Apple rumored to be readying Mac mini with HDMI
By Donald Melanson 
posted March 1st 2010 2:17PM
posted March 1st 2010 2:17PM
A Mac mini with HDMI. Makes sense, right? Well, it hasn't to Apple so far, but it looks like it just might be ready to change its tune. That's according to AppleInsider, at least, which has it from "two people familiar with the matter" that prototypes of a Mac mini with an HDMI port have been seen making the rounds in the usual inner circles. At least one of those prototypes was also said to be based on NVIDIA's MCP89 chipset, which means that any forthcoming Mac mini revision would pass over the latest Core i3, i5 and i7 processors in favor of older Core 2 Duos if it is indeed the chipset used in the final product. Unfortunately, there's nothing more specific than "this year" in terms of a rumored release date, and this is still just one rumor about what would be a fairly big shift in Apple's strategy -- so, you know, keep that in mind before you start ripping apart your current HTPC setup.
Apple just revolutionized the PC industry again folks! HDMI on a PC! Woohoo!
Hmm. Here's a reasonably economically viable Mac Mini, in my NTBHO:
- HDMI
- eSata port
- USB 3.0
NOW you'd have a Media Center capable machine. I don't buy that any of these changes would be "expensive", either in space or in financial cost.
Thoughts?
Audio over HDMI
Good move can't wait to buy one of these to hook it up to TV.
I have both this and XBox Live, and while I think that Zune Marketplace has a really big advantage in terms of a delivery platform and entrenched market, they are really screwing things up with the Microsoft Points program.
To wit: locate Marketplace (where???) Purchase points (I forget, where?) calculate projected rentals x points + purchases x points. Just charge it like iTunes, and Microsoft can easily dominate with a) the above scenario, and b) Netflix having a greater selection.
As much as I would like hdmi, but speed would be better. Please I really would like an core i5 mac mini
I seriously doubt that Apple will adopt HDMI. Apple could just enable audio via DisplayPort and voila, same features as HDMI but without royalty fees and in a more advanced standard. After all, DisplayPort is more easily upgradable due to its packet-based architecture and allows for cool features such as daisy-chaining.
HDMI is fine for home cinemas, in the computer world DisplayPort is superior.
Has anyone ever heard of the DVI to HDMI adapter? Or a VGA port? Both would work just fine. My Macbook will soon be driving a 52" Sony over VGA, I'm not buying any more adapters for it when the TV has a VGA port right there.
I think they should base this on the iPhone / ipad OS, and make it into some sort of games console cum tv+ device, makes gaming easy via iTunes and call it iGamerTV...with. Quad core A4 CPU and better graphics than the iPad... See Apple it's my idea...pay up now LOL
@atc9000 So you're going to increase your market share by making people purchase a multi-touch monitor (which isn't the most popular piece of hardware) and eliminate the TV which many people use as their main source of display? No thanks, a version that uses that as an option, but a different class of product, I'll consider looking at the benefits versus what else I have, I'm not saying that wouldn't be compelling, but it sounds like they already have iMac that can fit the bill closer than throwing out the mac mini.
Unless they plan to kill Apple TV I doubt this will happen.
What a terrible photoshop job adding HDMI to that thing.
@Xaerran
Come on, I didn't even notice the HDMI port was there until I decided to take a closer look trying to make the point that you can't fit a HDMI port in the back, lol.
u know if they just didn't use the "mini-dvi" port they would probably be fine. Considering HDMI and DVI structurally simular it would have only taken a 3 dollar adapter.
But no! You can't use standard cables sold everywhere for dirt cheap on a mac.
@mastassmasta You can get MDP to HDMI adaptor for 8.99 on monoprice.
@FrankJ
if Apple is "dead" then why does it have 30% of the consumer market, the most popular smart phone, and the largest amount of satisfied customers (96%). Apple is also 4th i think in overall hardware sales, so if you look at straight hardware its got a pretty large market share, while in the os department its only 10% overall, but somewhere like 70% of the market is corporate.
I work at a small apple reseller and we have been growing an a huge rate and have had maybe 3 people come back out of thousands that did not like their computers and i want to say 75% of the people who buy a mac buy another one 6-12 months later and then another 50% buy a third
despite all the complaints here about apple dropping the ball, being behind the trends re: hdmi and blu-ray, which other manufacturer has seen quarter over quarter increased sales across multiple product lines through this terrible economy?
Yes, Apple is not making the products we want (hello sub $1k mid tower!), but they are certainly succeeding in business despite this.
@Nicnac Its simply low-sales and high-profit margins business model.
Many clothes lines do the same, selling very attractive designer jeans that cost $20 to make for $200, and investing heavily in advertising, and they can still be far more profitable than Levis even if Levi does sell 100 pairs of jeans for everyone Diesel does.
@SeveringGecko WTH, engadget's post system removed the comment.
Ugh, long story short, your numbers are completely false. Apple is doing very well financially with high margins on nearly all of their products, but OSX and Apple hardware market share has been on a sharp decline since the whole netbook SPAMing of the market, of which Apple did not even touch on. HP, acer, dell, lenovo, toshiba is the current ranking, w/ the top three controlling the lions share.
The marketing success of Windows 7 has also seen a large dropoff in OSX figures, and its sales eclipsed all versions of OSX in use almost at launch pushing Windows back up approaching 93%.
@FrankJ
87% of statistics are made up.
I doubt that this is real. Apple ditched HDMI for Display Port, which works just as well. It's like a rumor that a new PS3 will be able to read HD DVD. Apple and Sony are not the type of company to go "double" standards simply to push their products out to more consumers. As dominating companies, they seek to GOBBLE up the competition.
It will be very un-Apple-like.
@abbazaba Why does that number change every time I hear it? :),
/S
@Ducman69
http://www.tuaw.com/2009/01/02/apple-market-share-tops-10-windows-share-lowest-since-tracking/