Many of you have probably seen the old mac mini. It's a 6"x6"x2" computer that sports a 2.26 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and ran on 13w of power. For under $599. That was the old Mac Mini. You may have recognized in on the desks of your fellow professionals, in design marketing offices, and currently run the majority of ActiveRain's Computer force.
True Story
My mom currently has a PC that is 4 years old and is slower than dirt. She has several programs that are PC only, so I explained that Mac has a program called Boot Camp that will allow you to run Windows XP or Vista, and run all of her PC programs for her business. I have encouraged her to purchase a Mac because of their history of reliability, ease of maintenance, and value. So we went to Best Buy to shop for a new computer (I of course was encouraging her to buy a Mac) and we came across the old Mac Mini. The Best Buy sales rep said that we can't get a copy of a Mac Mini because their stock has depleted. You can't find it anywhere. He then said Apple only does this when it's about to unveil a new version of a product. Apparently Apple has gotten so good at keeping things hush hush that even their own sales reps in major electronics stores across the country were in the dark on the release date of the new mini. I come into work this morning to see my co-worker looking on a blog site at what appears to be a Mac Mini. STOP THE PRESSES!
APPARENTLY...
Today, June 15th 2010 Apple released the new and vastly improved Mac Mini! Available for ordering TODAY is this new powerhouse computer, that starts at only $699. I believe the main reason the majority of the U.S. public has not switched to a Apple computer is because of the price. The Mac Mini is their answer to such a need, being incredibly energy efficient, and being affordable, this tiny little Tsunami in a box is exactly what a new college student, or business owner needs to power their career.
In addition to all the specs below, the thing that impresses me most is Apple's ability to run this tiny monster on 10w of power. If you are looking for a powerful computer solution that reduces carbon footprint, this is it.
The Operating System Myth: My MLS Software won't run on Mac!
Mac has a program called Boot Camp, which allows you to install and run Windows on your new Mac OSX Snow Leopard. All of those PC programs you've spent $1,000's of dollars on, can easily be installed and run on your new Mac, with the Boot Camp program. The excuse to NOT own a Mac is over people.
The Specs:
"Yah yah, it's all well and good, but what's this little stick of dynamite sporting under the hood?" Some of the major improvements over the old mac mini are the memory capacity, size change, and built in power supply. The new mini can support up to 8GB or DDR3 ram, running on a 2.66 Intel Core 2 Duo processor. The graphics have received a shot of adrenaline with the NVIDIA GeForce 320M, which uses 256MB of DDR3 ram shared on the system. Because of this massive graphics upgrade, you can run virtually any HDTV through it's new HDMI out, and the mini DisplayPort and run graphics with resolution up to 2560 x 1600, larger than most monitor resolutions. You can also run the displays in dual mode, so you can have multiple displays running at the same time, with perfectly crisp clear images and no lag.
For those of you that don't speak Geek, what all that means is that it is fast, VERY FAST, has a incredible picture, And is easy to maintain, and will not slow down over time.
Size:
The size of the new Mac Mini is smaller than its predecessor, only 1.4" H x 7.7"W x 7.7"W and only weighs 3.0 pounds.
Processor and Memory:
- 2.4 Ghz or 2.66 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
- 3MB on-chip shared L2 cache
- 1066MHz frontside bus
- 2GB (two 1GB SO-DIMM's) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM; Supports up to 8GB
- NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory.
- Mini DisplayPort with support for up to 2560-by-1600 resolution
- HDMI port with support for up to 1920-by-1200 resolution
- DVI output using HDMI to DVI adapter (included)
- VGA output using Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter (sold seperately)
- Support for extended desktop and video mirroring across both ports
- AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless networking5; IEEE 802.11a/b/g compatible
- Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) wireless technology
- 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet (RJ-45) interface with support for jumbo frames
Peripheral Connections:
One FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps)- Four USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
- SD card slot
I frankly can't find any excuse not to go out and buy this little machine. With it's vastly improved memory options, faster Processor, smaller sleeker design, energy efficiency, and Apple software for running PC programs, all for around $699, I can't find any reason for me not to own such an amazing machine. Apple truly steps it up in every way with every product release. Who knows, maybe someday we'll all be using something created by Apple. I know I will!
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