“The mini’s visual redesign takes its cues from two other Apple products. The new enclosure is made of a single piece of aluminum, a la Apple’s unibody laptops—gone is the plastic top of previous models, making the new mini feel rock-solid. But the shape is closer to that of the Apple TV—thinner and wider than the previous Mac mini models,” Frakes reports. “In fact, the new mini is almost exactly the same size as an Apple TV, just with rounder corners.”
Frakes reports, “The new mini drops the previous model’s mini-DVI port in favor of an HDMI output—a nod to the fact that many Mac mini owners use the computer in home-theater systems and for other AV uses. In fact, Apple has even updated the Displays pane of System Preferences for the new mini to let you tweak video underscan—useful when connecting the mini to a TV.”
Read more in the full article, with plenty of photos, here.
The eliminated the Kensington security lock, so this mini is not a practical option for school labs.
I’ve always had weird feelings about the mini. I bought the original G4 on the day it was released, and the dual core mini on the day it was released. They’ve been alternately very useful machines and machines that have spent months sitting on shelf unused.
At work, I bought my partner one when we getting new machines and she loves it. Now her daughter has one, and she got one for home. My father in law bought one and he loves it. I’ve actually never run into someone that had a mini and didn’t like it.
At the same time, I look at the new one and it just seems ridiculously overpriced. A lower end laptop without the screen, keyboard or trackpad for $700.
I’m new to all this server stuff. If i buy a mini server, does that mean I can create a website with iWeb and host myself using my existing broadband connection? I’m assuming this would mean that it would always have to be on for someone to look at my site?
@ fred
You don’t even need the server version to run your own site. All you have to do is build a site with any tool (like Dreamweaver or even TextEdit) and put it in your Library/Webserver/Documents folder. Then turn on Web Sharing in Preferences > Sharing. You are now serving your own website. Enable port 80 on your router and point it to the local IP address of your machine, and you’re open to the world.
Yes, the connection will always have to be on. Your router’s WAN IP address is now your URL. To make it something unique, you’ll have to buy a domain name (like http://www.chrissyone.com for example) and point that domain to your IP address.
You can do this on any desktop version of OS X, the Server version just gives you a nice set of GUI admin tools.
Hey, MadMac? Did you know that Apple released an upgraded Mac mini design that includes HDMI. So it appears that Macs are still part of the Apple business and are not “dead.”
Still, the sky may start falling tomorrow. Keep looking up…
@ Lilochris
> I ordered a 2.66 with 500gb HD, and 4gb ram for $ 1031 with tax included.
Sounds like a good move. We have a “low-end” 2 GHz 2009 model in the house, which I have upgraded to 4GB of RAM and 320GB 7200 RPM WD Scorpio Black (from the original 1GB RAM and slower 120GB drive). It’s not my Mac, but I was updating it to 10.6.4 last night (and “test driving” it) and was reminded how great a little Mac it is for most users. The one you bought is much better without any need for post-purchase upgrades, or even external storage (unless you add an one for use with Time Machine).
@ NCIceman
> I wish I could justify getting one of these, would love to have the HDMI instead of VGA connection to my tv, but my current mini does the job just fine.
If your current Mac mini has a mini-DVI (or even full DVI) port for video, you can convert it to HDMI with the appropriate $10 adapter you can find on Amazon.com. There is no difference between video output for DVI and HDMI, except for the shape of the connector. You won’t get audio on the HDMI conversion, but you’re not getting audio on your current VGA conversion either, so that should not be a problem with your setup.
I love using the new ‘Reader’ function with MacDailyNews.
That’s funny,… The first thing I noticed about the new mini is it’s astronomical price
Great to see HDMI, finally something that’s a standard in the real world rather than just on paper.
Could have saved a little cost by dumping the daft mini-Displayport tho.
@mr. Reeee
You’re just going to post that in every thread aren’t you? Again I ask, how do you suppose Apple should cram a dedicated GPU of any value into such a small enclosure? Also, have you even used the 320M? It’s a very capable GPU. No, it isnt a Radeon 5870×2, but what do you expect FROM SUCH A SMALL COMPUTER?
THANK YOU APPLE! I LOVE the Mini! I will no doubt be getting one of these even though this 6+ year old PPC Mini is going gangbusters 24/7!
I found Mac mini at…
MacConnection has it for $679.99 and
http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/click?lid=41000000031545590&pubid=21000000000279836
They have the Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server for $959.99
http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/click?lid=41000000031545470&pubid=21000000000279836
Amazon has Mac mini for $669.99! Cool I have Amazon Prime that has 2-Day Shipping Free or Next Day Delivery for $3.99!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013FK9U2?ie=UTF8&tag=xver10-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0013FK9U2
Amazon has Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server for $974.99 I really want this one!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013FO7TQ?ie=UTF8&tag=xver10-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0013FO7TQ
So which one of these would you choose? :confused: