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Rumor: Mac mini turns Nano in late October

tuaw.com — Mac OS Rumors reports that they've heard that as of October's end, the mini is dead-- long live something new called the Mac Nano. Supposedly, the new low-end Mac will be even smaller than a mini (just tall enough to fit a hard drive in), and the enclosure will have a completely new design.

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  • kabel, on 10/10/2007, -10/+97MacOSRumors is a joke. don't cite them.
    • beardedfish, on 10/10/2007, -6/+0agree buried
    • TheFinaleofSeem, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Very true. Their "rumors" are almost completely ***** unless they're parroting another rumor site, and then they usually exaggerate.
    • fishbert, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Well, if by chance the first part of the rumor comes true, I do hope they're correct on the replacement model part as well.
      I'd hate to see the little sucker go -- was thinking of picking one up for my grandmother's christmas present.
    • ataoz, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0Suck it MacOSRumors
    • CIAVT, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1MacOSRumors also has a history of changing their past entries so they are more accurate to current news, then claiming they "Broke the story first".
      Lame.
    • drakethegreat, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Not to mention the idea of a mac without an optical drive of any kind seems unlikely. Whats the install method? You are going to have users doing reinstalls with network drives?
      • fitzsimj, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Actually, that seems pretty believable part to me. Plug in a USB or Firewire optical drive, if necessary. I'm willing to be that the typical user uses their optical drive much these days. With downloadable commercial software, network storage, etc gaining ground, built-in optical drives are just becoming another support hassle. They lower support costs, drop the initial purchase cost, and get to sell you a new, external optical product (which is then shared across multiple generations, thereby reducing overall R&D and production costs).
  • Tunguska, on 10/10/2007, -15/+10I call *****.

    Plus, nano is such a bad name, because going any smaller sounds stupid.
    • stupergenius, on 10/10/2007, -1/+14New in Fall 2050, Mac Yocto.
      • aDJsavedmylife, on 10/10/2007, -4/+5Yotto means x Quadrillion.

        Where as Nano and Micro mean billionTH and millionTH are smaller scales.

        Femto = Quadrillionth. (wikipedia)
    • yingjai, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9I remember the iPod Flea parody when iPod Nanos just came out.
      • moofer, on 10/10/2007, -3/+11So do I. You're awesome. So am I.
      • CATSCEO, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2It was when the shuffles came out, not the nano.
    • DonCarcharo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13I don't know this sounds like a typical Apple move. A significant reduction in size and upgradability in the name of design seems to be their business plan these days. As for me? I'd just prefer a Mini that had a real, upgradable video card. I'd have bought two of those by now if they existed.
      • habbofresh, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Good luck with that. The smallest form factor they could make that could accept a standard upgradeable video card was the G4 Cube.
        • DonCarcharo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1I don't mind a slightly larger form factor if it increasing functionality. In fact, I owned a cube and was extremely happy with it. It was probably my favorite Mac to date. I still feel that if it didn't cost the same amount as the Tower it would have been a far more successful product.
    • drmarkhutch, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Oh I don't know.... mac pico, mac fento, mac
    • daridave, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Mac Nano is fugly, NanoMac is sweet.

