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May 24, 2007

speculation

Has the Mac mini breathed its last?

Posted May. 24, ’07, 9:12 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Apple » Speculation

goodbyemacmini.jpgThe Mac mini is an oddity in the Apple lineup. Many Mac users had long demanded a low cost headless Mac, and while the mini fell short in some regards (limited and difficult upgradeability, for example), to others it was yet another example of Apple’s excellent design. But the latest revision to the mini was in September of last year, which included a modest speed bump to 1.66 GHz Core Duo and 1.83 GHz Core Duo for the $599 and $799 models respectively. Indeed, aside from the processors (and attendant “inflationary” changes in RAM and storage) the minis have changed little since their introduction in January 2005.

AppleInsider suggests this inattention means that the Mac mini is out of luck, citing Apple’s lower margins on the cheap Mac, and the fact that it was never an area they seriously wanted to compete in anyway. Since Apple refuses to break down sales by model, there’s no way of knowing how well the mini really sells. It seems unlikely that its sales are hurt by the MacBook Pro or Mac Pro lines, since all of those have fairly specific market segments. I’d guess that the low-end iMacs and MacBooks are the most likely culprits to be stealing the mini’s candy, especially in the realm of switchers who would probably be more interested in the “whole package.”

Still, it’s worth pointing out that no Mac has really changed substantially in specs since even before the Intel transition, a move many suspect was intended to reassure Mac users that the architecture change was not a big deal. But while most of the other machines that used the original Core chips have now been bumped up to the new Core 2 architecture, the mini alone remains in Core Duo land.

The mini had long held ground as the best option for those in search of a media center Mac, but with the introduction of the Apple TV and that device’s impressive hackability, it may have been superseded in that area as well. Could the mini be on its last legs? And, if so, will Apple attempt to play in the low-end “headless Mac” category again, or will the mini go the way of the Cube and the Duo? Will minis start fetching higher prices like the late, lamented 12” PowerBook, or languish deep in basements, another forgotten relic of a bygone era?

How about it readers: would you shed a tear for the mini, or bid it good riddance?


22 Comments

Moe said:

My first Mac was a G4 Mac Mini. I still have it in my livingroom as my stand alone desktop. I love the little machine. Maybe its emotional attachment has to do with my first introduction to OSX and the beauty of the design of the little fella. 1 year after my Mac Mini, I purchased a Macbook Pro and I am also happy with it. However, there is something that catches my eye and heart with the Mini. I guess you can say.... it completes me.

May 24, 2007 9:21 AM
Greg said:

The little Mini rocks. Apple would be insane to drop it. While it may not be their core system, it should be part of the line-up.

May 24, 2007 9:30 AM
Crimsonsky said:

My first Mac was a Mini, bought two years ago this month. The mini was an excellent way for me to dip my toes in the Mac waters wtihout spending a bunch of $$$. Well, since then I've upgraded to a Core Solo mini (with 2 gigs of RAM - its maximum) and it serves as my daily workhorse. In spite of all the complaints about how "underpowered" the mini is, I find it meets my needs just perfectly, including running Parallels. For my purposes, there is nothing at all underpowered about even a Core Solo mini.

Since buying my original G4 mini, I've bought an iBook G4 (now sold), a MacBook and I also have a 12" PowerBook G4. In my office, I am running three Macs. If the mini had not been available, I would NEVER have bought a Mac, but the Mini was at the perfect price point to try a Mac and OS X with minimal risk. My purchase of the mini made me a Mac man and I wonder how many others who started with a mini would not have even looked at a Mac otherwise.

From my point of view, the mini was one of the best moves ever made by Apple. Maybe the profit margin is low on them, but so what? Because of the mini I've invested in two higher margin machines -- business Apple would not have gotten from me, but for the mini.

