by Cory Elsmore | Twitter.com/thefndtn
On June 15th Apple released an updated Mac mini. The new machine is a thing of beauty. It is even smaller than the old mini. The entire box is only 1.4 inches tall, The machine sports a unibody enclosure. Rounding out the new hardware offering is more power, an SD card reader, and an HDMI port.
The new machine comes in desktop and server flavors, which has been typical of the Mac mini line as of late. Starting at $699, the desktop offering sports a 2.4GHz Intel Core2Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, a superdrive, and a 320GB hard drive. The server model comes without the superdrive, has a 2.66GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, and two 500GB hard drives. The server model is $999.
A huge improvement over previous models of the mini is that the power supply is now built into the unit. Previous models had a bulky power brick required to power the machine. It’s amazing that not only has Apple reduced the size of the mini, it’s put more of its components in the box itself.
Along with the integrated power supply, the HDMI port makes this unit the perfect companion for your HDTV. It will output up to the full 1080p resolution of the high-end HDTVs. Sound output, unfortunately, cannot be hooked up in full surround sound. Output is accomplished via a standard 3.5mm jack. Hopefully this is altered with future versions of the mini, as many of the competing media center PCs offer surround sound support.
All things considered, the new Mac mini is a very nice offering. The super compact size and reasonably powerful system make it a perfect living room computer. For anyone looking for a simple machine to handle basic computing tasks, or for a way to get Hulu playing on their television, the Mac mini is a great choice.
