beating the horse

For the past few weeks Apple has been advertising their new iMac line, and with rumors of Mac OS X: Leopard (10.5.x) coming out soon, they are making some major headlines in the Alt-OS circuit.

But there is one Apple product that has been overlooked, the one item from Apple that I've never been able to understand or truly endorse: the Mac Mini. At the announcement earlier this month, Apple, Inc. announced the upgraded Mac Mini, which is, (IMHO) a total joke. It's got the Core 2 processor now, instead of the Core/Solo processor. It also have a few minor changes, but it is still the slower of the Mac series, starting off at 1.83 Ghz with a Combo (no DVD burning) drive, I believe it is the only Mac still available without a Super (DVD burner) drive.

And then there is the logic behind it:
FOR: The computer makes a great home theater PC
AGAINST: Since replaced with the Apple TV
FOR: It's small profile allows it to fit easily onto one's desk
AGAINST: the iMac does this as well, and going with small form factor, the MacBook/MacBook Pro function in the exact same way a mini does, plus they have the ability to be uber-mobile.
FOR: It's a great entry-level desktop-mac for those of us who want more than a MacBook/iMac but less than a Mac Pro
AGAINST: unfortunately, it's slower and less-functional than the MacBook/MBP... Which makes me wonder WHY does Apple still sell them?

I can only gather that there is enough of a niche market out there for them... But with Apple being in itself a niche market for computers, it's odd that they would cater to a further declining area.

The biggest selling point of the Mac Mini is the price, starting at $599, it happens to be the cheapest Mac available, however one should note that this configuration doesn't come with the DVD burner nor does it come with a monitor, both aspects are standard features of all of Apple's computers, save for the Mac Pro, which doesn't come with a monitor in the default configuration.

The biggest thing against the MacMini, of which I can only hope they've improved in this new version, is the horrendous upgradeability of the unit... Popping the case requires the use of one of three tools: an "Apple specialized" tool to open the case, a putty knife, or a lot of wire -- all operations require a decent bit of time and patience to actually "crack" the case. The design could not have been more horrid! It is so difficult, that there actually isn't a single user-serviceable internal part on the unit; even the MacBook and MBP can have their RAM and HDD upgraded by the home user.

Apple, this horse is dead... It's time to put it to rest.