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Written by Chris Tangora
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Tuesday, 22 July 2008 |
So according to MacRumor's product guide the Mac Mini has gone for 350 days without an update. The average length of time between updates for the Mac Mini is about 188 days. The Mini isn't the only product that appears to be somewhat forgotten in Cupertino, the displays haven't been update for 476 days now (their average is 230 days between updates). The iPod touch and the classic iPod are both also reaching end of life cycles, with product dates far outside their average update cycles.
AppleInsider claimed insider info back in March about updates to the Mac Mini, and some "product transition" before September. To me this seems like it would be a good time frame for the Mac Mini updates. If prototyping started in March, they should have a working model now, with production starting in the near future. This would give them the September ship date option. What would a new Mac Mini look like and why has it taken so long?
To answer those two questions, lets take a quick look at the last three NEW products released from Apple recently, the Apple TV, iPhone/iPod Touch and the MacBook
Air. It is easy to think that some of the resources for Mac Mini
development has been pushed to other departments (MacBook Air). But
now that those products are off the ground, that technology and
resources will be available for the desktop side. So if you are
wondering what a new Mac Mini will look like i think you should be
looking at a hybrid between the MacBook Air and the Apple TV. Expect
to see a Mini without an optical drive (like the MacBook Air) and in a
small form factor (Apple TV).
Will that new design work? I think so. It will be an annoyance and
cause multiple outrages at first with people who want to have the Mini
be a HTMC, but then it will start to catch on that the DVD on the computer isn't as needed as it used to be. Apple already has the mold
made up for the Apple TV form so it would keep cost down in production
if they stayed with that form factor.
While I know this article started out about the Mac Mini, there is
always one more option to consider. A new consumer level desktop and
the transition of the MacMini and AppleTV into one product. If the
AppleTV and MacMini were to combine into one product you would get the
best of both worlds. A low profile form factor with a computer you
could actually use as your HTMC and an introductory Mac. Hopefully this would open the doors for a new Mac desktop. One that isn't as expensive as the Mac Pro, but is more expandable than the iMac. Something the Macintosh community has been calling for since, well, as long as I can remember.
I guess we'll know more when
September comes around.
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