Comments on: Apple polishes its desktop line

As expected, there are new versions of Mac Minis, iMacs, and higher-end Mac Pros. Apple's emphasis: energy efficiency.

[ManjyomeThunder]

This is sorta disappointing, the updates could have been more dramatic, and as usual everything is still severely overpriced. I love how the Mac Mini, made entirely from NOTEBOOK components, is the most energy efficient DESKTOP though. Really, it hardly counts.

[douggdangger]

with macs
you pay for the name - ***you have NO CHOICE
you pay for OSX which is far worth it-***that's if you only want 5% of software that's out there
you pay for quality-***misconception, Macs now use PC cpus and are made in the same companies that produce PC hardware in China.


If you are not happy with the product and service of a PC manufacturer, you can always go to another one. It's called having a choice.

If you are unhappy with an apple product and service... you are f^*ked.

[seven7dust]

ignoring the beginning cause it makes little sense

the last part was so retarded that I had to reply
how is being unhappy with a Apple product n e different than a PC ?
and why do you get fked ???
everyone has a choice , when they r buying a computer
and Macs r one of those choices !

[douggdangger]

Green computers... LOL!!!

I love my energy guzzling quad core, sli gtx295, 3 hard drives, bluray drive, 37in lcd, z5500 speakers spinning my electricity meter like an airplane propeller.

[martinsax]

what happened to the apple logo that was on the old mac mini?

[husky33]

For general use (web surfing, video, use with TV tuner, no gaming), what is the bare minimum video card to ensure solid performance?

[pithenumber]

Radeon HD 3200 (AMD only)

[towncar_Al]

Mac has always been inspiring and a beautiful computer for the web or Home Office. I have a better understanding of GPU's these days and if they can enable a Mac to playback a DVD I guess that is enough. Many external parts needed. Go figure!

[tipoo_]

A good example of their misinformation is their benchmarks for the new Mac Pro...they tested the old graphics cards on the old system, and the new graphics cards on the new system. one on the Penryn based processors, one on the Nehalem based. ANY professional reviewer out there will ALWAYS test 2 different graphics cards on THE SAME SYSTEM, so it just goes to show you.

[mgheff]

I agree that the Mac Mini should have more RAM and hard drive standard, but then again, the Mac Mini isn't aimed towards power users. Mac OS X runs much better on 1GB of RAM than Vista does, so it is harder to compare specs. Also, for the average person, 120 GB is adequate, though more hard drive would of course be welcome. The only thing that bothers me about the Mini is the removal of the DVI/VGA port. Now you have to go buy an adapter which is a little bit of a hassle, but overall the Mac mini is great for switchers especially. The iMac is also good because it comes with more RAM, and hard drive, but also new Nvidia graphics. 24 inch models are also more reasonable. The Mac Pro also has welcome updates, but I wouldn't worry too much about its price. I hate to generalize, but if you are seriously considering a Mac Pro, then I'm guessing money isn't your biggest concern.

[G0reTan]

mac is the most overpriced piece of **** ever, on top with Sony and dell. i bought a desktop with phenom x3 triple core processor 2.1ghz with 3gb ram, 600gb hard-drive, ati 258mb dedicated graphics running windows vista home premium for $350 at aldi. brand is from Germany, I'll admit its not a popular brand but it comes with a full 2 year warranty so it good quality. best deal ever you will never found a deal that good for the price unless u want one of those underpowered netbooks rofl

[douggdangger]

"how is being unhappy with a Apple product n e different than a PC ?"

Apple is THE ONLY MANUFACTURER for Macs. If HP screws me over, I can go to Dell, Gateway, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Acer... or even build my own.

If Apple screws you over... what other manufacturer can you buy a Mac from?


"everyone has a choice"

Mac users HAVE NO CHOICE but to BUY FROM APPLE if they want a computer running a Mac OS.

[klh2000]

So what is your point....?