May 24, 2007 9:52 AM
Dave-O said:

My PowerPC mini serves me well (as long as I don't leave Safari running too long), which is impressive because I expected to buy something beefier by now. I think it might be better to offer a headless midrange Mac (take a processor and expansion slots off the Mac Pro). If Apple did that, I'd shed no tears for the mini.

Of course, given the niche the mini fills, I don't think a lack of updates means it's going to be pulled.

May 24, 2007 10:02 AM
Fletcher said:

I hope that this isn't true (and see no reason to believe that it is). For the last several years all I've purchased are Mac Minis and portables. The Mini is so much easier to manager than the Mac Pro and is plenty powerful for my needs. I have monitors, keyboard, and mice laying around so I have no need of getting them built-in or bundled.

I would like to see the Mini revised with an option for end-users to upgrade the RAM, but otherwise I think it is close to perfect.

May 24, 2007 10:03 AM
Arkstfan said:

Strip the cell phone capability off an iPhone, add a way to connect a few ports for a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and external hard drive, and bump the storage up a bit and maybe that's the next mini :)

May 24, 2007 10:18 AM
ehren Author Profile Page said:

I love my G4 mini to death; it was a great reintroduction to the Mac OS. I even sold a few of my friends on the Intel minis to replace their PC boxes since mine was such a stellar performer. so I will be sad if Apple does decide to drop the mini from their mix

May 24, 2007 11:12 AM
Todd said:

The intel-based Mac Mini is the perfect Media PC. It's small, quiet, relatively low powerm, has built-in IR receiver and remote control. With the core duo processor, it's powerful enough to do just about any home theater duty.

As packaged, it's also a lot cheaper than you could put together an equivalent machine for. And, any homebrew equivalent wouldn't come close to the mini in size, noise, or style.


The AppleTV is nice, but it is severely underpowered for serious high definition work (it cannot display broadcast HD MPEG2 streams).

Killing the Mini would be a huge loss.

May 24, 2007 11:36 AM
souleye said:

I'm a die-hard mac user. Since I'm a freelance web designer, though I use a Mac, I still need to be PC-aware. I'm now using an aging G4, but when I was lately considering upgrading my hardware, if you leave out the Mac Pro, there is nothing but the iMac, which I'm not fond of. I love the Mac Mini, but it's so small that I would feel cheated if I paid $600 for it. Sometimes we Mac-fans wonder 'How can eMachine pack a computer with monitor and peripherals and throw in a printer for less than $400?' Go figure if Apple inserts gold into the belly of their computers!

May 24, 2007 11:37 AM
Mike Pulsifer said:

It would be a shame to kill it. We're looking to change our conference room computers (bulky Dells) to Mac Minis so we can demonstrate cross-platform compatibility issues, etc. For this use, an iMac would be wasted money on a display that would be bulky and a Mac Pro would be excessive.

May 24, 2007 11:44 AM
Scott said:

Despite the AppleTV's "hackability," it would be VERY sad substitute for media center Mac mini. No DVD drive, VERY limited video out, and ridiculously limited codecs. A media center Mac mini can play anything (with the exception the current WMV DRM version) and connect to anything, has a DVD drive, and plenty of disk storage space (and, oh yah, can play anything the AppleTV can play).

IF Apple really is killing the Mac mini, I'll have to put one on my credit card (even though I can't really afford it right now) as I have always intended to make a mini powered Mac media center (and have been putting it off because of the coming AppleTV - before I found out what a disappointment it is for those of us with no intention of buying an HDTV any time soon).

Sigh.

May 24, 2007 12:01 PM
Felipe said:

I have a G4 mini, which was my first and only Mac, and I just love it!!

I'm thinking of buying a black macbook, and that would never happen if it wasn't for the mini, since the iMac and the Mac Pro are probably too much for what I need.

Even if the mini itself does not have expressive margins, it is a good way to get new Mac users!

Apple, please don't kill the mini!!

May 24, 2007 12:55 PM
Albert Solene said:

It's perfect for conference rooms, and no other Mac fits the bill. I'd be sad to see it go!

May 24, 2007 1:16 PM
Tom B said:

I am a long time Mac user and could be called a "pro-sumer"; I do video and stuff. I LOVE my G4 Mini. I takes a while to crunch H.264, but it was inexpensive and I could use it with my old 17" Apple CRT monitor, from my "Yikes" G4 Desktop.

May 24, 2007 1:21 PM
Ward Author Profile Page said:

I really hope that this is not true. The mini fills a hole in the product line with its size and its price.

For me, the mini has the advantages of the Apple TV, plus I can use it to host a FireWire drive on the network, run an FTP server, and keep my BitTorrents running. It's a great second machine, especially if you have a nice TV to use as a monitor.

May 24, 2007 1:22 PM
Jack said:

I don't think they should kill it. I think they should do what they are doing (in my opinion): give it a slight redesign so you can replace the RAM yourself, then keep the tech two generations behind and lower the price. The Core Duo is a great processor. Lower the price back down the $500. This is the perfect machine for most offices and schools that have tons of peripherals lying around, their pc's having long been carted off. Heck if thy let me put in my own RAM, I may someday buy one for my Mom too. She's aging, and I'll need to be careful about the monitor and keyboard I get for her, but the mini is so perfect. And I know that it makes a good computer to throw into a distributed node setup for Logic Pro. So keep it Apple.

But. Lower the price.

And.

Still make a midrange tower.

Thanks.

May 24, 2007 1:27 PM
lipbalm said:

I have two - a Core Duo mini at work and a G4 mini at home.

The Intel mini does a great job running Final Cut Express at work and the PPC mini does a great job sharing MP3s and photos to my various computers (including my TiVo) at home. Both are quiet and powerful enough, especially considering what they cost. I couldn't live without either.

May 24, 2007 4:09 PM
Tom said:

I wonder if the Mini's small form factor (for a computer) is part of the reason Apple can't get costs down, or even put "hotter" chips in it.

http://thesmallwave.blogspot.com/2007/05/rumor-has-it-mac-mini-is-soon-finished.html

May 24, 2007 8:27 PM
V. M. R. said:

I'll be sad to see it go, if it does. Mine's a real champ.

But where does this leave all the people who say there's going to be a Cinema Display update with built-in camera? With the Mini gone, Apple will make exactly one (desktop) computer that doesn't already have a camera.

For that matter, where does this leave the displays they have now? The only computer they'll be necessary for anymore won't exactly be leading Apple's sales figures.

May 24, 2007 9:05 PM
tayker Author Profile Page said:

I like my mini. I think it wasn't properly marketed - which is understandable if Apple truly wasn't serious about it. I use my mini as a server for my home network that I can also access from work via the Internet.

May 25, 2007 4:47 AM
Bichufo Sbarro said:

What do you mean by: "limited and difficult upgradeability"? Read some at Hardmac.com. The Intel Mini is very easy to upgrade to a bigger disk, 811n airport and even a core 2 duo. With a max RAM of 2GB, a Core 2 Duo and a 160GB disk, this little Mac simply rocks! I started out with a G4 Mac Mini and now have 2 more Intel Minis. Don't need anything else! Try to upgrade an iMac. That is really "limited and difficult upgradeability". Minis are easy to open, easy to upgrade. Perhaps THAT is the real reason they'd be put out to pasture by Apple.

May 25, 2007 11:46 AM
Joseph Burke said:

The Mac Mini was NEVER a good deal, either for Apple or the consumer. When you add in the cost of mouse, keyboard, and monitor, the iMac costs less has a faster CPU, a bigger hard drive, and in most models a better video card and is more upgradeable than the Mini. Apple only released the Mini after being pressured by shareholders for a lower cost entry level model. The Apple shareholders need to leave the business decisions to the board who knows what is going to be profitable for them to sell instead of pressuring them into making wrong decisions.

June 2, 2007 6:13 AM

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