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

to all WWDC visitors - please read! (Mac mini update coming?)

S

smarks

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 13, 2007
6
0
Hey, to all you guys at WWDC, please read and let me know:

there are a lot of apple guys walking around, and I am sure with a little sweet talking you can get some insight into Apple's roadmap. I am only interested in the Mac Mini - when is an update to this computer coming?

Please talk to the apple folks at WWDC and see how they react - is it really end of life'd or will we see a new improved version?

Come on guys, influence and get the message posted here!!

;-)

Thanks, Mark
 
If only it was so easy.
Besides the fact that they probably don't know, there's no way they'd tell if otherwise!
 
Just buy one. If it's all you are interested in, then it doesn't need to be improved. Get it and get on.
 
give it a try! smile! buy them beer! whatever, they are only humans and at one point they will tell...

;)
 
roland.g said:
Just buy one. If it's all you are interested in, then it doesn't need to be improved. Get it and get on.
Click to expand...

??

why spend $$ on a product now, that might get an update in a week from now.

also the current mini will not be 64 Bit leopard ready, check the new front row / dvd player and you might want leopard on this machine if you use as HTPC
 
smarks said:
??

why spend $$ on a product now, that might get an update in a week from now.

also the current mini will not be 64 Bit leopard ready, check the new front row / dvd player and you might want leopard on this machine if you use as HTPC
Click to expand...

It's 32-Bit Leopard ready and will have no trouble running it.
The Mini is really due an upgrade, though.
 
smarks said:
??

why spend $$ on a product now, that might get an update in a week from now.

also the current mini will not be 64 Bit leopard ready, check the new front row / dvd player and you might want leopard on this machine if you use as HTPC
Click to expand...

Leopard will run on a 32 bit machine just fine. Most apps aren't going to be 64 bit that soon, even by the end of the year. Look at the Apple TV, it has the new Front Row interface and runs just fine on an old 32 bit pentium. And the Mini is just fine for what it is. Could it be better, sure. Does it absolutely need to be, by no means no.
 
Boy oh boy. This whole 64bit thing is really going to confuse the heck out of the uninformed. That said. If it ain't 64bit its old and dead. :D


Besides, you can always drop in a core 2 duo chip and get the 64bit easily. Did mine, upgraded to T7600. Didn't break a sweat.
 
macenforcer said:
Boy oh boy. This whole 64bit thing is really going to confuse the heck out of the uninformed. That said. If it ain't 64bit its old and dead. :D


Besides, you can always drop in a core 2 duo chip and get the 64bit easily. Did mine, upgraded to T7600. Didn't break a sweat.
Click to expand...

My less-than-a-year-old MacBook is 32-bit, and still faster at some tasks than my 64-bit dual-G5 tower, even though they are at the same "clock speeds" and the G5 boots off a hot-rod 10,000 RPM drive.
 
roland.g said:
And the Mini is just fine for what it is. Could it be better, sure. Does it absolutely need to be, by no means no.
Click to expand...

I'm curious about sales data for aging hardware like the mini, is it still going strong, is it dropping off significantly like many people assume it would (aging hardware attracting less demand)? I would certainly love to see a mini upgrade, even just a processor upgrade quietly phased in, as a mini would probably be my next machine.

Although a mini would probably more than adequately handle what I do today, what concerns a buyer like me is future-proofing. The older a piece of hardware, theoretically, the less time it will be useful for. Personally I don't like to buy at the end of a product cycle unless the prices have dropped to reflect that, a practice that Apple rarely seems to adopt. Which is good for my powerbook's resale value, but less fun for buying a new machine. Thankfully I don't have much of a need to be constantly upgrading computers... but I am eyeing new, small machines.

I'm curious what we'll see over the next 3 months, but I said that almost 6 months ago too... gonna be a great year for the Mac, right Steve?
 
snowfall said:
I'm curious about sales data for aging hardware like the mini, is it still going strong, is it dropping off significantly like many people assume it would (aging hardware attracting less demand)? I would certainly love to see a mini upgrade, even just a processor upgrade quietly phased in, as a mini would probably be my next machine.

