Full FeedThe new Mac mini: first look
So, the Mac Mini finally received its much wanted update; rather quietly, with no events or notifications. Judging by the front exterior, there’s not that much different. So, what has actually changed? Is it worth investing in now, or should hold off for later models?
To give you some idea, the rumored images that you likely saw around the net these past few weeks were, in fact, the new Mac Mini. Well, not the version with 17 USB ports unfortunately. On the face of it, there are five USB ports, a Mini DisplayPort and a MiniDVI, Gigabit Ethernet, and Audio In/Out. The Firewire 400 has been replaced with Firewire 800. Sounds alright so far? The Mini DisplayPort will allow you to run multiple monitors, and yes, the processor will be able to handle it.
On the inside, changes are split into two Mac Mini models. The first, at $599, features a 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo processor, 1GB memory, a 120GB hard drive, and an 8x double-layer SuperDrive and the graphics now share the same chip as the MacBooks: the Nvidia GeForce 9400M. To put things into perspective, another 1GB of memory and 40GB of hard drive space, and you’d have the same specification as the 2.0GHz MacBook. So this is more than capable of your usual computing. If you’re looking for a little more power though, which with only 1GB of RAM, you may want, there’s a second option now open to you. The second model costs $799 and still uses the 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo processor, and the Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics chip, but has 2GB of memory and a boosted 320GB hard drive. That’s a decent hard drive for such a small device; you’d have more hard drive space than the top spec MacBook. With the Firewire 800 port, connecting an external drive would boost your hard drive space, and data transfer would be very quick. A Mac Mini with 2TB available storage—who doesn’t like the sound of that?
Still screaming out for more power? Apple give you the option to customize your Mac Mini. So, the top spec you could get would have a 2.26GHz Intel Core Duo Processor, and 4GB of memory, which would come to a total of $1,049. The 320GB hard drive and 9400M graphics chips are the best available at the moment.
So there’s no doubt about it. The new Mac Mini is a very capable machine. Great for everyday tasks, and decent for photo editing. Maybe high end video editing would want yet more power, so the Mac Pro may be more your thing. The Mac Mini proves great for a home server, or media center if the Apple TV doesn’t suit your taste. Maybe now you could try and persuade your boss to switch to Mac. More desk space, more power, and more style. Or at home, the Mac Mini is the perfect Mac to switch from a PC to. Keep your previous screen, keyboard and mouse, put all your data onto an external drive, and you’re away!
It’s not a huge update for the trusty Mac Mini. No brand new elegant designs, or endless USB options. But it’s a good update from Apple. They’ve added the things we needed, and kept the things we liked. They’ve trimmed it down inside to make it the best possible for the device. And it’s now also the world’s most energy efficient desktop computer. That’s got a feel-good factor, surely.
So, as Apple has said:
How do you make a perfect square even more perfect? Add your own keyboard, display, and mouse. And suddenly, it’s a Mac.
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WoW!
I cannot believe everyone is so impressed with the update? It’s a complete RIP OFF! No remote is included anymore and the prices here in the UK are waaaaay more expensive than the previous versions - they keep going UP - (£499 or £649).
I was going to replace, but I don’t think i’ll bother!
:-(
on March 3, 2009 at 01:30 PM - LINKThe prices in the UK are stupid. For what you get, £500 is very steep. I don’t think I’ll be investing in one this time either, but it’s still a decent machine all together.
on March 3, 2009 at 01:35 PM - LINKI wish Apple would do proper pricing in the UK. 499 is nearly 100 more than the roughly 420 pounds the simple exchange between 599 USD and UK gives.
I had really high hopes they would make the main aim of the mini to break the 400 pound barrier and wash all those cheap tacky plastic PCs down the drain.
But sadly, yet again the mini has an ambiguous place in the line up because if you buy the Cinema Display and keyboard with it, you may as well get an iMac.
With its relatively simple construction it was their one chance at breaking the expensive computers stigma (we all know they are not compared with the true day to day costs of running a PC but the punter in the street is sadly not all that wise)
on March 3, 2009 at 02:09 PM - LINKFor over a year, the Mini has had that ‘dated computer look’. This was Apple’s chance to do at least a minor redesign of the case, and they blew it.
I won’t talk about the price, the last comment seems very accurate. Buying a iMac might be a better choice for someone that does not own a keyboard+mouse+monitor combination.
on March 3, 2009 at 06:10 PM - LINK@Rob. Thats one of the worst things for UK consumers buying from Apple. There’s no signs of an exchange rate. For the parts involved, the markup for the £499 Mac Mini must be quite decent for Apple. I wouldn’t expect them to go extremely low (towards Eee territory), but something more affordable by the mass markets, and they’d likely sell more in the long run - earning more profit.
on March 4, 2009 at 07:19 PM - LINKI have just made the leap back to Apple from years in the wilderness of PC. I went for the Mac mini as I had a large (42”) monitor/TV. As luck would have it the monitor broke. Can anyone recommend a suitable large monitor/TV? I will be using it mainly for TV and streamed football
Ken
on March 26, 2009 at 04:32 AM - LINK