Apple Intel Mac mini hands on
By Ryan Block 
posted February 28th 2006 2:58PM
posted February 28th 2006 2:58PM
posted February 28th 2006 2:58PM
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After reading the comments, most of you simply don't understand the market segment the Mini is positioned to fill. It's to pursuade previous Wintel customers to try/switch to the Apple platform. The Mini was never designed to be the the complete HTPC. Consumer input has , however, demanded that Apple create such.
From Apple's perspective(and almost everyone else who manufactures products) it's all about incrementalism. You don't simply create the 'machine that does it all.' You have to keep adding select features, just enough to get people to buy the next upgrade. You need to have a constant stream of income. Think about the iPod designs, they purposely didn't add FM into the iPod....why?....because they SELL music, they'd sell less if you could listen for free. Duh!
So....relax, enjoy the new features that are now standard with the new Mini. If it doesn't entice you to switch/upgrade, perhaps it will someone else...and that's what market they're trying to fill.
For all of u winers out there, Apple have produced a computer capable of all the high end stuff you require - its called a Power Mac! Don't buy a Mini if you really need this kind of power!!
You wouldn't buy a $500 PC to do the high end stuff u require, so why would you expect Apple to produce a $500 PC that would???
Oh good grief. Ya'll are complaining about, "it doesn't have a second vido output", "I can't design a new Boeing plane on it", or "why didn't they include a coffee roaster"? The average american will love this little bugger.
Perhaps this box is not meant to be a game box? Perhaps the rumored game iMac (http://www.macosrumors.com/20060205A.php) will be released and then the GMA chipset use here will be seen in perspective.
As others have pointed out this chipset was designed for use with MS Vista not MacOSX. BTW the chipset supports Direct X 9 and Viiv.
Ooh. I'm liking this new mini, although of course it isn't anything radical and new and fantastic. It's just had a bit of an upgrade, with the Intel chip and Front Row and all. It's still as lovely as the G4 was, just a bit better and a bit more expensive.
Now everyone, stop whinging that it can't provide eternal life.
LOL! The fanboys are angry.
I don't know guys I think the TIVO stuff is going to come through a separate device. Maybe a future airport like device that streams video. Did anyone notice that it come buit-in now with wireless and bluetooth not just wireless ready. As far as the video, what do expect for the price.
(Response to #100)
While I agree Engadget is without question a shill I don't think they are a directly paid shill. And many blogs are the same. In fact many will tell you they are. Gizmodo did an entire day devoted to the Apple 2-button mouse when it came out. The editor even telegraphed it by saying he would.
The fact is the media space is a popularity contest. Another fact is that even though some people like to envision the world as Apple Lovers / Windows Lovers the reality is closer to Apple Lovers / Tech Agnostic. So what you end up with are the enthusiastic Apple fans without an opposite. And Apple fans are vocal. A positive Apple story/post draws praise and naturally the reverse draws the opposite. But again there is no opposite to the Apple fan so the popularity game is easy. Say good things about Apple and the fan base does the rest ergo you're popular... Lazy but popular.
Dont believe it? Check out the Leander Kahney columns on Wired.com he suggested that Jobs wasnt such a great guy / got hammered mercilessly / then his next headline Mac Attack a Load of Crap where he all but said Mac OS was invulnerable to virus attacks. He learned his lesson praised Apple and was popular again.
I just bought the dual yesterday and an aiport.
I think the new mini is sweet.
By they way, the announcement just said "Fun new products" not "earth shattering change the way you live your life" stuff.
*25
The TV in the demo pictures is a 40" Sony XBR. It goes for $3,499.
Hah!
Engadget in bed with Apple?
Have you not heard Ryan's disdain for the iPod?
The only company engadget was in bed with was Rio... and only cause Ryan gave his Karma mad love every time somebody asked which mp3 player to get...
I agree with comment #100!
Oh and there is a mention on Digg about Endgadget bias.
http://digg.com/apple/Users_accuse_Engadget_of_Apple_Bias._Engadget_responds_by_censoring_
OK OK OK... STOP BITCHIN EVERYONE.
I have asked many people who I assume would know a thing or 2 about the graphics capabilites of the new Mac Mini.... they ALL AGREE that why it seems "fundamentally wrong" for Apple to use integrated graphics... it will prove to be better than the graphics used in the previous minis. BETTER... you hear that... not whoppingly X1600 better... but better more so along the lines of a 1.33 GHz computer getting bumped to a 1.42 GHz one. Not thaaaat much better... but still.. BETTER. Why is everyeone so up in arms about this announcement? One of the guys I asked didnt think it was even physically possibly to put an X1300 in the mini given its heat and the actual card size, and the fact that the older ATI 9200s were technically still integrated into the logic board, they just had their own memory.
