“Sources have indicated Apple’s ‘one more thing,’ code named ‘Brick’ rumored to be announced around October 14th along with a MacBook refresh, will actually be a re-design of the Mac Mini super-sized to reveal a Mac Mini Pro of sorts,” iPhone Savior reports.
“Apple’s ‘Brick’ mystery product is also rumored to be the fabled Tablet Mac by 9 to 5 Mac, a fantasy product that’s proven as real as Bigfoot for the past few years now. It’s been roughly 14 months since the last minor refresh to the Mac Mini,” iPhone Savior reports.
iPhone Savior says that this “Mac Mini Pro” rumor comes “from sources that we were unable to confirm as completely reliable.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Brawndo Drinker” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Note: “We will be delivering state-of-the-art new products that I cannot discuss today that our competitors will not be able to match.” – Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer, July 21, 2008
Any word on pricing?
An iMac motherboard in a $799-$999 MiniPro case just might have a market.
I agree with others here: give it user-accessible RAM, drives, video card & vRAM, and maybe one open slot. And please have an easy-open case, unlike the current Mini’s pry-and-pray.
Sub-$500 laptops are beginning to make a serious dent in overall PC sales
They may sell on price, but are these machines actually usable?
Can they even boot out of their own way?
Vista is bad enough on a well-speced desktop, I can’t imagine even Home Basic on an entry-level laptop.
Don’t buy it.
Why increase the cost of the case when the it would be basically the same size as the mini?
I think someone has been taken, which is my magic word today.
I can envision a slightly larger Mac mini with more balls options. Not much bigger but big enough to allow easy upgrades. This makes sense to *me*. I’d buy one.
I, and many other home theater owners, want a full-featured Mac mini with built-in AppleTV that we can put in our home entertainment center next to the A/V Receiver, cable or satellite Box and DVD or Blu-ray player.
The Mac mini is a bit underpowered has a Web browser, but doesn’t allow you to order HD movies. The AppleTV allows you to order HD content, but has no Web browser. Both of very limited storage. The fusion needed is obvious.
YOU ARE ALL WRONG
jk. pretty interesting argument. i can’t see apple doing this. if a computer they sell doesn’t have what you need, apple wants you to upgrade to pro lines. granted i would by a mini pro (i think most people would) but it would cut into their existing markets.
the only argument i can see for making a mac mini pro is to kill off those pesky clones. but i think steve would rather just sue their asses.
now, if the brick was a mac mini that had more power because it ran like a home server. now that would be good. you wouldn’t need upgradable graphics card etc for that, just a mini with more speed and power, and HD space. running some cools apps like itunes server where you can sync your ipods from any mac on the network with the server media library etc.
nowadays everyone has more than one computer + laptops. in the near future i see people having home servers (maybe with a built in airport and time capsule).
i can see apple doing something like this, because it is more innovating than just spankin up a mac mini
you are dreaming if you think Apple is going to make a mini tower for $1000 or less. The simple facts are:
1) very few people ever perform upgrades on their computers (in response to the idea that swappability is a deciding buying factor)
2) people find use for their old all-in-one computers long after they are technologically outdated (in response to the idea that the screen is wasted when one wants to upgrade)
these two things suggest that the iMac is an adequate offering for most people interested in something more powerful than a mini. There is simply no reason for Apple to take sales away from the iMac by offering a low cost tower.
The home server market is being met by Apple TV + Time Machine or a mini + external HD. A proper Mac home server is obviously in the future … at some point.
If you need pro power then buy a pro. If you don’t need that much power then buy a refurb’ed pro or a G5 to go with your monitor. If you don’t need power then buy a mini. If you don’t have a monitor then buy an iMac.
Here is what Apple needs to release:
– Expandable Mac, like a Mac Pro
– Price < $2,000
– 2 Ethernet ports
The purpose of such a machine:
– Poor man’s server
– A Mac you can expand (some of use still like to work inside our computers, even if they are Macs)
– Attach a big-ass monitor to the machine and not be restricted to what Apple offers in the iMac.
Name of the machine:
Mac Semi-Pro (it ain’t nothing like a Mac Mini)
There you have it. A lot of use are waiting.
Apple has been very successful using their current model of product differentiation. The brand has grown, as has market share. Clearly defined products that make Apple’s stuff stand out.
But, if Apple would like the floodgates to open, offer what all the other PC makers offer with a bit of flare (and mark-up), and watch the other vendors hemorrhage. People want Macs. They are no longer objects of lust for just a few. Once Snow Leopard is out, things may be very good for Apple.
Unless, of course, there is a global meltdown. In which case, we may be boiling our Macs into tasty snacks.
