Specifications

AUSOM & AUSOM News on the Internet44 v AUSOM News April 2009
Adam C. Engst ([e-mail])
Mac mini Receives Multiple Performance Boosts
A
pple updated the Mac mini last
week, keeping the form factor of
the diminutive desktop Mac the
same, but expanding most of the specs
in what appears to be a successful effort
to keep the Mac mini a compelling low-
end desktop Machine.
http://www.apple.com/macmini
Although it will never compete with Apple’s
beefier desktop Macs, the new Mac mini now
offers the choice of a 2.0 GHz or a new 2.26
GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, dropping the
previous 1.83 GHz option. The new model
sports a front side bus speed of 1066 MHz (up
from 667 MHz) and 3 MB of on-chip L2 cache
that will help boost performance. Oddly, the
latter spec is down from the previous 2.0 GHz
Mac mini model, which offered 4 MB of L2
cache, though the previous 1.83 GHz model
had only 2 MB of L2 cache.
The Mac mini also now comes with an Nvidia
GeForce 9400M graphics processor, much
like the new MacBook line, leading to claims
of improved graphics performance of up to
five times over the previous Intel GMA 950
integrated graphics. However, the video card’s
memory is still shared with the main memory,
which reduces performance. Also like the new
MacBook line, the new Mac mini features a
Mini DisplayPort, but it also has a Mini-DVI
port, and includes a Mini-DVI to DVI adapter
(a Mini-DVI to VGA adapter is sold separately).
The two ports mean that the Mac mini can
now drive two monitors, one at 1900 by
1200 on the DVI port, and another at up to
2560 by 1600 through the Mini DisplayPort
connection, though driving such a large
monitor on the latter requires a separate Mini
DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter.
You can now put up to 4 GB of RAM in the Mac mini, and
a new 320 GB hard drive option joins the previous 120 GB
option; 80 GB is no longer offered. The new model also trades
FireWire 400 for FireWire 800, and adds a fifth USB 2.0 port
to the back panel. Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and Gigabit Ethernet
remain standard, but Apple bumped the new Mac mini’s
wireless capabilities up to 802.11n. A slot-loading SuperDrive
is now standard, eliminating the Combo drive option.
Apple is also pointing out that the Mac mini now uses less than
13 watts of power when idle, supposedly making it the world’s
most energy-efficient desktop computer. Pricing on the new Mac
mini starts at AU$1,049, and even maxing out the processor,
RAM, and hard drive options brings it only to AU$1,903.99.
With this update, Apple has done a good job of addressing
most of the compromises and criticisms of the previous
Mac mini. Sure, it won’t compete with the iMac in terms of
performance, and attempting to mimic the iMac’s specs with
a Mac mini would likely cost more in the end for a slower
Mac, but the Mac mini plays in a different sandbox. For
anyone who already has a monitor and keyboard, or wants
an inexpensive Mac to run a media center or home server, the
Mac mini no longer feels underpowered.
Credits
See ‘Apple Adds Petite Aluminum Keyboard’ page 43.
z
Alan Brown
In the Library
Wikipedia: The Missing Manual
Author: John Broughton
ISBN 10: 0-596-51516-2 oreilly.com/catalog/9780596515164/
“Most of this book is aimed at folks who want to edit
Wikipedia articles and become more active in the Wikipedia
community.” I must confess that I fell into the trap of
selecting the book by its front cover. I just assumed that this
book would have a balance between reading articles from
Wikipedia and writing articles. I found to my consternation
that the Reader Guide to Wikipedia had been assigned
to Appendix B. The quotation above comes from the
introduction to this appendix (p. 427).
Now it must be said that I could have learnt more about the
book from reading the back cover, or better still, taking a peep
at Chapter 1. Perhaps I am not the only one who has been
misled by the title, for there is now a new shorter book in the
series by the same author:
Wikipedia Reader’s Guide: The Missing Manual
ISBN 10: 0-596-52174-X oreilly.com/catalog/9780596521745/
Do I want write articles for Wikipedia? This book made me
think hard about this question. I have written some technical