
Apple revamps the iMac, Mac mini and Mac Pro with no fanfare - peter123
http://venturebeat.com/2009/03/03/apple-revamps-the-imac-mac-mini-mac-pro-with-no-fanfare/
======
CalmQuiet
For HN visitors, I think one of the most interesting questions is what this
says about Apple's business/marketing model:

?Does the lack of fanfare for these releases mean that something _more worthy_
of fanfare is planned relatively soon? In recent months iMacs have been in top
3 sales positions on Apple's home page. And for me, the $1500 price on a 24"
iMac is a great break on something I need for a instructional machine.

Could they really just be saving a few bucks and some labor by omitting
fanfare? ...or are they focusing on some MacAir / netbook / iPhone
extravaganza in next few months?

~~~
gabrielroth
If they held a big event to introduce these new models -- or just about any
other product -- the headline would be the absence of Steve Jobs, which is
probably not what Apple's PR department is hoping for right now. If they bring
out a tablet PC or something equally dramatic, they might want to risk that,
with the spin 'Even without Jobs we can still generate excitement.' But for
ordinary improvements to the existing hardware line, a big Jobsless
presentation would be a negative, on balance.

~~~
eddycole
My feeling is that when Jobs comes back he is going to 'bring something
dramatic with him.' The fanfare surrounding his return would be the perfect
opportunity for Apple to release something significant that would ride the
publicity wave.

~~~
mark_h
I wouldn't be surprised if you're right, but this may carry the risk that it
would reinforce the perception that Apple is all Steve Jobs and they can't
innovate without him.

------
nickb
To me, the big win is the new TimeCapsule:

    
    
      * MobileMe 'back to Mac' integration
      * 802.11n
      * guest Wi-Fi feature
      * dual-band Wi-Fi
      * 500GB TimeCapsule
      * Wi-Fi printer hub
      = $299
    

Sold.

~~~
CalmQuiet
Thank you for calling that to my intention. When I went to Apple Store the
default data showed - for the 1TB: $499.

For small home use the 500GB @ $299 - does sound great: way better bargain
than an Airport Extreme. Why _ever_ buy one of those now?

~~~
kylec
You can get an Airport Extreme for $179 and a 500GB USB external on Newegg for
$60, the combination of which would provide all the features of a Time Capsule
for $239. Granted you have to deal with two devices and a decreased throughput
to the disk, but for casual use it may be enough for some people.

(you can also get 1TB externals on Newegg starting at $95, for a total of
$274, a significantly lower price than the $499 1TB Time Capsule)

~~~
DenisM
Are you sure it will be compatible with time machine?

~~~
mikeyur
Yes, they are compatible. I have a 500GB drive hooked up to my AirPort extreme
right now and it's recognized to work with TimeMachine.

Unfortunately I need to run my network in mixed mode, 2.4ghz Wireless N so
transfers are much slower.

------
pmjordan
Once again the premium you pay for the better models is totally ridiculous. I
don't mind paying for quality, but I'm sorry, the difference between a 320GB
vs 120GB HDD and 2GB vs 1GB RAM is not worth €200! In fact, I can buy the
bigger HDD and RAM for about half that at retail, never mind the _difference_
between the larger and smaller configurations.

I've been playing with the idea of getting a Mac Mini to replace my current
media PC which can't handle HD video, but it looks like I'll still need to
open it up if I want a decent spec.

~~~
CalmQuiet
"Once again the premium you pay for the better models is totally ridiculous."

Yes, ridiculous for _you_ to pay the premium. But a great opportunity for you
if you need a top-tier Mac and know how to upgrade RAM & HD -- which is the
_only_ way I buy mine.

From the company's standpoint, it makes sense: lower entry-level price; higher
profit margin for items sold to those with more $ than tech-savvy. ::Keeps the
company profit margins high while giving the self-upgraders a nice break.

~~~
pmjordan
I don't mind too much when it's actually relatively easy to upgrade. (though
the attitude annoys me - what the hell am I supposed to recommend to my less
tech savvy friends & family?) My white MacBook is currently running a 500GB
HDD and 4GB RAM, all of which took me about 10 minutes to install.

With a Mac Mini, I'd need to get special tools (some kind of spatula I
believe?) to get the damn thing open, and run a serious risk of ruining my
warranty. Same thing for my girlfriend's iMac, at least for the HDD (you need
to remove the screen with glass handling equipment apparently) - the RAM is
easy at least, which was the main worry, there's always gigabit ethernet and
the file server for disk space.

~~~
rsayers
If its anything like the G4 and original Intel Minis (I own and have opened
both), 2 putty knives will open it right and leaves no marks.

From discussion I remember reading way back when the g4 mini was originally
launched, this will not void the warranty, but take that with a grain of salt.

------
henning
Well, now I feel like kind of a schmuck for buying one a couple weeks ago.

------
antidaily
So dual displays for the mini?

~~~
henning
I still only see one DVI slot, so I don't think so. I could be wrong.

Edit: sure enough I am wrong, see reply.

~~~
pmjordan
There's a Mini DisplayPort as well. It's the smaller port to the right of the
Mini DVI port. Adapters are available at the usual overinflated prices... I
hope there will be more of a 3rd party aftermarket for these than for the
Mini-DVI adapters.

~~~
alabut
So wait, the mini can do a dual display setup or does it just have two display
_ports_?