      Anyway, I hope it's not true, I'd rather have a "nano" laptop, not workstation.
      • MtheoryX, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1What would a nano laptop look like? As small as a cell phone with a touch screen?
        /sarcasm
  • vault, on 10/10/2007, -6/+41I could see changing the design of the mini to match the iMacs and Mac Pro's, but I dunno...the Mac Nano just sounds stupid.
    • Ireland, on 10/10/2007, -5/+5They mean it will have a smaller form factor, not that it will definitely be call Mac nano. It more likely will be still call Mac mini.
  • sacr3dc0w, on 10/10/2007, -8/+12In a normal world, this article will get buried. *sighs* How long until this inaccurate POS makes it to the front page?
  • Jeffler, on 10/10/2007, -8/+15If this is true, I'll definitely get one as my first mac, cause the concept just seems awesome.
    • crlake, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Yes, but wouldn't a Mac "NANO", be an AppleTV? Apple wouldn't come out with something inbetween a Mini and a AppleTV. Unless they're going to drop the price on the AppleTV to $250. Mac Nano to $500 and kill the Mac Mini.
  • ArthurSucks, on 10/10/2007, -5/+21I heard the supposed Nano will have a $250 pricetag. That's almost enough to make me an Apple fanboy. Well, almost.
    • CatalystDM, on 10/10/2007, -3/+55I heard that Chuck Norris can microwave a burrito so hot that even he can't eat it.
    • kinseyincanada, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2the simpsons did it
    • troye, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2$250 huh, I'll get one since they're that cheap. I already have a monitor collecting dust :)
    • Firehed, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1You don't have to be a fanboy to own Apple products.

      And there's no way they're release a computer that cheap, if only to keep targeting a more "premium" market.
    • joegibes, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2$250 for a 700mhz processor, 512 MB of ram, and a 10 GB hard drive.
      Oh, and Mac OSX.

      ...I'd rather buy another Wii.
  • brstilson, on 10/10/2007, -21/+13Honestly, the Mac Mini is small enough. Packing it into an even smaller case is going to cause some serious heating issues. Of course, that never stops Jobs from putting form ahead of function
    • zybch, on 10/10/2007, -9/+2Wouldn't be the first time. I wonder if he'll make his designers use liquid cooling...
    • choy, on 10/10/2007, -4/+33Umm have you heard of LAPTOPS? Because they come in thinner cases than the mini.
      • Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -7/+3..but they're also wider and (quite often) noisier.

        That said, as long as they don't change the footprint, it's all good. It just stacks so nicely with the APE right now ;)
        • KMartSheriff, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2maybe if you're still using one from the late 90's or the early 00's.
          • Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Ehm... keyboard sizes have remained the same for the last 30 years -- that's the lower limit of laptop footprints, which will keep them wider than Minis for quite some time to come...
        • radiometric, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I disagree. I believe the screen is the limiting factor on size reduction. You should google "bluetooth laser keyboard". I have one and although it's weird not having a tactile response, it works well enough for most things. I saw something about a cell phone with a projector built in and another article about a multi-core processor for cellphones. Throw in a bluetooth mouse and in a few years' time there may not be any laptops, just mobiles that you put near a wall so they can project a screen, and bring a small tray for the kb + mouse [I use the side panel from an old desktop when I'm at home]. Heck, with enough power you could use a bt headset and have no need for a kb nor mouse and just use voice recognition.

