![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Mac Mini Updates
Jul. 28th, 2005 02:45 amApple has released updates to their Mac Mini line but there is no cause for celebration.
First let me start off with how things where at the start with the mini. When they first started making the mini the eMac was the bottom of the line and on the PC side the budget PC had a celeron and a bottom of the barrel video card which shared 64MB with the system. The mac mini came with a G4 the same as you could get in a G4 powermac and Radeon with 32mb of dedicated RAM' DVD-RW, etc and while it was less than the PC at least it was dedicated and the form factor was so damn cute I just HAD to have one being I have a mini/chibi fetish.
Fast forward 6-8 months later and we where due for a Mac Mini revision but what do we get? The same damn thing but with the build to order stuff standard. That is 1.4Ghz G4, 512MB Ram, 32MB 9200 Radeon, DVD-RW, 80Gb 4200RPM hard drive wireless networking, bluetooth, NO keyboard, mouse, display or speakers..... $700. The eMac is 99 dollars more and has a faster hard drive, Radeon 9600 64MB, Display, keyboard, mouse, built in speakers over the Mini.
And what do the budget PC people get for the same price? Athlon64 2.4Ghz, 512mb ram, ATI Xpress 128MB graphics, DVD-RW, 100GB 7200RPM hard drive, mouse, display, speakers, more ports, networking.
Bottom line is they missed the boat this time. I would have considered upgrading to the new model if they upgraded it but for whatever reason they chose not to. The Intel Mini better be faster or I will not buy another mini again. I certainly don't expect people to settle for the current spec forever anymore than sticking with a G3 Mac regardless of the market they fall under. If apple won't offer a compelling new model of this type you can bet someone else will and how would that be a winning situation for Apple? How does that benefit them in the long run?
So what does the Mini have going for it at the moment anyhow? It is small & it runs OS X. Big whoop. Apple can't rely on those two things alone to sell it forever. The budget market is leaving them in the dust and only an apple apologist can justify that. Apple better correct this situation next year at least as they switch to intel or I will proclaim them going the way of the dodo.
6-8 months ago I would have agreed about the whole reasoning of the intended market but as time goes by it is harder and harder to. My parent's budget PC which was about ~$500 has 64mb of ram set aside for video & 2.4Ghz. I was willing to overlook this 6-8 months ago because of the size, dedicated gralhics, OS X, etc but now those PC's are upgrading
DAMN!! 64-bit & 128MB video system with a DVD burner.... more everything at the same time apple offered the same thing they sold 6-8 months ago as an update. Granted those budget PC's are towers but still, look what you get for the prices. Just going by hardware alone it is more for the money objectively speaking.
It's time we (Mac users) stop settling for less. Apples move to Intel should be proof that they don't want to stagnate any longer like with the current mini situation.
First let me start off with how things where at the start with the mini. When they first started making the mini the eMac was the bottom of the line and on the PC side the budget PC had a celeron and a bottom of the barrel video card which shared 64MB with the system. The mac mini came with a G4 the same as you could get in a G4 powermac and Radeon with 32mb of dedicated RAM' DVD-RW, etc and while it was less than the PC at least it was dedicated and the form factor was so damn cute I just HAD to have one being I have a mini/chibi fetish.
Fast forward 6-8 months later and we where due for a Mac Mini revision but what do we get? The same damn thing but with the build to order stuff standard. That is 1.4Ghz G4, 512MB Ram, 32MB 9200 Radeon, DVD-RW, 80Gb 4200RPM hard drive wireless networking, bluetooth, NO keyboard, mouse, display or speakers..... $700. The eMac is 99 dollars more and has a faster hard drive, Radeon 9600 64MB, Display, keyboard, mouse, built in speakers over the Mini.
And what do the budget PC people get for the same price? Athlon64 2.4Ghz, 512mb ram, ATI Xpress 128MB graphics, DVD-RW, 100GB 7200RPM hard drive, mouse, display, speakers, more ports, networking.
Bottom line is they missed the boat this time. I would have considered upgrading to the new model if they upgraded it but for whatever reason they chose not to. The Intel Mini better be faster or I will not buy another mini again. I certainly don't expect people to settle for the current spec forever anymore than sticking with a G3 Mac regardless of the market they fall under. If apple won't offer a compelling new model of this type you can bet someone else will and how would that be a winning situation for Apple? How does that benefit them in the long run?
So what does the Mini have going for it at the moment anyhow? It is small & it runs OS X. Big whoop. Apple can't rely on those two things alone to sell it forever. The budget market is leaving them in the dust and only an apple apologist can justify that. Apple better correct this situation next year at least as they switch to intel or I will proclaim them going the way of the dodo.
6-8 months ago I would have agreed about the whole reasoning of the intended market but as time goes by it is harder and harder to. My parent's budget PC which was about ~$500 has 64mb of ram set aside for video & 2.4Ghz. I was willing to overlook this 6-8 months ago because of the size, dedicated gralhics, OS X, etc but now those PC's are upgrading
DAMN!! 64-bit & 128MB video system with a DVD burner.... more everything at the same time apple offered the same thing they sold 6-8 months ago as an update. Granted those budget PC's are towers but still, look what you get for the prices. Just going by hardware alone it is more for the money objectively speaking.
It's time we (Mac users) stop settling for less. Apples move to Intel should be proof that they don't want to stagnate any longer like with the current mini situation.
