Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Feb. 28 Apple Announcements - eh.
The new Mac mini is far superior to the old one, no doubt about it - faster CPU, faster RAM, faster hard drive (sort of - it's 5400rpm SATA, as compared to 4200 or 5400rpm parallel ATA), and that apparently all-important extra USB port (why exactly is everyone so happy about that? I mean, it's nice and all, but really folks, get a grip...).
And yet... the magical $499 entry point is gone. The mini now starts at $599, thanks no doubt to the high price of the Intel Core CPU, which apparently costs Apple something upward of $200, as compared to the Freescale G4 it replaces, which these days reportedly comes in at under $100 when bought in bulk.
For your $599, you get only a single core CPU, and not a speed demon at that - a 1.5GHz Core Solo. You also get the infamous "integrated graphics" chip, which steals a minimum of 16 percent of your system RAM (80MB of the stock 512MB). Interestingly enough, this shared RAM setup hasn't existed in a Mac since the first days of the last major transition, when the Power Mac 6100/7100/8100 came out.
In more recent years, this sort of arrangement has been the Achilles' Heel of the PC world, the dealbreaker for gamers, the thing (along with craptastic design and cheap components) that has allowed the beige box makers to undercut Apple at the super low end. It's what has allowed us Mac Jedi to dismiss that segment of the price spectrum as fake and not worth buying anyway.
And now, folks, we've got exactly the same setup in the mini. Combine that with the price premium caused by the Intel Core CPU, and we're in a rather ironic situation - the move to Intel has made the Mac arguably less price-competitive with PCs instead of more competitive.
But of course, you will object that this new mini is still far superior. And you will be correct. Even comparing, ahem, Apples to Apples, the new $599 configuration is still a good deal compared to the previous $599 model - as long as you're willing to give up 20GB of hard drive capacity and DVD-burning capability (each of which, fortunately, can be regained now by selecting them as custom upgrade options for $50, which is indeed a reasonable price, especially for the SuperDrive).
Which brings us to the real issue: these minis are better than the old ones only because the old ones were so embarrassingly underpowered. A 125MHz G4 and a 4200rpm hard drive? Without the assistance of a time machine, you simply can't build a computer any slower than that these days. Anything new inevitably is going to be noticeably faster.
But don't delude yourself - it's not going to be 4X faster as Apple claims. To get that bump - which itself doesn't apply across the board - you've got to shell out $799, whereas to get the old G4 machine agsint which Apple's making its comparisons, you had to pay only $599. (The previous top-line mini was $699, but its performance was no better than the $599 model.)
Contrast this with the MacBook Pro. You get the same specs with only minor variations - no dual-layer DVD burner or FW800 port on the one hand, built-in iSight and MagSafe power connector on the other hand - FOR THE SAME PRICE. You get a full-on Core Duo, not a Core Solo, and faster RAM, and the price of admission is the same.
Not so with the poor mini.
Whatever voodoo Steve has used on Paul Otellini, he should kick it into overdrive so he can start sourcing Core Solos at a price that will allow for a return of the $499 mini, and for a $699 Core Duo equipped mini at the high end.
Until then, I say the mini is good, but not great.
And as for the new iPod HiFi, all I can say is this: yawn. If you can get any decent stereo separation or imaging with that unit, or if you can get truly clean bass out of it, I'll eat my proverbial hat.
And yet... the magical $499 entry point is gone. The mini now starts at $599, thanks no doubt to the high price of the Intel Core CPU, which apparently costs Apple something upward of $200, as compared to the Freescale G4 it replaces, which these days reportedly comes in at under $100 when bought in bulk.
For your $599, you get only a single core CPU, and not a speed demon at that - a 1.5GHz Core Solo. You also get the infamous "integrated graphics" chip, which steals a minimum of 16 percent of your system RAM (80MB of the stock 512MB). Interestingly enough, this shared RAM setup hasn't existed in a Mac since the first days of the last major transition, when the Power Mac 6100/7100/8100 came out.
In more recent years, this sort of arrangement has been the Achilles' Heel of the PC world, the dealbreaker for gamers, the thing (along with craptastic design and cheap components) that has allowed the beige box makers to undercut Apple at the super low end. It's what has allowed us Mac Jedi to dismiss that segment of the price spectrum as fake and not worth buying anyway.
And now, folks, we've got exactly the same setup in the mini. Combine that with the price premium caused by the Intel Core CPU, and we're in a rather ironic situation - the move to Intel has made the Mac arguably less price-competitive with PCs instead of more competitive.
But of course, you will object that this new mini is still far superior. And you will be correct. Even comparing, ahem, Apples to Apples, the new $599 configuration is still a good deal compared to the previous $599 model - as long as you're willing to give up 20GB of hard drive capacity and DVD-burning capability (each of which, fortunately, can be regained now by selecting them as custom upgrade options for $50, which is indeed a reasonable price, especially for the SuperDrive).
Which brings us to the real issue: these minis are better than the old ones only because the old ones were so embarrassingly underpowered. A 125MHz G4 and a 4200rpm hard drive? Without the assistance of a time machine, you simply can't build a computer any slower than that these days. Anything new inevitably is going to be noticeably faster.
But don't delude yourself - it's not going to be 4X faster as Apple claims. To get that bump - which itself doesn't apply across the board - you've got to shell out $799, whereas to get the old G4 machine agsint which Apple's making its comparisons, you had to pay only $599. (The previous top-line mini was $699, but its performance was no better than the $599 model.)
Contrast this with the MacBook Pro. You get the same specs with only minor variations - no dual-layer DVD burner or FW800 port on the one hand, built-in iSight and MagSafe power connector on the other hand - FOR THE SAME PRICE. You get a full-on Core Duo, not a Core Solo, and faster RAM, and the price of admission is the same.
Not so with the poor mini.
Whatever voodoo Steve has used on Paul Otellini, he should kick it into overdrive so he can start sourcing Core Solos at a price that will allow for a return of the $499 mini, and for a $699 Core Duo equipped mini at the high end.
Until then, I say the mini is good, but not great.
And as for the new iPod HiFi, all I can say is this: yawn. If you can get any decent stereo separation or imaging with that unit, or if you can get truly clean bass out of it, I'll eat my proverbial hat.
