Today Apple announced updates to their entire desktop line-up:
Finally, Apple updated the Mac Mini and I’m kind of thinking about buying one. The Mini comes with either a 2.0 or 2.6Ghz Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM, 120GB, 250GB, or 320GB 5400 RPM drives, and NVIDIA 9400M graphics. Lets talk about ports now, the Mini now has 5 USB ports, a single FireWire 800 port , and two video out options (Mini DVI port & Mini DisplayPort). Why FireWire 800 exists on the Mini but was abandoned on the MacBooks, I still don’t understand. The Mini is shipping within 24 hours and starts at $599. I’m thinking one of these might be making its way to my TV stand…
The iMacs have been updated with faster Core 2 Duo processors, 2.66, 2.93, and 3.06Ghz, ram configurations up to 8GB DDR3(though at a cost of around $1000), and 320GB, 640GB, or 1TB 7200 RPM drives. The 20″ iMac and low-end 24″ model both come with NVIDIA 9400M graphics. While the other 24″ models offer you a choice of discrete graphics options of NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 256MB, GT 130 512MB, or an ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB. The ports are pretty much the same except for the removal of FireWire 400 and of course the addition of Mini DisplayPort. The iMacs are shipping within 24 hours as well and start at $1199.
The Mac Pro also received updates today, with a Quad-Core and 8-Core option. The Quad-Core configuration starts at $2,499 with either a 2.66 or 2.93Ghz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Nehalem” processors, up to 8GB of DDR3 Memory, storage configurations up to 4x 640GB or 1TB 7200RPM drives, and either a NVIDIA GeForce GT 512MB or ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB. The 8-Core configuration starts at $3,299 and comes with either 2×2.26, 2×2.66, 2×2.93Ghz Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Nehalem” processors, and up to 32GB of DDR3 ($6,100). The Nehalem processor also allows for Turbo Boost which allows the machine to shut down cores idle cores (when an Application does not require all eight), while increasing the speed on the active cores. This will allow the 2.93Ghz Mac Pro to run as fast as 3.33Ghz. As far as ports go Apple replaced all FireWire 400 ports with FireWire 800, so now there are 4 total FireWire 800 ports. Right now the Mac Pros are shipping within four days.
Hopefully a few of these will be arriving at my office soon. If so, I will try and put up a review of the new machines.
Along with the desktop updates, Apple also released a new keyboard that comes by default on the new iMacs. The problem with this keyboard is that it’s designed just like the bluetooth keyboard, except for having a cable and two side USB ports. That also means its missing a numeric keypad! Thankfully Apple still offers the standard keyboard with numeric keypad as an option for free, but there will be many who order new iMacs unaware of the new keyboard. I already contacted my ordering department to make sure that they check the Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad. Also this seems to only be a default for the iMac, the Mac Pro still comes with the standard keyboard. Not really sure where Apple is going with this one, guess we’ll find out.