New Mac Mini - No Optical Drive

[potatis]

Would've been neat if they could have used the saved space to make a really small base model, more like the size of the TV. The older pre-2010 Mini's had smaller footprint, though they were taller, but what do you do with that saved vertical space anyway? (And a server model the size of a cube?)

 

[nebo1ss]

There is a large market for the MINI to be used as a Media server. The Apple TV just does not do the job for many of us and we chose to use a Mac Mini running something like Plex or XBMC. With the HDMI connection on the Mini it is an ideal Media server and it allows us to use media formats that are just not supported on the Apple TV.

The lack of an integrated optical drive could lose Apple this market. I am sorry but I don't need another box "USB connected optional drive" under the TV in addition to the Mac Mini so I will stay with the 2010 model. I am fed up with those who keep telling me why I don't need an optical drive in my mini.

 

[JimDut]

There is clearly a split between people over the lack of the drive, but that's purely down to what 'technical' lifestyle that person still leads.

I think we've all established there will be a day when its normal for us not to have any physical media... its perhaps a case, for a percentage of people, of a little too early by Apple, especially whilst internet speeds are what they are.

Personally, I've not purchased a CD for over 6 years. The last DVD I purchased was about 2 years ago... if the mini did have a drive, I probably wouldn't use it, so I certainly won't miss it. I'm also very fortunate to have 50mb broadband.

I buy Apple products, much like I'd buy a Mercedes (if I could afford one)... they do things years ahead of others... some things seem ridiculous or unnecessary... then 5-8 years later its industry standard.

Trying to look outside the 'box', I guess, for the sake of a slightly bigger box, apple should have provided the drive to satisfy the fact a fairly large percentage still use physical media.

 

[philipma1957]

There is a large market for the MINI to be used as a Media server. The Apple TV just does not do the job for many of us and we chose to use a Mac Mini running something like Plex or XBMC. With the HDMI connection on the Mini it is an ideal Media server and it allows us to use media formats that are just not supported on the Apple TV.

The lack of an integrated optical drive could lose Apple this market. I am sorry but I don't need another box "USB connected optional drive" under the TV in addition to the Mac Mini so I will stay with the 2010 model. I am fed up with those who keep telling me why I don't need an optical drive in my mini.

yes lots of people have cds dvds believe it or not. I also want to mention that rare cd's and dvds do exist
digital downloads are not available for them. Also handing a dvd or a cd to a relative or a friend works. think wedding video for an example.

There is clearly a split between people over the lack of the drive, but that's purely down to what 'technical' lifestyle that person still leads.

I think we've all established there will be a day when its normal for us not to have any physical media... its perhaps a case, for a percentage of people, of a little too early by Apple, especially whilst internet speeds are what they are.

Personally, I've not purchased a CD for over 6 years. The last DVD I purchased was about 2 years ago... if the mini did have a drive, I probably wouldn't use it, so I certainly won't miss it. I'm also very fortunate to have 50mb broadband.

I buy Apple products, much like I'd buy a Mercedes (if I could afford one)... they do things years ahead of others... some things seem ridiculous or unnecessary... then 5-8 years later its industry standard.

In all in, trying to look outside the 'box', I guess, for the sake of a slightly bigger box, apple should have provided the drive to satisfy the fact a fairly large percentage still use physical media.

I am pretty tech savy I keep up with gear what the problem for me is I do want some solid copies .

The cloud has no appeal to me as the only option. As an option fine but as the only choice no.

 

[Alucardx03]

I know this has been discussed to death (so please don't attack me!)... but why not just use an external optical drive? Is the main argument that it makes things look sloppy? Is it an argument of convenience? It certainly can't be one of cost, as the price has been reduced $100 and most external drives can he had for about $30.

In my opinion, I like the idea of a bare bones system that allows me to add functionality as my needs dictate it. Just from a longevity standpoint, keeping things as simple as possible (and modular, to a certain extent) can only add to the life of the components.

