Games - Mac mini

	Games - Mac mini

The Mac mini is an Apple Macintosh desktop personal computer designed and marketed by Apple Computer. It is designed to attract owners of Windows computers, iPods, older Macintosh models, and anyone interested in a low budget, easy-to-use personal computer. It was announced at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 11, 2005. Two models of the Mac mini were released in the US on January 22, 2005 (January 29 worldwide). Slightly updated versions were released on July 26, 2005. Updated models with Intel Core processors were released on February 28, 2006.

Introduction

The original Mac mini was announced at the same time as the iPod shuffle. Both are scaled-down products which have been introduced at lower price points. These two products together can be seen as a conscious effort on the part of Apple management to target a lower-end market and increase visibility in the mass-market.

Overview

The Mac mini is distinctive in its extremely small size and form factor, and in the fact that the computer comes without a display, keyboard, or mouse. (The tagline is "BYODKM - Bring your own display, keyboard and mouse".) Many potential users have already invested in mice and keyboards (compatible with the cross-platform USB standard), and displays, all of which they can attach to the mini or share using a KVM switch. The Mac mini measures 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) wide, 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) deep, and 2 inches (5.1 cm) tall, and is the smallest Macintosh desktop computer ever produced. It weighs 2.9 pounds (1.32 kg) and it was advertised as being easily portable (similar in concept to the Nintendo GameCube), being able to be picked up and moved easily throughout the house. Soon after the introduction of the Mac mini, Apple lowered the price of their keyboards and mice, as the Mac Mini does not come with either of them.

The Mac mini ships with Apple's Mac OS X operating system preinstalled, and also includes software such as the Safari web browser and the iLife suite of Apple-designed multimedia programs to create and manage videos, music, photos and DVDs. Intel Mac minis also come with Front Row, a media-oriented graphical user interface (GUI).

With iLife and the optional SuperDrive, the Mac mini makes for a compact media editor/player.

Specifications

Mac mini (G4)

January–July 2005

Two models were originally announced on January 11, 2005 at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco:

1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 processor, 256 MiB RAM, and 40 GB hard drive, for US$499 (€489 in the Eurozone, £339 in the UK, CDN$629) (Model # M9686LL/A)
1.42 GHz PowerPC G4 processor, 256 MiB RAM, and 80 GB hard drive, for US$599 (€589 in the Eurozone, £399 in the UK, CDN$899) (Model # M9687LL/A)

The main complaint with the original Mac mini was the lack of RAM in the low-end version, since 256 MiB was considered insufficient for Mac OS X and its applications.

July–October 2005

As of July 26, 2005, all models included:

512 MiB PC2700 (PC3200 also supported at PC2700 speeds) Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM)
ATI Radeon 9200 graphics card with DVI and VGA output (DVI to VGA adapter supplied) and 32 MiB (non-upgradable) video RAM
Two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire
400 port
10/100 Ethernet
Built-in speaker and headphone/line-out jack

The 1.25 GHz model (M9686LL/B at US$499) included:

Slot-loading CD-RW/DVD Combo drive
40 GB hard drive
V.92 56 kbit/s modem

The 1.42 GHz model (M9687LL/B at US$599) included:

Slot-loading CD-RW/DVD Combo drive
80 GB hard drive
A dual purpose card for AirPort Extreme
wireless network interface and an internal Bluetooth adapter

The 1.42 GHz model could also be purchased with a slot-loading CD-RW/DVD±RW SuperDrive for US$699 (M9971LL/B).

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Mac mini ]