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Apple Upgrades Mac mini, Doesn't Tell Anybody
echomancer writes "Think Secret is reporting that Apple has released a slightly updated version of the Mac mini, but has failed to tell anyone. Some Mac minis may now include a 1.5GHz processor, 64MB of VRAM, and an updated 8x superdrive but these new machines are being shipped in boxes reflecting the original specs. 'The motivation behind this is to help clear current inventory without lowering prices. Essentially, customers are promised that the Mac mini they purchase will have specifications at least equal to the label, but that their system may exceed those.'"
Why stick with the 9200 video chip? That one part has kept me from buying from the day it was launched.
Finally Apple has learned from some of their shipping problems of the past. This is a good move on three levels. First, it's better to surprise a customer with something better than expected. Second, it's also a great way to avoid a sales slump when updated models get announced. Apple has always feared the Osbourne effect, but hasn't been able to stop the rumor mill from letting people know when to stop buying old machines and wait for new machines. Third, its a nice way to ramp to volume production without the pressure of backorders on a new model.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
Working for a telecom hardware company in the mid-90s, our team (burly xx and xy consultants all) came up with the strategy to enhance the software and packaging of their flagship product and *only* tell their trusted distribution channel.
God bless 'em, they took the advice.
Product launched. They ran out of manufacturing capacity in a couple of months; stuff flew off the shelves. Their competitors were in the "Michael Corleone without a gun in the restaurant" mindset for about 18 months.
Of course, they thought the world was circuit switched big dial tone and divided themselves pretty well by zero by 2000.
Verizon: Latin for "poor rural service".
is when will Apple 'officially' update the mini? I am ready to buy the top model, but when I heard this I thought "well, hell, I'm not going to order now and risk getting the lower spec'd model."
So, seeing as how this news has been around for about a week, I wonder if it's backfiring for Apple and no one is buying until they update 'officially'.
It's not that Apple is up-specing the Mini, which it needs, so much as they've run through their stock of low-end parts. It's also profoundly embarrassing to have the same 1.5 GHz processor in entry-level desktop as in your $2,500 Powerbook.
Expect a final PPC-based Powerbook revision almost immediately. THEN they'll own up to the Mini upgrade.
This is my post. There are many others like it. If you don't like what you read here, go try one of the others.
Yep - there's no secrets, it's all on display in the profiler :-) I knew about the possible upgrade before I bought it - saw it on MacSlash I think, so I went looking for it.
ATB,
Simon
Physicists get Hadrons!
I found Desktop Manager to be flaky and unpredictable. At least on Tiger. Applications would mysteriously close, windows would open up on the wrong desktop... and things like that. Overall, it doesn't really work quite like I am used to on Linux boxes. I wish it was better integrated.
;-)
I started using a Mac on a regular basis about 2 months ago, and I am still finding it awkward to manage windows compared to the various Linux desktops I've used for nearly a decade. Yeah, I've tried Expose` too. Doesn't quite do it for me. Oh well, at least I have TextMate. If only I could port it to Linux...
-matthew
"THERE IS NO JUSTICE, THERE IS ONLY ME." -Death
Well, yes and no. There is still the occasional "what's it doing ?" pause when you start up something new (eg: System Prefs component). Spotlight is only marginally faster (pure "feel" rating there), but there are things that are noticeable as above. It's not a new computer, it's just marginally better.
:-)
This still isn't a bad thing
Simon
Physicists get Hadrons!
The obvious counter game is: buy more than one, until you verify you have a hi-spec, then rebox the lo-spec mechines and resell them as "brand new unwanted" on ebay. You'll probably lose a small amount on the others, but it's offset against the cheap hi-spec machine, raising its effective cost only slightly.
10.3 is *much* more stable, and a fair bit faster on a Mini too.
