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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.'"
I bought one about a week ago. I can't say I've noticed it's faster in real-world use, but it does benchmark slightly faster (in accordance with the CPU speed bump). Since its main purpose is to look gorgeous in the living room, run email and web-browsing, I have no complaints, but then I wouldn't have had, anyway
Having the extra VRAM seems to improve video performance a fair bit as well - subtly but noticeably smoother when doing the 'cube' switch using 'Desktop Manager', for example. (Which is the *very* first piece of s/w I ever install on a mac). Yes I use expose too, but with DM I can dedicate one screen per task. Much nicer
Simon
Physicists get Hadrons!
Reported here:
In a swift and decisive move, Dell Computers announced today that it will begin shipping all systems with intentionally mis-labeled specifications on the boxes. In what is being seen as an obvious attempt to play catch up with Apple computer's brilliant move to sell its Mac mini systems with specs that may "meet or exceed" those listed on their packing, Dell took the move one step further.
"We feel the average consumer is becoming bored with the computer buying experience." says Dell's Chief Marketing Officer Mike George. "They no longer wish to choose an item, pay for it, and have that item arrive at their front door. It's predictable. It's what their parent's would want. Today's consumer needs the element of surprise to add a bit of excitement to the table."
To that end, Dell plans to ship all of its consumer desktop models and its Inspiron 6000 and 1200 model laptop computers with wildly off-base specifications. "We've actually created a random number generator which is responsible for listing the model number and processor speeds. Even WE don't know exactly what is in those boxes. It really is exciting." says George.
We recently had heard in the office over one of the Yellow Machine that's made by Anthology Solutions.
YMMV
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Just like on my Cheerios box: "..., though some settling of contents normally occurs during shipping and loading".
I guess as long as the consumer gets at least what they're advertised to get I don't see this as any controversy, but maybe a decent approach by a seemingly decent company (don't know for sure, haven't done any real research into Apple). And as for any consumers of the "lower grade" Minis, again, I can't see there'd be any problem as long as they got what they paid for and was advertised.
On the other hand, there are lots of examples where companies advertise one way but deliver less. I recently purchases a washer/dryer set -- won't name the company, but it sears in my memory. Anyway, in the picture in the Sunday circular, they were pictured side-by-side, doors open. The dryer's inside light neatly illuminated the clothing inside, exactly one of my criteria. When I got mine, no light. Whaaaaah? I looked inside, no problem, there's the recess where the light should be, it must be burned out, annoying but fixable. The more I pried around and tried to find where the socket was the more confused I became. There wasn't ANYPLACE to install a light bulb. I called the company for an explanation. Their explanation: "the pictures in the ads don't necessarily reflect what the actual product looks like". No apology, no offer to fix it. Guess what, I'll remember this experience for a long long time. (The inside light was one of my primary criteria in dryers as I shopped.... sigh.)
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".
If there are original spec minis still available, I would be pretty pissed if I ended up with one of them instead of the better ones. If thats the case Apple was probably just hoping no one would notice.
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.
"Ze whole point of upgrading ze specs is lost if eet is kept secret. Vhy didn't zey tell ze vorld, eh?!?"
Specialization is for insects. - R.A.H.
You must be doing this on Windows. My 1.5ghz 17 month old Powerbook does NOT take that long to open iTunes.
Or quite possibly you're just a troll... which would make sense.
Tell me what you believe...I'll tell you what you should see.
Give it time though. Then you can start complaining ;)
In a new ad campaign Sun has said that they are '100% more random then dell' and has begun including only a random 12 parts in each box, you could get an entire server or 12 mice.
You actually mean that I could get more than what I agreed to pay for?! Those bastards, how dare they do such a thing! Honestly, people, it's not a bad thing.
I propose we all donate so that Slashdot story submitters don't have to live under a bridge and can get back on top of tech news (instead of two weeks behind)...
I think, therefore I am...I think.
