Some months ago, the Internet was abuzz with the news that Apple had killed the Mac mini. Except that Apple hadn’t — the littlest Mac was still on sale, even if it’s tech was starting to look a bit long in the tooth. The site that started the rumor, AppleInsider, posted a comment stating full confidence that the Mac mini was going to kick any second.
Except it hasn’t — Apple quietly updated the product to current Core2 Duo processors. You can even get a Mac mini with a 2Ghz chip, which seems pretty far from a DOA product. Despite abundant evidence that the Mac mini has been a consistent seller for Apple, and that the line won’t get killed any more than today’s new iMacs “killed” the product line they replaced, AppleInsider still claims that the Mac mini will die real soon now.
While AppleInsider remains confident that Apple ultimately intends to phase out the diminutive Mac, the Cupertino-based firm quietly updated existing models with faster processors on Tuesday.
Well, of course Apple will ultimately phase out the Mac mini. But it won’t be a sudden pulling of the plug on a laggard product line. It will be the gentle retirement of a successful run of years. They’re flailing for hype. Nothing to see here.
Pete Mortensen is a design strategist for consulting firm Jump Associates and the co-author of Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy, a book and blog that are significantly more interesting than you might initially think. Pete’s particular Apple avocations are both around design–interface and industrial. Follow him on Twitter!
12 responses to “AppleInsider Won’t Admit That the Mac Mini Is Alive and Well”
I really don’t get why AppleInsider is in such a rush to claim that the Mac Mini is dead. It’s still a great platform, an incredibly hackable Mac (moreso than any of the others, in many ways!) and still a great, affordable little computer with a lot of bang for your buck. I think it’s still selling well, to say the least. Until AppleInsider can prove that sales of the Mac Mini are going down the tubes, I’m skeptical. Just because a product doesn’t get a ton of press attention doesn’t mean it’s a failure, contrary to a lot of popular opinion. If that were the case, the Mac Pro would be dead in the water, now wouldn’t it? When’s the last time we heard anything about it?
I have an old G4 sawtooth , a g4 mac mini and a now old intel imac 24,(plus several others in my collection) and to me the the coolest is the mac mini i can mount in my car using my portable dvd player as a screen use my mobile phone as a modem, pop it in my pocket or two with the psu and go to a friends house and huck it up his hd lcd tv long live the mac mini . I may even upgrade, kill it , no chance, Mac mini tv is the answer now thats what i would like to see as a apple product, there are products out in the apple range which seem to able to be evole from the humble begins and can be traced back to SE/30 and before days , years down the line the all in one Mac be it Mactv , Bondi Blue imac or 24 inch monster mac it all has place just like the mac mini
Maybe they’ll replace it with the Mac Nano. ;)
phoenix: AppleInsider doesn’t hate the mini, they just report that Steve Jobs hates it…and that their sources say that the mini is doomed.
From the original article, note that they say that the mini might stick around awhile, and might also be revised (as it has and has been).
So whether they are right will depend on the next few months, as the claim was not that the mini would die ‘sometime’ but in 2007 as their tombstone graphic makes clear.
I hope apple keeps the mini around, I like it too. I’d like the ‘plain mac’ or ‘xMac’ as well, for the record.
But I’m not the iCEO…
the mini will never die. neither did the cube. anyone know the fastest board i can put in. i know someone did a 2.16, are there higher ones?
I hope the Mini stays around. I don’t use one but I’ve been intrigued by it’s use in some very unique situations where a computer with a larger form factor would be awkward or inelegant. I’ve seen it used in performance art works and factories. As a DJ I expect to recommend it to a client who wants to incorporate more visuals into their house system. Long live the mini.