I deal with people and computers all the time.. and the conclusion that I have come to is probably the EXACTb same one that Apple probably concluded.... and it is: "People seeking an entry level computer to do e-mail, internet, and a few media related things DONT CARE ABOUT THE GRAPHICS CARD.. if they even know what a graphics card is! Now i do agree that its a bad feeling i get when i hear "intergrated graphics" just as a lot of people got a bad feeling when they first heard "Intel chip" last June.... but i dont hear anyone screaming for Apple to go back to PowerPC!
Final things to remember....
1. People buying a mac mini arent looking to play intense games... and people looking to play intense games shouldnt be looking at a mac mini!
2. The graphics card that was in the old mini was enough for handling most video decoding and playback even in HD. Thats right... HD. Gaming in HD, maybe not so much... playback in HD... of course. My 2 year old powerbook plays 1080i content more than fine from my EyeTV with 2 or 3 other things going on...and there isnt even that much 1080p content that exists (yet). The core solo, and especially the core duo mini will be more than enough from a processor standpoint to play HD, b/c the processor can make up for what the graphics card lacks... to a degree.
3. Shared memory shmared memory.... its bad.. it sucks... whatever... its more video memory than the 32MB they used to have (64MB which ive heard is capable of up to 94MB) and faster memory. GET AT LEAST 1GB ram and QUIT COMPLAINING. Hell, its got 2 slots, bump it to 1.5 GB and your str8.
4. Price going up always sucks... but when you think... Airport, bluetooth, more expensive and much faster processor, SPDIF digital audio out and in, faster bus, more USB, faster RAM technology, front row, remote, and a few other things.... $100 doesnt sound all that bad. ANd how man other brands of entry level computers can achive all that.. dual core.. and be 6x6x2 inches? and run OS X?
If you disagree .. well i'm sorry. But no matter how you look at it.. the mac mini now is MUCH better that it was.... PERIOD
Hey guys, im really curious about the full screen now playing screen in the 2nd picture. Is that possible with a windows version of iTunes? Didnt find the feature. Thx 4 helping with a software question in a hardware thread.
115, I think that's a FrontRow feature, not an iTunes feature.
I posted something to this effect in one of the other blog entries on the mini. Basically, I wanted to point out that the new mini has been updated to play the new video content available through the iTunes store.
Remember that little thing that happened when iTunes started selling millions of video files to people who wanted to watch them on yet another model of the iPod with a 2.5" screen or on their home computer? Well, the new mini is optimized for playing downloaded iTunes content and dvd's/cd's on your home theater system.
Why doesn't the mini have a TV tuner? Why is the integrated graphics card set up for HDTV and QT H.246 playback but not powerful enough for games that the vast majority of iPod owners will not want to play on their television? Why does it support DVI, VGA, S-video, composite video, and optical audio out? Why does it have wifi access built in? So that you can buy more DRM video and music files from iTunes (I'm sure movies will be available at some point), watch them on your iPod, your home theater, and your new iPod video tablet whatever they'll be releasing in the next year or so.
This is a good price for what the mini does, if you are invested in iPods and iTunes content, especially video content. So you spend $400 on an iPod (not to mention what you spent on that other iPod you got a few years ago), $80 to put of all things an FM tuner, $100+ on other accessories (some of which you also bought for your older iPod a few years ago), and $30 or $50 per month on iTunes downloads ... or $350 on a hifi iPod only speaker system, let's say ... and you would spend $500 to $800 on an iPod PMP ... then $600 or $800 for what amounts to a super iPod docking device seems worth it. How much would you or did you spend to get a dock with a wireless remote and an analog stereo output but no screen? Or to watch your iPod video content on a TV through composite video?
Well, the mini is just like a dock that:
- handles all your music and video files
- plays DVDs
- streams audio content throughout your home with just the addition of an Airport thingie in every room or video content to every other mini on your network
- syncs with your iPod(s)
- can be expanded with additional hardware and mass storage devices
- lets you enjoy your purchased content on your HDTV / home theater system and download even more iTunes content from your TV
- provides a remote control, a big ass TV sized user interface, bluetooth 2.0, wifi, and internet access
- and, it plays the most popular games of all time (Solitaire, Minesweeper, Tetris, Mahjong, and maybe Soduku).
