Apple seems to have done as little as it possibly could to qualify as an update to the venerable Mini. Two basic models both include upgrades to the graphics, CPUs, more USB and display ports and new drives.

Looks-wise the diminutive machine looks almost identical to the earlier version but a look at the rear will reveal a fifth USB port, DVI and DisplayPort plugs, Firewire 800 replacing Firewire 400,

Inside we find 2.0GHz or 2.6GHz Core 2 Duos and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics as used in the current MacBooks. Both models come with an 8x SuperDrive, WiFi n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and Gigabyte ethernet. An upgrade combination that could spurr the development of a Mac TV/Mini mashup.

Up to 4GB RAM can be specified hard disc sizes of up to 320GB.

Apple has described the new Mac Mini as “the most energy efficient desktop in the world”, claiming it uses less than 13 watts of power at idle, only one tenth the power of a typical desktop PC.

The two basic versions available are priced at $599 and $799.

For $599 you get

• 1 GByte of ram
• 120 GBytes of hard disk

For $799 you get

• 2 GByte of ram
• 320 GBytes of hard disk

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Apple’s Mac Mini has been neglected for so long that it is now surely due either for an update or death. In the hope that Apple’s entry-level machine is not yet to be confined to history Isamu Sanada has designed a concept that speculates upon a slim-line new Mac Mini that docks with the new range of Apple LED Cinema displays.

The design above is designed to dock with Apple’s new 24-inch LED Cinema displays and comes with:

• One USB port
• A built-in Mini DisplayPort
• A slot-loading media drive

The single USB port is a disappointment considering the current Mini has four and I expect the addition of a clunky USB hub would ruin the slim lines of this setup somewhat.

Photo Gallery

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While the legal battle between Apple and Psystar continues in private the public skirmishing is being fought through press releases. The latest vent from Psystar claims that Apple is taking a passive attitude towards optical technology and emphasize the point Psystar’s latest machines can be ordered with a blu-ray burner.

The Apple-Psystar conflict is now in arbitration but the public spat is no less venomous. Rudy Pedraza, Psystar president has said:

“Blu-ray has already won the format war. Not only is there fully functional and mature support for Blu-ray in other operating systems but you can now rent Blu-ray discs from almost any rental chain. Blu-ray has become pervasive technology that is being widely adopted by consumers everywhere.  Blu-ray is not just for movies. The ability to burn 25-gigabyte discs is a feature that can help users in media editing or enterprise environments keep archives of large file sets. Our systems, regardless of configured operating system, can now provide this functionality”.

True to its word, Psystar now offers a 6x Blu-ray burner as a $310 option on their Open Pro desktop machine. However the company doesn’t say whether full Blu-Ray burning and playback is available as Commercial Blu-Ray playback is not supported in OS X leopard. Some considerable adjustments would have to be made to even mount a DRMed Blu-ray disk on OS X. Burning is fairly straight-forward and even conventional Apple machines can burn Blu-ray disks using Toast 9.

As if that wasn’t enough, Pystar also offer the Nvidia GeForce 9800GT 512MB video card in both single and dual configurations ($200 and $400). Rudy Pedraza reminds us that while the 9800GT is “ubiquitous in today’s PC hardware market” Apple does not offer it.

Apple has never been afraid to ditch technologies that it thinks users shouldn’t have (remember floppy disks, SCSI ?) but there was never a rival company before that would offer Mac-compatible machines with the shunned tech. So, Psystar how about some Firewire-equipped laptops?

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The Apple ‘Brick’ project rumoured to be announced on 14th October may take the form of a new Mac Mini box  redesigned to imitate the larger Mac Pro desktop machines.

The current Mac Mini comes loaded with:

• 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
• 1GB memory
• 120 GB hard drive
• Price: $799

The Photoshop mock up images show the same outputs that come with the current model:

• Mic in
• Audio out
• USB x4
• Firewire x 2
• Screen

A dinky pro as a mini case would be a sexy little idea but the area where the Mac Mini was woefully inadequate was the users ability to expand it.

So I would like to know whether this proposed idea includes a nice flip-down side panel to allow us to upgrade the memory, hard drive and screen card which is rendered a virtual impossibility in the current Mac Mini.

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I’ve never been very enthusiastic about iPod docks since so many of them seem to subscribe to the same design ideas (which is why you’ve never seen one covered on this site). So imagine the delight when my skeptical gaze fell upon the Phonophone II Black edition! It takes on the shape of a Victrola and while there may be other devices with similar looks none of them marry looks and features with such elegance.

You may have to strain you ear to enjoy your favourite tracks as the Phonofone II uses no external power supply relying instead on the power from the docked iPod and the natural ampifying properties of the horn’s convoluted form. This is reputed to develop up to 55 decibels so perhaps classical, blues and folk music will be the best rendered on this machine.

Unfortunately nanos and shuffles won’t work here as they’s not powerful enough but it’s still a great system for your iPhone or iPod touch.

The Tristan Zimmerman design will be limited to only 200 examples at $600 each from Charles & Marie.

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Apple tablet rumours are racing around the net again following a filing by the computer company discovered by AppleInsider. This patent presents several images that depict a mobile internet device with a software keyboard.

As you can see the illustrations cover a number of formats for a mobile/portable device which could run a full-blown version of OS X and incorporate multi-touch gestures as seen on the iPhone, iTouch and recently launched MacBook trackpads.

The question is: Is this a patent to protect a future model or is it just to fence of an area of intellectual property so others cannot exploit it?

The document, dated 15th April 2008 apparently builds on earlier filings from up to two years ago and so appear to contribute to a gradually growing body of protection rather than a lawyer’s sudden brainwave. Dare we imagine an actual product on the horizon?

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Its Mac Tablet rumour season again and this time the source of the rumours seems to be Apple themselves. Mac Daily News is reporting that following a statement from Apple CFO, Peter Oppenheimer, the company may launch a new MacBook Touch in a few months.

Peter was heard to say during Apple’s Q3 2008 Financial Results Conference Call:

“We are working to develop new products that contain technologies that our competition will not be able to match. I cannot discuss these new products, but we are very confident in our product pipeline.”

That may seem like a very vague statement on which to base Mac Tablet predictions but the rumours continue unabated nonetheless.

The new device would see the disappearance of the keyboard and be dominated by a high performance Touch-screen. The dimensions would appear to be similar to current MacBook models and according to the images floating around the internet the iTouch’s accelerometer will make it into the spec as well as GPS.

[Mac Daily News via JPEGradar]

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It’s been rumoured widely for a while now but now it is fact. OS X.5 Leopard will be released just before the end of the month. It’s all been pretty hectic at Apple to acheive this as it’s thought that the final release version was only decided at the weekend.

Apple’s favourite day for press releases is Tuesday and sure enough today a PR from Apple tells us that OS X “Leopard” will ship on Friday 26th October at 6pm. Steve Jobs says:

“Leopard, the sixth major release of Mac OS X, is the best upgrade we’ve ever released. And everyone gets the ‘Ultimate’ version, packed with all the new innovative features, for just £85.”

So having delayed Leopard from June to October in order to facilitate the introduction of the iPhone the Gold Master version finally circulated on Friday evening. That left just ten days to sign off, create the master and duplicate, box and store the copies that will soon ship.

The question is: How many bugs will have to be ironed out for the release of 10.5.1 and how usable with the OS be in the meantime?

I’ve been greatly looking forward to the launch of Leopard but I just might wait until 10.5.1 before I buy.

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