[seven7dust]

exactly wats yr point ?
if I'm unhappy with a Mac then I'll buy a Pc
if yr unhappy with a PC you can buy other Pcs or even a Mac too
it's all about choice,
the way I see it I seem to have more choice
cause unlike you I can choose to run either
Leopard or windows depending on my needs

[Clifhanger26]

I need some help, I was about to buy a dual 2.8 processor mac pro last yesterday for 2,700, but now these new ones came out. And i dunno 3,200 bucks for 2.26 ghz sounds like a downgrade, but im not a computer professional just a college student who needs to learn final cut studio in order to get a job. So my question is should i get this new mac pro or try to get the 2008 one from amazon? Thank You

[douggdangger]

"The only thing that bothers me about the Mini is the removal of the DVI/VGA port. Now you have to go buy an adapter which is a little bit of a hassle, "

That's how Apple makes money. They screw you with overpriced hardware and accessories.

iphone users can't even use the same USB cables from ipods. sure it comes with a cable but what if you're in the office? so you're going to walk around with the cable in your pocket?

unlike blackberries, any usb cable can be used for data and power connection.


How much will it cost you to jump on the Mac bandwagon?

Mac Mini $600
24" Apple monitor $900
Apple wireless keyboard $80
Apple wireless mouse $70
----------------------------
$1,750


I only put Apple branded hardware since Mac fanboys feel that they're the best.


For $1,750 I can put together a PC that will urinate all over that Mac mini from a great height.

[seven7dust]

it's 600$ and it's perfect for switchers and it's affordable !
stop comparing the hardware cause it's a Apples to Oranges comparison
how about using a Mac before bashing it, who knows it might change yr perception
wat people fail to understand is that computers aren't about faster hardware

[Datcyde]

There is no option for a bigger hard drive in the mac mini. Apple is stupid!!!! I have to stay at 320GB (To keep my warranty) And I was going to buy one. I'll have to think about it some more.

[gas667]

You guys in the States should stop complaining. In Australia the prices rose 25%. We were paying $1600 for the base imac now Apple want $2000. The other models have all had similar increases.

Same with the notebooks. The previous Macbook Pro was $2750 the latest one - $3200.

I only bought my 1st Apple computer 12 months ago but when it is time to replace it I can't see me being able to replace it with another mac, This one was too expensive as it was but $3200 buys 2 dell notebooks with better specs. As much as I love my mac I don't love it that much.

Come on Apple give us Aussies a better go. I know the exchange rate and sale volume is part of it but when the exchange rate was nearly 1:1 last year we were still paying $2750 for the notebook and Apple was getting about $2600 US per notebook from Australia and about $2000 from the USA.

[never_going_back]

I grew up with Apples in my house (one of dad's loves). From the II to the IIe then IIc and to the first gen McIntosh he used at work. When I entered the work force I was immediately thrust upon by my new employers to DEAL with the 4!!! WIn 95 machines recently purchased and currently not operating properly in their first 30 days of operations. After much ado about nothing and many hours of reinstalling, we were bug free so we thought!! I ordered Dell's also back in 1996 because they were "better", but they too had hard drive crashes along the way in those early years ( Thank GOD we didn't migrate to 98 at the company!!) I was amazed at MSFT's success in the market (stock price) and realized they were doing a bad job at ripping off everybody else and folding it all in machines that never could properly power the windows code nightmare. I vowed that my computing experience MUST get better!! Win 2000 came along and seemed like a great solution at the office. Once we put our NIghtmarish "conversion" behind us from Win 95 on desktops and NT 4.0 on the sever end. This was also when we had to buy ALL NEW desktops and servers, replacing 18-32 month old Pentium computers in the process. Win 2000 was okay at best but became slower over time and experienced real issues as far as "month to month" maintenance issues went. I found myself working on some Saturdays fighting the first gen trojan horses that unsuspecting secretaries opened in Exchange Server on good friday. Again at home or at work, I never liked Windows at all. I did fall in line with the ground swell known as Office however. Finally after working with XP for quite a few years on laptops and desktops I was glad MSFT had sped the system (code) up some while creating a more stable Win environment. XP was the best MSFT effort overall and that shows today! It was terribly boring though, and still bugs/viruses ruled my monthly maintenance plans. Remember how it crept in through the Windows messenger?? What was MSFT thinking?My best computer was a nifty HP Centrino chipped laptop 500 GHZ model that still runs fine today, after reinstalling Win XP for the fourth time in four years!!!!!! Lots of Anti Spy ware etc....... to be haggling with constantly! Three years ago I saw a new Mac Book Pro with Intel chips inside. When I took one look at OSX I knew it was time to go back to my roots!!

