Apple refreshes Mac mini lineup with GeForce 9400M graphics
By Paul Miller 
posted March 3rd 2009 8:41AM
posted March 3rd 2009 8:41AM
Mac mini, $599:
- 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- 1GB memory
- 120GB hard drive
- 8x double-layer SuperDrive
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
Mac mini, $799:
- 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- 2GB memory
- 320GB hard drive
- 8x double-layer SuperDrive
- NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
Wow, that is one impressive lil mini! I like it!
RT
www.privacy-center.pro.tc
Anyone know if i get the new mini and a Displayport to DVI adaptor and a MiniDVI to DVI adaptor can i run dual monitors on it?
i don't think this fits the value model very well.
1 GB on ANY new machine is insulting.. expecting to charge to fix it is insulting. The minimum should be 2 and the high end should be 4.. it should "just work" and come that way. The cost of hard drive upgrade is insulting as I just bought a 500GB for $124 RETAIL.. Apple would be getting a better price.
The input/output row is the main good thing. Very excellent choices that address lots of the issues and let you access all of the hardware capabilities. Things like HDMI have NEVER been on a mini... stop whining about it. Dual display is new to a mini and a good thing.
That said, $800 for equal specs to a $999 laptop is not a great deal. According to Apple the "screen" of a Macbook is close to $500 (and the logic board $900 so you get a good deal at $999?) This would be an appropriate deal at $100 cheaper and with more ram. At this price they're just taxing the people that won't buy iMacs or Mac Pros.. very not classy. Apple needed to make this from DESKTOP parts and not overpriced LAPTOP parts this round.
The mini is "overbuilt" in areas like the CPU (which is actually a very high end unit $$$) and DDR3 when they could have went with a few bins down, generic dual-core (1.8g/1mb cache/ 800fsb) and DDR2,that's what's selling at $399. Apple is manufacturing these based on convenience to their purchasing and engineering departments, and charging based on marketing's "standard model" not on what customers want to BUY. The good features are lost on the target audience (people that don't want to spend $1000 on a PC) and then crippled because Apple doesn't want this really good unit to compete with it's more expensive lines, but won't tell engineering to build the cheaper unit.
I just did some research on components prices and 200 $ premium for 1GB memory, 320 GB hard drive and privilege to allocate 256 Mb from 128 MB to video memory is unjust.
1GB of corsair memory on newegg is $30, difference between 120 GB and 320 GB hard drive is $15 to $20..... so apple charges $150 premium for allowing their customers to use another 128 MB for video card!!! This stinks more than freshly run over skunk!!!
Suggestion... let include 2.26 GHz CPU in this price instead of it being extra 150 option! I bet apple still makes tons of money.
I am not so sure that this is a big upgrade. They could have done more...
LMAO! 1GB of RAM, and $200 to get another GB and bigger HD?
Maybe if the base one goes below $500 (it won't), I would consider buying one to play with.
What the fuck?
The first Mac Mini wasn't a monster in specs, but it was WAY cheaper than this and WAY more reasonable specs for the price.
This is just absurd.
Is that the front or the back?
Hi All-
Quick question. I bought a $599 Mac Mini (my first Mac) from the Apple Store on 5th Ave last week. I spent probably 20 mins talking with two sales guys about the differences between the two models and they basically talked me down to the $599 model after listening to what I was going to use it for. Now I find out that if I'd waited a week I could have essentially got the better model for the same price!
I'm very happy with my new computer, but feel like I basically just got conned at a used car lot. Does anyone else think this is a little shady? Any idea whether Apple might let me return it for one of the new ones?
Thanks,
-gpm4
Take it back. Apple usually gives you a 14-day window where if they release a new version of the hardware within 14 days of you buying, you can switch it out.
oh - and ok this is a minor unexciting point upgrade, fine.
let's have a real upgrade next year when SSD is cheap enough and CPUs improved sufficiently that it can be made quieter, lower-power, and maybe even fanless (with a new design to reflect the fact that most of the case is going to have to basically be a heatsink if that happens). A silent, no-moving-parts Mini (achieving roughly comparable CPU performance) would be a big upgrade. This one, not so much.
RIP OFF!
200 bucks more for the "bigger" one is a joke.
Anyway:
HAha, fakescreamers.
HAha, FireWire deniers.
I don't think Apple did too well here to inspire any converters. Even many Apple freaks will find little to run out and upgrade. I guess nobody realizes that the Nvidia 9400M is a mobile GPU and its not exactly and fast chip. Probably better then any Intel out there. But that's about it. Because its already outdated and you cannot upgrade GPU in anything but the Mac Pro. Which has a ridiculous price. You have to wonder in times of common sense how much Apple will suffer for not providing better value. Who ever heard of a desktop like the Mac Mini starting at $600 and has 1GB ram and a 120GB HD! I bought a Dell hybrid desktop with a 2.16GHZ core 2 and 3GB ram for under $600.
I just am so impressed with how Apple manages to have such a following even though they are clearly more concerned about the bottom line then their customer's.