          Seriously, don't be so shortsighted. My keyboard is smaller than my cellphone and projects onto the surface you set it on. I'm not kidding.
    • TheFinaleofSeem, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2This rumor came from MacOSRumors, and those guys are almost always spouting *****. Take it with an extra large helping of salt.
  • iirrkk, on 10/10/2007, -7/+32I call BS on nano name because apple won't want to confuse people with the ipod.
    • MacParrot, on 10/10/2007, -5/+48While I agree it would be a stupid name, I doubt many people will be confused by what product they buy.
      Apple Genius: Yes sir, can I help you?
      Idiot customer: Yeah, this nano won't play music, I can't find the Dock connector, and I had it plugged in for hours and it STILL doesn't hold a charge!
      AG: Yes sir, let's have a look...AH! I see the problem! This is a Mac nano and not an iPod nano.
      IC: Is there a difference?
      AG: Yes, one is a engineered to be a portable music/video player and the other is a computer. Most people can tell the difference because the iPod nano is actually very small and the Mac nano is larger and doesn't have a screen.
      IC: No WONDER it wouldn't show my playlists!
      (bow)
      • fxspec06, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1Do you take a comedy class? This is genius.
        • richardiscool, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Lesson 2: Sarcasm.
        • MacParrot, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Why yes I do take a comedy class. It's given at the Chuck Norris College of Comedy (CNCC). There is just one rule: Laugh at his jokes or he round house kicks you in the head.
    • Karmavs, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8then why the Mac mini in the first place? there was already the iPod mini on the arket -and Apple wouldn't want their customers confused…
    • ThatsUnpossible, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Yeah, that'd be crazy, almost like releasing both an iPod Mini and a Mac Mini.... hmm
  • vwvan, on 10/10/2007, -6/+42i'd buy one. use it as a hotplate.
  • mvent2, on 10/10/2007, -4/+11A rumour. And a silly one too. Buried as inaccurate.
    • romistrub, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Apple needs to get on the idea of stackable computers. Got another $100 to burn? Just add another module. Kinda like lego for the superrich.
      Of course, that probably requires a huge overhaul in various components' architectures. Meh... it's the future I tell ya!
      • dragon76, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2That idea was tossed around in the late 80's early 90's. The interesting thing is that today, with PCI express and expresscard we actually have more of the opportunity to do it. The problem is that Apple is always interested in selling the entire widget. At different points Apple has sold upgrades, whether they were for the CPU, graphics, adding FireWire…it's almost always come back to bite them in the ass. Do a tiny smidgen of research.
  • corsocomo, on 10/10/2007, -22/+3очень интересная статья
    • ronnsprocket, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6wtf?
      • ilapko, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4A Russian dude on Digg writing in Russian, haha. He wrote: "A very interesting article".
    • raptordrew, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8I think what he's trying to say is, "In Soviet Russia..."
    • Dhalgren, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5It's that bastard that keeps sending me spam. Get Him!
    • MethodOne, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0He or she actually says "very interesting article" according to Babel Fish and Google Translate.
  • squirrelza, on 10/10/2007, -8/+2They forgot the plagued with heat problems part
  • stutimandal, on 10/10/2007, -10/+6Wouldn't you just get a laptop instead?
    • sv650touring, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Other than cost, size, and the fact that you might not need or want an attached monitor, keyboard and battery? I can't think of anything.
    • Firehed, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Not if you hate laptops. I quite hate using a laptop (despite typing on one right now), if for no other reason than there's still not something current that's portable enough for my desires. Something like the 12" powerbook upgraded to today's specs would be all right, but I'm eagerly awaiting Apple revamping the Mac Pro so I can have a proper desktop machine. As pretty as my MBP looks (which... um, who gives a *****?), it's hell to type on, thanks to Apple's idiotic tradeoff of smooth lines for a god-awfully non-ergonomic wrist rest area. Putting a nice hard corner there instead of rounding it a bit like every other laptop in the world was a *fantastic* idea - thanks, Steve!
  • unitedkronos, on 10/10/2007, -2/+26It may just be a rumor, but if Apple were to go up against the $200/£100 PC market with something like this they could own it within a matter of months.
    • Ramble, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6You mean $200/£200 market?
      • nkm82, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2$200 = £98.
        • jj101, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2yeah but they charge us the same price in £ as they charge in $ in the states. Thats why we buy lappys in NY.
    • dragon76, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2People made that same prediction before Apple released the Mac mini, then people bitched about how weak it was compared to other Macs. People always want to point out Apple's shortcomings compared to PC manufacturers, then when Apple addresses it, people point out the shortcomings of the product compared to Apple's other products.
      • Firehed, on 10/14/2007, -1/+1Well that's because the Mini was still twice the price of the competitor's entry level machines. Can't have everything though - it was more than twice the specs of them, even if they weren't matching the specs of an iMac (which, despite the form-factor, is still a fairly high-end system).
    • troye, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1yeh, but everyone wants a mac. the only reason they dont buy it is expensive, and the hardware is hell to upgrade. if these things really cost 200$s, then im a get one. they're gonna sell like sliced hotcakes.
      • Firehed, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Only enthusiasts give a ***** about upgrading the hardware, excepting the monitor. You think your mom would rip open ANY machine to upgrade the hard drive or the CPU?
  • WolfDV, on 10/10/2007, -4/+13let me guess . . it'll be the bottom half of a macbook, without the lcd, keyboard, trackpad.

