I always wonder about the Mac Mini.
Every time I see one I want to touch it, and I’m always on the look-out for a cheap enough model to buy. But I wonder how the Mac Mini’s sales are doing.
When it was launched, people predicted the Mini – then a G4 – would sell pretty well. Then, last summer, sites predicted the death of the Mini. Since Leopard was release, the Mini just hangs in limbo.
It’s a shame, too, because people love the pint-sized Mac enough to mod the heck out of it. Media centers, car computers – you name it, someone has put a Mini inside it. But how well does it sell overall?
The original idea was to offer up a below-$1,000 Mac so that Window users, who already own a capable monitor and keyboard/mouse set, could jump ship easily and cheaply. The Mini could run OS X and MS Office software and anything else you could throw at it, and users could expect a machine to help them “learn” the Mac OS without whipping through 40 Photoshop filters at top speed. You knew it was a modest system. You didn’t expect a whole lot.
As it stands today, though, people are switching to Apple – but mostly through the notebook route. What’s the Mac Mini’s role in all this? A new MobileMe-only device? A music server?
Plus, OS X 10.5 requires more powerful hardware, and the Mini’s modest specs seem to not up to the new iMac’s standards, I guess I’m just worried the tiny Mac will get lost in the (non-iPod) shuffle. If sales are sluggish, would Apple just drop it? Would the monitor-less experiment be over? And what about the dreaded xMac?
If anyone knows, I’d love to hear about it.
Hey mate, I saw your blog on MyAppleSpace in the Blog thing at Steve’s Office, I posted mine their to, you are welcome to check it out.
Anyway, I doubt they would drop, Well, actually I really hope they don’t drop it, its definetley good for the switchers who know almost nothing about Mac OS X if you do know something about Mac OS X then go for something else, like I am (MacBook Pro)
If Apple was going to drop anything they have on the market right now it would probably be the iPod Shuffle.
Posted by JD on June 18th, 2008.
You’re right: Mac Minis don’t seem to be for the “serious” Mac fans. But then a friend of mine runs the print shop he works at on Mac Minis – so it works just fine for some folks.
Posted by davelawrence8 on June 19th, 2008.
Yup, DRBUK also has a mini and loves it.
Posted by jrem95 on June 19th, 2008.
The mini is an excellent computer, compact, simple and quiet. I’m not sure about some of the “must have XMac” people, it’s like they’re *looking* for something wrong. Sure I wish Apple would push it a bit more, but I’d be sorry if they cut them.
Posted by un on June 29th, 2008.
“Simple and quiet” – I like that.
Posted by davelawrence8 on June 30th, 2008.