Image courtesy of GeekyGadgets
By now you have likely heard that Apple did a refresh on the Mac Mini, greatly overhauling the internal and external hardware and enhancing the overall specifications … and the price. The basics are as expected – more or less a copy of the 13″ Macbook Pro with more desktop-like set of connectors. The big new features include the addition of a HDMI port, upgrade of the graphics chip, and the sleek new look.
Here are some details:
Most notable is the new aluminum unibody enclosure, which stands just 1.4″ tall and features an easy-to-access memory panel. Other new features include an HDMI output, NVIDIA GeForce 320M on-board graphics, and Secure Digital card slot.
The base Apple Mac mini costs $699 and features an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz dual-core processor, 2GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, SuperDrive, AirPort Extreme (802.11a/n wireless), Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, Gigabit Ethernet, and OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.
I loved the look and basic feature set, and since my 2008 15″ Macbook Pro is pretty much stationary these days I thought about grabbing one of these and passing along the MBP.
Then I started looking at the price! It felt like car shopping – I started out at $600 but by the time my configuration was done I had topped $2000!
OK, just for comparison sake I tried the same thing with a 13″ Macbook Pro and an iMac 27″. So let me break down how I compared:
Base 13″ Macbook Pro
- 13.3″ screen
- 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo
- 4GB RAM
- 320GB Hard Disk
- Integrated nVidia 320 graphics with 256MB shared memory
- Slot-loading 8x Superdrive
- Integrated mouse and keyboard
- No other options
- Price: $1249
Base 21.5″ iMac
- 21.5″ screen
- 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo
- 4GB RAM
- 500GB Hard Disk
- Integrated nVidia 9400M graphics with 256MB shared memory
- Slot-loading 8x Superdrive
- Included Magic Mouse and wireless keyboard
- No other options
- Price: $1199
Base 27″ iMac
- 27″ screen
- 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo
- 4GB RAM
- 1TB (1000GB) Hard Disk
- ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics with 256MB of GDDR3 memory
- Slot-loading 8x Superdrive
- Included Magic Mouse and wireless keyboard
- No other options
- Price: $1699
Base Mac Mini
- No screen *
- 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo
- 4GB RAM
- 320GB Hard Disk
- Integrated nVidia 320 graphics with 256MB shared memory
- Slot-loading 8x Superdrive
- Added Magic Mouse and wireless keyboard
- No other options
- Price: $937
* Adding the cheapest Apple monitor raises the price of the Mac Mini to almost $1850!
So for $150 less than a Mac mini with a 24″ monitor you can get a 27″ iMac with more storage, a more powerful processor and a MUCH better graphics solution. Perhaps the better comparison is with the 13″ Macbook Pro, since you are getting nearly the same computer, and could add a 3rd party 22″ widescreen monitor – even one with HDMI – for less than the $300 price difference. And if you already have Bluetooth peripherals then you save even more – removing them from the above configuration drops it to $799.
Still I have to ask – am I alone in thinking that the Mac Mini, the system Apple seems to be pushing as a budget system, is even more of a ’boutique PC’ than their other offerings? Was I misguided thinking there was a solid value proposition choosing the Mac Mini over a Macbook Pro?
What do you think? Do you have a Mac Mini or plan to get one? How do you feel the value compares to other Apple offerings?