Apple confirms some Mac minis may exceed published specs

All very good arguments. But the question I want answered is; Did Michael keep both G4 computers? =)

*shakes Kevin's hand*

You can defend Apple all you want, whether it's vendor changes or extra stock, but, as someone here has said before me, it is not fair for two customers to buy the "same machine" and one gets rewarded with some extras while the other does not. You seem to be citing examples of subjective points of view, whether or not someone will be bothered by receiving the old model when someone else is getting a better model. Obviously there are people like me or poster #8 (Catt) out there who do have a problem with it. It's shady. If I buy a machine at the same price as someone else who gets a newer model, I'm entitled to the newer model as a consumer. Plain and Simple. The End. I can't stress this point enough and if it's not getting across, then I'm truly sorry. I'll just move on now and I hope you do the same, as we're not going to agree.

"And isn't this essentially a lottery to begin with? So yea, you SHOULD feel gypped." I'd rather be a victum of the cosmic lottery of life, not knowing what I might get, rather than be declared a loser in a human-made contest.

Kevin, The reason why I didn't mention the Bluetooth, the 8x superdrive, and the 64MB video card is because I thought we were commenting on this current posting; not the one posted on September 27th. This posting only mentions the processor. But, while were talking about the 2 mysteriously added features to David's mini (the Bluetooth and the Superdrive), maybe Apple screwed up and boxed the computer wrong. If this is a screw up, which I kind of think it is, then, according to your logic as I see it, you would want Apple to stop the assembly line and put these features in all Mac Minis because this one - supposed - mistake is unfair to everybody because they won't get these features. Bluetooth and Superdrives are upgrades one can opt to pay for, if they didn't want to pay extra for them then they didn't want them that badly. I doubt that if they found out that someone got these options by accident that they'd have a conniption fit. As for the 64MB video card: that's a nice upgrade, a lot nicer than a 80mhz hop in processor speed. But if a person buys a Mini that has as stated video memory of 32MB and actually gets a machine with 64MB, then they got a happy little bonus. If a person buys a mini that has a stated video memory of 32MB and actually gets a machine with 32MB, then they got what the box said. Where's the the damage? Answer: There is none, either legally or morally. And the same holds true for the processor hop, even if the Bluetooth and Superdrive were purposely added in. As long as the mini inside the box meets or exceeds the specifications on the outside of the box, the consumer has no gripe against Apple. If a person goes out and buys a Mac mini, armed with the knowledge that some Mac minis are shipping with better-than-specified specs, thinking that they're going to get a better machine, only to find that, when they got home, they only got the machine that was specified, then the only person that they can blame is themselves for being a sucker to "wishful thinking." This person needs to learn what Caveat Emptor means, both translation wise and in the reality of buying things. I bet this sudden upgrade does have to do more with vendor changes then anything else, just because it is so all of a sudden. Apple probably orders lot fulls of boxes ahead of time and they themselves were caught off guard by the changes. Apple didn't want to waste money and trash all those boxes, or spend the money for special little stickers, explaining the upgrades, because, after all, nobody's going to complain about getting the specified computer. Guess they never met you, huh Kevin? =)

Buyer Beware? Apple never even announced it, how can the average consumer be aware of this? That's ridiculous. If they changed the processor, just announce it. "We're upgrading the Mac Mini" -- why do it in secret? It's not about whether people notice the changes. A change is a change. And if I can't get the same deal someone else got with the same qualifications, then what kind of business am I dealing with? All there is to it is that Apple is making things unfair to those who deserve an upgrade as well. That's wrong. Nothing to argue with there. Using the "life is unfair" phrase is a bit of a cop out. Apple intentionally did this. They could have just simply announced it or made the price adjustments accordingly. But they didn't. And isn't this essentially a lottery to begin with? So yea, you SHOULD feel gypped. You also ignored the other extras besides the processor, such as Bluetooth, 8x Superdrive, and upgraded Video RAM.

Definetly reminds me of when I ordered one origional pm g4 w/o dvd drive, and they sent me TWO, one with dvd drive!

"And if this speed boost is so insignificant, why did Apple even bother to produce this new Mac Mini??" Maybe because IBM chose to change the speed and/or discontinue the 1.42ghz chip, not Apple - vendors do change things. too, you know. Maybe they [IBM] just changed the processor because 1.5mhz sounds a hell of a lot better than 1.42mhz. It probably didn't take a phenomenal amount of effort to squeeze out those precious 80 mhzs, If there was any effort to do that at all. " If you could upgrade to the new version, then I would have less to be concerned about. But the fact that you can't even do this is pretty unfair. Either Apple should clearly state what people are getting or market this by some kind of lottery promotion." Kevin, whatever happened to "Caveat Emptor: Let the Buyer Beware"? A customer buys a Mac Mini from a Apple store with the understanding that it's going to have a 1.42ghz chip, so he brings it home and Viola! it has at 1.42ghz chip. This guy loves his Mac mini so much that it inspires his best friend to buy a Mac mini directly from Apple.com and it secretly has the 1.5ghz chip. The first buyer goes over to the friend's house admire the new Mini. Does he: A) Say "Gee, that mini is running a little bit faster than mine" and goes into "About This Mac" to see that his friend's Mac Mini is running has a 1.5ghz chip, instead of 1.42ghz? B) Revels in his friend's new found happiness, not perceiving, or knowing about, those precious 80mhz? My guess is B. But if A did happen, I doubt that the guys reaction would be any more radical than "Huh, that's weird." Would you rather that Apple had held off the 1.5ghz chips and had a big bally-hoo over that oh-so-important 80mhz increase? Apple would never be taken seriously again if they did. The new chip is 6% faster, my guess is that falls within an acceptable margin of error and that some chips may even vary by that much. Plus, to beat a dead horse, Apple states the speed of the Mac Mini as 1.42ghz. If you get a Mini running at 1.42ghz, your getting what's stated and you obviously were happy enough with that speed to to buy the Mini in the first place. Is that mystical 80mhz worth wetting your pants over? A lottery? IMHO that would make me feel more gypped then if I found out about those magical 80mhz by happenstance. Technology is a moving target. Change happens. Is all this fair? Maybe, maybe not. Life isn't fair. Honestly, I fail to see what the BFD is here.

Definetly reminds me of when I ordered one origional pm g4 w/o dvd drive, and they sent me TWO, one with dvd drive!

Wheels, if the auto maker sold the old model at a discounted rate or sold the newer model at a higher rate, it would be fine. No one's asking Apple or any auto maker to destroy anything here. And if this speed boost is so insignificant, why did Apple even bother to produce this new Mac Mini? But beyond the processor, there's also improvements for Bluetooth and Video RAM, isn't there? So it's a better value than one would think anyway. The bottom line comes down to this. If you bought this Mac Mini and received the old version, knowing some people out there got a better version, you wouldn't feel the slightest bit annoyed that you weren't "lucky" for no given reason? If you could upgrade to the new version, then I would have less to be concerned about. But the fact that you can't even do this is pretty unfair. Either Apple should clearly state what people are getting or market this by some kind of lottery promotion. It's shady enough that Apple would do this in secret, only to admit to it when other people start talking.