[defaultmike]

I stumbled upon this today, while talking to a friend, who has a friend... ( i know, i know).

He started telling me about the special edition computers that Apple gives (or sells) only to Apple employees. From what I understood, there were two categories.

1) Prototypes that they´d give out for employees to test (apple pdas, tablets, and souped up computers). Out of this category, the one that stood out the most was the TiBook Dual, apparently a Dual processor TiBook that Apple tried to release (I guess to make up for the aging G4 processor), but that was a complete failure.

2) Special Edition Macs. I´m not talking about the 20th Anniversary Mac, or the U2 iPod. I´m talking about things like the 20gb iPod mini (which my friend says he has, but since we rarely go out anymore, I have yet to see). He mentioned 2 that he was aware of. These are basically souped up versions of their current computers. Versions that are maxed out with larger HDDs (but like the iPod Mini, with a larger HDD than you can buy), faster processors, etc.

Personally, I believe in him. But what I´d like to know is if any of you had heard about this?

[chucker]

There's no 20 GB iPod mini. The largest currently possible would be 12 Gigabytes; larger 1-inch drives do not exist.

[defaultmike]

there´s no 20Gb iPod mini commercially available...

you do realize however that these companies develop and test their hardware years in advance right? R&D

Well, I do realize that most people here don´t really know about this kind of stuff. Or at least I would think so. I mean, I didn´t know about this til today. That´s why I´m asking this. I wanna know if there´s any more info on these special edition apple products.

[rollercoaster375]

Originally Posted by defaultmike there´s no 20Gb iPod mini commercially available... you do realize however that these companies develop and test their hardware years in advance right? R&D Well, I do realize that most people here don´t really know about this kind of stuff. Or at least I would think so. I mean, I didn´t know about this til today. That´s why I´m asking this. I wanna know if there´s any more info on these special edition apple products.

Apple doesn't make the Hard drives... They can't test a product they don't make.

[chucker]

There's simply no 20 GB hard drive in the necessary form factor, so unless you're talking about a significantly bigger iPod mini (in which case it's difficult to call it "mini"), it's simply not possible. 8 GB, sure. 10 GB, maybe. 12 GB, unlikely, since the drive for that has been announced just a short while ago. But 20? No.

[morningstarrising]

Wouldn't be surprize if there is a 20gb iPod that looks like a mini...

[Mac Donald]

Originally Posted by morningstarrising Wouldn't be surprize if there is a 20gb iPod that looks like a mini...

Yeah, it's probably just a fourth gen iPod with an aluminum case.

[Mac Donald]

Originally Posted by chucker There's no 20 GB iPod mini. The largest currently possible would be 12 Gigabytes; larger 1-inch drives do not exist.

Yup, and that capacity was just released, like, today. It's possible that Toshiba or someone has tested a one-inch drive with 20 gigs, but no way Apple could have gotten their hands on one. . ..

[chucker]

Originally Posted by Mac Donald Yeah, it's probably just a fourth gen iPod with an aluminum case.

Or maybe defaultmike's "friend" was just full of shit.

Hmm... whom to believe.

[defaultmike]

well rollercoaster, that´s what my friend just told me. how apple only uses existing products. He said the 20Gb harddrive on his iPod Mini was a Micro Drive. He said he got it 6months ago, but I haven´t seen it, so I wont go into any further detail about this, that is, until I do see it. He also mentioned just now a 4Gb shuffle and a 100gb iPod Video... but let´s leave this aside for now.

He doesn´t give me too much info on MSN, but he did mention that it wasn´t a secret, it´s just that these are simply Apple´s testing units that they give out to employees, so, I´ll just go ahead and tell you why I´m so interested in this.

This guy manages to acquire apple hardware and bring it to Brazil without having to pay the ridiculous fees that customs charges. I can´t go into much detail about how he got ahold of this one, but he did get two special edition MacBook Pros.

He had told me even before today´s update that it would feature the fastest Core Duo. he also told me that it would have a 200Gb hard drive. As I mentioned in a thread at purchasing advice.

I arranged with him to exchange my Dual 2.0 rev A G5 with him for one of these babies. He even said that the MacBook Pro+ will come with bluetooth keyboard and mouse (in the box).

Of course I´m not stupid enough to give him my G5 until I have my hands on the MacBook Pro and have tested it. But then again, the fact that we had arranged to exchange the G5 for the top of the line MacBook Pro, and then asked me if I wanted him to give me this "bonus upgrade", as well as the fact that he told me to hold on to the G5 until I got the macBook pro kinda gives him some credit from where I stand.

and don´t worry, in case I get the MacBook Pro+, I won´t post pictures here... I´ll post a link to a video, so that you´ll be sure that they aren´t photoshoped or anything.

