Apple seems to have quietly upgraded the Mac mini models, as reported by “SuperG” over on MacBidouille:
I have ordered a Mac mini Core solo with 1GB of RAM last Saturday to use it as a server, and what a surprise when I received the box!
My Mac mini has been upgraded:
– Core Duo 1.66GHz instead of Core Solo 1.5GHz
– HD 100GB instead of 60GB
– and a SuperDrive instead of a Combo!
On the box, the specifications are those of a Mac mini Core Solo…
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Mike in Helsinki” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Note: This type of “stealth upgrade” is not unprecedented. Apple did the very same thing with the Mac mini last September (Apple upgrades Mac mini without announcement – September 29, 2005). As ThinkSecret reported Tuesday in their article Mac mini update on the horizon, “In September 2005, Apple bumped the top-end Mac mini from 1.42GHz to 1.5GHz and included a faster SuperDrive and more video memory, but never advertised the improved specifications. Instead, Apple commented that the box specifications represent what customers can expect at the minimum, and that some Mac minis may be better equipped. The peculiar move was seen as a means of clearing inventory of the older model without cutting prices.”
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Best Buy currently lists all Apple iMac and Mac mini models as ‘sold out’ – August 25, 2006
New Apple Mac mini imminent? – August 24, 2006
Apple upgrades Mac mini without announcement – September 29, 2005
According to the Apple website, there is no changes in specs. They are still selling the core solos.
WHO WOULD BY A MAC MINI?
I have an old PowerPC my wife uses for email and some typing. I’m thinking of getting a Mac Mini for her. We cab reuse the monitor and all I need to buy is a USB keyboard.
Perfect. Didn’t have to spend a ton.
Rammer,
Then get a Dell buddy. They obliously have their battery issues under control.
I know that Apple isn’t perfect, nothing is.
For the record i’ve owned over 20 Macs over the last ten years. I’ve delt couple of battery recalls, a couple of ibook logic board replacements, even a powerbook power supply replacement. But Apple always taken care of the products, in a very timely fashion. I have no complaints.
Maybe you’re expectations are too high.
macsaplenty – yes, I agree. Many of the MDN posters seem to be very frustrated people. It has amused me to no end that many of the visitors are making stuff up with assumptions and the exact same logic they once bashed in PC and Windows users. Hypocracy is annoying.
Got a Mac Mini hooked via HDMI to a mammoth screen, and fiber optic audio. 802.11n from server (about 7 TB). Thing kicks ass!
I love that little guy.
“Apple is increasingly taking advantage of over-anxious customers.”
Welcome to capitalism Mr Obvious. Funny how you waste your time complaining about some non-issue that no one cares about because its a non issue, and yet paying 3$ a gallon for gas is probably OK with you.
And Winblows/PC trolls are even more annoying…
im not fat. i like macbooks
The Solo is just a Core (1) Duo that had a flaw in one of the two cores. Early on Intel announced its deemphasis of the Solo, probable because their ramp up was so successful and fully functional Core Duo yields were so high. So the switch makes sense.
And remember the stories about not being able to bulk order Minis last week? It seems consistent with the silent switch.
But it still appears that the chip used is still from the old pseudo core architecture – Core 1. Intel will surely deprecate this line, so I expect a Core 2 variety is in the works.
More important than all this would be a move to a desktop size – 3.5 inch – hard drive at the cost of a fraction of an inch increase in the Mini’s height. Speed and capacity would go up and cost down. A $499 Mini would really puts the screws on the competition for low cost PC boxes.
“Got a Mac Mini hooked via HDMI to a mammoth screen, and fiber optic audio. 802.11n from server (about 7 TB). Thing kicks ass!
<u>Serious question:</u> So you are streaming via pre-draft n? from the server to the mini? Do you have some sort of pre-draft 802.11n external device for your mini? Curious as to how you are doing this as minis don’t have n cards and n is not a finalized protocol yet – although there are pre-draft n cards out there. Not trying to debunk – just want to know how.
I only hope that an iMac upgrade is in the works soon, too.
In the past, we’ve seen Apple ship us products that far exceed what we ordered. Not once, but many times. The boxes and packing slips will list the correct product, but the merchandise inside will be one or two notches above that.
I personally have grown accustomed to this. Tacking it to a company that acknowledges its supply problems and tries to make the best of it any which way.
One thing’s for sure, though. We’ve never complained. Nor send the merchandise back.
Who are you kidding?
^^^ or draft-n
zelfort,
Who said there was anything wrong with being gay in the first place?
