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Good decision

Please let this be true.

Oh please let it be true!

good thing I waited and read this.
magig word "reading" as in it's good to read!

I can read, but I can't spell

512 is an OK base standard, but they really need to correct (again!) the pricing of the 1GB upgrade. It should *always* be cheaper to buy it with 1GB than it is to go buy your own and then PAY someone to install it, as most people will need to do.

This is indeed a good decision.

For those who have a mini or are getting a mini soon with only 256 MB of memory, how hard is it to take the old memory out and add memory? I couldn't find the answer on the Apple Suport page.

Thanks!

No credibility. That "article" (blog) ALSO says that the advantage of getting 512 standard in a Mini is that then you will get 512 in just ONE slot, leaving the other slot free to expand to a full GB later without throwing old RAM away.

Um.... the Mini doesn't have 2 RAM slots. 512 always WAS in one slot, if you chose that option... and no other slot remains. Increasing memory later DOES mean discarding what you had to begin with.

If he's that out of the loop, I'm skeptical about his predictions.

Too bad, 512 SHOULD be standard, to make OS X run best.

Then again, lots of cheap PCs start at 256, and lots of people survive on Macs with 256 too.

I hope they do. I couldn't recommend the mini to anyone just out of the box. With 512mb standard it makes it useable as is.

I meant "Support."

Sly -

It's prohibitively difficult. The case needs a special tool to open, which you cannot buy. So people have been using spatulas. Then you gotta unscrew & remove the bluetooth antenna to get at the RAM.

It can be done, but it takes balls to jimmy open your new purchase, even if it was only $500.

Thanks Mini-buster. It does sound like a pain, and not worth it.

Doesn't seem that hard, especially for those who build their own PC's.

It is definitely a pain. From what I've read, Apple says opening the case does not void the warranty, unless you break something in the process. Which you are bound to do.

On the other hand, I stripped the hell out of those retarded metric allen screws on my PBG4, then took it in for in-warranty service, and they didn't say boo about it. When I got it back, they had put new screws in. But that was Tekserv, not Apple.

--Rob

Chomper,

Working inside a tower (or even mini) case that's designed to be opened using conventional tools is one thing. If you had to hack together a specially-shaped screwdriver to open a tower case, lots fewer people would do it.

Who knows, though.. a smart third-party should build & market a mini-opener tool. As long as the cost of it plus the RAM is less than paying Apple for it, it would sell like hotcakes.

Shit, maybe I'll do that. I gotta go.

For those who say stuff like "please let it be true" and when it becomes so sit there on there hands, waiting for the next upgrade. How do u think inovators are able to be pioneers with out your support. I truely get upset at the idiots who say they r waiting for G5 PBook and never purchased a mac to support this to come to pass. Pleas guys give the company your support because as you can tell respect has been due for a long time.

For those who question my authority to make these comment, I switched in 2004 and purchased a dual G5 Power mac and 12in Power book. ( I missed a few meals but it was well worth it) to see stuff like the mac mini, i feel like i did my part for it to occur.

Mini-buster - "prohibitively difficult"? What, are you on crack? Or just completely incompetent with hand tools? Geez, all you need is a putty knife - no "special" tools. Just slide the putty knife in between the case and the white portion and pry a little till you hear the pops of the locks coming free.

I have done 2 mini upgrades and it takes less than 30 secs to open the case.

Sly - it is NOT a pain and it IS worth it.

Also, there are a couple of videos floating around the net around that show exactly how easy it really is.

It has been too long since Apple raised the minimum standard RAM from 128 to 256 MB. Whenever I buy a Mac, I need to automatically double the RAM just to make the amount adequate for day to day work.

HOW TO OPEN THE MINI...... (mini-buster, please watch)

http://www.smashsworld.com/2005/01/taking-apart-mac-mini-how-to.php

and here is one more for you...

http://x180.net/Movies/CrackingTheMini.mov

secret word is "took"....as in it took no time or effort to open my mini

it always made sense, with the more expensive machines, for apple to let the other sellers give away extra memory so they could differentiate themselves. now the other sellers can give away keyboards, mice, etc. for the mac mini. but since the mac mini is going to be sold "as is" by some stores (target, again, i hope, for example), 256k memory just isn't going to work. i think apple started to realize this, that the old rules just aren't going to apply here, and people would get turned off. while they are at it, apple should put 512k memory in the display machines too.

k, m, whatever.

mini-buster, the mini opening tool you're talking about is called a putty knife. check it:

http://www.smashsworld.com/2005/01/taking-apart-mac-mini-how-to.php

My point was that most Mac users I've met are pretty smart and I don't think it would be that hard for them to do this upgrade.

