Apple Updates Mac mini

Previous to this announcement today there was a lot of speculation around the death of the Mac mini. Many though Apple was going to phase it out of their product line but today instead of doing that Apple refreshed it.

The new Mac minis include Core 2 Duo chips which are up to 33% faster then previous chips, allows 2GBs of RAM, has 4 USB ports, has digital in/out audio and has a Gigabit ethernet port. The new minis also come with iLife ‘08.

According to the Apple tech specs page on the Mac mini it does not come with 802.11n wireless networking but uses the older 802.11g which seems a bit odd to me. Overall it’s a nice upgrade and I would love to replace my Xserve with one of these.

Similar Posts

  • Back to School with Apple!

    We’re barely past the fourth of July, and parents, teachers, and students are already planning their back-to-school tech purchases. I was glad to…

  • Apple Announces Final Cut Pro X

    Last evening, Apple announced the next version of its professional video editing software—Final Cut Pro X. The application, which was presented at this…

  • New Apple Display with Thunderbolt

    Apple’s Display offering got a little sweeter today as well.

    As a replacement for the former Apple LED Display, the new 27-inch Apple Display includes Thunderbolt technology, which is quickly becoming an industry-leading connection standard. The Display still boasts the same 16:9 aspect ratio, glossy screen and 2560 x 1440 resolution.

    Thunderbolt technology lets you move data between your devices and your computer at roughly 10-Gbps throughput (both ways). As a data transfer connection, it is “up to 20 times faster than USB 2.0 and up to 12 times faster than FireWire 800.” A user can now run two displays off of a single Thunderbolt port.

    Touted as “The ultimate docking station,” the Thunderbolt Display also includes high-quality audio, a FaceTime HD camera, three powered USB ports, FireWire 800 and Gigabit Ethernet ports in addition to the Thunderbolt port that allows for daisy-chaining peripherals (such as hard drives and video capture devices).

    Bonus: the Thunderbolt Display uses a MagSafe connector that will power and charge your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, so there’s no need to use their power cords.

    The Thunderbolt Display perfectly complements the new Mac mini and MacBook Air models as well as the current line of iMacs and MacBook Pros.

    * Apple Thunderbolt Display $999.99*

    (By the way, anybody counting how many times “Thunderbolt” appears in this article? Good.)

  • Apple Releases MacBook Air

    Alongside the release of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, Apple has debuted the next generation of MacBook Air, bringing an array of state-of-the-art…

  • iPhone SDK in February 2008

    Today Steve Jobs announced that there will be an SDK (software developer kit) available for the iPhone and iPod touch sometime in February…

  • New Mac mini: Operation "Sandy Bridge"

    Apple announced brand new Mac minis today, with notable changes.

    Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors have been added to Apple’s new line of Mac minis in the form of Intel Core i5s. Now, what is “Sandy Bridge,” you ask? Specifically, that’s the name of the processor that is the successor to the Nehalem processor. Sandy Bridge processors are touted to be “up to 2x faster” per Apple’s claims.

    The new Mac minis sport faster graphics (with a discrete AMD Radeon HD graphics processor) and also include support for Thunderbolt connectivity. The Thunderbolt port gives access for the new Apple Thunderbolt Display and also supports Mini DisplayPort peripherals. Mac mini features an HDMI and built-in SDXC card slot.

    What’s more (or should I say “what’s less) is that these new models have eliminated optical drives, taking a cue from the MacBook Air line. A separate SuperDrive is available for purchase.

    My favorite part so far? NO MORE POWER BRICK. Mac mini now has a built-in power brick, so all you see is a single cord.

    Standard configurations:

    * 2.3GHz Intel Core i5, 500 GB hard drive, 2GB RAM: *$599.99*
    * 2.5GHz Intel Core i5, 500 GB hard drive, 4GB RAM: *$799.99*

    Server configuration:

    * 2.0GHz, dual 500GB hard drives, 4GB RAM: *$999.99*

    All models come with Lion (OS 10.7) pre-installed.

    We will be listing these and CTO options shortly. More updates as we get them!