    really innovative. . . but if its under 400/500 bucks .. I'm sure they will sell plenty
    • pbrooks100, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Keyboard and CPU in a single box with no monitor? Why not call it the Apple ][ Nano? :)
  • ZeRux, on 10/10/2007, -1/+23Micro is larger than nano - they should make Mac micro first.
    • ricepudd, on 10/10/2007, -2/+31And if they made the casing out of fur, they could call it the Mac microsoft... oh, or perhaps not.
      • noblepenguin, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Took me a second and I almost dug you down. But that was actually pretty clever. Dug up sir!
    • IEatHamburgers, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8μMac?
      • romistrub, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3if that's pronounced "mew-mac", then I'm a fan. Sounds catchy.
        Micro-mac? Not so much.
        (iMac your mom)
    • Firehed, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Well "mini" isn't an SI unit of measure if you're looking to head down that route, so I don't think it really matters.
    • fitzsimj, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1That's sooo 80's...
  • choy, on 10/10/2007, -22/+1撒旦撒旦平时颠三倒四派 阿森松岛 柴
    • hunchback, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4Babelfish:
      Satan Satan even □□three but actually four school of Arab League woods pine □firewood

      Google Translate:
      Satan sent Satan peacetime head Ascension Island CHAI

      what the ***** is this guy saying?
      • demonstro, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4It doesn't matter! Just chill, baby!
  • hunchback, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5"just tall enough to fit a hard drive in"
    Then basically its a little thicker than a macbook, all lappy components? But if its too light, then the cables attached to it, like the cables mac minis have, might be a problem, the weight of the cables or a slight yank on them might drag the "nano" off the desk. Then again the Apple TV is pretty thin too.
    • CATSCEO, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1The current Mini uses laptop components.
  • jferrari, on 10/10/2007, -4/+9They could just make the Mac Mini into something the size of the Apple TV and drop the Apple TV. Something you can plug it into your HDTV run proper OSX, use internet, play games, movies, itunes.. they could take on all the consoles and the low end PC market with that.
    • gfnw, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9"they could take on all the consoles"

      LOL NO.
    • KMartSheriff, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Consoles no, but everything else yes. If they added a PVR function it would make me cream my pants.
    • hexydes, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Sir...I'd like to buy your fictitious Apple product!
    • triskele, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Being as plenty of people have already done that with the Mac Mini, I don't find it that far fetched at all. If Apple changed the case to look more like the Apple TV and marketed it as a home entertainment/living room fully functional OSX machine with the possibility of controlling via a universal remote and maybe even a cable card slot now that would be something. Just a new name and a smaller form factor? Don't waste my time.
  • Weejay, on 10/10/2007, -9/+2Great!!! I care a lot about rumors!!!
  • inspireology, on 10/10/2007, -0/+35Would Much prefer a Mac Mini with a good graphics card.
    • sv650touring, on 10/10/2007, -5/+2and no donkey dick external PSU
    • Firehed, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I can't honestly understand why everyone cares about that. If you're looking for an entry-level system on the Mac side of things, you shouldn't be expecting a whole lot out of your video card. And considering that aside from Pixelmator, there's really not much you'd do on anything but a Mac Pro that really uses the video card heavily, the only other reason is gaming, and if you're buying a Mac just to boot into Windows for real games (since, right now, the game selection for Macs sucks), then you're better off buying a cheap Dell or a console and a couple games.
  • TheSeeker11, on 10/10/2007, -4/+12Wake me when the Mac Yocto is available.
    • aussieNickuss, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2Seriously....who needs the comedy channel, when you can read digg comments?
    • OrangeTide, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1I'm not willing to wait that long, I will get one when the Mac Pico comes out.
  • linkerjpatrick, on 10/10/2007, -2/+14That would be great but Apple also need to offer a mini-tower about half the size of the Mac Pro. The iMac is great at the price point but they are advantages of being able to upgrade monitors, hard drives, etc.
    • OrangeTide, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3I don't think Apple needs to over a mini-tower "also". I think "instead of" a mac mini / mac nano would make more sense. Sort of a a low-end Shuttle type device, more like the old G4 Cube, but without the terrible heat issues. Don't get me wrong, I love my Mac Mini, but I would like to put two 3.5" harddrives in it instead of the expensive 2.5" drives that have much less capacity. Upgradeable graphics card would have been nice too.
      • Firehed, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I'd rather have it be more of a high-end Shuttle type device, but I agree. The current Mini is pretty much a Macbook spec-wise, which is a fairly nicely specced machine other than the video card.
  • se1zure, on 10/10/2007, -3/+4what difference does it make if it's the size of one hard drive, or 3...

