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2011 Mac Mini - Speculation
- Thread starter Nanker/Phelge
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BestBuy america online store, mini has been on backorder for going on three months. I'm looking for a refresh with or shortly after Lion. All these rumor mill hypes are just trolling for site hits. They have no clue what the product numbers are for. I say macbook air and mini, the two cheapest Apple options for a world of suffering pc users who love their iPhones.
Discontinue the mini, not the right way to go with Apple growing in market share the way they are. I highly doubt this is going to happen. Steve Jobs wants to rule the pc market, one switcher at a time. The iPod, iPhone and iPad have all played a role in Apple's growing pc marketshare, but without a cheap entry Mac there would not be so many switchers... who will end up turning others and buying higher end laptops and iMacs later on.
Discontinue the mini, not the right way to go with Apple growing in market share the way they are. I highly doubt this is going to happen. Steve Jobs wants to rule the pc market, one switcher at a time. The iPod, iPhone and iPad have all played a role in Apple's growing pc marketshare, but without a cheap entry Mac there would not be so many switchers... who will end up turning others and buying higher end laptops and iMacs later on.
Discontinue the mini, not the right way to go with Apple growing in market share the way they are. I highly doubt this is going to happen. Steve Jobs wants to rule the pc market, one switcher at a time. The iPod, iPhone and iPad have all played a role in Apple's growing pc marketshare, but without a cheap entry Mac there would not be so many switchers... who will end up turning others and buying higher end laptops and iMacs later on.
I agree. Parents who already have the various peripherals (monitor, keyboard, mouse) would look at the mini as a great way to introduce their kids to the Mac experience without having to fork out $1,000 minimum.
Although I am not a kid, I have all the peripherals and the mini will be perfect for me for school, surfing the web, itunes etc.
I just wish Apple would hurry up and roll out the new Mini as I can't justify spending $700 on a C2D. I would rather get a Macbook Air and link that up to my monitor etc. the added bonus is that I could take the air to the library.
Apple is very aware of your reasoning.
They have become masters at timing their products so that people almost end up buying one of each... and then buy another to replace the oldest model from 3 to 5 years ago....
But I am sure there are people out there that would not bother waiting and buy a PC.
I am not that silly though.
What is silly is to simply write off a PC because of perceived image/brand snobbery. I have both and said this many times, they both do the same job with equal aplomb. Remember the old saying "a good workmen never blames his tools".
OMG you are so right. I bought a 09 Macbook since i got tired waiting for the 09 mini, and connected it to my TV as a HTPC. Then, off course, I bought the 09 Mini the same day it came out. I didnt really need that Macbook but it had better hardware than the current mini at the time..
Now im about to replace my 09 mini with a 11 mini.
They got me..they got me good.
Not everyone agrees with that statement, especially when it comes to usability and aesthetics, not just for the OS but for the applications themselves.
And that doesn't begin to bring up rootkit virus vulnerabilities (which we are still seeing on Win7 machines at work).
You'll notice that most good workmen have invested in quality tools that suit them, and that can be relied on. A "good workmen never blames his tools" because he was smart enough to invest in professional tools in the first place. Look in the toolbox of the mechanic that works on your car or the guy who remodels your kitchen, do they use throwaway Walmart tools? Did the photographer at the last wedding you went to use a point-and-shoot for the B&G shots? Ever see a professional musician playing a "First Act" guitar from Target?
I understand mac minis are hard to install hard drives but I just dont see CTO ssd drives being worth it. Pretty much every store ive ever seen offer CTO ssd drives you pay 80-100 dollars more for the same size ssd you could buy at newegg. Im not paying a 100 dollar price hike just because apple installed it.
As long as the user isn't delibrately trying to infect the machine, Windows 7 is a very secure OS, there's seriously rootkit issues with your PCs at work? Are you sure it's Windows 7 and that there's even just a simple antivi on em
Mac is still more inherently secure AFAIK and ofcourse is an overall higher quality fit and finished product, but in many cases having used both I find Windows 7 to be more or less up there with useability, performance, and stability with OS X.
Mac is still more inherently secure AFAIK and ofcourse is an overall higher quality fit and finished product, but in many cases having used both I find Windows 7 to be more or less up there with useability, performance, and stability with OS X.
Mac mini's don't offer CTO ssd drives. the 2011 will not be an exception. besides apple will work to force you into buying an add-on t-bolt for your ssd in the 2011 mac mini. the hand writing is on the wall for this to be the next apple cash cow.
If you wish to go down that road then I think we will have to agree to disagree. For my money then Windows 7 and the applications it runs wins hands down. I find the Mac versions of well known Windows apps are not as feature rich or user friendly. Both a Mac and a PC are now simply Intel boxes once you undress them and whilst a black tower may not look as aesthetically pleasing as say an iMac I would say the PC based tower should be and is more reliable as it's not subject to the same heat stresses that an iMac is.
I have been using computers since the early nineties and hand on heart I have yet to have a hardware failure of any sort with my PCs. Sadly the same cannot be said of my experiences with a Mac?
