Apple unveils sub-$500 “Mac Mini”

Brian Ambrozy 11 Jan, 2005 at 3:31pm ET Article published in Tech

Apple Computer has just announced the $499 Mac Mini. At 6.5″ wide and 2″ tall, it isn’t much bigger than the optical drive of a normal PC. It contains a 1.25 or 1.4 ghz G4 processor, and 256mb of ram + integrated Radeon 9200 video and a 40gb HD. Upgrades include 1gb of ram, a dvd burner and 80gb HD.

I forsee a lot of uses for this thing. It has integrated firewire and USB2 ports as well as audio in. I can imagine a very small mini “scratchpad” recording device that you can take with you and record something with, or a nice sort of portable computer. This is going to be one of those things that people are going to find all kinds of strange uses for.

Source: Apple.com

Comments

11 Jan 2005 ~ 5:06pm EMT That does look quite neat. It is lacking audio input btw (you'd have to USB it).

(w00t, I used USB as a verb)
11 Jan 2005 ~ 5:22pm primesuspect Oops, you're right. I think the "breakout box" for garage band is going to be an add-on. Edited.
11 Jan 2005 ~ 6:22pm Geeky1 You know, that's too bad. I would've bought one... but this thing is every bit as bad as a $500 Dell, just in a smaller package. Between this and the iPod shuffle... way to go guys. Screw up twice in one day. Nice.
11 Jan 2005 ~ 10:21pm Camman again, I gotta say, why is this revolutionary, and why will anybody find more uses for this than any other small form factor PC, that's all it is.
11 Jan 2005 ~ 10:42pm fatcat like I said in the other thread... iWant

Shuttle SN95G5 12.2" x 7.87" x 7.28" 7.92lbs

New Mac 6.5" x 6.5" x 2.0" 2.90lbs
11 Jan 2005 ~ 10:49pm Thrax I believe I can now be confident in drawing a parallel between the PC's weight and its capability.. That is, the less it weighs, the ****tier it is.
11 Jan 2005 ~ 11:28pm primesuspect You guys are so narrow minded

It's just cool, that's all. It's not that important... :o
12 Jan 2005 ~ 12:49am Camman

primesuspect wrote:

You guys are so narrow minded

It's just cool, that's all. It's not that important... :o

not closed minded, its still kinda cool, i just find it odd that people think everything Apple makes is some sort of innovation just because they make a big hoop-lah (yup) about the introduction.

I'll give props to their marketing/PR department tho.
12 Jan 2005 ~ 3:09pm RWB I wanted one at first, then after Geeky did his thing through IM I started noticing other things. No monitor for one, it'd be cheaper to buy one of the other MAC's that are also a G5 at higher speeds as well, and still contained well in a small package like the iMAC. Plus I think it comes with more software.

I know I am buying a MAC sometime this year becuase the prices aren't that bad, the colors are easy on the eyes too. I just wish the OS wasn't so opposite from MS. My views change though, depends on my mood I guess :P
12 Jan 2005 ~ 3:14pm TheBaron for the specs that thing has and the price tag it carries, its an excellent value (for a mac)
12 Jan 2005 ~ 3:17pm primesuspect I think $500 to be able to us OS X is a great value. I would have bought one except for two reasons:

1) I wanted a flat panel monitor instead of this huge ass CRT. I am so sick of CRTs.

2) G5 over G4
12 Jan 2005 ~ 3:47pm RWB The mini has a VGA adapter, so it could just use your existing monitor. I agree with G5 over G4 also.
12 Jan 2005 ~ 3:55pm primesuspect Right, but my existing monitor is a piece of crap.
12 Jan 2005 ~ 8:33pm Geeky1 I was really looking forward to this thing... I mean I just bought a logic board and stuff on Ebay to build myself a G4... but I would've bought one of these if it'd had the right specs. So I'm rather disappointed. I realize it's a cheap mac, but I was hoping for something I could actually, you know, UPGRADE. No luck here.
13 Jan 2005 ~ 4:01am WildBoar Warrior Heh its a cool laptop. you cant upgrade laptops easily either.

On the plus side it is tiny and quiet perfect for the living room. If it had TV etc ( ie media centre ) I would buy one tomorrow even if it was a 100 quid more expensive. I will have to evaulate USB possibilities here.

OS X at a cheap price is also a selling point. Unix with a nice GUI at last.