Thanks Chris,

you wrote my posts for me.

Only the sort of person who has trouble changing a light-bulb would have problems upgrading the RAM in a mini - that is if he reads the several sites (already!) dedicated to this theme and hasn't drunk more than five pints of ale.

ABQ Peter - "k, m, whatever."

LOL! Oh, that reminds me of my old ][e. 256 big old fat hairy wopping motherf-ing k! Man that was a great computer...

MacsOnly has concluded that 256MB is fine for the average user: <http://www.macsonly.com/arch00501.html#181>

seems unlikely to me given that Apple just decreased the cost of RAM upgrades and HD upgrades.

er, great way to cut into Mac mini sales.

Computer memory is like digital camera memory, everyone upgrades the day they buy their new camera. I wonder how many have 16MB flash cards laying around? I must have five or six from the cameras I've purchased in the past. I also have several 128MB and 256MB sticks or memory laying around going to waste.


Since the mini only has one slot, I'd prefer 256MB as it's cheaper and would be thrown in the trash for a 1GB module anyway. Why waste a 512?

As long as 256MB is still an option, great, but don't make 512MB the only choice. I don't want to pay extra for memory I'd end up removing anyway. Apple should just blow everyone away and make the Superdrive and 1GB RAM standard at $499 (and possibly upgrade the VRAM to at least 64MB for Tiger, video cards are cheap these days).

If I were Apple, I'd be afraid to sell a computer without 512MB of memory. 256MB is just too little for OS X. We got a G5 in here at work that was ordered with the standard 256MB and its nearly impossible to work with. Forget keeping Safari open. It needs almost 50MB itself.

Good decision - as long as it doesn't make the mini more expensive. It's important to keep that sub-500 price.

Jeff has a really good point....

The LAST thing we need are Mac newbies firing up their Mini's and being disappointed at the slugishenss of the 256 bm of ram. Remeber, people, FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE EVERLASTING. And if their first impression on OS X is "slow" then they are going to think the Apple computers IN GENERAL are slow - when all it really is is inadequate ram.

As Anandtech said...Apple should NOT be allowed to sell the mini with less than 512 mb of ram.

My family just got a ibook 12"

It has only 256MB or RAM. My iMac has 1 GIG. I know that 256 is woefully inadequete...but...

It really doesn't seem to be too bad. You notice the slowdown if you open up a gazillion number of programs but I have konfabulator in the background, browsing, word processing (ms word) and it still runs pretty well.

I'm still going to upgrade but I am going to disagree with the contention that 256MB is unbearable. It really isn't. And again, I'm used to 1 GIG in my iMac.

I have to agree that 256MB is adequate for entry level users and if only including 256MB RAM in the entry level config is what allowed it to come in under $500, then that's the way it should stay until the economics changes. If anything, Apple should offer 512MB in the 1.42GHz model as standard. Anybody who is willing to spend the extra money to get double the hard drive and the added 0.17GHz is more likely to want double the RAM too. While they are at it, they should double the VRAM on the top model too. Thus the retail lineup should be as follows:

1.25GHz/256MB/40GB/32MB VRAM = $499US
1.42GHz/512MB/80GB/64MB VRAM = $699US

Anyone care to comment on my suggested price point?

--
Brought to you by the word "numbers". Do you think these numbers make sense?

Everyone keeps missing the point...
The Mac mini is a low-end device. It is not designed to be a performance computer. The principal tasks this machine is designed to do is Safari, Mail, Calendar, iLife, and iWork. Except for some of the operations involved in iPhoto and iMovie, 256 Mbytes is sufficient to operate the computer at a brisk pace. The OS takes up very little memory (check it for yourself with nothing open).
To insinuate that 256 is not enough for a Mac mini is to have the preconceived notion that you will be overburdening the computer with tasks. In fact, most people don't use more than 70% of their memory during "normal" operation. Obviously if you try running Photoshop, Word, and Dreamweaver at the same time, your computer is going to page to the hard disk (which takes time)... but in this case you better have a PowerMac instead of a Mac mini.

