Apple's New Mac Mini

I've been pretty impressed with what I've heard and read about the new Mac Mini, Apple's new entry-level "headless" computer. There has been quite a bit of speculation on the TidBITS Talk listserv (93 postings as I write this) that it is being marketed at disgruntled Windows users, especially those who, by purchasing an iPod, have become familiar with Apple. One reader said:

I think I'm in the camp of people saying the Mini will not draw a lot of 1st time computer buyers (there have been systems at this price point for a while now) but will draw a lot of "switchers" to see what the fuss is about and current Mac owners looking for another machine.

Another person, citing a report released by SecurityFocus "Infected In Twenty Minutes", said:

Any Mac will be a godsend to the non-technical PC user who is fed up with spyware and viruses. You've seen the assessment that a new Windows PC won't last 20 minutes connected to the internet before it's infected with some sort of crud?

Apple took its time putting the technical specifications for the Mini on its website, fueling a large part of the hardware discussion. David Frakes, from MacWorld, posted several technical reviews of the Mini, one covering the hardware, inside and out, and from a performance point of view.

Also, in the interim, for the sake of "switchers" concerned about performance and value of the Mini, Frakes noted in a comparision of the Mini with Dell PCs that the Mini more than holds its own against PCs. Switchers already have a monitor, mouse and keyboard from their old PC, so that cost is nothing or very little.

However, the hidden value of the Mini is not just the price, which is comparable to PCs, but the sheer amount of included software, including Quicken, AppleWorks, and iLife (suite of email, calendar, address book, GarageBand music program). Apple's operating system alone is $140. You almost get the hardware for free. Dell's included software seems to be Internet Explorer and Acrobat.

One interesting suggestion on the listserv was to buy two Minis, one for home and the other for work, using a portable Firewire HD to boot from. Cool idea. Other people speculate that there will be sales to people who plan to hook it up to their home entertainment system using Airport as a wireless MP3 server. The idea of using it as a headless, mouseless, and keyboardless webserver, using Apple Remote Desktop from another computer was also very compelling.

There were disagreements about how well it would work as a TiVo replacement, the most cogent objection being a concern that a software video recorder could not compare in speed to a hardware MPEG recorder. I wasn't as convinced by arguments that the Mini's HD, being essentially the same as those found in laptops, would not be fast enough (the TiVo's uses a desktop-style HD).

Of course the most telling indicator of the success of the Mini just might be the fact that there is already a 3rd party carrying case for it.

Posted by Tom on January 28, 2005