I will never use a MSFT product again unless by force!!!! OSX is like a carbon fiber racing chassis, lighter/simpler and easier to power than god awful VISTA. When you get the same horsepower it SMOKES any window machine I have been on. Vista is a nightmare and I almost laugh at MSFT's dispairs and hope they can recover with Win 7. My imac while slow by today's latest "deep discount" DELL or HP pricing for their hardware will run circles around almost any new WIn Machine I have seen. No bugs/virus, no need for maintenance. Apple with the i phone/macs have totally changed my technology experience. Instead of feeling like another poor running Win operating system is running my life and time expenditures, I feel like my tech at home at least is saving me time/energy.
OSK is built on Unix you Windows nuts!!!!! It will always be much faster and stable than the bloated tangle known as Windows. I agree whole heartedly and am strongly for Apple raising the bar with SOFTWARE and hardware updates that compliment that. Sure there are things I miss about Win compared to OSX but its not much! I love coming home and powering up my imac it takes fractions of the time to boot up and and is so much more robust and stable than any WIn world!!! 1 crash in 2 years???? and I didn't have to reboot. You crazied Win warriers can get your kicks making fun of overpriced Apple hardware, yet its hard for many OSX lovers to even go back (dinosaurs???) and god help the Vista users and pray that Win 7 beta is what you all get once the OS is changed over next year?? Remember how great and fast Vista beta was too???

OSX is the crown jewel for Apple and its so far ahead of MSFT its sad right now!!!

[Harleyv05]

While I admit I didn't read every comment, the general haters compare hardware spec's and the fanboys state design, OSX stability and the Apple brand name.

Both sides have a point, but both fail to get the big picture. Apple sells "overpriced' computers because they have great marketing. The general public (average user) doesn't know a duo core from a quad core and that market is what is driving Apple product sales, not the few hundred.. or even thousand people arguing on various forums.

People switch to Apple/OSX because they are tired of their windows machine slowing down to a non usable computer full of spyware, maleware, adware infested machines. I have made more money on the weekends "cleaning" up people Windows based machines then any part time job I've ever had. They have no idea how to wipe/reinstall, they never do the things needed to keep the machine running worth a damn. OSX solves this huge issues and they are usually so frustrated after paying several hundread dollars in software and reapair time they see the value of an Apple machine.

Sure you can build your quad core machine with 8 gigs of ram and 2,3,4+ TB of HDD space but your not who Apple is trying to convert. They don't put commercials on TV about hardware being blazing fast, they put ads on TV about "less hassle" (I'm a PC, I'm a Mac) and how "green" and friendly their manufacturing process is. This is why Apple has 25+ Billion in cash reserves, not because they didn't make some kid the ultimate World of Warcraft gaming machine. Welcome to reality.

[seven7dust]

well said !
but world of warcraft can be played on most Macs, it's not very demanding

[CyStarkman]

In regards to the upgrades. Perhaps in the USA there is a minor price drop in models, or so I seem to read, but in Australia everything just got more expensive.

I was waiting for the new mini for a client, but I have to recommend the old one. Buying a mini for 5x graphics performance is bizarre.

As for all the usual useless who's got the biggest giga spec and scammed $10 off so they are better than everyone else crap ass comment stream, with never ending demonstration of being clueless. As always, its crap ass. Every year there is another bunch of nOObs and another bunch of 'i'm like so uber tech, cause i got a job pressing a button' who emerge out of tech's various stages of womb to spit out decades old worthlessness.

I promote, use, sell, support and integrate Apple products (while also using HP and Dell gear and MS). This mob of revisions is hardly new or worth pawing over. It's more like Apple is trying to get all their products on some internal notion of the same page. They didn't even bother with a presentation, that tells you what Apple thinks of this revision, nothing.

[jmfie]

And yet still no keyoard/mouse to match the iMac. I love my aluminum iMac but with two kids using it the white keyboard and mouse are truly nasty. My world for black keys (like the laptops) and an aluminum or black mighty mouse!

[kinncreek]

I basically just like my computer to work. Have had 3 IMacs in 16 years and had to replace 1 hard drive & 2 modems. No other problems. Know several people with Windows systems, have all been in the shop at least once, and constantly crash! (cheaper? better?) Just my experience-sorry

[douggdangger]

"People switch to Apple/OSX because they are tired of their windows machine slowing down"

Macs also slow down. I've seen countless brand new Macs with the pinwheel spinning for 15 minutes before it lets you do anything.


