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Mac Mini Update

Tara Davis said:
I would shrink them down if I thought there was any other way to get the message through to some of these lunk-heads that keep saying inane stuff like "the mini will never support HDMI."
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Well how about the rest of us then? Big text like that is rude and unnecessary. Please edit your post.

Besides, DVI is a subset of HDMI which does not include audio, nor does it meet the 1.3 specs. Therefore, support for HDMI is more than an adapter over a DVI port - there needs to be a way to put audio and new HDCP in that port as well. Should I put that in large text so that the lunk-heads who think it's very simple to provide a fully-funcitoning HDMI port on a device with just a DVI port and an 1/8" audio out?
 
sorry to burst everyone's bubble here, but at the store i work at, we sell dvi to hdmi cables, one of which is being used to plug a mac mini into an hdtv for store demos. (xtreme mac make them, you can buy them from the apple online store, and presumably, apple retail stores)

it also works with the macbook pro to hdtv, and (if you get the mini dvi to dvi adaptor) with the imacs and macbooks, too.

however, there is no audio, for obvious reasons.
 
KingofAwesome said:
Well how about the rest of us then? Big text like that is rude and unnecessary. Please edit your post.

Besides, DVI is a subset of HDMI which does not include audio, nor does it meet the 1.3 specs. Therefore, support for HDMI is more than an adapter over a DVI port - there needs to be a way to put audio and new HDCP in that port as well. Should I put that in large text so that the lunk-heads who think it's very simple to provide a fully-funcitoning HDMI port on a device with just a DVI port and an 1/8" audio out?
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HDCP is a tool of the devil. I'll go back to analog component connections before having anything to do with it.

But if you *must* have it, I should point out that DVI is capable of supporting HDCP, just as well as HDMI can.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDCP

So, like I said, the only real difference is carrying audio on the same cable.
 
I'm sorry Tara, but that isn't applicable to this situation..

HDCP is not supported by the mac mini. It doesn't have the required encryption keys, which must be implemented in hardware.

In systems where minis work using an HDMI adaptor, this is because the HDCP on current displays is optional. The manufacturers plan to start requiring HDCP once Blu-Ray and HD-DVD have reached reasonable adoption levels.

If HDMI is present on the output device, it is required on the display device. If HDCP is not present on the output device, currently, the display device can choose to allow display, or block display. In future, the specification will require blocking the display.

This means, theoretically, that no mini will be able to display Blu-Ray or HD-DVD content in the future. Of course, in practice...
 
dex22 said:
I'm sorry Tara, but that isn't applicable to this situation..

HDCP is not supported by the mac mini. It doesn't have the required encryption keys, which must be implemented in hardware.

In systems where minis work using an HDMI adaptor, this is because the HDCP on current displays is optional. The manufacturers plan to start requiring HDCP once Blu-Ray and HD-DVD have reached reasonable adoption levels.

If HDMI is present on the output device, it is required on the display device. If HDCP is not present on the output device, currently, the display device can choose to allow display, or block display. In future, the specification will require blocking the display.

This means, theoretically, that no mini will be able to display Blu-Ray or HD-DVD content in the future. Of course, in practice...
Click to expand...

Correction, no CURRENT mini. A future DVI-based one could do so. There's also the possibility of a future firmware update to the current hardware.

More importantly, when nobody buys displays which don't work with their input devices, HDCP will go the way of DIV-X and Rootkit compact disks.

Anybody who pays extra for a feature which restricts their use of a device deserves everything they get.
 
Tara Davis said:
Correction, no CURRENT mini. A future DVI-based one could do so. There's also the possibility of a future firmware update to the current hardware.
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HDCP support cannot be implemented in firmware, according to the specification.

When you're talking about future products, you're getting into conjecture. Your original post didn't leave any room for conjecture on current products:

Tara Davis said:
HDMI and DMI are pin-for-pin exactly the same video connection. You can buy cables that are HDMI on one end and DVI on the other, and they work perfectly.

The only difference is HDMI connectors are shaped differently and also can carry audio.

[snip]

But it ALREADY DOES support HDMI video, that's my point. Hell, I put it in huge letters and everything.
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I'm not trying to say I'm right and you're wrong. I think you have a valid point about DVI being a subset of HDMI and that in many cases it'll work seamlessly. I just don't want people out there thinking this will always be the case.

Can we have make-up sex now? :)
 
dex22 said:
When you're talking about future products, you're getting into conjecture.
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This whole thread is conjecture since its talking about an update that hasn't happened yet.

I'd really like to see HDCP compliance in all new Macs. The GMA X3000 chip *does* have HDCP support. Whether Apple decides to use this chip or stick to the GMA950s for the time being remains to be seen though. I'm thinking of getting a Mac Mini in the six to nine months time period as well as an HDTV. Ideally I'd want an HDCP compliant mini that I know I can upgrade later on with a Bluray/HD-DVD drive. Without HDCP, Bluray and HD-DVDs playback is always going to be a nono. I'm sure Apple will start adding HDCP support at some point although whether its in the next Mini update is an unknown right now.
 
philipxz said:
urrrrrrr:mad: eMac :mad:

ummm wouldnt that be the iMac??
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emac

And yes, we have gotten off track.

I predict a "one more thing.." mini update at WWDC. (Of course, I'll be wrong and everyone can laugh at me me :p)

I don't think C2D will be used in the Mini until the iMac, MB and MBP's all have Santa Rosa. I think they'll keep CD for now and just bump the speeds, and HD sizes.
 
