Mac Mini running on life support
Apple may soon be terminating the lowest end Mac it sells, the Mac Mini. The Mac Mini occupies a market segment that Apple cares little for being a sub-$800 Mac, it has seen good but not great sales and lacks the processing power of its bigger brothers.
The Mac Mini still uses the Core Duo processors ranging in speed from 1.66GHz to 1.83GHz with every other model offering Core 2 Duo processors in varying configurations with the Mac Pro offering quad core and eight core solutions.
And there sits the Mac Mini, neglected by its parent company having only seen four updates since it released, is Apple preparing to axe the Mini from its model line? AppleInsider thinks very soon there will be no more Mac Mini.
I’d tend to agree with them that the sub-$800 market is a niche, especially for Apple, doesn’t make much revenue, how much it makes, I’m not entirely sure. It may not be making enough for Apple to continue production of the Mac Mini or even update the models before it phases out the units.
That’s not to say Apple won’t remain in the market but I tend to agree that the Mini’s days are numbered. What we really need is a mini-tower Mac that isn’t a Mac Pro but offers more expandability and comes in under $1,000. Though, there are arguments out there that say such models would hurt iMac and Mac Pro sales.
Apple needs a model to stand in between the iMac and Mac Pro not a more basic model like the Mini.
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August 13th, 2007
why how wrong you are