Sam OliverTUAW is citing its own sources who say the new models will sport a revised enclosure that more closely conforms to materials used throughout the better part of Apple's product line, namely aluminum and black plastic. Legacy Mac minis have employed a mixture of grey and white plastic.
The report also corroborate some details published by AppleInsider in October regarding a move towards SATA optical drives and hard drives. It was reported that this change would be accompanied by build-to-order options that will allow customers to swap out the optical drive for a second hard drive — a move that will cater those who intent to use the systems as mini servers.
Other expected changes have included a move towards NVIDIA chipsets, the addition of a Mini DisplayPort, and the ability of the diminutive desktops to address 4GB of RAM, up from the 2GB maximum of today's models.
For what it's worth, AppleInsider has also received a couple of reliable reports in recent weeks that suggest the long-awaited Mac mini makeover is slated to arrive at next week's trade show. We've been following the Mac mini story for some time. Earlier reports on the matter can be reviewed below:
Eating our words: Apple's Mac mini to rock on
Apple Enterprise sending thousands of Macs into hotels, cruise ships
Informed players say Apple's Mac mini still kickin'
Apple tells Mac mini fan to hang in there
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
92 Comments
I'm going to wager that Apple won't announce anything at this expo. Perhaps some simple upgrades to existing lines if anything.
Why not just make a little bigger for a real HD... A second HD and the optical drive... $2700+ is too much for such a configuration.
As much as I think it makes sense to go with a 3.5" HDD and the slightly larger aTV / TimeCapsule footprint, the option of configuring for two HDDs suggests that they are going to stay with laptop 2.5" drives.
I'm going to wager that Apple won't announce anything at this expo. Perhaps some simple upgrades to existing lines if anything.
I'm going to wager that this will be one of the best MacWorld Keynotes to date. Apple will go out with a bang!
I've been waiting for this for a long time. I will be buying one strictly for my tv. I will be shutting off my DirectTV (they should go into the business of knocking over banks), and getting a BLACK (HELL YAH) mac mini to match my entertainment center. I'm stoked and can't wait. Now all they need is blu-ray compatibility in them to make them a bitching entertainment center piece.