Mac mini refresh coming at Macworld
December 16th 2008
Pop quiz! What computer hasn't been updated in nearly year-and-a-half and yet is the second best, as of this writing, selling desktop computer on Amazon?
If answered the Mac mini, you are absolutely correct. If you're surprised at the continuing popularity of this incredibly long-in-the-tooth computer, you're hardly alone--its death and rebirth have been prophesied many times.
Still, it hasn't died, especially not sales, and definitely hasn't been reborn either. For better and worse, Apple's most-affordable desktop has lived a charmed existence whose longevity might rightly be compared to a holiday fruit cake.
[Click through]
Thereupon, Wired brings us the best news possible--Apple will announce a refresh of the Mac mini at Macworld San Francisco. I would speculatively say that will happen during the Steve Jobs' traditional opening presentation, expect for the simple fact that I can't find a listing for anything resembling a keynote address on the MWSF '09 website--not that there's anything to report.
Still, the source of the mini refresh rumor is purportedly "an Apple corporate employee" who didn't share any product details, but Wired managed to cobble together a wish list of what they'd like to see:
• A silver enclosure from a block of aluminum (ie MacBook)
• Some internal parts will be PVC-free, and combined with its size and low power requirements, Apple will tout this as the "greenest Mac ever"
• For video output, the Mac Mini will use the DRM-crippled DisplayPort
•No Blu-ray player (ie it's a "bag of hurt")
• 2GB of RAM (4GB max), easy to upgrade
• At least a 160GB hard drive.
• Two processor options: a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo w/ Intel GMA X3100 and a 2.3GHz Core 2 Duo w/ nVidia something
-- So the product line has the same nicely defined cleavage as the MacBook on which its based
• The 2.0G-Hz Mac Mini will ship with an Intel video card, perhaps the GMA X3100 graphics card found in the low-end, white MacBook.
• We'll pay $499 for GMA model and $700 for the nVidia unit
All of the above seems reasonable except that last bit--perhaps if the low-end models keeps the current enclosure and the high-end unit stays priced at $799. That would be consistent with Apple's current plastic vs unibody MacBook $300 price divide...
What's your take?
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