Although a mini would probably more than adequately handle what I do today, what concerns a buyer like me is future-proofing. The older a piece of hardware, theoretically, the less time it will be useful for. Personally I don't like to buy at the end of a product cycle unless the prices have dropped to reflect that, a practice that Apple rarely seems to adopt. Which is good for my powerbook's resale value, but less fun for buying a new machine. Thankfully I don't have much of a need to be constantly upgrading computers... but I am eyeing new, small machines.

I'm curious what we'll see over the next 3 months, but I said that almost 6 months ago too... gonna be a great year for the Mac, right Steve?
Click to expand...

I just installed 10.3 on a friend's G4 "lampshade" iMac from February, 2003. It works like a champ for basic use stuff. I probably could have gone with Tiger, if I had an extra licensed copy lying around, but she didn't want to spend money on upgrading the 128 MB of RAM, so she's probably better of with 10.3 than 10.4 anyway.

Not too shabby from a middle-of-the-line computer from over four years ago.

I did an eBay search, and people are actually selling dual-G5 towers like the one I'm still using for about $1200 - $1300. I bought mine as a referb almost two years ago for $1500.

Even with the move to commodity hardware, it would appear that Macs still hold their value rather well, mostly because Apple is very good about keeping up support for their older machines. Eventually they will have to cut the cord from the PPC line, but not any time soon. Likewise, the 32-bit Core Duo chips should be hunky-dory for at least a few years of OS upgrades.
 
come on folks....comparisons, benchmarks, etc. the mini is too old and not up to date. in the computer age you dont keep things so long, the refresh cycles are too short now.

so lets see if apple brings something new. i would speculate that for leopard they will bring the ultimate HTPC - a new mini completely re-designed and well positioned over apple tv but still below imac/MBP

any other thoughts?
 
IMO: Mac Mini will not be updated. We would have heard rumor long ago. Any upgrades at this point in time seem pointless. The Mac Mini is supposed to be an economically friendly computer, and Apple will probably keep it that way for a good several months.

:D If you want something better, fork out the doe!
 
aprilfools1993 said:
The Mac Mini is supposed to be an economically friendly computer, and Apple will probably keep it that way for a good several months.
Click to expand...

In which case a price drop for a 281 day old product would seem appropriate, given that the component prices must have dropped too. That is of course if Apple is still making them (and therefore ordering new components and realizing the price savings). Like I inferred earlier though, they could still be selling strongly, so what reason would there be to drop the price?

Not much use for me to speculate about this right now, I'm not geographically or fiscally in a place to buy a new computer at the moment, but want some assurance that my particular market segment will be covered when I do: small and portable (aka a mini or an ultra-portable).
 
zap2 said:
they don't know....they couldn't tell you even if you had a gun to their head.
Click to expand...

haha, come on - they do know. i know whats going on in those companiues regarding roadmaps, etc - and they will also say it. just be freindly to them!!
 
smarks said:
haha, come on - they do know. i know whats going on in those companiues regarding roadmaps, etc - and they will also say it. just be freindly to them!!
Click to expand...

Apple's a bit different than other companies. Generally the teams don't know what the other teams are doing.

Also, the engineers at WWDC tend to be software engineers, not hardware engineers. Nobody that would really know anything about Mac Mini status.

And yes, everything at WWDC (except the keynote) is under NDA.
 
macenforcer said:
Boy oh boy. This whole 64bit thing is really going to confuse the heck out of the uninformed. That said. If it ain't 64bit its old and dead. :D


Besides, you can always drop in a core 2 duo chip and get the 64bit easily. Did mine, upgraded to T7600. Didn't break a sweat.
Click to expand...
Nope, you still do not get support for 4gb of memory. Plus the C2D chip costed you a bomb.
 
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