Quote:
Originally Posted by chucker
Well, Apple can't seem to decide whom the Mac mini is for. I wouldn't be shocked at all if they move it downmarket again. Only to move it upmarket again a few years later (and not revise it at all in the meantime).
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No kidding. That's kinda been the approach all this time. It's either been $499 or starting at $699. User upgradeable, or welded shut. Silver or space grey (nd back to silver). Neglected for years,
or included in the opening round of a new chip transition.
I don't think they have the first idea of what to do with the thing either. It kinda shows. It's like this little side project/toy they keep around to amuse themselves. When they're tired of watch or iPad and notebook stuff, they screw around with the Mac mini for run and relaxation.
A shame, because at $499 it would be the end-all/be-all "get 'em in the door" Mac (and/or a ~$800 Air). While Apple will never go "bargain basement blowout" and "cheap", they can't/shouldn't offer all "premium"
either. That closes off too many doors, IMO. Believe it or not, at some point the iPhone (and all the other non-Mac stuff) is going to run its course. Or everyone on the planet will eventually have two of each. Nobody's going to live and die by phones and watches forever. They'll morph and blend and become other things entirely.*
At the end of the day, Apple is still the outfit that makes the Mac. They will live, and die, by that product, IMO. It's different than it used to be, of course. But that's still going to be the one product in their lineup that will never go away, phase out or fall out of favor. I truly believe this.
So I'm happy that they're now rolling their own, to better control/guide that future.
*The iPhone, a decade from now, will be something so different that we probably can't even imagine it (a folding piece of transparent glass...real
Star Trek shit, I'm betting), but the Mac will still be there too. More than ever, IMO. I think we've just seen the tip of the iceberg on this transition.