Regardless, if he is full of shit, and simply get me a top of the line MacBook Pro with 2.0 GHz and a 100Gb hard drive... I´ll still be happy! I´ll be a bit humiliated here at Applenova, but I´ll be happy with my new laptop :P

see, it´s a win-win situation! :P

[World Leader Pretend]

Um... I'm an Apple Employee and I have a really cool tablet that I'm not suppost to talk about... err.. here it is in my basement:



AND NO it isn't photoshop'd at all! It's the real thing!


I actually do believe defaultmike, it really isn't all that hard to give employees like me and Mike's friend advanced or defunct releases of products for R&D.

[Robo]

Except that a 20GB mini-sized drive doesn't exist...

[Brave Ulysses]

Originally Posted by defaultmike well rollercoaster, that´s what my friend just told me. how apple only uses existing products. He said the 20Gb harddrive on his iPod Mini was a Micro Drive. He said he got it 6months ago, but I haven´t seen it, so I wont go into any further detail about this, that is, until I do see it. He also mentioned just now a 4Gb shuffle and a 100gb iPod Video... but let´s leave this aside for now. He doesn´t give me too much info on MSN, but he did mention that it wasn´t a secret, it´s just that these are simply Apple´s testing units that they give out to employees, so, I´ll just go ahead and tell you why I´m so interested in this. This guy manages to acquire apple hardware and bring it to Brazil without having to pay the ridiculous fees that customs charges. I can´t go into much detail about how he got ahold of this one, but he did get two special edition MacBook Pros. He had told me even before today´s update that it would feature the fastest Core Duo. he also told me that it would have a 200Gb hard drive. As I mentioned in a thread at purchasing advice. I arranged with him to exchange my Dual 2.0 rev A G5 with him for one of these babies. He even said that the MacBook Pro+ will come with bluetooth keyboard and mouse (in the box). Of course I´m not stupid enough to give him my G5 until I have my hands on the MacBook Pro and have tested it. But then again, the fact that we had arranged to exchange the G5 for the top of the line MacBook Pro, and then asked me if I wanted him to give me this "bonus upgrade", as well as the fact that he told me to hold on to the G5 until I got the macBook pro kinda gives him some credit from where I stand. and don´t worry, in case I get the MacBook Pro+, I won´t post pictures here... I´ll post a link to a video, so that you´ll be sure that they aren´t photoshoped or anything. Regardless, if he is full of shit, and simply get me a top of the line MacBook Pro with 2.0 GHz and a 100Gb hard drive... I´ll still be happy! I´ll be a bit humiliated here at Applenova, but I´ll be happy with my new laptop :P see, it´s a win-win situation! :P

I'm really hoping you can't be this gullible

[trevo]

Originally Posted by Roboman Except that a 20GB mini-sized drive doesn't exist...

defaultmike's friend comes from the future duh

[Ghost2]

Hitachi does have a 20gb 1" drive though it is not in mass production yet. Link to the article http://www.gizmag.com/go/3909/

[defaultmike]

is it that difficult to believe that apple would be able to do the same thing that Archos did with their XS200 way back in October 2004? By that I mean fitting a 1.8inch hard drive in the iPod mini. Mind you, that wasn't at launch. But barely before they went for the mini.

But hey, call me gullible. God forbid Apple manages to catch up with the technology used by Almighty Archos! :P lol

[rollercoaster375]

Originally Posted by defaultmike is it that difficult to believe that apple would be able to do the same thing that Archos did with their XS200 way back in October 2004? By that I mean fitting a 1.8inch hard drive in the iPod mini. Mind you, that wasn't at launch. But barely before they went for the mini. But hey, call me gullible. God forbid Apple manages to catch up with the technology used by Almighty Archos! :P lol

Considering the iPod Mini is only two inches wide, that would be an amazing feat.

[Reid]

It really shouldn't be difficult for anybody here to believe that Apple has prototype products based on prototype components floating around their headquarters. Just because there is no 20GB 1" drive available in mass production doesn't mean there haven't been test models built. And just because previous iPod minis used single 1" drives doesn't mean the 20GB model did. How about a micro-RAID of 2x 10GB drives, for example? Or some other slightly larger drive form factor that either exists or hasn't yet been released? Is anybody building a 1.3" or 1.5" drive? If not, are we absolutely certain nobody's ever produced a prototype of one?

I'd be particularly surprised if Apple hadn't gone through many iterations of a larger capacity iPod mini trying to figure out how to wedge that model in between the nano and the video iPod before they finally bit the bullet and discontinued the line. It was the best-selling MP3 player in history, and you have to know that the decision to phase it out was a tough one.

And once these kinds projects are scrapped, if they're working, why shouldn't a lucky employee get to purchase one under threat of an NDA? The thing that's surprising is that Mike's friend (unless, of course, he's full of sh*t), would go around bragging to his buddies about it.

[TednDi]

It reminds me of High School/College where these guys would brag about all of the girls they "dated" but in reality they just sat around drinking beer.

I think your "friend" is of the beer drinking variety.