OTOH I never got into the Mac either... I use mine as a compile box but couldn't use it as my main machine, since Finder has a habit of falling over if the wind changes (it doesn't like my firewire hard drive... after about 10 minutes non use the driver locks up... the same drive works fine on Linux and Windows so it's definately an OSX bug. I once plugged the drive via USB... OSX threw a complete wobbly and died.. I guess nobody uses USB on the Mac).
There are UI things I don't like - for example options missing from the context menu that are only on the main menu.. so you have to go hunting around for them instead of just getting on with what you want to do. Finder seems to have a problem shutting apps down too.. you can close them and they'll keep running. Not sure if that's a bug or if someone designed it that way (??).
"Worst. Analogy. Ever."
What makes it so bad? The fact that it's true but doesn't make you feel good?
The fact is, these items have been intentionally randomized by the manufacturer. No amount of research is going to help you score an upgraded model/better toy, no matter how much you think you deserve it for being such a smart shopper.
The analogy fits. Despite being a unfortunate circumstance for informed shoppers, it's perfectly applicable in this case. The only difference is that Cracker Jack toys will always be randomized, while multiple models of Mac Minis being sold under the same model number will only be temporary (that is, until the old models are completely sold through).
How about this then? You go to the bank and deposit your money. Some customers are getting extra money free from the bank, you don't. You both used the same service but others got better treatment.
Don't you see why people are annoyed that some are getting free upgrades and some aren't? If I got a "non-upgraded" version I'd sure be tempted to return it. Only a fool wouldn't look out for his/her own interest.
Apple certainly is within its rights to do this. In fact other companies have been doing this sort of things since before computer were even invented. So really this is a non-story and not a big deal. But you can't honestly be surprised at the reaction that some people are having.
If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
This is one of those stories that should never been reported at all.
1. Apple is one of the few companies who actually care about their customers (Probaly because of the low market share).
2. If I bought a new mini mac and got unexpected got upgraded model, I would be happy. Since this story is released, few will buy Mini Mac out of fear of getting older model.
News.com and Thinkgeek.com ruined the surprise.
\
I've reinstalled the OS half a dozen times (even tried 10.4 for a bit) and it does exactly the same thing... even the console won't close unless you force it to close by right clicking on the task bar... it's like something is keeping the app open. If it was Windows I'd suspect a virus, but this thing has nothing but the default software + gcc & I rarely if ever browse with it, and have never used the email app.
Finder dies just by doing something like trying to browse a network share where the machine has disappeared for some reason (it happens...).. unfortunately once it's gone the whole UI goes with it. Throw the dodgy firewire driver into the mix (access dead drive... bang.) then it doesn't make for a happy user experience.
"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. And after agreeing with the workers for the standard wage, he sent them into his vineyard. He went out about nine o'clock in the morning and saw others standing in the marketplace without work. And he said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went. When he went out again about noon and three o'clock that afternoon, he did the same thing. And about five o'clock that afternoon he went out and found others standing around, and said to them, 'Why are you standing here all day without work?' They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You go and work in the vineyard too.' When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the workers and give the pay starting with the last hired until the first.' When those hired about five o'clock came, each received a full day's pay. And when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each one also received the standard wage. When they received it, they began to complain against the landowner, saying, 'These last fellows worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who bore the hardship and burning heat of the day.' And the landowner replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am not treating you unfairly. Didn't you agree with me to work for the standard wage? Take what is yours and go. I want to give to this last man the same as I gave to you. Aren't I permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?' So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
Gotta love it when a marxist quotes the bible...
And you realise that by design, most Mac apps dont close if you close their windows, you have to click on [App Name] (next to the apple) and go to 'Quit [App Name]'?
I have found that the Finder can be a bit flaky when dealing with SMB/CIFS shares though, seems like a feature that was added in a hurry, like the fact that selecting to save the password in keychain works (you can see it in the keychain viewer), but the password is not retrieved next time.