    i think everyone has enough room for both.
  • digitallysick, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5I think they should do it, more people would switch to macs and apple, if the lowest option wasn't in the 600-700 dollar range. I think if they sold this product for 400 to 500 dollars, they would make a killing. Half the people i know buy a whole computer from wallmart for 500 bux, and then wonder why its complete garbage. Its to bad they can't bundle in a screen and keyboard/mouse with the mini, or at least make it a combo discounted option
    • capecodcarl, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2Maybe it is garbage because it is hard to assemble a decent $500 PC and still make a profit. Why do you think Apple could do any better? All of their products are at least 1.5 times as expensive as the comparable PC, and this is coming from a Mac user. I pay the premium because the products are superior in build quality. Apple doesn't care about the low-end market or else they'd be putting out $25 or $50 iPod nanos like everyone else's cheapo MP3 players.
    • dragon76, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1People said the same thing before the Mac mini appeared. "People would switch to Mac if the lowest option wasn't in the $1000 range."
      The created a $600 Mac and still people are bitching. One of the first things you learn in any business class is that if you don't have anything with which to compete, you compete on price. Apple does not need to compete on price, quite clearly.
      • bshellenberg, on 10/14/2007, -1/+1They are too late in the game. You can get a mighty fast PC for the $600 you pay for a mini. I know... I've got a mini, and a $530 PC (which I built myself). Core 2 duo 2.4 ghz, gig of ram, 120gb sata II, dvd burner and nvidia pci-e video card. Plays wow great. The mini plays wow like ass.
  • WoollyMittens, on 10/10/2007, -8/+1Litigation is a sign of decadence.
  • narula, on 10/10/2007, -3/+7How about a new Mac Cube? It's certainly been long enough since the last one...
  • Drgn547, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5More and more toward the small form factor... I'll only be happy with Apple's product offering when they introduce a tower that is placed between the iMac and Mac Pro in the lineup - Price it slightly less than the iMac, and keep your damn built in glossy monitor - I already have 2 monitors I want to use, and there's no way I'm dropping $2,500 (starting) for a Mac Pro.
    • pyrates, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3My feelings exactly. This is why Apple is a niche.
    • troye, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1$2500, w0t! damn. i can get a decent gaming rig for $1000. i mean. its not like the macs are made for games anyways, *wink wink*
      • Firehed, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1And nobody said they were. Will your decent $1000 gaming rig have dual Xeon chips in it?

        Though I'll note that the entry-level MP starts at $2299, and you can get that to $2099 if you know someone who can get an education discount. Though given the downgrade on the CPUs you'd be taking, it's not really worth saving the $200.
        • troye, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1people dont use xean chips in their rigs. now its either a core 2 duo or a blazing amd64x2 chip clocked at least 2.5ghz
  • dcsears, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6Well, we have a Mac Mini/Nano, a Mac Pro...what about a Mac?
  • nape, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3the mac mini just got an update, i think it is unlikely this would happen this soon.
    • troye, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1okay, umm, have u heard about the price drop of the iphone?
    • Firehed, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It got a tiny silent update that did nothing except to bring it closer to the specs of every other Mac offering (C2D finally, though I think every other system starts with more RAM). It's no more an update than when the Mac Pro got an added RAID card offering.
  • xoineg, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1maybe a cool small flash based HD with a cool cpu and no integrated graphics card
    • troye, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1no. a flash based hd would cost 2 much $$$$s. regular HDs are now a commodity pretty much. its way cheaper to put a mainstream design in it
  • toddji, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2What possible benefit to customers would shrinking the Mini give? It's already limited on the ports that can fit on the back, a shrink would require removing essential I/O ports and decrease in CPU speed, Disk capacity, etc.