MDN “Peace,” as in “You just can’t write this stuff.”
Well now Mr. Mugwump, I did want a Mac Pro and I bought one. Some of us work in industries where you need the best Mac you can get. I will welcome a mid range ‘headless mac’ but remember there are places that will buy dozens of Mac Pros at a time. That’s where the sales come from.
Jeremy, only two HDs, at least 4 GB of RAM, a graphics card, and 4 cores and you are thinking a Mac Pro? That would be a very minimal Mac Pro! Taking it backwards, the Mac Pro uses Xeon processors … I’m good with two Core2Duos. A graphics card – the iMac has a couple options there, unlike the mini. I mentioned at least 4GB of RAM in four slots, the Pro has up to 32 GB in 8 slots. And 2 HDs? The Pro allows four!
In essence, I’m talking about a smaller tower with much more expandability than you can get with an iMac without going to the extremes found with the Pro. About the only way it would match the Pro would be the available ports! The four cores might be clocked as fast as those in the Pro (or not) but would not be either as expensive or as productive. Not for the bigger jobs with bigger records. Xeon vs Core2Duo? No competition! For half the money (a bit more for a headless box than for the iMac) would get you anywhere from 40% to 60% of the productivity of the big box, and much more than the iMac. A proper in-between set-up to bridge a gap that’s much to wide.
It’s very likely to be a new Mac mini, or a new product that replaces the Mac mini.
Hmmmmmmmmm……. so many people poo-pooed the MacBook Air because it served such a small portion of the buying public. Yet, Apple saw fit to produce it, even asking Intel to reduce the size of the CPU to fit the Air.
Yet, so many people think that a headless Mac is out of the question since they think it is a small part of the market.
True, Apple may never come out with such a Mac, but it won’t be because it is a smaller part of the market, it will be for other reasons.
To say that Apple won’t come out with a headless Mac simply because the market wouldn’t be as large as the MacBooks or the iMac is to say that Apple would never come out with something like the Air.
What about:
Mac Mini-x
Mac Pro MiniMe
Mac Pro Express
Mac Extreme
Mac Pro-ish
Mac Uber-Pro
Mac Pro-foundly smaller
Macally makes a 3.5″ HDD case that looks like a diminutive Mac Pro.
G-S350SUA
Mac Pro Mini?
IMHO, it ain’t gonna happen. There really isn’t a space in between a top-spec iMac and a bottom-spec Mac Pro.
I have to say I don’t understand those who are saying they want a headless iMac. What benefits are there from having a separate screen?
The Mac Pro is a tower because it needs to be configurable Most users will use more than one screen. i.e. They’re professionals. Researchers, programmers, video/audio eds and producers will all use Mac Pro’s.
What worthwhile market is there for a headless iMac?
Semi professionals? They don’t exist.
The only people I can think of are (for the lack of a better word) IT geeks who won’t fork out for a Mac Pro but want to be able to customise their computers like in the old days.
It ain’t gonna be a Mac-Tablet either. What’s the point?
iPhone/iPod Touch is a computer you can put in your pocket. You want something you can do work on while on the go, then you get a MacBook/Air/Pro.
It’s a compromise with no benefits. To big for your pocket, not tactile for use on a desk.
Personally, I think the ‘Brick’ will be an all-in-one Apple TV/Time Capsule/Airport.
Maybe.
But probably not.
The mac mini is a bridging machine, but then it gets to become a server for most people. Like myself.
The mac mini is awesome with all due respect.
I so hope this Brick, will come with leopard server.
A tablet…. nah, forget it. no use for it.
And another thing. I assume apple wants to get rid of the adjective “Brick” used on the iPhone by coming up with this product.
@mugwump,
You’re full of it, I only want and use Mac Pros and previous iterations, not those crummy iMacs and useless laptops.
People, people, people.
We’re talking about a PROFESSIONAL Mac, not (necessarily) for the home market, that has a much smaller form factor than the MacPro. Shiny monitors and mobile or integrated graphics cards don’t cut it. it’s a different market. Just because YOU see no need or would never use it, does NOT mean there’s no need or desire for such a machine.
We’re also NOT talking about a replacement for the MacPro!
We do NOT want an iMac. While the Mac mini is a fine machine, it is EXTREMELY limited and meant for a different class of user. We want a serious, modular machine that we can recommend to clients, friends and switchers. It’s ridiculous and embarrassing that the Mac mini is the only monitor-less alternative to the MacPro!
We’re talking about a small Mac with serious horsepower (quad or octo-core) and some upgradability…
Select the graphics card and monitor of YOUR choice. (not shiny)
2 hard drive bays… ever hear of RAID?
