Apple announces new tiny Mac

Wow! Hot off of the MacWorld San Francisco streets comes word that Apple recently announced their newest Mac. Sure, the details are few and far between at the moment (all news basically coming from blogs as Apple decided to not do a live feed of Steve Jobs' keynote speech this year), but Engadget is reporting the following:

Ross Rubin: Looks about a third of the size of the cube. Like you took a slice of the Cube. BYODKM: Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard, and Mouse. It’s about 6” x 6” x 2.5”. Comes with Panther, iLife ‘05. $499 with 1.25GHz G4 processor. 40GB hard drive.

More details as they come.

Also of interesting note is the Apple Store is down, presumably while they load up all the new items being announced today (like iLife '05, etc) and we'll be able to see the pictures probably within an hour or two.

For those of you who want to follow along, you can check out Engadget's somewhat failing site here: Engadget -- Live from Macworld: Steve Jobs keynote.

Update [01]: Following comes direct from Engadget's site:

10:33am - Things are getting good. "Why doesn't apple offer a stripped-down Mac that is more affordable?" The Mac mini. About the width of a CD. Slot load combo drive (DVD/CD-R). DVI & VGA out. Ethernet. USB 2.0. Firewire. Runs quietly.

10:35am - Holding it in palm of hand. Looks about a third of the size of the cube. Like you took a slice of the Cube. BYODKM: Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard, and Mouse. It’s about 6” x 6” x 2.5”. Comes with Panther, iLife ‘05. $499 with 1.25GHz G4 processor. 40GB hard drive.

10:36am - Faster version is $599. Available January 22nd. Crowd is going wild.

Update [02]: Heck, while we're at it, here's some new iPod news, from MacMerc:

iPod Shuffle: really tiny (smaller than most packs of gum), no screen, weighs under 1 ounce. Cap on the bottom, USB 2. 12 hour rechargeable battery. PC/Mac. Looks about the size of a flash key drive.

Posted by peter on January 11, 2005 at 11:48 AM
Comments

$500 for a Mac? Hmmm. Unfortunately, I'm totally strapped right now. But I can imagine a lot of Windows developers who have been drooling over OS X taking this opportunity to make the switch.

Of course, part of the decision, for me (if I had the money -- which I don't) would depend on the price of the Mac versions of the software I use -- which in large measure would mean the price of Macromedia Studio. Would I have to buy a whole new set? Could I buy a Mac version at the upgrade from MX studio price?

Or might Macromedia decide it's time to offer a special Switch sale... or maybe a bundle together with Apple?

Posted by: Larry Yudelson at January 11, 2005 12:43 PM

Here are the details on the "Mac mini":

http://www.apple.com/macmini/

Posted by: Doug Hughes at January 11, 2005 12:47 PM