Yes, there might be a problem here. According to labeling laws when you specify contents of a package, you must specify the contents as closely as you can, and when you have to round, you round down. Just recently the nursery industry got in a lot of trouble for selling "gallon" pots that, if you have ever bought a pot know, never could measure much of a gallon. Pretty much what has happened is that the industry is being brought into compliance. While the computer industry may not be regulated quite like the nursery industry, the labeling laws are quite strict, and they apply accross the board. The reason for a labeling law is so consumers can compare like products with a like product. So someone who is looking at a Mac-mini and some eMachine or something like that, the small difference in performance that the faster processor has might make a difference, and it could get them in trouble. The esscense behind the labeling laws is so the consumer can have all the information. You can understate content, but only by a little bit. And the question in computers becomes, what is a little bit.
The views expressed are mine own and do not express the views of my employer.
This is an outrage! This PROVES that Apple obviously has no respect for it's customers, and this is just another example of how the high and mighty have falle--
...
...shit, I give up. Carry on.
Whoa, wait a minute...this is a good thing? Arrgh, goddamn it. I blew my rant load for nothing...
What will I do now?
Guess I could...maybe do a cliche? Let's see... In Soviet Russia, you upgrade Apple's specs? Nah. Upgrade Natalie Portman's specs? Nice idea, but no. Not after Episode 3.
Hrm...
BytesTemplar.com
So you saw a well-lit picture and assumed it had a feature that was never mentioned anywhere else? You didn't check the manufacture's specs? You didn't do any research beyond looking at a well-lit picture? I'm sorry and not trying to troll here, but you bought a product that you really didn't know a helluva lot about.
I'm starting to think this isn't the best place to promote my Anti-Sig Campaign.
First, it's better to surprise a customer with something better than expected.
CNET News has a good point about this though, in that new owners hearing of this and being among the "unlucky" may complain about it, since they know there are betters setups out there, of the same model. And even if they don't, they certainly won't belong to the positively surprised crowd. I'm not sure singling out users on random with computers even using the same part number to confuse the retailers is such a good idea, especially when done silently from Apple's part.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
...the new model is much snappier?
A similar thing happened when I bought my Sharp Zaurus SL-5600 near its end of life. They ran out of the buggy PXA250 processors and started shipping the last units with the improved PXA255. It was even marked on the box, but since most people mail-ordered the units it was a crap-shoot what you got. I got the old unit, and was a bit disappointed even though I did get what I paid for. I suspect Mac Mini buyers who don't get the lucky upgrade will feel the same way. They may even return their units and try again.
It's perfectly legal. I bought two boxes of cereal at the store, both claiming that there may be a prize inside. I open one box, dig around, and find my prize. I open the second box, dig around, and find no prize. Can I really get mad at the manufacturer? You can always create a "Component Reviewer's Lobby" and get funds to have such a law legislated... but I just can't fathom that.
are you retarded?! this is a way of bloating the price of old models. how is that ethical?
dont look at it as "hey, im paying for a 1.4ghz box and i got a 1.5ghz box!"
look at it as "hey i could have had the option of buying this 1.4ghz box for 100 bucks less or paying the $699 for a 1.5ghz box"
by your logic apple can continue selling mac minis for $699 in 10 years advertised as a 1.4ghz machine and you dont know whether you are getting a 3ghz box or a 20ghz box.
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.
Oh great....now Fry's is going to run out of return labels. Oh the slightly related note, I have a Toshiba Libretto 50 which supposed to only have a Pentium 75 on it. But by the time mine was built, Intel has stopped making P75 and Toshiba ended up putting a P120 in it and underclock it to 75mhz....didn't take long before someone noticed that and a few soldering later, we have P120 Libretto 50s :-)
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.
\
Every CPU maker on the planet does this. They try to spec out every part of the wafer so that they can all be potentially the fastest rated chips, but due to microscopic flaws, some finished chips have problems at higher speeds, thus they sell them as slower versions. AMD, IBM, Motorola all do it.
Marxism is the opiate of dumbasses
"macs" spelt backwards is "scam" .
So.. you're saying that macs are the complete opposite of scam?
Yup, and what's more....
Sometimes a yield is so good that very few processors actually fail at higher speeds, resulting in a batch of very good chips. Since the market still wants the lower rated chips, it sometimes becomes necissary to clock a perfectly good chip lower than it is actually capable of being clocked.
The Intel Celeron 300a (I believe) was a great example of this. 300a chips were so high quality, that most of them available could be run at around 500mhz (if I remember correctly).