@Dubb
Can you list your parts sheet? I've priced out parts for a HTPC on Newegg, and I couldn't spec out a comparable HTPC that includes both an OEM copy of Windows and a 802.11n adapter for much less than the $599 Mac Mini.
For the love of God, please drop the "I got a Dell with so much better specs for less money". Of course you did. PC's cost less usually when compared to Macs, specs wise. This is nothing new and will never change. People pay a premium to use a Mac OS. Bottom line. Accept it and move on.
Thankfully there's still firewire 800
I bought a mac mini last may, the 2.0ghz, 120 HDD and 2 gb of ram. I do a lot photoshop and flash work on it with my
cintiq and it has been a great little machine. Silent, doesnt take that much space and not an energy hog. I will say it does hiccup once in
a while but I think thats more of a slow harddrive issue. I dont know, if I was gaming more on my pc I'd be more pissed off but then I wouldnt be buying a mac. Its a sweet little machine, and the "higher end" mini now was about the same cost as my current one so I dont know what people are really complaining about. Apple makes an expensive machine thats always seem to be one step behind in hardware specs but thats not what it is all about. Its the overall package of software (included with the machine and what the apple community provides I must say is astounding) and the OS in a solid machine.
For a mini this price is ridiculous..
They make you pay extra for a keyboard and mouse! Apples are over priced as it is, I don't really mind that, but give me the front row remote and the keyboard and the connector dongles.
Apple doesn't take in things for trade-in. (Does any computer retailer?) If you want the new one, it's $800.
Perhaps you can try to sell your old one on Craigslist or eBay to offset the cost?
... and that was meant to reply to Jash Sayani's comment. Stupid Engadget comment system.
I was hoping Apple moved the mini to the magic price point of $499 again. :(
Yeah, the 1GB RAM is weak. This is like having combo drive on the last mini. On the other hand, if Snow Leopard is more efficient and streamline, 1GB should be okay (Win 7 runs fairly ok on a netbook with 1GB RAM). I do agree that upgrading the mini is not easy, and it shouldn't be that way.
As for the video memory, note that the previous mini only have 64MB shared RAM for video. 128MB sounds more than enough to me, although this + 1GB RAM are not cool.
I'm glad that firewire stays, and you can't have enough of USB ports. I was hoping for a memory card slot or USB ports on the front though.
In short, I'll just wait for it to be available refurbished. :)
I just don't get it. The $799 sucker costs €799 in my home country. That makes $1003 bucks on todays exchange rate. It would almost be cheaper to book a flight to US and get one from there than walk five minutes to closest Apple store here :D
Upgrading memory on $600 model of new mini mac won't allocate more memory for your video card. Please read following conversation I had with apple chat support. They claim that apple use different video card models for each model.
* You are chatting with Jackie C., an Apple Expert
*
Hi, my name is Jackie C.. Welcome to Apple!
*
Jackie C.: How may I help you today?
*
You: Hi, I try to get an answer to a simple question here at morning and after 30 minutes of chat I was disconected
*
You: anyhow
*
You: here is my question
*
Jackie C.: I'm happy to assist with that.
*
You: I'm thinking to purchase mini mac $600 version and I wonder if I upgrade memory to 2GB if this also alocate more memory for video card (jump from 128 MB to 256MB)
*
You: design of the machine is identical and I don't need bigger hard drive
*
Jackie C.: Would this be a new Mac Mini?
*
You: yes
*
You: with Nvidia video card
*
Jackie C.: One moment while I research that for you.
*
You: thank you
*
Jackie C.: You're welcome.
*
Jackie C.: We have two Mac Mini's the second Mac mini would be the only one to offer the 256MB memory for the graphic card.
*
You: why is that? both machine have the same video chipset... Do they have different firmware?
*
Jackie C.: Yes, however there is two different graphic card models.
*
You: well, I do understand that memory on this model is shared = that it is taken from main memory... so we taking about that same machine... one takes 128 Mb from main memory and one takes 256 Mb.
*
You: I heard on internet that upgrading to 2 GB of main memory alocates more memory to video card as well
*
Jackie C.: That's correct.
*
You: I just simply try to confirm if this is true or not
*
You: so if I chose in your store to purchase $600 machine wiht 1GB upgrade - will this machine alocate 256 MB to video card?
*
Jackie C.: I'm double checking.
*
You: thank you
*
You: and let me tell you I'm looking forward to buy this machine if it's true
*
Jackie C.: Adding more memory does not add additional memory to your graphic card.
*
You: is it limitation Apple put in to place discurage customer to just simply add memory in order to alocate more memory for video card?
*
You: I mean hardware of the machine is identical
*
Jackie C.: RAM works hand in hand with the processor. Having enough RAM for how you use the computer ensures you get the maximum speed from your processor.
*
You: yes I know... but $800 model has 2GB of memory and is able to alocate 256 MB for video
*
You: so it tells me that to add 1GB of memory to $600 model (bringing it up to 2GB) would be the same machine as $800 version minus big hard drive
*
Jackie C.: What programs will you be running on your new Mac?
