Yes, Apple had an event on October 23 and announced a batch of new products. You can read coverage in many other places about the event … so feel free. I’m not going to cover everything (or most things) here.
I’m excited about most of what was announced (even if iTunes 11 was a no-show), but I’m going to focus on what I am probably going to be purchasing in the next few days or weeks.
Mac mini
Yessir, I am happy that they bumped the Mac mini just a little bit. I wasn’t looking for anything spectacular, so I’m more than pleased with what was announced.
Basically it fulfilled the following list:
- Ivy Bridge chipset and CPUs
- USB 3.0
That’s it. I’m waiting for the first look at the speed of the quad-vs-dual core processors and then I’ll make my final decision. I’m working with a 2011 13″ MacBook Pro with a 2.7 Ghz Core i7 processor, so speed is not an issue in the slightest. I’ll see if I outlay the extra $200 for the faster processor.
It will take over as my development machine at home and will sit in my basement and never move. Great little box just for that.
iPad mini
For me, this is the strange.
I’m not committing to anything yet, because I really need to see this thing for myself and hold it to get an idea of what it will be like, but the iPad mini really seems like a great companion device. This isn’t something that I would consider a “replacement” for a computer for anyone (the iPad can be, for some), but it looks like something I might enjoy.
Crazy.
Like I said, I’ll need to take a look. While I’m hesitant mostly because of the lack of a Retina display (which I am assuming will come in the 2nd or 3rd generation), the smaller form factor looks great and if it is as fast as my iPhone 4S, it will work perfectly well as my “sit on the couch and look up stuff” device.
It will also hold most of my programming books and periodicals.
However, I need to temper my enthusiasm because I haven’t even seen one in person. The price is higher than I would want, but it looks to be a better product than I was expecting.
Closing Thoughts?
Not many, but I am holding out on a Retina display Mac for at least another generation. The thing about purchasing the new Mac mini is that it can be reused as a home server if I would ever get the next generation of MacBook Pro.
Or I could find out that I really like my setup of a desktop + iPad at home and work. We shall see.
4 replies on “New Apple Stuff”
iPad mini is a better device than your were expecting? I think everyone else feels the exact opposite of you. For the price I don’t see how it is at all justifiable.
Much smaller and lighter than I was expecting with better battery life. I was expecting a small iPad two, of that quality. The iPad mini takes the iPhone 5’s quality and brings it to a larger size. I’m expecting the next iteration of the iPad will take a similar approach.
Like I said, I haven’t seen or held one, so I’ll wait until then.
Also, the price is what it is. If it is too high for you, then don’t buy it. If it is too high for customers, then it will be reflected in the sales.
I was very pleasantly taken with the revisions to the iMac, which is a popular Mac desktop. The Mac Mini was a solid update. The iPad Mini price point should have been $279 IMHO, but it will sell because its an Apple product. Outside the need to compete with small tablet, book reader devices, I am not sure of the target. For my LPS student, the larger iPad seems more functional.
Exactly, the larger iPad isn’t being supplanted by the iPad mini, just like the larger iPod wasn’t supplanted by the iPod mini (or nano now). Different use cases.
Once again, if you don’t want it, don’t buy it.