Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

(Possible) Mac mini and FW800?

Theophany

Theophany

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 16, 2008
633
186
NW London.
If the mini gets the update it is so desperately in need of, anybody reckon it will have FW800? My gut instinct is that it won't. Although Apple fathered the technology, I get the feeling that they are more likely to reserve it for their higher-end consumer-level desktop Macs, i.e. the iMac.

Any thoughts on this one? It would be a real pain in the ass if a new Mac mini were to be limited to FW400 - I can't see eSATA happening on anything apart from the Mac Pro and MBP, and even then they're add-in cards.
 
Dropping FW on the MacBook is a great way to up sell people to the MBP. That's a logical, if stupid, reason. The iMac on the other hand is the choice of people who want more a Mac desktop and can't afford and/or don't want a Mac Pro. They're not dropping FW from the iMac.
 
Nope, m1stake is correct
Mac Mini is to MacBook as Mac Pro and iMac are to MacBook Pro

Mac Mini will almost definitely drop firewire.
 
methinks that it might also be dropped on the low end iMacs, but I think m1stake made a typo, because I took it to mean mini where he said iMac
 
Personally, I think the Mac mini will keep firewire.

The way I see it, part of the reason to drop it on a laptop is the size. (both internally for the component, and externally for the space for the port.) But on a Mac mini, there is plenty of room on the back. Also, if they are to replace the DVI with the mini DisplayPort, that will allow even more room.
 
stukdog said:
Personally, I think the Mac mini will keep firewire.

The way I see it, part of the reason to drop it on a laptop is the size. (both internally for the component, and externally for the space for the port.) But on a Mac mini, there is plenty of room on the back. Also, if they are to replace the DVI with the mini DisplayPort, that will allow even more room.
Click to expand...

I can see the mini keeping firewire if you are correct that the lack of firewire on the Macbook was due to a space issue. However, if firewire was dropped from the macbook as a way to differentiate it from the Macbook pro then they may just do the same thing with the mini and make firewire one more reason to spend more for an iMac.
 
today I learned not to smoke out and post. :D

Still, I don't think that the MacBook's lack of firewire is a trend.
 
Wow, I really can't see the mini losing FW altogether. After all, USB 2.0 has a much higher adoption ratio by peripheral manufacturers, but let's face it: FW400 is, generally speaking, faster.

I can understand losing FW on the MB as a space issue and also to encourage adoption of the MBP (the form factor is the same and thus logical), but I really don't think that would be logical to do to the mini to encourage iMac adoption. The reason being that people seem to opt for the mini over the iMac for a reason, not necessarily just because it's cheaper as is the case with the MB and MBP.

The reason I ask is because I'm not sure whether to shell out a few extra bucks on an external hard drive with 2x FW800 ports and a single FW400 port or an external with 2x FW400 ports and no FW800 support. I plan on daisy-chaining two identical models (right now, the LaCie Poulton 1TB looks to be the favourite).
 
I hope that the lack of firewire on the macbook is not a trend as well. I thought it was a bad idea not to include it on the Macbook and if it is dropped from the mini I will think that is a bad idea as well. Not only is Firewire 400 good for external hard drives it is a better connection for digital video.

However, firewire was also not included on the new LED cinema displays either whereas the older ACDs had firewire in addition to the USB ports. Maybe this a trend, maybe not it is hard to say at this point. However, if Apple was to cut firewire from a desk top model I think the likely candidate would be the mini since it has been marketed as a machine for switchers and for general computer usage like internet, email, photos, word processing and such. I hope the mini does not lose firewire but I will not be surprised if it does.

Theophany said:
The reason I ask is because I'm not sure whether to shell out a few extra bucks on an external hard drive with 2x FW800 ports and a single FW400 port or an external with 2x FW400 ports and no FW800 support. I plan on daisy-chaining two identical models (right now, the LaCie Poulton 1TB looks to be the favourite).
Click to expand...

I think your best bet would be to hold off on purchasing the external hard drives until Apple unveils the new mini (if it is getting updated at all). You will be in a better position to select best external hard drive after you know what the new mini has for connections.
 
Firewire is all but dead. Apple missed the boat.

Its too expensive, FW800 was very slow to be adopted and USB had too much of a foothold thanks to Apple giving it the push-start with the iMac.

I honestly doubt FW1600 or 3200 will ever see the light of day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back