True. A few days after I bought my 12" iBook they sent me a mail stating that a) a new version of the 12" iBook was just released, b) my order automatically got upgraded and c) they even matched the hardware configuration to what they believed I would choose for the newer model (eg. I originally selected a 60 GB HDD and the new model now had 80 GB as the biggest size, so they gave me 80). And to top that all off, the newer model was cheaper than the old one. In the end I got 200 MHz and 20 GB extra and paid about 100 EUR less.
If they actually tell you about it this is wonderful and it has really impressed me - it has put Apple into my personal "companies I like dealing with" list. Not sure how I would have reacted if they never had told me...
USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
From the transition effect videos at the Desktop Manager site, it looks like the focus of the window/application switches slightly after the transition completes. This sounds like it could essentially amount to a "lag" effect, where a hotkey or command pressed during or immediately after the transition gets applied to the active app on the previous desktop rather than the current, visible one. Might be a problem for those who want to do things on autopilot (i.e., if you want to quickly switch to the itunes desktop and pause the music with a set of continuous keystrokes). Can anyone who uses DM comment on if this is so?
Copy/paste with the mouse (middle button) is handly, but certainly not a deal killer. OS X supports two button mice and right click context menus. THe poor virtual desktop situation is a bit of a problem though.
-matthew
"THERE IS NO JUSTICE, THERE IS ONLY ME." -Death
The truth is in IT you are usually a lot better off than in most other technology markets. Most companies in this domain announce a new product, but there is no requirement for them to do so. I am basing this on the fact that you almost never hear about a company releasing a tweaked version of a TV or Hi-Fi. Major releases maybe, but certainly not a tweak, which is what this amounts to.
You know when you are buying technology that it will be out of date before you even get it home. These people ordered something, based on specification that had agreed upon.
On the other hand I would certainly agree that it would have been better PR if Apple had lowered the price of the current offering before tweaking the specs.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Maybe the buyer wants the "inferior" version - for instance, I bet the extra VRAM increases the power consumption and heat production.
Apple should at least contact the customer and confirm that the upgrade is acceptable.
You know, I bought a mac mini about a week ago as well. Except that I didn't get the faster CPU, or more video memory, or the faster drive. I'm somewhat unhappy about it, but frankly, if I wanted a performance machine I wouldn't have gotten a Mac Mini to begin with.
It's perfectly adequate for the things I am using my Mini for: iTunes, iPhoto, and having fun with my first Macintosh. I never intended to use the thing to play the latest/greatest video games with -- the Mac Mini isn't supposed to fill that niche anyway.
But considering I'm starting to grow tired of video games in general (which is mainly scary in that I might be growing up or somethin'.), I haven't booted my 'PC' for days (and the only times I did was to transfer some data from it to my new Mini).
It's weird... When I was all about video games, the hottest hadware wasn't enough. Now a 'budget' computer like a Mac Mini is all I really have much need for.
While the transition from Linux and various other Unix-like OSes hasn't been painless, it is certainly more agreeable than booting back to a Wintendo environment, even if it is only to play the latest video game until the Wintendo manages to BSOD on me.
To be honest, the different behavior of the 'home' and 'end' keys on a Mac is of far greater annoyance to me than the fact that I bought a 'top of the line' Mini and found out that there are people who are buying the same specs as me, but getting a nicer system.
I had no idea how much the OS X behavior on the 'home' and 'end' keys would bother me (of course, I thought there wouldn't be a difference). I remember reading how to customize it so the keys do what I'm used to expecting them to do... just have to find it.
All in all, if my biggest gripe about my Mini experience (including the phantom 'upgrade' which I didn't benefit from) is the 'home' and 'end' keys acting differently than I'm accustomed to... I doubt many others would care either.
Seriously... a Mini isn't a performance rig; it performs quite well for what I ask of it; I didn't buy a high end system... more like the best from the bottom of the performance curve.
It's just hard to feel upset when I knowingly bought a less powerful system than the PC I already had... and haven't even used my PC much since.
-- Sometimes you have to turn the lights off in order to see.
Different, yes. Right or useful...no. Ideas that come out of people on crack...different, but also glamorous traink wrecks.
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