Why Apple Needs To Salvage The Wreckage That Is The Mac Mini

Ever since the dawn of Apple’s new design regime with Steve Jobs at the helm, glorious new form factors have been the forefront of the companies focus shedding functionality users have become accustomed to just so a stunning new enclosure can be created. Often times it has allowed Apple to pioneer new designs other manufacturers have yet to venture into but this also means the end user has to sacrifice quite a bit the most common being the lack of easy expandability. Sure you could take a crowbar onto your iMac to swap out that Hard Drive but after you’ve channeled your anger onto some inanimate object the sudden realization that your do-it-yourself venture is nothing more than a pipe dream while users of those ‘other’ computers just unbolt a few screws and play mix and match until everything is right.

The most logical solution would be a shuttle or mid tower solution based Mac but god help the poor designer who thinks that adding space for expandability is actually a good thing despite the infuriating rant from Jobs himself that it’ll detract from a piece of art and their bottom line. However, the Mac Mini is ripe for a massive revamp and could carry on the dreams of Mac users who longed for the features that have been dangled over their heads from other computer manufacturers and not compromise on the original intentions of the Mini.

When first launched more than 3 years ago, the Mac Mini was the pinnacle of Apple’s attempt to pull over switchers and harness the power of the Halo effect without intruding on users who were wary of the Hardware and Software. Sold as a drop in solution, existing Hardware could be used and at $500 some considered it a steal but in typical Apple fashion compromises were made for the carved looks of the Mini to be crafted. The pitiful excuse of a video card was soldered onto the Logic Board taunting graphics enthusiasts with no easy way to enjoy the latest and greatest gaming titles. Despite being graced with Intel processors Apple jacked up the price in what is known as Asus Marketing syndrome in which a company fucks over its low end products by jacking up the price and tacking on every obscure feature set.

Ironically the Mac Mini can share its sad fate with the Apple TV, a device that has yet to heavily penetrate living rooms owing its success to being nothing more than an iPod for your TV equally owing its failure to the fact that everyone has their own opinion on what to watch dropping you back off at square 1 with your iPod in hand wishing that HD set would be displaying Star Trek instead of Hanna Montana, those arrogant pricks. Even though both have yet to reach the equivocal success of other Apple products there is still something left to be salvaged that could create one super, multi purpose machine that would revamp the Mac Mini and Apple TV beyond what has been pilfered.

Media Server

Even though Apple has tried hard to jump start its rental machine and infect you with the further diluted iTunes store, the attempt has been wholeheartedly unexciting. It took a year for the original mistake that was the Apple TV to be knocked around and shaped up into something halfway decent but it still misses the point that in my opinion has crippled it from the start. If the Apple TV is being marketed as a media center it has to be one of the most half-assed attempts I’ve seen to date amongst other things. Right now the ATV acts like a media extender still relying on the crippled system of having your content in another place and while that removes the need to backup it still sucks shit, why can’t one box do everything? But of course you run into the brick wall of you only having 20 minutes to sit your fat ass on the couch absorbing down res’d movies at 24 frames a second and a few thousand pixels short of ultimate bliss. Then again, why can’t one box do everything, see where I am going with this? With so many boxes that either record your infinite affection for America’s Next Top Model, bug you to hell with too many LEDs and a few that make some loud sounds the need to streamline all of this is even more prevalent considering digital downloads are quickly becoming the distribution norm for even game consoles.

What does that have to do with the Mac Mini you might say? Of course I’d kindly ask you to shut the hell up and let me finish this post up but it has everything to do with Apple penetrating the living room successfully. If all of your content is stored is one central place and manipulated your way, naturally you’d like it to do a little bit more than just play back Tim McGraw while you frag some son of a bitches on Halo. That means, yes! Add a friggin’ computer to the whole setup and call it a done deal. Well, that is already done, the Apple TV is a full blown mini version of the Mac Mini in almost every way possible at a price point that would obliterate the competition and eat its young for brunch. If the Apple TV were offered as the replacement for the Mac Mini it would finally allow Apple to conquer the heavily discounted low end market and fill the need for a cheap ass Mac. Even if the price rocked back to 300 dollars, consumers would still have a more than capable Mac and just what would that be?

The Apple TV packs in 40 GB Hard Drive, a 1 GHz Crofton (Dothan based) Intel CPU, a measly 256 MB of RAM and of course a full blown install of Mac OS X Tiger to boot. While it could be shaped up a bit more with minimal price increases, Apple is sitting on a gold mine with the Apple TV waiting to be dressed as a Mac Mini… Mini. It would solve a lot of problems plaguing Mac OS X from taking a stronger hold on the computing world which has always been price. Even if sacrifices have to be made, it will ultimately benefit Apple, switchers and of course the Mac faithful with the end result being the Apple TV and Mac Mini being fused. In some cases both are equal in Hardware benchmarks while the difference is made up in Software, the Mac Mini could be the higher end version of the Apple TV masquerading as a media server. Of course the form factor might need to be altered a bit but the final design can retain the smallness that makes so damn appealing if you’re into, small things.

Where does that leave us? A smaller box that is readily universal in the living room or bed room that can handle your media without fussing around and is even more attractive to switchers. It’s certainly doable, the Apple TV just masquerades Front Row over the full blown OS X install underneath, interface and all.