The end of the Mac mini?
The Mac mini, Apple's entry-level screen-less, keyboard-less and mouse-less Mac, introduced in January 2005 in the sub-$800 segment could be abandonned.
Citing sources for whom it "holds the utmost respect", AppleInsider "sincerily" believes that the Mac mini has no future and is not even sure if another iteration of the line-up is to expect.
The report also says that the Mac mini was launched under shareholders and customers' pressure but never saw a real success. The fact that Apple has not really been generous in line-up refreshes is also noted.
The initial, PowerPC-based, line-up was priced between $499 and $699 with two models but when Apple updated the Mac mini to the Intel architecture the price range rose to $599 and $799.
Apple never provided the number of Mac minis that it sells every quarter but analysts and resellers estimated that the sale numbers were similar to the eMac, or about 100 000 units in the first quarter of the launch and continuous decline for the quarters that followed with an exception for Christmas quarters.
A few days ago, another report claimed that Apple was on the verge of abandoning its 17 inch entry-level iMacs. Historically, many Macs at the bottom of their line-ups disappear well in advance of a revamp of the entire line. We can cite the defunct PowerBook 2400, the eMac, the PowerMac Cube which many considered as an entry-level PowerMac and the 12 inch MacBook Pro which has yet to see a successor on the MacBook Pro line-up.
The Mac mini is probably the Mac which Apple makes the least margin on but it has certainly brought a new kind of customer into the company fold — those who would never pay more than $800 to get a computer.
Our take: Perhaps the only good news in this story is the source, AppleInsider is mainly a rumours and speculation site. We may only hope their source isn't as good as they pretend it to be or that this piece of information is incomplete. BTW, No confirmation from MacScoop sources yet.
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Apple can't stop the Mac
Apple can't stop the Mac mini. It's not big money for them but this product is necessary for its Mac business.
Many people didn't even bother buying a Mac before Apple releases one in the sub $800 segment.
The Mac mini is the ideal
The Mac mini is the ideal media center. Hook it up to a HDTV set and you have all your stuff ready. It can even share the iTunes Library inside your home network.
If you don't live in the U.S., Apple TV is quite useless. No movies from iTMS and DiVX won't play, so you have to convert all your files (takes hours) and your computer has to be running the whole time to share your media.
So, my advise to Steve Jobs: Get a faster chip for the mini and a HDCP-compilant graphic card! And, if you're in really good mood, a bluray-drive. That's called bluray with integrated media center. And you can surf the web as well. (That's "Macintosh TV" from the other direction.) :)
Colour Classic, PowerMac G4/450MP, Mac Pro 2x3Ghz
Here's why I'll miss the
Here's why I'll miss the mini (assuming it does go away):
We run a lot of utility software on headless minis (mainly a JBOSS AP-Wire capture server and a database input/output robot).
Our apps require OS X -- but minimal resources -- and they like to run on their own boxes.
People hate buying spendy Macs to run such light-weight stuff; if there isn't a really cheap Mac, we're going to lose sites.