Are you just reassuring yourself? Is that your way of coming out?
They bumped the refurb G5 I purchased a couple of years ago. It was supposed to come with an Nvidia graphics card, 512MB RAM, and a 80GB drive. It arrived with an ATI Radeon 9600 XT, 1GB RAM and a 160GB drive. While browsing a Mac forum, I saw several other people report getting better products when ordering refurb from Apple. It seems to be a common practice with their refurb products, but I’ve never heard of it with new hardware. (And the refurb G5 has run flawlessly since the day I got it.)
zelfort,
And yes I do have a limited sex life. My lady only has 3 holes, 2 hands and 2 feet.
No matter how many positions we try, it’s still those same 3 holes.
I did meet a hot Lebanese chick that I wanted to “broaden” my horizons with though, but I couldn’t convince my woman to swing…though she would like to see some gay sex. Are you hitting on me still zelfort?
Rammer,
Apple just doesn’t like *you*. We have ordered literally hundreds of Macs over the past 20 years and have never gotten a “lemon”. In fact, I can only recall two needing any “official” hardware service.
You should definitely switch to a PC and Windows. At least then you won’t be disappointed when you get a lemon and an OS that is more trouble than it’s worth–that’s the modus operandi for them. Come to think about it, I don’t know one person personally that owns a Dell that *hasn’t* had significnt hardware or OS problems in the past year. Seen Dell’s customer support ratings lately? So please leave the Apple camp as soon as possible so you will find a more comfortable place in the world of PCs and Microsoft where your every expecation will be met.
minithoughts said:
Aug 31, 06 – 02:08 pm
macmini….ahhh…the computer to bring Apple to the masses of PC users….
whyohwhy would one buy amacmini?
ikeep looking at them when i goto the apple store, thinking why, give me a reason why i would buy it?,then my eyes swing over to the other great offerings by apple and shake my head…why waste one´s money on a macmini?
buy a Mac notebook, iMac – great computers…the macmini…erggh. its like somebody originally had a great idea for this – sometype of communications center perhaps and then the followthrough was shelved…if the macmini disappeared would anyone care?
Why would one buy a macmini? The answer is very easy. Someone, say me for example, needs a headless Mac to integrate into the home theater system. An iMac wouldn’t work very well in that scenario, now would it? Nor would a Mac Pro. I already own an iMac, Powerbook, and iBook, but I would eventually like to get a small headless computer to fit on my A/V shelf.
Told you.
You’ll believe me from now on.
Jerry T
Three hole? Never met a chick who liked getting it in the ears.
Re: minithoughts
===============================================
Aug 31, 06 – 02:08 pm
macmini….ahhh…the computer to bring Apple to the masses of PC users….
whyohwhy would one buy amacmini?
ikeep looking at them when i goto the apple store, thinking why, give me a reason why i would buy it?,then my eyes swing over to the other great offerings by apple and shake my head…why waste one´s money on a macmini?
buy a Mac notebook, iMac – great computers…the macmini…erggh. its like somebody originally had a great idea for this – sometype of communications center perhaps and then the followthrough was shelved…if the macmini disappeared would anyone care?
===============================================
Whats wrong with a Mini ? Its perfect for alot of people for alot of different reasons. For me it was an easy route in the Apple world, I already had my 20″ wide screen and wireless keyboard from my retired PC, so the mini made perfect sense, and isnt the whole Apple experience more to do with the operating system, applications, integration and an easy computing lifestyle than to do with the hardware. In fact its opened the door to Apple for me, and I’d love to get a Macbook to replace my Dell laptop, and to compliment my Mini, but not to replace it ….
I personally think there would be many people who who miss the mini if it disappeared …..
Buster,
Sorry, forgot the ears…that would be 5 holes then.
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Buster, sell the Dell and mini, etc and get a Macbook.
I’ve got a mini and I love the thing… People! it’s not a pissing contest. Decide what you need, what you can afford, and buy it. I had a g4 400Mhz tower for years, ran jaguar on the thing and it held up great. I upgraded to a used, pre-intel fully loaded mini with apple care left, for a great price this year, and I have NEVER CRASHED IT!!!! I only use my computer for photo-editing and web design (and basic entertainment crap). I would get a portable computer if I needed it, but I dont. Sure it would come in handy on occasion, but not worth the 2x price tag.
anyways… the macbooks look really nice, I’ll probably get one when I need it.
If it were $599 for a duo-core w superdrive it’s worth buying. Until this is confirmed I would never buy a mini though. The price is too high for a monitor-less computer with these specs.