Just to compare, Disney is making their set top video box to download Disney content to your home theater system for $200. Intel is involved in that system as well. Yet Disney apparently has had enough success offering content on iTunes that they're making more content available, even while they are working on this set top box. Why? Because the iPod line comprises in excess of 90% of the world market of portable music players and probably also portable video devices. Did you catch the one billionth song just being sold on iTunes, or the fact that one million video files were sold within four days of video files being made available on the iTunes store? Those one billion songs and those millions of Desperate Housewives episodes will play on almost no other portable device than an iPod. And those millions of iPods all over the developed world will work with only one online content distribution service: the iTunes store.
You can get a Tivo for cheaper but you have to work to get those files on your iPod. Besides, you've been collecting the entire season of Battlestar Galactica to, once again, watch on your 2.5" highly scratchable LCD screen that, Apple is hoping, you've sheathed in your new $100 leather sleeve with no LCD window or touchwheel access.
Welcome to the era of digitally distributed multimedia content. Believe me, the Apple PMP/iPod video/tablet device will be coming shortly. How else are you going to start watching the new widescreen format iTunes video downloads that they'll be releasing at exactly the same time this whatever video device is announced?
Sorry about the typos, slight inaccuracies (the iPod is the only portable device that will play iTunes DRM content), and long post.
One correction, I meant Shanghai of course, not Mahjong.
Also, I don't know if you've ever done this, but the iTunes visualizer on an HDTV is pretty rockin'.
Looks like Xbox 360 is cheaper than the Mac mini... if you want the same media center capabilities, plus play more games with faster GPU...
psssst... one last thing... then i promise i'll shut up...
i think the new apple tablet device will be a remote control / zone controller (a la Sonos) in addition to having audio and video playback / streaming multimedia / wifi networking functionality. why?
because if you have an apple entertainment network in your house, maybe with a set of distributed, multiply-accessible multimedia libraries (one mini or PC for each family member) but one master control computer, you can't use an IR or RF remote from every room in your house. you would need a portable, wireless, battery powered iTunes interface / VNC hardware device with a screen and (touchscreen?) controls.
and if you're going to bother to build this sort of thing, you might as well get multimedia content playing directly on that remote control's widescreen format LCD streaming from your always on library (for "personal" use away from a TV or stereo). let's say you just use the same audio/video decoding hardware that runs the iPod, but maybe an updated version of that hardware. (the updated version of this hardware, suspiciously, has just been upgraded to include both wifi and bluetooth capability).
throw in 60 or 120GB of hard drive storage (using the same minidrives that are in the iPod), make it somewhere around the size of the Archos AV700 but maybe thinner, maybe turn on the bluetooth 2.0 (could Apple actually beat Microsoft to bluetooth A2DP and AVRCP?), and add on a well engineered, intuitive multitouch user interface to reduce or elminate the need for a stylus. then you can take your wifi network interface with you on a trip as a portable media device. as long as it has 2.5 hours of constant video playback time minimum (enough for a movie) it will compete with portable DVD players... and it will play your entire digital audio / video / picture library.
and then ... well, i bet people would buy that.
"Everyone pumps Apple up so high. Really what have they done that is great except the I-Pod?"
It is called Mac OS, I am sure you have not used it much.
Linux makes their software better.
It is UNIX, not Linux.
" Intel is the one making their computers better.
Linux makes their software better. "
You sure did use the word "better" a lot. Hmmm.
I don't read Engadget much, but the Mac sites sure didn't build it up [event], however they still covered it, just like engadget. cuz thats what they do. apple themselves didn't even release a web feed link.
didnt the mini get a bus increase of like 500 mhz with an intel proc? didn't the mini get bluetooth and wifi ready built in at "no additional charge", come on lets not act like this is no news at all, engadget or anyone else. stop trying to downlplay the product release just so some misinformed readers can get a grip.
70. If I wanted to use it as a media center, I'd have to buy the 120$ DVI to HDMI adapter (my TV has Component and HDMI) and the 30$ optical plug for it :(
Dude... I got a HDMI-DVI cable for like 15$...
There's not much point in people being Apple-agists (sorry).
Hardware wise - now competes with PC's because it IS a PC. Please no arguing this point... it is what it is. Is it small? Yes. Nice looking? Yes. Both great, but at the end of the day, it is a PC. Graphics on a similarly priced PC, from a major manufacturer, best the Mini by miles.
But look how small it is! It's sooo cute! So what, we're not here to engineer for Apple, just to buy a product that's better than others. In the end, that's all we want, no matter who the manufacturer. Don't loose site of that fact. It's in fact too small in my opinion... when it should be using full size drives and have real video. Apple can't fit it in? Don't make it so small then. I don't need to completely forget I have a computer. There are many reasonable mini-towers in the PC world that get tucked away and forgotten about while work gets done. Remember the Cube? Bring that thing back with Intel inside, right between mini and iMac. And give it the iMac's specs at about 300 bucks cheaper. But they won't....