*
You: I don't think that you want to answer my question. My question was if Apple put limitation in the place to discourage to upgrade $600 model with 1GB memory and get same amount of alocated memory for video card as $800 model. Again machine are identical so only reason why customer wouldn't be able to upgrade memory is firmware or software limitation by Apple.
*
Jackie C.: We did not apply a limitation to the graphic card.
*
Jackie C.: We just know that adding additional memory would not mean that the graphic card would allocate more memory.
*
Jackie C.: There are difference model graphic cards that use up a specific amount of memory.
*
You: so how is it done in $800 mini mac?
*
You: graphic chipset in both mini macs are the same!
*
Jackie C.: They support different amounts of memory.
*
You: so basicaly you're saying the hard ware is different, right?
*
You: I mean design of main board is different
*
Jackie C.: That's correct.
*
You: thank you for you assistance
*
Jackie C.: You're welcome.
*
Jackie C.: If you are ready to place the order now, I'll keep this chat window open.
You just got a yes for tthe question about hardware difference to get rid of you. Or to the person answering the question swapping HD and mem means different hardware. There's no point to make 2 different motherboards for just different memory and hardware sizes. And it's too expensive.
You can't get a decent answer with phone for a hard question as the call times are monitored. The person answering the call has to keep short calltimes and if he's asked a question he doesn't know he will say anything to get rid of you.
I suggest asking in forums or waiting for somebody to test this.
Dude, it's obviously a Bot you're chatting with.
One question, will the CPU+GPU be powerful enough to run HD movies (up to 1080p) without stuttering with the XBMC/Boxee/Plex? If that's no problem then I will buy it. Check out both Boxee and Plex, both are really great media players.
http://www.boxee.tv/
http://plexapp.com/
I'll let you know in about a week :-)
Students and educators can save $50 (i.e. starts at $549) if you specify Education at store.apple.com (my wife's a professor).
Also, refurbed Mac minis start at $419.
http://store.apple.com/us-hed/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/mac_mini
I'm pissed, I just bought the old model last month...
For sake of comparison, this is what you get from Dell in a small form factor.
Dell Studio Hybrid - $449
- Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/1MB cache)
- DVI and HDMI ports
- 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz (2 DIMM)
- 160GB SATA Hard Drive
- Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive
- Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
So...
- Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/1MB cache)
Minus, less cache, slower FSB
- DVI and HDMI ports
Plus for HDMI
- 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz (2 DIMM)
Plus for more memory, but minus for making it even slower than the already bad FSB
- 160GB SATA Hard Drive
Even
- Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive
Even
- Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
Minus
- Lack of built-in bluetooth and wireless lan
Minus
- The fact the Hybrid doesn't look like ass compared to other mini-wannabes
Even
Is there any way to tell whether or not the new more expensive mini will now run a 30" cinema display effectively?
I have one now and it does not provide very good resolution
the max it can do is 1280 x 800
specs say that the new one supports "up to 1920 x 1200"
That certainly would be better but, is it a guarantee that I'll get that with the 30" display?
I was told that part of the problem was issues with the display.
I'd be very willing to upgrade for better resolution.
$600 and they couldn't put a usable amount of ram and harddrive space?
But on the other side of the coin the new Nvidia 9400 chipset is a great boost over the old intel 950 chip.
"2. Memory available to Mac OS X may vary depending on graphics needs. Minimum graphics memory usage is 128MB for 1GB configuration and 256MB for 2GB configuration."
That's the fine print on the apple website. So it looks like it's just a different minimum for the video memory rather than a dedicated maximum. Therefore I'd buy the cheaper one and stick more ram and a bigger hd in.
where on the apple web side can I find that small print? thanks.
So what i need to know is this. will the lower end version with 2gb of ram run indesign smoothly?
2ghz? is it a joke?? 2.4ghz is a minimum now for any 300$ computers.
What catches my attention is the fact that energy consumption dropped 45%! I'm all about energy efficiency, and think that's darn exciting!
who the hell would ever use a RAID system on a POS mini?!?
I know the form factor is a bit bigger but you can configure a HP Slimline tower for about the same price but with a lot more power and storage. http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/load_configuration.do?destination=review&config_id=2354757 and it comes with a mouse and keyboard. :P
I want a Mac Mini but can't get passed the pricing. At least I know that if I do buy one, it'll be a while before a refresh.
http://lemonlimedesigns.ca/blog/new-mac-minis-released-still-doesnt-make-us-nerds-happy
To all who complain about price, please get real:
- show me a comparable PC WITH COMPARABLE FORM FACTOR with same specs that is CHEAPER than the mini.....Right. It does not exists.
- buy the lower price and do the HDD and RAM upgrade yourself.
the only thing Im happy is this will probably push the price of the old one lower...
It is agreed though, they should at least bundle with a monitor or remote or anything that would be useful and would cost them very little considering the mark-up on this is probably about 200%