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Was the Mac mini Intended to Have an iPod dock?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the sure-why-not dept.

RMH101 writes "Was the Mac mini originally designed to have an integrated iPod dock? The Register has an article that appears to suggest it was. This opens up the option of homebrewing your own dock into a mini for yourself..."

6 of 404 comments (clear)

  1. Homebrew Cases by BlueThunderArmy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Given some of the homemade cases I've seen, I suspect tinkering with the Mac Mini to give it an iPod dock would make it a bit less "mini" and considerably less stylish.

  2. Not an iPod doc by Fished · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I don't think this was for an iPod dock. This guys is basing that conclusion on the fact that it's got firewire connectivity. But we should recally that Firewire was originally mostly used for video connectivity, not iPods, and Firewire is still more-or-less the standard for connecting video cameras and tuners digitally. The logical conclusion is that this bus is not here to support an iPod, but some sort of video hardware ... like, say an HDTV tuner card?

    This ties in nicely to the way that the mini seems tailor-made to be a media-center PC. If some sort of tuner card were plugged into this slot (say in a "Mac Mini Media-Center Edition" or something) you could plug a mini into your TV and be basically set with the ultimate convergence box.

    That's my opinion, anyway. Be looking for a Media Center version of the Mini soon.

    --
    "He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere. " -- John Calvin, commenting on Genesis 1
  3. iPod Docks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Don't the different iPod models have different docks? So you could have a one-size-fits-all dock, but when you put a mini in it, there would be a gap around the edges, and Apple just wouldn't let that happen.

  4. Sorry it was the price... by garcia · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Whether the Firewire feature was dropped from the first incarnation, or was put in place ready for the Mac's next revision isn't clear. However, early rumours surrounding the so-called "headless iMac" that was to become the Mac Mini, did indeed mention an integrated iPod Dock, fitted to help encourage Windows-using iPod owners to switch to the Mac platform...

    I'm sorry but what made ME (as a "PC" user) to switch to the Mac platform was the price. $499 for the base model is 100% perfect. I have said it here before (and I am saying it again)... Once Apple created a computer that was reasonably priced I would purchase one and I did.

    It's nice that it runs cool, near silent, and that it is snappy for what I use it for (with 512MB) but it's super nice that it was priced right.

    I don't own an iPod and I likely will never own an iPod so the iPod dock wouldn't make me switch. I highly doubt that PC users would switch just because of an iPod docking feature.

    YMMV.

  5. Re:Makes sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Of course, if Apple did it the other way, they still would have made a right decision.

  6. It's a Macintosh, not a throwaway Dell by ashpool7 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One of the things about buying a Mac is that you can still use it after 7 years. I've got a 400Mhz G4 that I've been using as my main macintosh until a year ago when I got a PowerBook. It runs the latest version of OS X and it usually benefits from the OS upgrades.

    I don't understand how whiners like you get modded up. Here we have the finest combination of a UNIX machine, a excellent UI, and decent market support, and you want it for the price of the crappiest computer you can whip up on Newegg?

    Please. Apple did a great job of trying to meet the demands of the cheapskates. One of my friends who bitched about the price forever finally admitted he had to have a Mini when they were announced.

    If you can't afford it, that's ok. However, nobody owes anything to you, the least of which, a cheaper Macintosh.