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Are we any closer to a mini tower?

Y

Yixian

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 2, 2007
1,483
135
Europe
All this talk of new macs, cheaper macs, competing with Windows on new ground etc. are we any closer to the fabled Mac mini tower?

You know, the iMac priced, stand alone tower. As upgradeable as a Mac Pro but without the ultra high end processors and storage, and astronomical price point.

Surely it's clear to Apple that a hell of a lot of PC users who just won't sacrifice the ability to upgrade their machines, particularly in the graphics department, and aren't interested in sacrificing expandability for 1" thick enclosures that are sitting on a desk anyway, are still dying to switch.

It should be the easiest thing in the world for Apple to produce but still we don't have one, please tell me it's coming.
 
Well I have good news and bad news: its not.

Oh, srry man, i guess its all bad news.

Apple wont do it because they dont NEED to.
 
TwinCities Dan said:
Eidorian said "desktop models" not "Apple inc." ;)
Click to expand...

That may be true, but desktop computers are hardly Apple's highest margin products. iPhones, laptops, software are all higher margin products. I would guess that iPods are, too.

So, Apple's desktop models are likely to have less than the corporation's average margins.

I just thought that the "insane" comment should be put in context. For a more appropriate use of the term "insane profit margins", Microsoft has gross margins over 80% and net profit margins more than double those of Apple.
 
I don't think computers as towers is part of Apple's forward vision thinking. Functional, simple, elegant, yet powerful is a major reason that attracts people away from the circuit bucket monstrosities of the PC world to the small footprint of Apple. And Apple is not interested in the clientele base wanting to tinker with computer innards. Linux users and a percentage of PC users exist for that. Apple customers have better and other things to do in life.
 
Cave Man said:
The price points are just fine, considering the engineering that goes into them.
Click to expand...

Waiting for Intel to design a new chip - Free
Waiting for Intel to design a board - Free
Using a glorified dremel to make a case worthy of a 25% surcharge over comparable products - Priceless

All kidding aside, I do like my new laptop, but I'm glad I only paid $1600 for it new.
 
Using machine-tooled aluminum and cramming all that stuff on a small board, then assembling the two in a way that's silent nearly all the time isn't easy. If it were, then you'd see Windows PCs out there like the Mini and iMac (and MB/MBP) - but you don't. Believe me, I thoroughly enjoy muscle of my two hackintoshes, but I get more pleasure out of using my Mini and iMac.
 
Yixian said:
All this talk of new macs, cheaper macs, competing with Windows on new ground etc. are we any closer to the fabled Mac mini tower?

You know, the iMac priced, stand alone tower. As upgradeable as a Mac Pro but without the ultra high end processors and storage, and astronomical price point.

Surely it's clear to Apple that a hell of a lot of PC users who just won't sacrifice the ability to upgrade their machines, particularly in the graphics department, and aren't interested in sacrificing expandability for 1" thick enclosures that are sitting on a desk anyway, are still dying to switch.

It should be the easiest thing in the world for Apple to produce but still we don't have one, please tell me it's coming.
Click to expand...

I don't think it is any closer to happening. It's not the apple way.
 
Cave Man said:
I agree, and thus my love-hate relationship with Apple. :mad:
Click to expand...

I know the feeling. I would love to be able to get a mini tower. I like my Mini, but it doesn't quite have enough oomph for my tastes. I also don't want an all in one, since my monitor is better than the iMac displays. And, of course, the Mac Pro is way out of my price range. Sometimes I feel like Goldylocks. Except this time, there is no model that is "just right".
 
They have the mini, they have the Mac Pro, why can't they just pop out an "in the middle"?
 
I'm going to buy an iMac tomorrow, and would most certainly rather have a mini tower (I briefly thought about a Mac Pro, but didn't for the obvious too much computer/money issue). I think the fact is, computers aren't even what's making Apple so profitable...it's the iPhone and iPod (not to say they're not turning a profit from their computers, just not as much as the iPod/iPhone). And of the computers Apple sells, it's the laptops (and Macbook in particular) that sells the most.

Having said that, I still wonder how much it would really take to invest in a mini tower? The fact that they don't have a true consumer desktop is frustrating (iMac and Mac Mini both have lots of laptop components) to me. I think the bottom line is that Steve Jobs probably thinks the desktop is a dying breed.
 
It would cut into the sales of top end imacs and mac pros if apple made one. Apple is a bunch of control freaks as well. A consumerish mac that you can easily swap out the hard drive or graphics card? Easily put in a new processor? Oh the horror, the anathema!
 
As long as Steve is alive, we won't see "xMac". Apple's idea was that normal customer won't mess up with hardware and I think that's good idea. Pro users can upgrade their machines because they usually need that extra power.

Apple's desktop line:

Mac Mini - low end, entry level Mac for people who already have monitor, keyboard and mouse. For people who don't need much power

iMac - Multi/medium level Mac for everyone - people who don't have existing monitor, keyboard and mouse as much as people who needs it for gaming, professional use and other heavy tasks

Mac Pro - High end Mac, for professional use and for people who can afford it. Uses the latest and fastest hardware and it's seen in price tag.

So, where would you put xMac into? there's no space for that. It would eat sales from all other Macs... Who wants to buy iMac with 3.06GHz for $2000 if you can get same specced xMac for less than $1000 and have possibility of upgradeability.

Of course I would like to have a xMac in stores but I try to be realistic, so we're not gonna see that...
 
clyde2801 said:
It would cut into the sales of top end imacs and mac pros if apple made one. Apple is a bunch of control freaks as well. A consumerish mac that you can easily swap out the hard drive or graphics card? Easily put in a new processor? Oh the horror, the anathema!
Click to expand...

To each their own, but the iMacs remind me of these sorts of things:

barbie-b-desktop-275.jpg
 
m1stake said:
All kidding aside, I do like my new laptop, but I'm glad I only paid $1600 for it new.
Click to expand...

Did you get it from springboard media? I know they had a MBP on sale for around that.

Anyway, we'd all love an xMac, I just do not think it's going to happen soon. My mini is fine for what it needs to do, though I would really like a 3.5" harddrive and upgradable graphics.
 
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