Who else is pissed at lack of Mac mini update?

MDLarson · #1 January 6th, 2009, 08:17 PM

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Mac_mini

According to MacRumors.com, it's been 518 days since the Mac mini's seen an update. I was ready to buy when an update was rumored the last time around a few months ago (WWDC was it?) and I was definitely ready to buy with Macworld 2009, but once again, I'm left wondering what's going on.

I'm not interested in a laptop and I don't want an iMac and the integrated [glossy] display. The Mac Pro is just out of my price range. And the Mac mini… I use one at work but I would like something that is a little more powerful.

I don't understand why Apple doesn't have a consumer mini-tower (the Mac Pro is considered a professional workstation). I think the demand is there…

Augh, I'm just FRUSTRATED. I don't normally complain about anything, I just want to hear if others are feeling the same.

Satcomer · #2 January 7th, 2009, 11:48 AM

Yes I am. Also Apple should be discounting the current old Mini too.

ElDiabloConCaca · #3 January 7th, 2009, 01:10 PM

I was hoping for an updated Mac mini, or perhaps the melding of the mini and the AppleTV into one unit. I was ready to spend $500 or $600 (possibly more, depending) on one.

But...

I cannot say that the lack of an update to the mini caused me to feel "pissed" or "frustrated" in any way, though. I was hoping, and it didn't happen, and life goes on. It's a computer, and while I feel passionate about them and technological advances and Apple as a whole, the minute they start affecting my emotions in a negative way is the minute I decide I spend too much time around them and that I'm placing disproportionate importance on an inanimate object. My dog chewed my shoes? "Pissed." Can't find which line of code is causing my program to crash? "Frustrated." Investment banker just drove my nest egg into the ground? "Pissed AND frustrated." Hoping for the release of a new computer but it didn't happen? Ambivalent with a smidge of "don't care because it doesn't affect my life."

Apple apparently knows what the hell they're doing. They've got tons of cash, have increased their market share and user base tremendously (in an almost unheard of way), and they've got some of the coolest gear on the planet. I find it funny when people start in with the "Apple should do this..." and "Apple should do that..." spiels. Apple should do exactly what they're doing, and life, career, livelihood and well-being do not hang on an update to one of their computers.

Constructive criticism is always a good thing, but to suggest that Apple should adjust their pricing structure based upon customers' personal opinions is madness. It's a damn good thing that Apple doesn't base their operational and pricing structure off of their customer's opinions, otherwise I think we'd be back in the Gil Amelio age -- where there are a ton of decently-priced clones, a model lineup that would confuse a rocket scientist, and Apple on the brink of utter destruction and bankruptcy. I, personally, prefer the Apple of today -- premium prices, excellent equipment, and a steady flow of innovation.

While I feel that the last Apple keynote at MacWorld could have been more of a "go out with a bang," big freaking deal that it didn't. Big freaking deal that Steve didn't descend from the heavens to say goodbye. Big freaking deal that an hour was spent on a single program with less than a handful of new features: a clear time-waster because of the lack of new hardware to showcase.

That's how I "feel."

Rhisiart · #4 January 7th, 2009, 03:57 PM

Not me. I am pissed (pissed off in Britspeak) with the fact that I can't upgrade my current Mac Mini (memory, HD etc.) without having to send it to an Apple centre by post.

nixgeek · #5 January 7th, 2009, 04:11 PM

Hasn't Apple been updating the hardware way after Macworld in recent years? It seems that they've been doing this lately so that there' not so much focus on that "one more thing."

limike28 · #6 January 7th, 2009, 04:22 PM

I wouldn't say that I am pissed about this. Granted, I was hoping the rumors were on the mark. However, the way I see it there may be reasons. Maybe it wasn't quite ready. Maybe it didn't make the cut for what they could squeeze into the keynote, or if I am really optimistic the mac mini update is going to be sooo amazing it merits it's own press conference. We shall see.

ElDiabloConCaca · #7 January 7th, 2009, 04:26 PM

There's always next Tuesday, and Apple has been known to introduce hardware on semi-random Tuesdays...

MDLarson · #8 January 7th, 2009, 08:36 PM

Well spoken, Diablo. But I think you're deceiving yourself (if only by a little bit perhaps) if you have hopes one day and those hopes are not met the next day, and you don't have any negative emotions. I just don't think it's possible for you to protect yourself from disappointment.

And I do agree with you that when one finds themselves influenced negatively by an inanimate object, you need to take walk away from the thing for a while. The difference is I'm not frustrated at an inanimate object here. I'm frustrated at the product managers at Apple who have put the Mac mini (and the entire idea of a low-cost headless Mac) on the back burner. As good as Apple is doing now, they could be doing better by paying attention to potential buyers like me.

Anyway, I don't want this to be a big psychological discussion. I'm just tired of Apple continuing to neglect a long-neglected segment of the product line. The reason it upsets me is because it affects me.