After signing an Apple NDA one does not "kiss and tell"

usually

[Brad]

Two words: Junkyard Dawg.
Another: Auto-fellate.

Should make sense for the old timers here.

[rollercoaster375]

Originally Posted by Reid It really shouldn't be difficult for anybody here to believe that Apple has prototype products based on prototype components floating around their headquarters. Just because there is no 20GB 1" drive available in mass production doesn't mean there haven't been test models built. And just because previous iPod minis used single 1" drives doesn't mean the 20GB model did. How about a micro-RAID of 2x 10GB drives, for example? Or some other slightly larger drive form factor that either exists or hasn't yet been released? Is anybody building a 1.3" or 1.5" drive? If not, are we absolutely certain nobody's ever produced a prototype of one?

Apple doesn't make hard drives. 20GB 1" drives would have been an EXTREME prototype around the time when the Mini was still in production, and so the idea of the drives being leased out to Apple for testing is absurd.

There's also no way that you could fit two 1" Drives into a Mini... And like I said before, Hard Drive manufacturers may have created a 20GB drive, however, they don't lease those out to other companies for testing.

[defaultmike]

The main reason that I'm not thinking myself that my friend is full of sh*t is only because I had already sealed the deal with him with the G5 for a regular MacBook Pro!!! only later did he mention that I was gonna get the MacBook Pro+ instead.

So in case he's messing with me, it could be dangerous for him as he could come back from Portugal with regular MacBook Pro, and I could decide to not go tthrough with the deal since it wouldn't be the MacBook Pro+ that he promised me.

Anyways the archos XS200 is only .3" thicker than the iPod mini, and that was back in 2004!!! imagine how apple must've been able to shrink the components by mid 2005 (remember, it was developed alongside the iPod Nano)

[Mac+]

Originally Posted by Brad Two words: Junkyard Dawg. Another: Auto-fellate. Should make sense for the old timers here.

Yeah, I'm still waiting to see it. (although I did used to like reading some of his posts)

[johnny5]

Originally Posted by defaultmike I had already sealed the deal with him with the G5 for a regular MacBook Pro!!!

Umm...
I'm sorry to bother you, and I don't really have any problem with the validity of your arguments or claims, but that sentence makes no sense. No sense at all.

"with...", "with...", "for..."

Huh? What the hell are you talking about? I see that you're from Brazil, so English may not be your first language, but you should get your conjunctions straight, or else turn yourself in to the grammar police....

[defaultmike]

Originally Posted by johnny5 Umm... I'm sorry to bother you, and I don't really have any problem with the validity of your arguments or claims, but that sentence makes no sense. No sense at all. "with...", "with...", "for..." Huh? What the hell are you talking about? I see that you're from Brazil, so English may not be your first language, but you should get your conjunctions straight, or else turn yourself in to the grammar police....

Alright man, I guess the bad grammar is my own damn fault. I shouldn´t have tried to post while I was half asleep in bed.

what I meant is that my friend and I had already closed the deal, and that deal was to exchange my PowerMac G5 for a "regular" 1.83GHz (now it would be a 2.0GHz) MacBook Pro.

Which is why there would be no logical reason for him to lie to me about the MacBook Pro.

[BFG]

none of your friends info makes sense, none of it seems to be valid, and i bet you never see this ipod mini 20GB... as for the Duel G4 powerbook well i can't say anything other than youve gotta be....
..
.
oh sorry i got distracted by the blue rocket powered pigs flying past my window

[Kit Fisto]

"But then again, the fact that we had arranged to exchange the G5 for the top of the line MacBook Pro, and then asked me if I wanted him to give me this "bonus upgrade", as well as the fact that he told me to hold on to the G5 until I got the macBook pro kinda gives him some credit from where I stand."

You have a promise. That is all. He says he got the 20 Gb Mini six months ago. You haven't seen it.


"what I meant is that my friend and I had already closed the deal, and that deal was to exchange my PowerMac G5 for a "regular" 1.83GHz (now it would be a 2.0GHz) MacBook Pro.

Which is why there would be no logical reason for him to lie to me about the MacBook Pro."

No logical reason to lie, unless the whole thing is a lie.

[defaultmike]

the Dual powerbook was just a prototype, like the apple pda, and other designs. It was tested, but failed because it was way too hot. But don´t confuse the prototypes with the special editions. The 20gb iPod mini is a special edition that didn´t get produced in large quantities due to the high costs of components.

[rollercoaster375]

Originally Posted by defaultmike Anyways the archos XS200 is only .3" thicker than the iPod mini, and that was back in 2004!!! imagine how apple must've been able to shrink the components by mid 2005 (remember, it was developed alongside the iPod Nano)

Hard drives don't get thinner. They remain a constant size, and their users choose the best size for the task. When improvements are made, the drives get more capacity, and get faster, but they don't get smaller.

[AsLan^]

Seriously, have you ever met this guy in real life ?