Some of you are probably saying I should just shut up and get an iMac! Well, the iMac's screens suck for design work. the 17" has poor top to bottom contrast, and the 20" looks like it's been rainbow spackled on the screen (google for screen grit, people). Why buy a machine and pay 3 to 400 more for a built-in screen that sucks? That's what external monitors are for - to give us all choice. Apple is no long about choice. Look how they locked Windows out on an Intel board! Dual boot? Oh, sorry!
Then you're left with purchasing a Tower. But guess what, no Intel towers as yet. No mini-towers either (the no.1 machine I would hope to own). So if I want to spend 2 grand, I can buy a new tower that (as everyone loves saying) is obsolite the day I take it out of the box. In this case, it's really litterally true.
Apple's been smart, I'll give them that. They've forced pros to steer clear of any product offering below 2 grand, while still touting they have cheap offerings. But the mini isn't built for graphics work!!! you decry. I say so what? At a G-note, it better damn well do graphics and do them right. It doesn't need to light my butt on fire, but it should be more than "integraded" table scraps and crappy or grainy LCD's.
I showed a picture of the Ipod Stereo to my wife, and she agreed with me yuk! Not in our lounge room.
Ha, what a bunch of f'en crybabies! It was labeled as a "fun stuff" event. Anyone expecting for earth shattering announcements brought their own dissapointment.
Jackson -
the real disappointment is that Apple is releasing a near 1000 dollar Duo system that has shoddy graphics when compared to ANY computer in that price range. When the Mini was in a lower price bracket, it was not as big a concern. Are there some other extras now added in? Yes. But then again, you're being forced to pay for them wether their needed or not.
Just bring out a mini-tower, Apple. That's what any semi-Pro or buget Pro might need. At a G-note, I don't think it's a big request. The Mac Mini is not an iMac 17" without screen... but it should be.
- Paul
If people are going to do simple tasks with the new mac mini they can do them with the old mac mini a new one isn't needed for simple tasks.
Hello All!
Just got my new Mini today. Unfortunately, I do think it will be going back.
Observations...
When I first booted up the machine, it was super fast. Very impressed. Processor and os X seem like a match made in heaven.
As much as I seemed to love this new mini over the previous ones, I don't believe in BS-ing around. So I cleaned the mini and FireWired over my work's HD image. That would update intel os X with all of my PPC apps and various settings, etc. After I was done, I rebooted the Mini. Time to rock! (I thought).
WOW - trainwreck in speed now occouring!!! Tried using Suitcase (essential if you're a designer) and it failed the fist time. After a reboot, it appears to work. However, it takes twice as long w/ Rosetta than on my work's G5 machine to start up. What this means is you should not be rebooting your mini too often, or you'll have a slow machine for nearly 20 min. each and every time!
Expect Suitcase to be a glutton on resources while it starts. Just typing in a simple word processor caused stuttering, beachballing and skipped characters. Once Suitcase was finished booting, all went back to normal (sort of). I'm now experiencing some latency issues with OS X, and I don't know why. Rolling over the icon bar shows a stutter then it takes off. No stutter with this on my g3 laptop.
I also went ahead and tested Illustrator CS, which is still PPC and runs through Rosetta. Same junk, people. My old stock G3 Pismo beat it! Yikes.
It's time to reveal that I only have the stock 512 mb of ram in the Mini, but to be fair, it's processor is lightyears ahead of the G3 in my laptop and the mini is using over 100 mb more ram. Also, Suitcase can be a pig on my g3 laptop, but it's still far more managable then on the Mini.
The biggest problem with only 512 ram in the mini, when running Rosetta, is that the graphics chip is stealing a fair chunk for video processing. Perhaps if the Mini had dedicated video memory as well it would do a better job stacking up to a 400 mhz G3 when running PPC apps. The problem with no dedicated video, at this point, doesn't have anything to do with 3D graphics, but raw performance under Rosetta and the computer's usage of resources. This machine should be coming STOCK with 1 GB of ram.
If you plan on running any Rosetta apps, max this thing out at 2GB. Don't bother with anything less than Max ram. 512 just won't cut it. Unfortunately for pros, this also means having to upgrade the intel laptop to atleast 1 gb of ram right off the bat. Pro laptop users DEFINENTLY want to use Rosetta.
If you're the type of user who's just starting out with Mac, this is a fantastic little machine to grow with. Odds are, any software you'll be using will be os X/intel ready. So to that end, even the 512 MB ram config should do you fine.
