Mac Mini to be replaced by Mac Nano?

We approach all Apple-related rumors with skepticism, but sometimes we get a certain feeling about them, and today's from Mac OS Rumors gives us that tingle of plausibility. Word from one of that site's "oldest and most reliable sources in Cupertino" is that the Mac Mini is going to be replaced before the end of the year by what they refer to as the "Mac Nano."

"Overall volume will be shrunk almost 25 percent, weight by about 20 percent, and an all-new enclosure will be strikingly different from the design that has been the Mini's defining feature since its introduction," according to the report.

Overdue for an update

(Credit: CNET Networks)

We buy this rumor because it's been two years since the Mac Mini's debut, and since then, it's received no significant revisions (which lends credence to this other Mac Mini rumor). Apple quietly updated it with new CPUs in August, alongside the more prominent new iMacs. But in order to truly keep its budget Mac alive, Apple has to do more than just throw a new chip inside, especially with growing competition from HP's and Dell's smaller PCs. Besides the fact that it's due, both the iPod and the iMac received significant makeovers this year, so it seems reasonable to us that Apple might extend that reinvigoration across more of its brands.

[kartikh]

Mac OS Rumors has a horrible track record

I like the idea of a Mac Nano, too, but Mac OS Rumors has a horrible track
record when it comes to accurately predicting anything Apple-related. The site
frequently makes vague suggestions, and promises details in a future post,
which never appear. Updates are constantly promised, but then don't come for
days, weeks or months. I think the site mostly exists to generate advertising
revenue by making intriguing sounding claims that have no basis in reality, and
by dangling a carrot of future information that doesn't exist.

[techhawkfez]

It's Logical

Well, let's see
Ipod=x
Mini=y
Mac=z
Nano=a
xy -> xa
=>zy -> za