~~~
fefzero
It can do a dual display setup. Click on "compare" then on "complete specs"
(2/3 of the way down) on the page for the Mac Mini here:

[http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/mac_mi...](http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/mac_mini?mco=MTE3MDI)

"Connects to up to two external displays with digital resolution up to 2560 by
1600 via Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter or 1920x1200 via Mini
DisplayPort, Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter, or Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter.
Analog resolution (VGA) up to 2048 by 1536 using Mini DisplayPort to VGA
Adapter or Mini-DVI to VGA Adapter."

~~~
alabut
Sweet! I got a mini back in Nov when I went freelance and I've been thinking
of getting another, because they're so cheap that you can have a second just
as a backup. This pushes me over the fence into actually getting one, can't
wait.

------
ojbyrne
Love minis. I've had a g4 (gave it away), an intel, about to order another.

------
CalmQuiet
FWIW, Fortune's take on the marketing decision is "clever thriftiness":

"Here’s a thrifty marketing strategy tailor-made for these troubled times.

"Rather than pay for all the accoutrements of a high-profile product roll-out
— promotional media, special events, keynote speeches, etc. — just leak a few
spy shots to obscure bloggers and let the Internet rumor mill do the heavy
lifting."

[http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/03/03/apples-
new-m...](http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/03/03/apples-new-macs-
marketing-by-spy-shot/)

------
mshafrir
The laptop (MB, MBP) market is where it's at for Apple.

------
ComputerGuru
Something with even less fanfare: Apple actually bumped the specs on the
MacBook Pro, too.

[http://www.macrumors.com/2009/03/03/apple-quietly-
bumps-15-m...](http://www.macrumors.com/2009/03/03/apple-quietly-
bumps-15-macbook-pro-speed-256gb-ssd-option-and-new-keyboard/)

256GB SSD options for all MacBooks, and a CPU bump to both the higher-end
MacBook Pro configurations for the same price as before.

------
jaymstr
I love my Macs, but man, I wish they would update on a more continuous basis.
I have a 3 month old Mac Mini, and this is pretty frustrating.

~~~
harpastum
I'm sure that's very frustrating, but I feel the lack of a pre-defined roadmap
is actually one of Apple's _strong_ points. I've seen more than my fair share
of weak/broken releases from companies trying to keep a schedule.

------
MikeCapone
Another new (I think) thing is the Radeon 4870 GPU for the Mac Pro, now sold
in the Apple store. Finally an upgrade path.

------
cadalac
Funny that the Mac mini has FireWire, but the base MacBooks don't. Sigh...

------
donw
Finally a Mini with 4G of RAM! I'll hold off until Snow Leopard, though.

------
wesley
Raising the prices and offering little new. Thanks Apple!

~~~
redrobot5050
My thoughts exactly. And I've been a mac user for 22 years (since I was six).

I was hoping to see something new from the iMac line. Anything. A second
display. Upgradeable hard drive. Consumer grade Raid 1 (y'know, like you'd see
on a $1500 DELL tower.)

Very little to see here. And a high end iMac makes no sense. At that rate,
you're almost buying their quad-core tower.

(But I suppose at the very high end, people don't buy Mac Pros as often as
they do Mac Books, because they're usable for very long periods of time.)

~~~
rbanffy
Don't all iMacs support a second display?

Can't you daisy-chain two (or more) external drives in the FW800 port? I do
that with FW400 on a PPC iMac. Doesn't OSX support RAID? I am quite sure the
server version does.

And, you know, that Dell box will have Windows pre-installed. OSX is so much
nicer.

~~~
redrobot5050
Most iMacs support "Display Mirroring". Yup. Two monitors, in proximity
(basically next to each other) showing _the exact same thing_. Very useful.

(Note: Apple tends to change this every hardware revision. So basically --
every OTHER revision of the iMac supports dual displays.)

I hadn't considered software FW RAID. I don't know if it would be better/worse
than SATA RAID chipsets on modern PC motherboards these days. I have a feeling
(being software RAID) that it would be slower than hardware RAID 1. And still,
saying its capable to jury rig RAID (i mean, c'mon, for an additional fee, I
could just buy a FW RAID array and just attach that.) is different from saying
it supports it out of the box, like its price-competitive PC counterparts do.

Yes, OS X is nice. But the premiums on the hardware are looking a little dated
considering everyone is slashing margins during a recession. OTOH, my Mac Book
Pro is doing so well, I don't feel the need to upgrade, so I can afford to
wait and buy used.

~~~
kylec
AFAIK, the display mirroring limitation hasn't existed since the switch to
Intel. MacTracker indicates that every Intel iMac so far has supported
extending the display in addition to mirroring.

~~~
redrobot5050
That's good to know. Apple is always doing something stupid with one of its
product lines. Its current MacBooks dropped firewire. So, a university I know
(worked there) won't be ordering new MacBooks because they own so many
Firewire only camcorders, and they let the students check out a camcorder and
a macbook to make videos for class. Because people are complaining, it will
probably come back next incarnation.

And then, after that, it'll probably be taken out.

~~~
kylec
It's been known to happen. The 15" PowerBook G4 came with a FW800 port, but
was removed when the 15" MacBook Pro came out. Bowing to public pressure,
Apple restored the port to the 15" when they upgraded to Core 2 Duo.

------
weegee
with the economy in the state it's in today, I don't think many are
contemplating a new computer. I thought they would wait until the fall. I'm
not planning to upgrade until at least when 10.6 is released.

~~~
DLWormwood
I don't know... I've budgeting money for a new tower for over a year now,
waiting for Apple to finally refresh. I had to buy a used G5 on eBay as a stop
gap in the interrum... now I can finally buy the machine which will probably
be the last new Mac I'll ever own. (I think Moore's Law has finally run it
course for home PCs, and most of the current development work is Web based
anyways.)

