Mac Mini Making A Comeback At MacWorld Expo?

Sometimes the dead just won’t stay dead. Not a zombie flick I’m afraid, but rather a sordid tale of a piece of technology that appeared to have fallen off the face of the earth, now rumored to possibly be making a comeback, the Mac Mini.

This rumor comes after a long history of Apple products failing to meet their market niche and fading away. Some continue on in obscurity not truly finding the foothold it needs, but hangs on by a tiny thread of life. Recent memory brings to mind the Apple Cube, the toaster sized computer that was a perfectly symmetrical square. Unique in design, but faulty in execution. Apple released this product as an attempt to shrink the standard sized desktop computer by utilizing and compact streamlined design with slot loading CD/DVD slot on the sides, almost like a toaster. The design was noted as overheating, troublesome, and experienced problems with the hardware. Without any major announcement support for the product slowly faded away, and without notice came off the market.

Fast forward several years later with the release of the Mac Mini, an apparently 2nd attempt at the idea of a reduced desktop unit to save space and minimize clutter. The Mac Mini entered as an affordable computer, sans a monitor, but capable of producing quality output despite its diminutive build. I personally favored this new design, and felt that the 2nd attempt was a much more successful outing, but once again, lack of support curiously left it in the shadows and little was said or mentioned about the product leaving many to think that it was falling off the line.

Then, more recently, comes the Apple TV. Another amazing product looking at integrating users online experience and integrating into their living room lifestyle in the way of set top box. Using the ability to stream content from the computer to the unit, fans were able to watch their content on a regular TV from their computer or their iPod. The idea was innovative, and attached itself to the increasing popularity of the iTunes store. With little more than firmware upgrades, many thought that Apple was going to pull their support of the Apple TV after only a few years. This idea was quickly re-evaluated when an announcement was made that massive upgrades to the Apple TV would be made.

Still that left the Mac Mini in the long forgotten shadows until now. According to AppleInsider and MacRumors, Apple is rumored to be making massive upgrades to its mini units much to the glee of all the mini owners. Coming from a trusted Apple employee, the source shares that the mac mini is going to receive an upgrade into the 21st century, with three significant changes:

• The inclusion of a Mini DisplayPort, which is becoming standard across all of Apple’s products
• Ability for mainboard chipset to recognize more than 3 GB of RAM
• Allowing users to replace the optical drive with a larger hard drive of their choice, a rather aggressive move for Apple with it’s known control of their proprietary hardware

Any or all of these could come to pass, but for now they are strictly rumors. Looking over the list above, the first is almost a for sure due to the fact that Apple has made the promise of this transition for all of it’s Mac lineup, both latop and desktop systems. The second would be easy to fix simply because it’s been just over 2 years since the last Mac Mini upgrade, and replace the 2 year old equipment would make room for advances in board technology that would allow it to surpass it’s previous limitations.

Finally, the last option allowing users to make their own personal adjustments to hardware would be a huge surprise. In the past Apple has maintained strict control over its hardware and software markets. This control has limited users, professionals and enthusiasts alike, from making their own adjustments and upgrades, and depending on Apple to provide replacements. Those of us more savvy with replacements are able to make our own changes, but by allowing anyone to make these changes flies in the face of everything Apple has done in the past. Are they ready to take that step?

I’m curious to see if the Mac Mini does indeed receive any press at the upcoming MacWorld Expo. I would consider making a purchase if the price was right and the appropriate upgrades were made. Suffice to say, right now anything can happen. Any or none of the above could happen, but then again, items not rumored could also be shared at the Expo. I’m sure all of us Apple supporters will be anxious to see what Steve Jobs will announce at this highly anticipated yearly event.

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Tags: apple Mac Mini Macworld Conference & Expo MacWorld Expo