Ew, a year between updates.
The intended market for the Mini and eMac differ somewhat, at least.
 
I am planning on putting a mini in my car :) But I am waiting for an updated product. The specs I'm hoping to see are:

1.) N wireless (so I can sync my mini to my main computer in my apartment)

2.) Larger hard drive.... please in this day and age only maxing out at 160GB!?

3.) Processor Core Duo... how about Core 2 Duos are now outdated?

4.) More audio options, possibly component...
 
karterius said:
I am planning on putting a mini in my car :) But I am waiting for an updated product. The specs I'm hoping to see are:

1.) N wireless (so I can sync my mini to my main computer in my apartment)

2.) Larger hard drive.... please in this day and age only maxing out at 160GB!?

3.) Processor Core Duo... how about Core 2 Duos are now outdated?

4.) More audio options, possibly component...
Click to expand...

eh? Core 2 Duos are the latest. Do you mean:

3.) Processor Core 2 Duo... how about Core Duos are now outdated?
 
flopticalcube said:
eh? Core 2 Duos are the latest. Do you mean:

3.) Processor Core 2 Duo... how about Core Duos are now outdated?
Click to expand...


No LOL

It should have read as

3.) Processor, (AS IN UPDATED PROCESSOR) Core Duo (REFERERRING TO THE CURRENT SPEC)... how about Core 2 Duos are now outdated (REFERRING EVEN IF THEY MOVED TO A CORE 2 It WOULD BE OUTDATED?


Please 160 GB is fine for a laptop, if you read my post though I am putting it in my car. Which means it would be stationary, and a Mac Pro is not only $2000 more but really would not fit nicely in my glove box...

Eh....
 
karterius said:
No LOL

It should have read as

3.) Processor, (AS IN UPDATED PROCESSOR) Core Duo (REFERERRING TO THE CURRENT SPEC)... how about Core 2 Duos are now outdated (REFERRING EVEN IF THEY MOVED TO A CORE 2 It WOULD BE OUTDATED?


Please 160 GB is fine for a laptop, if you read my post though I am putting it in my car. Which means it would be stationary, and a Mac Pro is not only $2000 more but really would not fit nicely in my glove box...

Eh....
Click to expand...
Core 2 Duo is nowhere near outdated. Neither is Core Duo. If you ask me, only G3's are becoming outdated. (The later ones are not) Hell, the Wii uses a G3 processor!
 
Cassie said:

Core 2 Duo is nowhere near outdated. Neither is Core Duo. If you ask me, only G3's are becoming outdated. (The later ones are not) Hell, the Wii uses a G3 processor!
Click to expand...

The Core Duo is outdated as compared to chips that are currently available on the market eg. Core 2 Duo, the Core 2 Duo will be made outdated in the next few months by the Santa Rosa chipset. So buying a Core 2 Duo now would be buying a processor that expires shortly.

I agree there isn't that significant a difference in the quality of the chip sets in comparison. but I personally rather have the latest to the market then something that was released by intel 2 years ago (core duo).

If you really don't believe me look at what you get in the apple TV for $299, and what you get in the mac mini at $599...

http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/04/18/reviews.apple.tv.cpu/

Apple TV CPU a new Intel CE 2110?
Intel has unveiled a new "highly integrated media processor for the consumer electronics (CE) market segment that will power a new generation of devices, such as digital set top boxes and networked media players, and bring consumers advanced in-home information and entertainment services."

The Wii processor is essentially a brother to the Game Cube.... Compare it to the Cell in the PS3 or even an Xbox and it is outdated.
 
karterius said:
The Core Duo is outdated as compared to chips that are currently available on the market eg. Core 2 Duo, the Core 2 Duo will be made outdated in the next few months by the Santa Rosa chipset. So buying a Core 2 Duo now would be buying a processor that expires shortly.
Click to expand...

Funny, I was under the impression that Santa Rosa used Core 2 Duo's. If it does not, what does it use? Isn't Socket P just a pin reconfiguration of Socket M?
 
karterius doesn't have a clue what he's talking about by the sounds of things. Santa Rosa is Core 2 Duo. Just because Santa Rosa is coming out does not mean that the Core 2 Duo chips that are currently available will become 'outdated'. The chip in the Apple TV is little more than a modified Pentium-M chip.

And don't expect desktop hard drives in the mac minis anytime soon. 160gb is all you're going to see for the moment. Although there are now 250 and 300gb laptop drives, they're a deeper format and don't fit in most laptops on the market.

And beyone all this, what does a car pc need to do that needs the absolute latest and greatest technology?? The current low end mac mini model would be more than enough for a carpc, especially if coupled with a large external hard drive.
 
Cassie said:

Core 2 Duo is nowhere near outdated. Neither is Core Duo. If you ask me, only G3's are becoming outdated. (The later ones are not) Hell, the Wii uses a G3 processor!
Click to expand...

I think what he meant to say (and would have said, if he knew how to punctuate properly) was:

"how about Core 2? Duos are now outdated."

He's using the term "Duo" to refer to the Core Duo, and "Core 2" to refer to the Core 2 Duo. Lack of a question mark at the end of his question makes that almost (but not quite) impossible to read.

What do I win?
 
Nobody knows when the Mac mini's will be updated, besides the people at Apple. I personally don't care if they get updated or not, since I just got my Mac mini back in late December (Christmas).
 
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