Filed under: Desktops, Hardware, Rumors, iMac, Mac mini
Rumor Roundup: iMac and Mac Mini due to refresh before October 9th?
We have received countless tips about the availability of iMacs and Mac Minis, or lack thereof. AppleInsider posted earlier that Apple notified retailers that Mac mini orders will not be filled at the moment -- but soon. A later update states that the low-end Mac mini has been discontinued entirely, leaving us to believe that we'll be seeing a hardware upgrade shortly.Several of our tipsters work for Apple Authorized re-sellers who are running very low on desktop supplies; there's even an Apple Store employee tip saying they have 4 iMacs in stock. When I worked at the Apple Store, there were always 40+ iMacs in stock. Having 4 in a store is just unheard of -- unless there's something in the works. The day of, or a few before, the announcement, we would always get a couple pallets worth of machines that were labeled "Do Not Open Until" with either a date or "notification from corporate."
Another tipster ordered a mini on September 18th, and received shipping information, but today received an email saying that their Mac mini order will ship on October 9th.
Lastly, an Apple Store employee "confirmed" the rumor of new machines being out this October to one of our readers. I have to speculate and say that the employee (who we won't name) is probably reading too many rumor sites. Apple does not tell their retail employees about product refreshes for this exact reason. It's too risky -- one careless employee could essentially steal all of Apple's ability to announce a cool, new product. We're pretty good at digging the information up anyways... but why make it easy for us?
We're hoping that these rumors don't amount to a minor speed bump... SD Card slots, Blu-ray, Cinema Display styled design -- If we don't see something new, we'll all be somewhat disappointed. We're also hoping for a MacBook refresh but that conversation has paled in comparison to the iMac and Mac mini rumors. We've been on the edge of our seats since Monday when the store went down twice. Each time gave us no fruit from the Apple tree, but we'll keep an eye out. Let us know if you hear anything else about it via our tips page or in the comments.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
jb510 said 12:14PM on 9-30-2009
If something really new was coming, more than just speed bumps, would t apple of scheduled a press co defence or events by now?
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John said 11:56AM on 9-30-2009
I hope they don't update the mac mini. I just bought one 40 days ago. grrrrrr
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Dan Mosqueda said 3:42PM on 9-30-2009
I was going to buy one tomorrow. I'm holding off. It may just be making the 2.26GHz CPU and 250GB Hard Drive standard.
You still have a terrific machine.
Digaos said 8:42PM on 9-30-2009
I bought one last 21st... Still on time to return it to Futureshop...
osugodfan said 8:15AM on 10-01-2009
Me too! I got the low-end mini, upgraded the RAM and I love it.
addison.royce said 6:51AM on 10-11-2009
Apple's motto goes beyond "loose lips sink ships". A few years ago, a buddy of mine waited almost a year before taking the big expensive plunge into what he thought was a safe bet for a couple of years. The G5 Quad had recently been released and it was an awesome computer at the time. So, he confidently spent his hard earned money a G5 Quad with extras at the Apple store. It was right around Christmas. The sales guy gave him a glowing line about it being a safe "investment". Within a couple of months the new Intel machine switch was on. His G5 Quad was still fast enough, but he was entirely left behind a whole generation of Macs. Apple's motto also seems to be, MAKE THEM PAY UP TO STAY UP, EVEN IF THEY BOUGHT TOP OF THE LINE PRODUCTS FROM US. IN otherwords, no trade up programs for loyal custmomers, even if they just laid out $7 Large. That's the way APPLE does business, nothing personal, just business. There's more to the hush, smoke & mirror thing than people think. And, I've heard insiders say as much.
LAGal said 11:51AM on 9-30-2009
i very very much doubt that this Apple Store employee knows anything. They would want to sell out of anything in store before they announce and ship and there's too much temptation for an employee to suggest someone wait a few days 'to think over your choices'
Also, I hope that 'we' means the folks of TUAW cause I am not going to be disappointed if this is just a minor bump (and I loathe folks that get all high and mighty trying to speak for me).
A bump in specs and/or drop in price means a more cost effective machine. As for all the rumors, Apple has never been one to do as everyone else has done to play keep up. Nor do they throw in everything possible to appeal to everyone damn the issues it could cause or whether it is really needed. They are not the folks to make a flimsy cheap looking machine that sales because "hey it's got X". So whatever is released, someone is going going to be disappointed because something wasn't included. Being an Apple user for some 12 years, I know this to be true so I don't get all worked up over what could happen but just wait and work with what I get. If I didn't like it that way I could always go back to Windows.
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Tom said 11:53AM on 9-30-2009
The reseller not having enough stock sounds about right compared to the Apple Stores. Sadly Apple has royally screwed over many resellers by providing stock later, not allowing iPhones to be sold, and in general being hostile towards them. While I understand the Apple Stores provide a unified front to customers no matter where they are, prior to them, people had to depend on resellers for sales and support.