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
there is a certain firewire chipset that is known to have a bug that causes freezes with os x. drive manufacturers have released fixes. check your manufacturers site
context menus are supposed to have less options than the menu bar by definition. context menus only have options that are relevant to that context, and in addition ux people will tell you they should only have the most relevant ones, not the whole kit and cabodle. context menus wouldnt save you any time if you had to dig through as many options as the menu bar
the close window control is supposed to close a window, and not shut down the application. you may be used to windows, where closing the last open window also shuts down the app, but many ux peeps will tell you this is not a good assumption to make: if you close the last window of a database server (say, a query window), do you want the database to shut down? if you close the last window to your mail app, do you want all mail services to shut down (i like still being able to see when ive got incoming mail)? the apple ux teams position on these things and others are well known (try google)
im surprised you would trust development to a system you see as so flaky
Lies about crimes
You mean as opposed to how it's unethical to be selling people older products at the same price as the newer ones, on the off chance you MIGHT pick up the newer model?
Yeah, perfectly reasonable. Sleezy bastards.
If you don't want someone to copy something, don't give it to anyone.
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)
This method allows them to ethically clear unused inventory and provide additional value to the customer
I know vocal Apple users have a hard time really understanding that what is good for Apple might not be good for youself but I'll post this anyway and take the hit.
A lot of people attempt to keep up or do a little asking around and research before buying a product. In fact, it is really not hard for a lot of products because companies and sales folks will advertise up and coming products days, weeks, and maybe even months ahead of time. I would be not be the happiest person in the world or get a good feeling about buying a $500 product and find out 2 days later a new version was on the market. Add to the fact that the company is doing everything within its power to prevent me from knowing a better one was just around the corner and about to be released, including the very unusal step of keeping it quite after the fact and packaging the product in the old box. I know this is only a step upgrade and not a platform change like the difference between a Sony PS2 and a PS3 but it is not a small trivial change either.
Mod as you wish but no one needs waste time explaining Apples position on why they did this. It is a simple to understand reason and already mentioned many times in other threads. My point is, there are two ways to introduce a new or improved product. As a person like many others who is actually buying the products, Apples method is not in my best interest and probably not in many others.
Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
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.
You got what the box says it contains. Why should you have the right to complain? If you've heard there are boxes out there with beter specs, you also know that the others don't have the extra's.
The same happens with CPU overclocking. If you get a specimen that cannot be overclocked enough, do you go complaining? Still, another CPU of the same type might be perfectly qualified for higher speeds, but dumped in the lower frequency "bucket" because of shortage.
You could go complaining if you got the upgraded model and it turns out it consumes more electricity. If that would be the case, however, I'm sure you could easily find people who are willing to go and trade it in *for* you.
"It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
I want the one with better specs.
Get out your wallet and buy something better. Do your research and get the best model, like you said. If a 1.42GHz mini is not what you need/want, then go buy a G5 or whatever. Or wait until Apple is willing to guarantee you a 1.5GHz unit.
I can't believe you'd complain because there's a chance you might get more than you paid for. Do you get annoyed when you see those "20% More Cheez Doodles!" packages in the supermarket two days after you bought a regular-sized bag?
I got a mac mini, it's actually a prety powerful computer. And so insanely silent 99% of the time, I don't even know it's on. This is a great update because they fixed some of the key issues:
- 512MB RAM is now standard (256MB isn't really very usable on OS X).
- More VRAM! Sadly not upgrading the chipset yet, but it's still an improvement
- 5400 RPM HD!!!! This is the biggest upgrade. The 4200RPM drive and minimal RAM makes this computer really slugish. Upgrade the RAM and the HD, and it's a whole new computer. That paging file will get you.
The processor upgrade isn't a big deal. The DVDR isn't bad, but don't know how much I'd use it.
It's a great computer. For anyone wanting to experiment on the Mac, or just want a cheap system, it's a steal. It's well engineered. The first time you hold it, you know it's well made. Solid, and good hardware.
I personally like this upgrade they offer. Wish mine had more RAM and a faster HD out of the box.
Different, yes. Right or useful...no. Ideas that come out of people on crack...different, but also glamorous traink wrecks.
Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
I paid the going retail price for a Windows screen reader and got a free Unix computer!