For example, my 2009 Mini works perfectly fine (it's been running 24/7 since I purchased it) except for the optical drive. That died about 1.5 years later. If that was a cheap external drive, it would have been replaced long ago. It's just not worth the hassle to me to open the thing up and replace the drive.

It seems weird to me that people are passing up this computer because of the lack of a drive. Worst case scenario, can't you just hide the external drive? Mount it to the back of your monitor/TV or something?

 

[volodymyrqa]

Apple gave us an opportunity to choose:

- save 100 $
- or to buy external blu ray drive( a lot of people whining that they cannot play blu ray discs )

So what is the problem?

http://fastmac.com/blurayext - i guess it's slim enough...
it will fit perfectly... especially if put it under Mini

 

[theSeb]

I have quite a large collection of DVDs and BR discs. I've ripped them into mkvs. Problem solved and so much more convenient then looking for a particular disc.

 

[Esrhan]

Apple gave us an opportunity to choose:

- save 100 $
- or to buy external blu ray drive( a lot of people whining that they cannot play blu ray discs )

So what is the problem?

Why do you ask when you didn't bother to read the replies?

First of all you don't save the 100 bucks because the Mini was cheaper before with an optical drive. Second it's supposed to be a desktop computer for crying out loud. Not something you take with you in a bag. Having the optical drive integrated makes sense since it takes away practically no space nor functionality. The only burden you have is the disc slot in the front of the case. Suggesting that people get more external peripherals for this is like dropping the USB-ports and telling people to get an external USB-hub. Oh, and optical media isn't dead yet by far.

Having said that I'm perfectly fine observing these changes with my 2010 Mac Mini. It will be interesting to see what changes happen along the next few years.

 

[ronss]

some of the bad decisions that come from these now becoming anti-comsumer ceo,s.....they did away with the overpriced powermac, a defeat. mac mini now without a optical drive.. i cannot watch movies now, i have many...the next bad move, such a low power internet graphic,s ..what was the matter with the intel 4800 graphics...it cost to much???? mac mini with no operating system disk...that is the deal killer in my book...sorry apple....you lost me.

 

[barkmonster]

Going external makes total sense from a cost, frequency of use and flexibility point of view.

1. Choice. The "Bag of Hurt" of Blu Ray can be bought externally for less than the price of an Apple USB DVD and you can burn blu ray data discs natively just as easily as DVDs. This also means the component cost saved allow systems to come with more RAM, a larger HDD/SSD or faster CPUs. The last Mac Mini that had an optical drive also only had 2Gb RAM, 320Gb HDDs and a dated C2D CPU as standard.

2. HDDs are a better form of long-term backup than DVDs. Some branded media that's been stored safely in plastic wallets from the day they were burned for a decade is showing read errors for me. (I did verify them at the time, I'm not naive).

3. Cost. Everyone uses their HDD/SSD daily to boot from and "should" use a backup medium like an external HDD in addition to it. No internal optical drive is in constant daily use. It might be used for installing new software or for use with one specific application (for copy protection, a media player, a game etc...), but most of the time, it's the least frequently used drive type on any system. The last Mac Mini to have an optical drive had a 2.4Ghz C2D and cost £649. Now it's £499 for a 2.5Ghz Core i5. I fail to see how the £150 saving can't cover an optical drive externally and still leave enough change for a backup drive too.

 

[opinio]

some of the bad decisions that come from these now becoming anti-comsumer ceo,s.....they did away with the overpriced powermac, a defeat. mac mini now without a optical drive.. i cannot watch movies now, i have many...the next bad move, such a low power internet graphic,s ..what was the matter with the intel 4800 graphics...it cost to much???? mac mini with no operating system disk...that is the deal killer in my book...sorry apple....you lost me.

If you really need to use an optical drive get the SuperDrive:

http://store.apple.com/au/product/MD564ZM/A/apple-usb-superdrive

If you need an OS System disk download OS X (free), run it through DiskMaker X (free) onto an elcheapo USB thumb drive (almost free) and your done. Takes a few clicks... Simple

http://liondiskmaker.com