I don't wish to get into a Mac v PC argument as it's pointless and as I say I do own both but I find the strap line - I'll never have a horrible PC again, viruses, slow blah blah blah so immature and not an accurate reflection of a modern PC.
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At the top end of computers there's no issue when it comes to mac vs PC eg macpro vs dell workstation. Both are designed very well and priced equally.
However at the low end every PC I've seen bought at the cheap end included terrible bloatware (almost impossible to remove on some PCS without putting in a new HD and buying a new copy of windows), the cheapest most horrible keyboards and mice, horrible screens, noisy and non energy efficient, terrible build quality and awful customer service.
User experience is almost non-existent on these cheapo machines. First mac I bought 10 years ago was a little 12" iBook. I remember getting it out of the box and turning it on, was ready to go instantly. Its been the same ever since.
Depends on your knowledge of computers I suppose. If you aren't blessed with a modicum of intelligence (not you personally that is) then I accept a Mac is a good out of the box experience for the novice. However, if you do know even a little bit about how a computer works then bloat shouldn't be an issue. First thing I do with any new PC is strip out all the bloat - usually by doing a clean install minus OEMs add ons. Once this is done it's all plain sailing. Personally as long as a PC is quiet then I couldn't care less about keyboards mice or screen etc. In fact mice don't come much worse than than Apples Magic Mouse. First thing I did with my Mac was replace the keyboad and mouse with one from Logitech which is far more ergonomic design.
I have a P4 that sounds like a jet throttling up for take off but is still running eight years down the road - that cost me around £400 GBP - cheap and cheerful but very reliable.
So, um.. why are you singing the virtues of your experience with pc/ windows in the mini speculation thread again? A lot of fluff to read in between relevant topic material in mo.
Mac mini?
So those "part numbers" that were brought to light about two weeks ago and were meant to be new Macbook Airs and Mac Pros, then were changed to Mac Minis and a new Macbook, and then changed to Mac Minis and a new TB enabled Display ....
Just wondering if the Macbook Airs are now supposedly being released Wednesday ... where is the new Mini in all this confusion?
So those "part numbers" that were brought to light about two weeks ago and were meant to be new Macbook Airs and Mac Pros, then were changed to Mac Minis and a new Macbook, and then changed to Mac Minis and a new TB enabled Display ....
Just wondering if the Macbook Airs are now supposedly being released Wednesday ... where is the new Mini in all this confusion?
I'm not putting any stock in any more rumors. The part number rumor was particularly stupid.
We know Lion is coming within the next two weeks sometime, and that's about it. It makes sense that the Air and Mini will be updated quickly after that, but there are no guarantees.
We know Lion is coming within the next two weeks sometime, and that's about it. It makes sense that the Air and Mini will be updated quickly after that, but there are no guarantees.
More important....the current 2010 Mac Mini doesn't support the full resolution of the Cinema Display. Compare the Cinema Display 27" specs to that of the Mac Mini and they don't match - the Mini only does something like 1900 x 1200.
That's one key reason I can't buy the current Mini as it doesn't support the full Cinema Display resolution. Hopefully the new Mini will (the 13" 2011 MBP does, so I assume it will).
It does, even the 2009 one does. It's the HDMI output that's limited to 1920x1200, to hook up the 27" you use Mini DisplayPort.
One of the real questions that should be asked at least for UK buyers is why Apple go out of their way to "not" advertise the existence of the Mini at all? You will not find the Mini on display or even mentioned in the sales blurb at any of the Apple resellers that I know of. Indeed the Apple sales blurb simply asks "which Mac is right for you" and then shows all the Apple computer products MINUS any mention of the Mini. You can buy a Mini from a UK Apple reseller but only through their online stores not INstore.
Even Apple's own stores don't display the base Mini, some don't display a Mini at all and at those that do I have only ever seen the "server" version hooked up to a Cinema display.
Whether this is down to SJ influence or simply because Apple are embarrassed by the existence of this product I'm not sure of but it certainly does nothing to raise its profile among buyers.
Even Apple's own stores don't display the base Mini, some don't display a Mini at all and at those that do I have only ever seen the "server" version hooked up to a Cinema display.
Whether this is down to SJ influence or simply because Apple are embarrassed by the existence of this product I'm not sure of but it certainly does nothing to raise its profile among buyers.
do they stock them in proper apple stores? was thinking to pick one up this week or next week from bristol, but if I have to order online I'm more likely to sit back and wait for impressions.
Yes the do stock them in the Apple stores but you are unlikely to see them either on display or on the shelf, they tend to keep them in the back. Be prepared for plenty of dissuasive sales talk though as they will try to sell the negatives of buying a Mini and upsell you to the iMac - least this has been my experience at three different Apple stores.
thats disappointing. Surely they can see there are a reasonable number of people wanting a HTPC and for that an imac is pointless - it'll block the view of my TV
? Not sure thats right, both Kingston and Wimbledon branches had a few on display when I went in there not so long ago.