Apple Unveils Newer, Faster, Still Little Mac Mini

News
By Marcus Yam
published

Faster. Greener. Still mini.

That’s what the tagline reads in Apple’s newly launched Mac mini webpage. Having been on hiatus, the new Mac mini has been a long time coming.

At an entry price of $599, the Mac mini represents the cheapest way to buy into Apple culture, and now it’s also the most energy efficient method as well. Apple claims that the new Mac mini is “the world’s most energy efficient desktop,” drawing less than 13 watts of power when idle. It should be good on cramped desks as well, measuring 6.5 by 6.5 by 2-inches.

Just like the aluminum unibody MacBooks that were unveiled in October 2008, the new Mac mini utilizes an Intel CPU paired with an Nvidia chipset. Both variants of the new Mac mini will come with a 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo with 3 MB shared L2 cache, which sits on an Nvidia GeForce 9400M. Also sharing with the MacBooks is a slot-load 8x SuperDrive dual-layer burner, Mini DisplayPort and mini-DVI for video output (adapters sold separately, obviously), built-in AirPort Extreme wireless N, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, gigabit Ethernet. Like in the early leaked images, the Mac mini features a whooping five USB ports – besting the iMac and matching the Mac Pro.

The $599 Mac mini will buy you all of the above with 1 GB DD3, 120 GB 5400 RPM hard drive. Moving to a $799 Mac mini will bump the RAM to 2 GB DDR and a 320 GB 5400 RPM hard drive.

Additional build-to-order options and accessories for the Mac mini include: a 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4 GB DDR3 RAM, and 80 GB, 250 GB or 320 GB 5400 hard drives.

The new Mac mini are now shipping and available through the Apple Store and Apple Authorized Resellers.

Apple today also announced updates to its iMac and Mac Pro.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
36 Comments Comment from the forums
  • StupidRabbit
    The $599 Mac mini will buy you all of the above with 1 GB DD3, 120 GB 5400 RPM hard drive. Moving to a $799 Mac mini will bump the RAM to 2 GB DDR and a 320 GB 5400 RPM hard drive.
    im guessing 1GB DDR3 and 2GB DDR3, unless apple is sticking ddr1 memory into their machines.
    Reply
  • KyleSTL
    So Apple is using expensive laptop CPUs (P7350, P8400) and expensive DDR3 in their entry-level machine and matching it with a 5400RPM laptop hard drive all for the sake of 'efficiency'. Cmon. I'm all about using as much electricity as you need and not more, but they're jacking up the price of this thing out of the range of what consumers feel is entry-level. A MiniITX board with a 2GB stick of DDR2 and an E5200 processor would have been plenty efficient for this use.

    I guess another instance of Mac being Mac for the perception of 'superiority'.
    Reply
  • magicandy
    KyleSTLSo Apple is using expensive laptop CPUs (P7350, P8400) and expensive DDR3 in their entry-level machine and matching it with a 5400RPM laptop hard drive all for the sake of 'efficiency'. Cmon. I'm all about using as much electricity as you need and not more, but they're jacking up the price of this thing out of the range of what consumers feel is entry-level. A MiniITX board with a 2GB stick of DDR2 and an E5200 processor would have been plenty efficient for this use.I guess another instance of Mac being Mac for the perception of 'superiority'.
    Standard Apple price jacking, nothing new there.
    Reply
  • jerreece
    the Mac mini features a whooping five USB ports

    LOL Do they yell "Yippy Kiyay!" too? Sorry was the first thing I thought of when I read the typo. ;)

    magicandyStandard Apple price jacking, nothing new there.
    I kind of agree. Apple charges to much for most of their products. $600 is hardly entry level for a desktop PC. Although, as with most stuff, you're paying for convenience. This Mini is pretty darn small, so you're paying more for that too. Plus the cool "Apple" emblem they affixed to it.

    Just be glad they are still using the Core 2 Duo and have not switched to something else.
    Reply
  • Nik_I
    honestly for that price, who would buy one besides an apple fanboi? if you're looking for a mini desktop, dell's studio hybrid costs the same as the more expensive mac mini, with a few extras, like a 22" monitor, mouse, keyboard, twice the ram, faster cpu... need i go on?
    Reply
  • jsloan
    a bit disappointed, little change.

    makes it a little less expensive to buy an apple. basically they lowered the 799 to 599

    small cpu speed increase max cpu from 2.0 to 2.25 ghz, why not 2.4 ghz cpu or higher, why is 2 gb memory not standard on entry mini, is 1 gb really useful on 64 bit os, i bet you need 2-4 gb to use the box,
    why is largest drive on $799 only 320 gb, and why is the keyboard soo expensive $99. i'm not a mac owner, i would like to get one, but the price is still to high to get just to play with. even on ebay the used ones with older specs basically sell for list price or near list so its not a deal because for a little more you can a new one with better specs.

    makes it a better deal because its basically giving me what i had to pay more for less. 2.0 ghz, 1gb, ect used to be part of $799 package and now its part of $599 package, but when i put 2 gb of memory $50 and iworks $50 and keyboard $100 which one needs i was up to $800 on a mac mini which is still too expensive for me. for that amount of money i could build a very high in hackintash or a nice pc. think of what i could buy at dell for $800

    are there mac mini owners out there are $599 specs good, or 2gb or even 4gb needed
    Reply
  • Nik_I
    if apple wants to discourage people from illegally running their operating system on hackintoshes, this is not going to help...
    Reply
  • pharge
    hmm... spec of the new Mac mini ($799.99) sounds like a HP HDX16t Premium Series I just checked (1249.99 - 400 (instant rebate))... same CPU speed, memory, HD, Wifi, and similar multi-drive.. but without a 16" LCD monitor and a webcam, a keyboard/track pad, a battery, a 9600M GT (9400M instead), and of course a Windows VISTA home prem. For a computer from Apple.... it is not too bad I guess. At least I have no way to put all these stuffs in a 6.5" x 6.5" x 2" box without over heating everything.
    Reply
  • pharge
    hmm... spec of the new Mac mini ($799.99) sounds like a HP HDX16t Premium Series I just checked (1249.99 - 400 (instant rebate))... same CPU speed, memory, HD, Wifi, and similar multi-drive.. but without a 16" LCD monitor and a webcam, a keyboard/track pad, a battery, a 9600M GT (9400M instead), and of course a Windows VISTA home prem. For a computer from Apple.... it is not too bad I guess. At least I have no way to put all these stuffs in a 6.5" x 6.5" x 2" box without over heating everything. (Ps: I am sorry if I double posted this one.. I can not find it after I submitted it)
    Reply
  • LuxZg
    I'll be honest, and state right away I've never been a fan of Apple. In fact it's not Apple, just their pricing. I mean ok, small format has it's price, just as lower power consumption. But 800$?! And let me tell you, since US$ is 5,84kn (local $$$) which in Apple store suddenly translates to 1$:8,12kn, that's gonna be 1115$ in Croatia!!!
    Scr** the small form factor, I can buy a desktop computer with E8200, P45 board, HD4870 card, 4GB RAM, 640GB HDD, Vista Home Premium 64bit, 22" LCD display, and kbd/mouse - all for the same "799$ Mini-Mac"!

    I'll never understand Apple zealots, even though my best friend (and a best-man) is one of "those" :D :P I sure have large enough working desk that I don't mind extra space taken by a midi tower, or the extra $ that I pay for electricity - if I get a huge performance for that.
    Reply