AppleInsider Staff
Brian Tong of CNet wrote on his official Twitter account on Sunday that "all new" next-generation Mac Pros and Mac Minis will launch "either end of July (or) first week of August."
He then followed up with a second post, in which he said that August is "more likely." He also suggested that Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt would appear on both machines, as expected, though he added that "no details for specs or configurations were given."
Tong in March correctly pointed to the launch of new iMacs, also with Thunderbolt ports and Sandy Bridge processors. He said the updated all-in-one desktops would arrive by early May, and they went on sale right on schedule.
The Mac Pro was last updated in late July of 2010. The tower was upgraded to 12 processing cores with Intel Xeon processors, making them up to 50 percent faster than their predecessors.
Just a month before, a redesigned Mac mini was released in June adding an HDMI port for easy connectivity to a high-definition television. The Mac mini also sports a built-in SD card slot for grabbing photos and videos from a digital camera, all in a size just 7.7 inches square and 1.4 inches thin starting at $699.
The MacBook Air is also expected to receive an upgrade in the near future to be outfitted with Sandy Bridge processors and a Thunderbolt port. Last week, AppleInsider exclusively reported that Apple is expected to hold off on releasing any new Mac hardware until its next-generation operating system, Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, goes on sale in July.
Marko Zivkovic
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
Andrew O'Hara
131 Comments
Great. I've been waiting for an updated mini for months.
My current Mac Pro is great at a lot of things, but the 667 MHz Bus and Memory are killing me. It's also unable to boot into the 64-bit kernel, though it handles all the 64-bit apps well. My 30" Cinema Display is still going strong and I see no sense in replacing it. That all said, this new Mac Pro might just entice me to upgrade. I just don't know if I'm willing to part with that kind of money for a computer that I only use at home. I never thought I'd get to the point where my current Mac was actually good enough to handle everything I needed without being slow. There's no way I'd ever downgrade to a Mac Mini, and the iMac includes a screen when I already have the 30". I'm stuck.
It would depend on the Mac Mini. It's probably too much to hope for but here's my wish list:
1) Core i7 (mobile version)
2) up to 16 GB RAM (4x4GB SODIMM)
3) Thunderbolt AND USB3.0 (need at least USB2.0 of course, for my mouse/keyboard)
4) Radeon 6000 series mobile GPU, preferably as an MXM module that's upgradeable later
Of course since I'm wishing here I might as well add a pony to the list ... :-)
It would depend on the Mac Mini. It's probably too much to hope for but here's my wish list:
1) Core i7 (mobile version)
2) up to 16 GB RAM (4x4GB SODIMM)
3) Thunderbolt AND USB3.0 (need at least USB2.0 of course, for my mouse/keyboard)
4) Radeon 6000 series mobile GPU, preferably as an MXM module that's upgradeable later
Of course since I'm wishing here I might as well add a pony to the list ... :-)
I'd love that too, but the actual specs will likely be
1) Core i7 (mobile version)
2) 4GB RAM (upgradeable to 8GB)
3) TB and USB 2.0 (No USB 3.0 support until Ivy Bridge, which I don't believe will be out by then, but shouldn't matter since you can plug a USB 3.0 hub into the Thunderbolt port if you need USB 3.0)
4) Only gonna get the HD 3000 that comes with the i7. The Mini doesn't have the thermal design to handle a dedicated GPU. If Apple added a Mini with any kind of GPU comparable to the iMac I would jump on it in a heartbeat, but unless Apple makes the Mini bigger so it can handle the heat (which Jobs will never allow), then we're out of luck.
And no pony, only a miniature horse
Last week, AppleInsider exclusively reported that Apple is expected to hold off on releasing any new Mac hardware until its next-generation operating system, Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, goes on sale in July.
Do you know what it means to "exclusively report"? It means that you are the only one reporting that. This information was widely reported, so obviously it does not fit the "exclusive" category. AI has put this in many articles lately and it is getting a little old. That is my exclusive comment on this matter.
About the updates - these would be welcome updates. I would like to consider the purchase of a mini, but I am not sure it has hit the right price point for what I need. Although coupling it with Lion and the server add-ons would make for a great little system.