Consider for a moment then that this machine, while being marketed as a switcher's machine, is now much higher priced. The Duo model (which I'm testing) is priced closer to a mid-level machine. That leaves me with the impression that the Mini's price point is starting to come to odds with the machines intended audience's spending level. It's clearly not for pro use, without spending hundreds more on factory installed ram upgrades. And after you do that, you might as well get the basic iMac. At least that machine has real video ram, so it's base 512 mb system ram might actually get you by with Rosetta for a while. Plus, dual monitor support is a desired feature of mid to high level users.
Computer performance was not the only thing I tested on the Mini. My biggested concern was DARK VIDEO! If you're new to this subject, you've probably not read much online about the Mini before. If you are familiar with the subject, you'll know many users were plagued with dark G4 mini video on many VGA screens (including mine). The dim video was my reason for returning a previous mini over a year ago. Apparently LCD was not affected. However, I don't have a grand burning in my pocket to locate an LCD that nears my VGA's performance in graphics.
One thing I can say about the new Mini is that, although the video is slightly darker than my G5 tower's, it's not as far out of VESA spec as the previous Mini tried. You'll be able to get pretty close to proper white point with this new little guy (but it's still not perfect with VGA). Hopefully, you're monitor will be able to auto-adjust to proper VGA levels. Again, I can CONFIRM it is much better than before, just not perfect.
The intel Mini seems to have some wierd quirks concerning VGA sceens... Nothing that I recall on the older models. When I'm toying with screen res and refresh rates between 600x800 up to 1200x1600, I noticed a small but percevible drop in white point with some of the higher resolutions/refresh rates.
Concerning VGA sharpness - I can say that, like the previous mini, VGA sharpness is a touch off from that of a standard VGA connection. Depending on your display, this may or may not be noticable. It could also be that the native VGA connector on my laptop can output slightly better contrast and gives a sharper look to text.
Apple has continued the tradation of including the cheaper DVI to VGA display adapter of the previous mini, rather than the version provided with Pro laptops and towers. This might just be a matter of perception, but I think the better connector offers an ever so slight increase in contrast. Also, the cheaper connecter is very short and makes the DVI built into the mini support the full weight of it, along with the VGA connection. If you're planning on raising the Mac Mini off of the desk, keep this in mind as it could cause strain on the logicboard.
Best Regards,
Paul
Look people who are complaining about the graphic processor don't realise it has the same speed as a ATI Radeon 9600 the week area is shared memory and come on people it is lowend computer the has more feature then some mid range computers. I am sick of people who just want to complain go get lives.....
Andrew,
You're forgetting one very simple fact. Any computer, no matter the processor, will always work faster with more physical ram. Even if the video chipset is faster with the new Mini's, there's less ram to go around this time. That's the REAL issue. It has already been proven that OS X for intel takes more memory to run than it's PPC counterpart. Add on top of that nearly 80 MB of system ram being stolen to run your monitor on the Mini, and 512 base is almost 95% guarenteed to be insufficent once you go beyond MS Office in Rosetta.
Your comment about people calling Apple on this issue as needing to get lives is ironic.... because my livelyhood relies on Apple machines. Every time I'm screwed over by Apple, I can't get on with my life because I have waist my time returning a machine that should have worked... worked at least deciently right out of the box.
It's a base machine! - it's a base machine!!... many cry. Let's get realistic here. Who wants the solo version, when the price diff. to go to the duo w/ superdrive is so cheap? (only in comparison to each other, that is). Ok, so you've got the Duo ordered now, with base 512. After local taxes, that's nearly a grand (in Canada it's already 1090 dollars). Guess what? now you have to give Apple another 100+ bucks to bring the machine up to 1 GB ram which should be your minimum install. Are you aware that for any other PC manufacturer currently at this price point, 1GB ram is the norm? Apple always short changes on RAM. Always. Let's say you want to run those Rosetta aps at near or at least g4 performance, then you're going to go right up to 2 GB of ram for several hundred dollars. So tell me this, who in their right mind is going to spend 1,200 plus dollars on a new computer with no keyboard, mouse or monitor? Do I need all that junk? no, not really, but it's all being included in the Wintel world along with (can you guess?) ATI, etc. video with dedicated memory. Real suprise from Apple - again. "Think Different"?... more like "Spend Different".
I aplogise if I sound as if I'm crying a river on this subject. I used to sell Mac's about 10 years ago, and have continued to use them for the past 15 to 20 years in design. Although my arguements might be filled with personal distaste for the ways I feel ripped off by Apple, I do try to base my thoughts in facts and logic.
- Paul
Kootchie-kootchie koo...
Its neat and the performance, I bet is great except for the price. I should be getting one.