4 RAM slots
2 PCI slots… hell, I’d settle for one. For instance; second PCI slot could be used for high-speed networking cards in corporate or industrial or scientific settings. Think render farms or networked super-computers that need less space and consume less power… kind of important these days, no?.
Then stir in the usual compliment of ports and interfaces: Airport, Bluetooth, FireWire 400/800 (FW3200?), eSATA, gigabit Ethernet, USB2 slots.
I use MacBook Pro and I could certainly afford a MacPro. I do NOT want a box that’s 1/2 the size of my desk. I would never use all the internal or optical drive bays, of a MacPro. As a VectorWorks 2D/3D CAD user, I would CERTAINLY use the horsepower of a Quad or Octo-Core machine and a high-end graphics card. I would be blind at the end of ONE day staring at wireframe 3D models on a shiny display. SERIOUSLY!
A MacPro midi or MacPro mini or Half-MacPro would fill a lot of niches in Apple’s product lines. Hopefully Apple has been waiting to release such a product until the tipping point has been reached. You don’t suppose any big customers have requested a smaller, full powered, lower energy consuming Mac desktop?
Mr. Reeee: Just because YOU see no need or would never use it, does NOT mean there’s no need or desire for such a machine.
A single-CPU (and thus quad core) Mac Pro can be had at $2299 and with much lower power consumption than the fully equipped version. (Unless, of course, you’re plugging in a high-end graphics card which nowadays sucks more power than any CPU.)
That’s just a measly $100 above the top iMac model, so there simply isn’t a gap large enough to justify the massive expense of a third hardware platform which would be wedged uncomfortably between the iMac and the Mac Pro, cannibalizing both in the process without really offering anything the others couldn’t and which satisfies an already small and still dwindling sub-segment of the market.
Yeah, it’s got a massive aluminium case, but it will satisfy all your demands and then some.
By the way: If you actually need maximum performance, the Xeons in the Mac Pro are actually more efficient than the consumer models so the Mac Pro and the Xserve are still the right machines for exactly that purpose.
Why is it so hard to screw people over? —HMCIV
Because to screw people you have to be smart. Most crooks and bastards are dumb.
I totally agree.
You get free stickers of Will Farrel signed basketball along with the Mac Semi-Pro
Who in here has a mac mini, and does not use the mac mini as a headless server? A minority I bet!!!
Leopard has built in screen share, so you don’t need apple remote to see whats happening.
Democracy RULES!
Whatever it is, I pray it comes with a tip calculator. Otherwise I’m not buying it.
@lestynw and others….
For me the main benefit of having a separate screen is longevity. Modern LCD’s should last at least 10 years which allows me to move it across 2 or 3 CPU’s during its lifespan. With the old CRT based all-in-ones the CRT and the CPU became outdated pretty much at the same time. Separates provide more flexibility (headless or your choice of head size/surface). Plus there is an ecological and financial advantage because you are recycling only the parts you don’t need and encouraged to buy a higher end display that will last many years, all in all a good investment.
I suspect the headless market is larger than may appear. I’ve read many articles about Mini’s being placed into service as headless media servers in homes and in the trunks of cars. Police, transit, and cab companies use Mini’s to capture video from car mounted cameras which are wirelessly uploaded after their shifts, etc..
Semi-professionals do exist. I am a semi-professional audio engineer. I have a different day job because like many artistic professions, it don’t pay the bills. Yet my love of the work keeps me investing my time and effort. I book maybe a dozen contracts a year recording commercials, small live concerts, etc. I do all of this now on my Macbook Pro which is adequate but I would much prefer a small desktop machine with two HD’s (for RAID) and would take a PCI based audio card (for Protools). Obviously the pro would do the job, but it is way overkill for this task.
Keep in mind that while Apple products have widespread consumer appeal for being reliable and easy to use, these attributes are just as appealing to the professional and scientific communities (you know, the UNIX guys that only boot their Mac’s into single user mode). Apple has only one really expensive computer (the pro) targeting this market. I believe a mini-pro type box would have widespread appeal in both the scientific and pro-sumer segments. My 4 cents…
Bitjockey: For me the main benefit of having a separate screen is longevity.
Which makes a single-CPU quad-core Mac Pro at $2299 decently affordable over the substantial lifespan it will be able to serve you, especially since it is highly expandable to meet growing demands (RAM, harddisks etc.).
I’m writing this on a PowerMac G5 Dual 2 GHz, a massive machine when it was introduced five years ago, even today still quite adequate for almost all of my needs and overall quite cost-effective for me. I’m beginning to consider replacing it, but I’m not in a hurry. Speaking of longevity.