw a Belkin bridge that could but lost the URL.
Any help PLEASE, as I can not take my Mini in as I live on an Island with NO Mac dealers.
I will hardwire the netgear to the minimac so i can access all other periphs connected to an airport extreme iMac in another room (2xhd, 1x DL DVDRW (all Lacie) the Mini is just connected to a motu828 and Midiman Keyboard.
Thanks for ANY help.
Please email a URL? - turk00@spymac.com
Peace.
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teetime said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
There is another question that comes to mind. Will the ATI Radeon 9200 w/ 32 MB able to cope with Core Graphics in Tiger (when shipped)?
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RobC said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
I'm interested in the iServe model as well - will be nice to run my mail server, webserver and attach some big firewire drives and use if for storing stuff needed in the house.
Of course, it looks so nice it will be a shame to hide it in the garage!
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Chris said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Mucho gracias for the myth dispellment (or however that should be spelled).
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simon said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Booting headless -- good.
And will it boot without a keyboard or mouse plugged in (or out of Bluetooth range)? That's the other essential for an 'iServe'.
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Jack said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
The fact it can boot headless is quite great! Out of the box you can have an instant web server or file server sitting in a corner.
Excellent job reporting this!
But I do want to find out about how one would open this tiny box. Depending on the number of clips, one could conceiveable carefully do this on their own by sticking something at each point to bend the clip away. But I assume that Apple authorized techs and others might get a handy little tool that one simply sticks the Mac Mini on and POP... The top comes off.
If anyone knows of such a tool becoming available, I would like to just say that I will buy one in a second without hesitation.
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GEAH said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Where is the power supply?
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ldfjhlakjh said 12:28PM on 7-08-2005
Silly question GEAH.
Let me answer that question by asking this question: Where is the power supply for a laptop?
This Mac mini is designed with portable devices; thus, the size.
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wil said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Where is the fan? And how big is it?
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Mister Bleepy said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
The power supply is in a separate unit like a laptop power supply
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Char said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Any word on what type of RAM this thing will take? The news it will be user-upgradeable is welcome indeed.
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Steve said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
I already use an older iMac as a server at home, running Debian (got it free with dead hd, new hd and a ISO and I was off and running). Now, since I'd keep using Debian, does anyone have any idea if buying a Mini Mac without OS X is possible, and if so, if it would be cheaper?
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Johnny Mnemonic said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
If you purchase a BT keyboard + mouse, and have the BT module installed as a BTO on this device, can you go through setup without needing a USB keyboard + mouse?For those of us with parents with only a PS/2 keyboard + mouse, I would just as soon buy them a BT keyboard + mouse if I have to buy them USB peripherals; but there was once some question about if you could "pair" the keyboard with the unit before setup was completed--necessitating the keyboard be plugged in via USB at least during initial setup.Otherwise, it's great to hear that it will boot headless! Thanks!
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brian said 4:18PM on 6-24-2005
Unlike PCs, Macs have historically had no trouble booting without input devices attached. Now that they boot headless as well, you can run one with nothing more than a power cord (though ethernet would certainly be handy in that case.)
I just tested with an MDD G4 to be sure. (Imagine that, someone verifying the facts before posting a comment in a weblog!) Came right up and I can see my web page with nothing but power and ethernet attached. Can't see my iTunes but that's only because I don't have it set to auto login and run iTunes at login.
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brian said 4:18PM on 6-24-2005
There is a setting somewhere in OS X (I forget where but it should be on by default) that will run the BT setup assistant if there is no wired KB & mouse present at boot time.
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thoughton said 2:11PM on 7-15-2005
Char, there is information about the type of RAM here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300572
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extra88 said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
The Mac Mini specs page say the RAM is "PC2700 (333MHz) DDR SRAM." If you wanted only 512MB, I think the Apple mark-up is low enough to just pay it but 1GB can be had for well under $200 so paying Apple $425 for it seems rediculous.
http://www.apple.com/macmini/specs.html
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