5 ms·

Speaking as someone not intimately familiar with Apple's desktop line, what's "redesigned" about it? From the website, I gather that it now has an aluminum casi

by cheald 16y ago

Speaking as someone not intimately familiar with Apple's desktop line, what's "redesigned" about it? From the website, I gather that it now has an aluminum casing rather than plastic, a less archaic GPU, and +$200 on the price tag?

rushiv 16y ago
Did the old ones have an HDMI output and SD Card slot? I think that's what new in this model... The re-design is essentially the internals I think
- cheald 16y ago
  I have no idea. As I said, I'm not too familiar with the previous-generation offerings. The SD card slot is a yawner, since you can do that with a USB reader. HDMI out makes it potentially interesting as a entertainment center device, but at a $700 price tag, it's difficult to imagine justifying it over other more flexible solutions, unless the form factor is a big deal to you.
- pmjordan 16y ago
  The previous model had a mini-DVI port instead of HDMI - I assume the HDMI port also carries an audio signal now, otherwise the two would be equivalent. (mini-DVI might even support dual-link, which HDMI definitely doesn't)
  - tibbon 16y ago
    However, I think relatively few Mac Mini users are hooking theirs up to 30" displays. I'm guessing that most users either have them hooked up to a small screen for a kiosk, use it with an older keyboard, monitor & mouse as a cheaper upgrade path to an Apple (thinking of doing this for my mother), or hooked up to a 1080p display like an HDTV or a projector.
jsz0 16y ago
The previous generation model started at $599 -- gotta go back 5 years to the PPC Mini for the $499 price tag.
- cheald 16y ago
  Ah, my mistake. How many generations of the Mini have there been at this point?
  - astrodust 16y ago
    There were three iterations of the G4 variety, and so far six on the Core/Core2 platform. They release these about once every nine months.
fragmede 16y ago
Oh, and the power brick... what a monstrosity that was. Instead of an external power brick that was roughly half the size of the mini itself, the power supply is internal, which makes this mini much more conveniently portable.
- raganwald 16y ago
  That's a big deal when you're selling its design. I have the previous generation Mac Mini sitting next to my flat screen TV, and the power supply was a pain to hide. It's part of my living room. Design matters.
- astrodust 16y ago
  I can't wait to see a tear-down on how they did that. The power supply from before was really huge. It's been the same size since the G4 and always weighed a ton presumably due to the iron in the transformer coil.
- cheald 16y ago
  That's a really nice feature, since the form factor is such a bullet point for the product.

by cheald 16y ago

rushiv 16y ago

Did the old ones have an HDMI output and SD Card slot? I think that's what new in this model... The re-design is essentially the internals I think

cheald 16y ago
I have no idea. As I said, I'm not too familiar with the previous-generation offerings. The SD card slot is a yawner, since you can do that with a USB reader. HDMI out makes it potentially interesting as a entertainment center device, but at a $700 price tag, it's difficult to imagine justifying it over other more flexible solutions, unless the form factor is a big deal to you.
pmjordan 16y ago
The previous model had a mini-DVI port instead of HDMI - I assume the HDMI port also carries an audio signal now, otherwise the two would be equivalent. (mini-DVI might even support dual-link, which HDMI definitely doesn't)
- tibbon 16y ago
  However, I think relatively few Mac Mini users are hooking theirs up to 30" displays. I'm guessing that most users either have them hooked up to a small screen for a kiosk, use it with an older keyboard, monitor & mouse as a cheaper upgrade path to an Apple (thinking of doing this for my mother), or hooked up to a 1080p display like an HDTV or a projector.

jsz0 16y ago

The previous generation model started at $599 -- gotta go back 5 years to the PPC Mini for the $499 price tag.

cheald 16y ago
Ah, my mistake. How many generations of the Mini have there been at this point?
- astrodust 16y ago
  There were three iterations of the G4 variety, and so far six on the Core/Core2 platform. They release these about once every nine months.

fragmede 16y ago

Oh, and the power brick... what a monstrosity that was. Instead of an external power brick that was roughly half the size of the mini itself, the power supply is internal, which makes this mini much more conveniently portable.

raganwald 16y ago
That's a big deal when you're selling its design. I have the previous generation Mac Mini sitting next to my flat screen TV, and the power supply was a pain to hide. It's part of my living room. Design matters.
astrodust 16y ago
I can't wait to see a tear-down on how they did that. The power supply from before was really huge. It's been the same size since the G4 and always weighed a ton presumably due to the iron in the transformer coil.
cheald 16y ago
That's a really nice feature, since the form factor is such a bullet point for the product.