dual-bay, mmaayybbee...I could see a small SSD for OS/Program installs, along with a larger HDD for storage.
That said, for most people's uses, it might be a (very expensive) waste.
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2011 Mac Mini - Speculation
- Thread starter Nanker/Phelge
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dual-bay, mmaayybbee...I could see a small SSD for OS/Program installs, along with a larger HDD for storage.
That said, for most people's uses, it might be a (very expensive) waste.
Nope, doesn't look promising. That said, John Lewis still has just the one in stock, so maybe Amazon is an exception, plus they're selling them cheaper than anyone else.I have noticed British retailers including Amazon now showing lots of Mini stock again. Not a good sign if new Mini is supposedly an imminent release.
I've been patient so far, but I can sense that will soon change. I have the money to buy now, so I'll probably become slightly irked if nothing happens this month. After all, the informed logic says, don't buy now! One would have to be pretty desperate (or plain naive) to buy the C2D Mini at current prices.
It is a gullible and naive consumer who would buy anything other than an iMac, MB Pro, or Mac Pro at this date. But most switchers and probably even most Apple faithfuls who switched to Mac years ago because their tekky friend suggested it, will buy whatever Mac is for sale at their time of need.
Not like me who hits this thread regularly and refreshes the Apple Store page ten times a day lol.
The MacPro is just waay more machine than I will ever put to good use. If new mini is underspec'd I will have to get an iMac and hate the screen, which is probably exactly what Apple wants me to do lol..
Not like me who hits this thread regularly and refreshes the Apple Store page ten times a day lol.
The MacPro is just waay more machine than I will ever put to good use. If new mini is underspec'd I will have to get an iMac and hate the screen, which is probably exactly what Apple wants me to do lol..
I've found this to be a lot more practical than trying to buy macs that are not for sale, as I generally can not buy them.
And I do as a whole buy computers when I need them.
Mac Pro's are doubtful at this time. While the current ones are decent machines without question, rumour has it that they're receiving an upgrade soon as well.
I interpreted his point as meaning that the Mini, even though it cost 28% as much as the base model year old Mac Pro, was a much poorer value due to its relatively dated specs, limited capacity, and paucity of upgrade options.
Yes, I did mean to indicate that Mac Pro's aren't so poor value right now, just that it appears that even better value Mac Pro's are around the bend.
But this thread is about the Mac Mini <.<
Speaking of a good deal, I got a good deal on a 09 MP quad last weekend. Thanks to Phillipma, I'm itching to do the EFI firmware hack and throw in a 3.2 w3670 six core chip. It's already fitted out with 8gigs of ram and 2+ TB of storage. For a total of less than $2K, I'll have the equivalent of a $4,200 BTO machine on the Apple store website today (other than having the original stock GT120 card).
Think I'll wait to see if 10.7 will gum up the works or screw something up before I pull the trigger on the upgrade. Sacrificing stability for enhanced specs would not be a good trade. May have to wander over to the upgrade thread and ask if anyone had any troubles after installing intitial 10.7 versions.
The longer the wait goes on, the more appealing this idea becomes for me.
Though it's reasonable to anticipate we'll get Mini updates this month or at least soon after. OTOH, the possibility also exists that we'll see nothing until next year, as Apple have previous with not updating the Mini for 20 months & it's just over 1 year since last updates.
I'll give it until sometime in early August at the latest, then my patience probably wears thin.
Normally yes. But Apple also has a history of taking one 'gee whiz' feature and updating entire product lines with it. I see TB as being such a feature. That, and the fact that Intel is about to quit making the c2d that go in the mini, almost demand an update.
Of course, the latter point supposes that Apple's not sitting on a warehouse full of c2d chips. But I'd venture they don't.
Of course, the latter point supposes that Apple's not sitting on a warehouse full of c2d chips. But I'd venture they don't.
If I'm honest, I find february to july/august a long timeframe to upgrade all your products with a 'gee whiz' feature as you call it. You could similarly argue that Lion is a release that demands updates across the field, with the exception of things that have recently been updated. MBP's could even be considered a tad long ago for that, marketingwise it'd help if they could say "Oh and look, MBP's now come with bigger HDD's" or whatever incremental update they come up with.
I know of two work colleagues who have now bought other products, one an iMac and the other a W7 PC simply because they were totally fed up with promises/rumours of jam tomorrow re: Mini upgrade. As a manufacturer you can over egg the pudding and then the consumer simply loses interest and goes elsewhere. To be fair though Apple haven't said anything about a Mini upgrade though on the other hand they haven't done anything to scotch/confirm the rumours either.
The only light on the horizon is that Lion is rumoured for release any day now and most UK retailers (with the exception of Best Buy and a couple of others) are now showing NO MINI STOCK.
The only light on the horizon is that Lion is rumoured for release any day now and most UK retailers (with the exception of Best Buy and a couple of others) are now showing NO MINI STOCK.
Yes I have ordered a different machine as well. It was on a special deal, a laptop for way less money than a Mini, with a decent GPU. Since I intend to do some gaming I decided that this would be better than continuing the waiting game. Only downside to me is that I won't get OSX.
I don't see Windows as a poor relation any more following the release of W7, it's more than a match for OS X SL though will have to wait and see if it can match Lion. I say enjoy your new purchase, it's yet more revenue not going Apple's way.
I will probably get yelled at by some know-it-all, but I predict a new mini the same day as Lion release, with MBA as well. Apple's two cheapest lines, both in dire need of a major cpu bump.. shipped with Lion, to lure in previous iMac and MBP owners to switch to 10.7. Mac Pro to follow later this fall... I think the macbook is either finished, or update will also be released later this fall.
My birthday, appropriately enough - July 14
My birthday, appropriately enough - July 14
Yes with XP being 0 and OS X being 10 on a scale of one to ten, W7 is definitely a 7!
Unfair!
I would definitely rate XP higher than Windows 7. I believe market share for XP is still ~38% while 7 is only ~30%, so I don't think I'm alone.
Cannot seem to fathom all of the PRO Windows 7 rhetoric on this site. Everyone get's an opinion, true, but my experience with 7 has been anything but nice.
Pretty graphics and reasonably stable, but frustrating interface, high hardware overhead, and massive drive consumption leads me back to XP every time.
I just did maintenance on a system I installed 4 years ago (core 2 duo w/ 2 GB of ram, running xp pro) and the system FLEW... I would take that 4 year old system over the vast majority of new 7 systems that I see daily (w/o getting all speccy) any day.
Of course, I would still prefer OS X over XP for all of the normal arguments (MacDefender notwithstanding). I'm not sure I would rate OS X a 10... as there is still lots of room for improvement.
But I digress... release the mini already! been waiting for 5 months!
I full well expect to enjoy it, I come from a 1,42GHz Mac Mini so it'll be a big boost. My experiences with Windows after XP have been minimal, a few less than joyful encounters with Vista come to mind. My parents seem to be quite happy with 7 though.
Hmm! now let me see - XP, ten year old OS 38% W7 18 months old 30%, no brainer really. I have installed W7 on my 7 year old Laptop which ironically used to run XP MCE. The machine performs very nicely and I haven't even increased the RAM and run with full aero. Stability wise W7 is most stable Windows OS ever. One can only assume you have some faulty hardware or have not been able to get to grips with what most users consider to be a very user friendly OS.
Hmm! now let me see - XP, ten year old OS 38% W7 18 months old 30%, no brainer really. I have installed W7 on my 7 year old Laptop which ironically used to run XP MCE. The machine performs very nicely and I haven't even increased the RAM and run with full aero. Stability wise W7 is most stable Windows OS ever. One can only assume you have some faulty hardware or have not been able to get to grips with what most users consider to be a very user friendly OS.
My son bought a high end Mac and he tried OS X for 3 months and then reverted back to Windows 7. Normally I am a late upgrader, ran XP until a 18 months ago, tried Vista but now am running Windows 7. With a SSD on an T7500 the software flies and I am more than happy performance wise.
However I am less than happy with all the monthly updates, the continous "validation" to ensure I am running legit software (I am, cannot afford anything less in a business environment, too much malware risk otherwise) and who knows what else information they try to gain. The bloat is also a thorn in my side, can remember NT workstation 3.5 on something like 22, (or 26?) 3.5" floppies. Office came on something like 10 floppies and installed was something like 10 Mb. My oh my, what has happened? Software is getting slower than that the hardware is getting faster.
I value my privacy highly and do not like the way things are going, looks like we are back to the old "dumb terminal with server" idea except this time it is not inhouse but across the web and not to a server owned by the employer but to the software company. George Orwell's 1984 is coming of age if you ask me.
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Ah yes, this is a concern for me as well. Although some might find a bunch of things OSX has bloat as well.. Widgets spring to mind, even when I personally find them very useful. My brother even dislikes the dock
confused.But yeah, when I try to update FF or something at my parents', I have to click multiple 'security' boxes. (Or was that during Vista?)
Anyway, my experience with OSX (even though I'm on 10.4) has been brilliant, Windows not so. So I'd rather have the machine I'm getting, for the price I'm getting it, but running Lion
Now where did I put my cake??