It would have been nice to see Apple offer resellers either assistance in renovating their current stores to the Apple Store spec, or relocate into one built by Apple. Sort of a franchise agreement or something. But, Apple would rather compete with the companies that helped Apple survive even during the bleak mid 90s.
Overall, I've had much better service at resellers stores then I have Apple Stores. One contains an owner and usually employees heavily invested in doing what is good for the business and customer. The other hires low paid fresh out of school kids who are just taking the job before moving onto something better. By no means is the Apple Store experience terrible, but the reseller experiences I've had have been much more personal and geared towards making me happy.
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Sal said 12:01PM on 9-30-2009
".. ordered a mini on September 18th,... ".
I ordered mine on 09/27/09 but it shipped out on the 29th and will be here tomorrow (10/1/09) by 10:30am!
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jb510 said 12:13PM on 9-30-2009
Why worry? I've never heard of apple if failing to refund price differences under 10 days, often extending it to 30. The same goes for return/exchanges for new models.
Heck, my mom got them to honor a price drop AND give here a free iPod be aide they announced there back to school promotion a couple weeks after she bought her MacBook.
Galley said 12:04PM on 9-30-2009
Bad: having your Mac mini order delayed by ten days.
Good: getting the latest and greatest model at no extra charge.
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Isolder said 12:17PM on 9-30-2009
Having got a new iMac earlier this year.. I will be very unhappy if they come out with a new iMac and it includes Blu-ray.
Card slots won't matter to me, I'd rather have a CF card slot. It's the Blu-ray that will tick me off, though.
Here's hoping Apple doesn't come out with Blu-ray!
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Tetzel1517 said 1:37PM on 9-30-2009
I don't think it's fair to cheer for everyone else to not get a feature they want (and for Apple to stifle development of its products) solely so they don't have something better than what you have. If the next iMac supports Blu-Ray, odds are you'll soon be able to attach an external drive to your iMac -- that's a plenty reasonable compromise.
Any technology you buy these days will cease to be the latest and greatest in a relatively short time. That's just reality, and nothing worth being "very unhappy" about.
smak said 12:57PM on 9-30-2009
Quad Core iMac or go home, Apple. Why people care about blu-ray is beyond me. Blu-ray writer on a Mac Pro... ok sure. But other than that, Apple will NEVER embrace blu-ray on their mid-level and lower end machines. Period. It doesn't make sense to.
They are selling HD movies from iTunes, people!
Hopefully it's an i7 quad iMac, and a screaming dual core in the mini. But, i doubt it. I have a feeling jobs isn't pushing too hard for hardware updates as nice as these would be.
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CV said 1:27PM on 9-30-2009
So Apple sells HD movies at the iTunes Store.
What about adult titles, mmm? :-)
michaelbushnell said 1:30PM on 9-30-2009
Add an HDMI port to the Mac Mini and I'd buy it as quickly as I could type my info onto Apple's order page.
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Digaos said 2:16PM on 10-01-2009
Why HDMI is a big deal?
DVI or Display port can be converted to HDMI and you can get the audio through Optical....
Wheels said 1:57PM on 9-30-2009
Funny, I bought my Mini in August and I don't see a single reason here why I'd be upset if a refresh came out soon, not even a speed bump. Then again, I modded it with 4gig of ram and a smoking hard drive...Getting rid of that crappy Intel graphics card was all that was needed to get me to buy.
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Chase said 2:34PM on 9-30-2009
I am waiting for a revised 17" MBP. Preferably with a SD card slot. I really want to upgrade. Not that I really need to, I just have a hole burning in my pocket. I am still rocking a 2.5 GHz model from Feb '08.
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Steve said 2:37PM on 9-30-2009
I have 2 days left to return my newly purchased $499 refurb mac mini. I have already swapped out the HD for a 500gb and upped the ram to 4gb.
I found myself in a tough situation yesterday. but i've decided to keep the mini and see what happens. Here's why:
My guess is that the current top end mini will be pushed down to the lower price point, and a new one with a modestly faster processor will be introduced as the new top end and that's all.
Only the low end model was discontinued, so the current high-end model must be sticking around. Also, it is a little early for major changes considering the updates in March, and I think if major changes were in the works we probably would have heard something about it before yesterday.
It this is the case, and I returned my mini, not only would I lose the $100 refurb discount, but I'd also have to pay a 10% restocking fee, and buying the new low-end mini at full price would be like buying the same computer back because I would be replacing the only things that were upgraded.
Regarding Blu-ray, I don't think it will ever make it to the mini, or any mac, for two reasons: 1, iTunes already makes money selling HD content, so creating an avenue for people to get it elsewhere would cost them some of that money, and 2, Apple wants optical media to die, for them to suddenly accept blu-ray so far into it's already short life expectancy would not make sense.
I've got two days to be convinced otherwise. Any takers?
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