"to a non usable computer full of spyware, maleware, adware infested machines."

With XP and Vista, as long as you are up to date with updates, a/v and watch your web behavior... you'll be fine and won't get an infested machine.

I have an old laptop with a 5 year old installation of XP and still as fast as the day I bought it.



You're right tho, Apple attracts stupid people. People who get blinded by the cute feminine looking machines not knowing they're paying up to double for the same hardware a PC owner has.

Nobody really cares about Apple's new "green" propaganda. Every PC sold today have their own power saving features. CPUs clock down, screens dim or shutdown, systems go on stand by...

...it's not an Apple breakthru.


Unfortunately the Apple lemmings think that everything that Jobs release is alien technology.

When Apple finally broke down and made a mouse with 2 buttons, DECADES AFTER the PC, I wouldn't be surprised if they called it some sort of advanced technology they developed, charged double for it and the kool aid drinkers guzzled it down.

[Harleyv05]

"With XP and Vista, as long as you are up to date with updates, a/v and watch your web behavior... you'll be fine and won't get an infested machine."

I hear ya, but the average user doesn't, that's why it's so easy for Apple to pick off Windows users. I run both XP and a OSX machine. I have used MS based PC's as long as it's been around, and back when the Apple II's were in my high school I programed my first game on them. I don't blindly buy into MS or Apple's claims but I do feel Apple has a much better image then MS does currently, which again attract/converts users.

To your point about your XP machine running 5 years later, I am in the same boat, I have a XP desktop running fine, but that's because I know how to maintain it. My point was more to the "average" convert, they have no idea, hell even my brother never took my advice to do the proper maintenance on his Dell and after about a year or so complains all the time how slow and unusable it is. Not a convert to Apple but he is looking at an iMac because of all the advertising he's seen. (ease of use etc..)

I compare Apple's marketing to that of Debeers diamonds. Its been noted to be the worlds best advertising campaign ever done. People pay thousands of dollars for these little rocks because they have been told they are "scarce/rare", meanwhile Debeers have tons and tons of these rocks stacked up to control the market and inflate the cost. They appeal to the emotions of the consumer, they sell by peer pressure, making the "male" in any relationship feel as though they have to buy their girlfriend/wife etc... a diamond if they really love them.

Social behavior based on a suggestion, Apple has done a very good job of this as well. The "cool" factor alone has sold millions of iPhones (guilty as charged here :P) while also putting that cool factor in your hometown with the Apple stores. If it wasn't effective I doubt Microsoft would be entering the "store" game. Call it copying or whatever MS is not stupid enough to see the huge influx of new Apple consumers and the kind of traffic each Apple store is getting. I think i read somewhere, 7 million visitors per month/per store? I think that is the correct number, anyhow...

To your last point about the "Apple lemmings" yes I agree there are some crazy people that will do what ever S. Jobs says, but then again I any good branded item (Coke, McDonalds, BMW, Chevy, Sony etc..) all have a following, Apple just happens to be the ONLY viable alternative to the Windows OS. It threatens people to think there is another way of doing things.

I keep an open mind to anything new, and I do enjoy my OSX machine for daily use, but look forward to seeing what Windows 7 holds for the next MS OS.

[Staszek]

First there are plenty of stupid people who buy PC's do we really need to resort to name calling of people who pick a particular computer or operating system stupid? Thats like saying all the people who buy pc's and cant build them themselves live in their basement with their mom and have never been .... well you get the point. Leave the name calling out of it.

I have been running both Mac and PC for a few years (PC for many years). They are actually sitting right next to each other on my desk right now.

I used to be upset about the "specs" of Apple hardware as well. But if you are Mac user for a while the specs seem to matter less then the package.

I will say I am constantly tinkering with Xp and Vista (hopefully 7 will be better) to keep it running at optimal speeds.

My mac just sits there and runs. Sure its not as fun because I cant do things to fix it, but when I click on an app, it opens and it opens fast. It also opens much faster then my PC with higher specs.

PC's have a great place in the enterprise market, if it wasn't for that I think I would have released myself from windows entirely. (As I am typing this my PC laptop is on its third Reimage due to issues.)

I have been using PC's since Dos, making triple boots on NT, building a PC with 16meg (yes I said meg lol) of ram. It was all fun, but these days its nice to just use a computer that is always running and always fast.