    Anyway, this is just another "macosrumors" story. They fooled me into reading it by wrapping it in a TUAW column. If they keep that up, TUAW will be in the filter list too.
    • protogenxl, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It would now fit very nicely under a my car's passenger seat.
    • kettlechips, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Media center PC

      That's how I would use it.
  • MacBigotDotCom, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1I could see a market for a PORTABLE without at CD-ROM drive -- but a DESKTOP? Not beneficial. Not realistic.
    Here is your new target to beat:
    http://macbigot.blogspot.com/search?q=asus
    And it needs to be MUCH less expensive than the cheapest MacBook; say, $500.
    THEN you'll have my attention.
  • benb, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Yeah, I don't see this happening.

    What would make more sense is something between the Mini (with the slow laptop drive, etc) and the iMac with the integrated monitor (a lot of people keep monitors through several machines). I would think a mini-tower system with modest specs at about $800 would do well. If they had something like this I would buy one.
    • mabhatter, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1all hackers really want is a slightly bigger mini case with PCI-E 16x and PCI slots and room for 3.5" drive. I suppose if they switched to the mini-dvi ports like the macbooks have they could pull out the dual-head on the GMA default graphics as well. Also use some space to pull out the extra firewire and USB ports built into the chipset... I guess most 'PC' folk just want a machine with the same chips, just not so skimpy on the I/O already built into the machine.

      The mini is the perfect model to do this with because it's limited to laptop chips so it will never compete with the Xeons in the pro. Laughingly, the Mini is one of the fastest RETAIL machines on the store shelves. What most PC geeks want is the ability to put in a Raptor HDD and Geforce 8600 so they can play WoW decently. It's a shame to cripple a processor that fast and knock performance back to 2002 for "marketing" purposes.
      • fak3r, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Tru dat, the Mini fills the nitch between the Mac Pro (which nobody needs/wants) and just buying a cheap Dell. The form factor of the Mini is perfect, if it were just a *little* expandable. Maybe if they'd pack a dual-head nVidia like the GS8400 at least...
  • archer75, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10I'd rather see the mini get slightly larger and get a real video card.
  • AoSDFA, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Something is definitely on the way. Costco is selling both Mac Minis and Apple TVs. Costco carries the latest iPods, but it's a dumping ground for Macs. For about the last 2 years they've always sold the on-the-way-out Mac model cheap. Costco is where Apple dumped the last of the PPC Mac Minis before the Intel models came out.

    And no, I didn't refuse to show them my receipt on the way out this time.
    • bromac, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Costco is a member's only shopping center, and not a public store. They can ask for your receipt. If you don't give it to them, I'm guessing they could revoke your membership.

      And in the end, if they didn't do extra shoplifting protection there you'd have higher prices.
  • sincewednesday, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9How am I supposed to believe this without a badly faked Photoshop image? Are the rumor sites even trying anymore?
  • jstene, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Yeah, becuase the Mac Mini is so large and bulky...what is it with Apple's obession with Nano Technology?!!?
  • CopyNinja, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1This better not happen... I am selling the majority of my gaming pc in order to buy a mac mini when Leopard ships.
  • thecontinental, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Doesn't seem to me that the Mini flew off the shelf. Why would one even smaller sell any better? The current Mini is pretty small as it is...unless it's Apple TV size.
    • fitzsimj, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Cheaper, cheaper, cheaper. MS is dealing with a lot of Vista backlash, and people are growing frustrated with complexity. Give them a retardedly simple box that they plug in, download any new software they need, and sell it cheap, and Apple just might gain more ground.
  • fak3r, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2With the promise of thin clients, I can see something like this as a boon. I'm looking to build machines for my kids as they're outgrowing their old ones, but I'd really just rather put a small machine behind an LCD and call it a day. If it were a full fledged box like this "Mac ${ADJ_TO_TINY}" or a true thin client that boots a kernel, then NFS mounts a XEN image on a server - this would work for either.

