Macmini Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

OWC releases kit that allows for dual hard drives in 2011 Mac mini

by Megan Lavey-Heaton (May 2nd, 2012)

For those keen on expanding the number of hard drives in the 2011 Mac minis, OWC has released a kit that enables users to add a second 9.5 mm or 2.5" SATA hard drive or a solid-state drive to their machines. The US$49.99 kit includes a 5-piece mini toolkit, a tool for removing the logic board, ...

Intel website leaks full Ivy Bridge lineup

by Kelly Hodgkins (Mar 2nd, 2012)

Intel apparently slipped and briefly posted a Spring product list that outed 17 desktop chips and 11 notebook chips. Many of these chips were listed in an earlier leak and could land in Mac and PC hardware this year. The PDF document was pulled from Intel's website, but not before the list was ...

2011 Macs get EFI Firmware Update

by Steven Sande (Feb 23rd, 2012)

Have a 2011 Mac mini, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and iMac? If Software Update hasn't yet told you about it, there's an EFI Firmware Update available that you might want to install. According to the release notes, "This update improves the reliability of booting from the network, addresses an issue ...

Great things to do with your Mac mini

by Erica Sadun (Jan 11th, 2012)

Today, we celebrated the Mac mini's 7th anniversary. As workhorse machines go, the mini cannot be beat. It provides a great deal of computing power along with a small footprint and plenty of ports for devices. Add any monitor, keyboard, mouse, or trackpad and you're ready to rock and ...

Happy 7th anniversary to the Mac mini

by Megan Lavey-Heaton (Jan 11th, 2012)

"I wish I had a nickel for every time somebody asked me that," Steve Jobs said as the question "Why doesn't Apple offer a stripped down Mac that is more affordable" flashed up behind him during Macworld 2005 keynote. Today, that stripped-down computer celebrates its seventh anniversary. The ...

TUAW Best of 2011: Vote for the best Mac of the year

by Steven Sande (Dec 9th, 2011)

The nominations are in, and the poll is ready to go! The TUAW Best of 2011 awards are all about you -- the readers -- and what you think is the cream of the crop of Apple or third-party products and software. To vote, select one entry from the top nominations made by readers. We'll be announcing ...

Holiday Gift Guide: Buying a Mac

by Kelly Hodgkins (Nov 16th, 2011)

The holiday season is fast approaching which means it's time to start thinking about your loved ones and the gifts they may want to receive. High on the list for some may be a new shiny Mac to replace their old, worn-out computer. It's an expensive gift and one that you'll want to research ...

On the Mac Pro's future

by Chris Rawson (Oct 31st, 2011)

The Mac Pro is a strange outlier among Apple's products. It's insanely powerful, but it's priced out of the reach of most mortals. It's by far Apple's most "traditional" computer; the Mac Pro is a tower you can crack open and customize quite easily, far different from its sealed-up cousins the ...

Apple issues firmware updates, Thunderbolt software update, more

by Dave Caolo (Oct 27th, 2011)

Apple has issued a number of updates this week, in addition to iPhoto 9.2.1. Here's what's newly available. Thunderbolt Software Update 1.1 is for those using Lion on a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac. Apple says it "provides support for the Apple Thunderbolt Display and bug fixes for Thunderbolt ...

Daily Update for October 25, 2011

by Steven Sande (Oct 25th, 2011)

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player ...

Bentley offers Mac mini, iPads option for 100,000 euros

by Kelly Hodgkins (Sep 15th, 2011)

Bentley is showcasing a new Apple-centric option in its Mulsanne line of luxury automobiles. The add-on package will install one Mac mini and two iPads in the over-sized V8 Touring car. The Mac mini is hidden in the trunk and connected to an LCD installed on the interior ceiling. The LCD ...

Apple releases MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.2 (Update: Mac mini updated too)

by Chris Rawson (Sep 14th, 2011)

Apple has released MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.2 for 2011-model MacBook Pros. The update addresses the same Thunderbolt and OS X Lion Internet Recovery issues as the EFI Firmware Update issued two days ago for 2011-model MacBook Airs. The 4.17 MB firmware update is available at Apple's ...

MacBook Air, Mac mini drive strong Q3 sales

by Kelly Hodgkins (Sep 13th, 2011)

The NPD group released its sales data for the current quarter and things are looking good for Apple. Mac sales are up 22% year-over-year due primarily to the release of OS X Lion and new MacBook Air and Mac Mini hardware in July. In a research note, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster crunched ...

Macworld benchmarks: Mac mini BTO can match iMac performance

by Chris Rawson (Aug 29th, 2011)

As the closest Apple comes to a "budget model" Mac, the Mac mini usually turns out to be substantially less powerful than the larger, more expensive iMac. However, Macworld discovered via recent benchmarks that a build-to-order current-generation Mac mini can meet or exceed many performance ...

iFixit releases kit for a second hard drive in the Mac mini

by Mike Schramm (Aug 16th, 2011)

I just went fiddling around in my old school Mac mini the other day. I put some extra memory in, sneaking inside that tiny extra bit of space to pull out the old sticks and punch in the new ones. But the newer Mac mini is even smaller than mine, which makes it all the more impressive that ...