Just to sort of follow up on Mini-Buster's comments . . . Tekserve is the best place to go to for Mac upgrades or repairs. Tekserve is in NYC and well worth checking out.

The Apple Stores are just too into new sales, and it makes a long time Mac user feel left out in the cold. My next new Mac purchase is definitely coming from Tekserve.

Check it out, folks.

G4/Tech TV's screen savers upgraded a mini the other day on their show.. the mini uses pc ram so you can upgrade it much cheaper tan if you used Apple ram.
they also proved you can swap out the Hard drive with a 100 gb hard drive and viola one hot hard machine... of course you voided you warrenty,.. but at 599 you can almost afford to.

I just bought a mini for my Dad last weekend and it's not sluggish at all with 256MB. Granted he's certainly not a power user, but it was running just fine with two or three apps open at once. Since just about all he does is surf the web, check e-mail, open an occassional Excel spreadsheet or Word document and play iTunes, 256MB seems to be just fine. I wouldn't want to try editing a fairly complex DV movie in iMovie HD without more RAM for example, but for the majority of users that are buying a mini, the included RAM is adequate.

I really can't see Apple offering 512MB standard with the mini, and letting the standard iMac, PowerMac, etc. come with 256. So either the entire range is about to be updated (PB and eMacs are about to be refreshed) or this story is a load of old horse poop.

I hope for the first. I suspect the second.

......"Tekserve is the best place to go to for Mac upgrades or repairs. Tekserve is in NYC and well worth checking out...."

bleekr..

It would be a long drive for me... plus... I'd go broke paying all those tolls needed to drive on federally funded Interstates on that side of the country !!

Besides... by using the links (above) provided by chris (and b) ... doing "the deed" really isnt rocket surgery !!

cheers !!

Some of you are forgetting that the mini is an entry level consumer machine. If you need to have 5+ apps open at once and/or do any kind of moderate to heavy duty video or graphics work, you shouldn't be looking at any entry level machine like the mini in the first place anyway. For the intended audience, the standard configuration is just fine. Besides, if you need more than the standard, you can always get one BTO and pay more anyway...

I don't know guys, it's crucial for the Mac mini to be nice, but not cannibalize iBook/eMac sales...

It's like the iPod pricing.. you have to have enough distance, feature-wise such that someone would NEVER feel remorse for getting a higher-end product.

in other words.. with the eMac still at 256, you can't give the Mac mini until you bump up all Macs to 512... or else the cannibalization gets fierce (and the pricing looks very confusing)

Rob and RC spot on correct!!

Don't allow the Mhz myth translate into the Mb myth. I do 3D graphics on my 256Mb iMac G4 just fine.

In terms of multiple aps running simultaneously, even then you may not see much hiccupping unless they are all actually crunching numbers. It is VERY common for aps to rest at 0.00& CPU usage and minimum RAM when not being used. Run "Activity Monitor" if you have a slowdown to see exactly where the bottle neck is located rather than blindly slapping in extra RAM thinking it will cure it. Your problems could be a single ap misbehaving.

Beware of rumors designed to kill sales.

Those of the low-end argument are missing the point. Even low-end PC's have enough horsepower to run Windows XP just fine.

OS X runs like a snail, then people will be turned off by it.

Fact is, Apple needs to do better than everyone else the first time out. Who cares if it's low end? Is 512mb of RAM that expensive? It's not and even if so, it's a worthy loss leader for the moment.

My mac in the shoe-box has a 300 mhz G3 and 256 mb RAM.

This shoe-box runs OSX better than most Wintel boxes run Windows. 512 mb is plenty for a entry line computer.

Brilliant.

Min-buster, I'll bet that those "retarded metric allen screws on my PBG4" are really Torx. I recommend that you think twice before opening a Mac or any other electronic device.

The real question is will 256 MB be enough for Tiger?

Update:

The BTO SuperDrive is back to 4x

With a bit of luck, 512mb will be the minimum standard across the whole line. Talk about taking the long road.