    With all being said about servers and faster desktops, I think we're at a point where smaller/more efficient systems are going to be more and more attractive. I would not be surprised if this is an avenue Apple moves towards. Think about it, do you need a 150Watt box that sounds like a vacuum cleaner running just to check yr email? (or post 'O'RLY?' to digg.com?)
  • lukak, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1am i the only one thinking solid state hard drives? ie, flash ipod nanos as opposed to their HDD big brothers?
    • trvale, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Solid state drives are too expensive. The drive itself would be $300-$400, making the whole system approach $1000. Kind of defeats the purpose of the Mac Mini/Nano.
  • deadbaby, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Apple really needs a product to compete on the low end. The Mini is a beautiful computer but for $599 with no chance of any significant upgrades it's not a great value. A $400 Mini ($500 /w monitor) would compete head to head with low end Dell/HP systems. The mini could be replaced with a mid-range tower.
    • MacParrot, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I somewhat agree. The Mini isn't that great a form factor IMO. Difficult to even put more RAM into never mind trying to change out the hard drive. When I first heard about the Mini I was hoping for something more along the lines of the LC form factor. Relatively flat, could accept 3.5-inch hard drives (instead of the more expensive and slower 2.5-inch laptop drives), you could put more FireWire/USB ports on the back and if designed to do so, could stand it up on its side for less of a footprint.
      Everyone keeps talking about expandibility or changing out video cards, if that's something you enjoy doing, stop thinking that Apple is going to do it and stay with generic PCs. Changing hard drives for more storage or easily adding more RAM is about as far as 90% of the people who buys machines like this would be interested in doing.
  • timtimes, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It's not gonna be any smaller. It's as small as it needs to be right now. Where do people come up with this crap?
    Enjoy.
  • Purrperl, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0It is going to be a wearable, the form-factor of an iPhone, without the screen.
    It will come with goggles, that will display an image of adjustable opacity.
    You will talk into a bluetooth headset to operate it.
    Data gloves with be another input device for it. Data gloves look like gloves with the fingertips cut off.
    This design lets you easily manipulate things in meatspace.
    To "type", you will learn a system of gestures, as in "Minority Report".

    It might not be this October though. Then again, maybe it will happen this October.
    Please, Mr. Jobs, please?
  • Nitroadict, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Wow, guys I can't wait to buy an even more over-priced lower-end mac than the mini.

    This Just In: Rumor has it the Mac Nano will *still* have no decent graphics card. Darn?
  • TjLAXattack, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1If they re-branded product names to mac, mac nano, then the next product in line would be mac touch? that'd be cool.
    Then, Nike+mac sports kit and the mac classic - which would be an Apple II. And don't forget the mac hi-fi would be speakers for your new mac that would cost $1000+
  • forku, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2I think steve jobs is jerking off to this thread right now, that right FEEEEEED his ego
    • MacParrot, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1You actually spent time thinking about this? Don't worry, someday, some woman will be desperate enough to have sex with you.
  • drogers, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0Sure the mini is small enough, but it's got one thing wrong with it - it's plastic. Apple is moving away from plastic to aluminum because it's greener. I could totally see a new mini in an al case with nice rounded edges (think new ipod classic on it's side), but i doubt they'd call it a nano no matter how small it is.
  • shadowblade989, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1They should call it the Mac yocto instead. Just for originality. (Note, yocto is the metric prefix for 1*10^-24)
    • MacParrot, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Or just save space on the cover and call it the MacTo (mac-tow).
      Domo Arigato Mr MacTo
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