In addition to MacBooks Air, Apple today also updated the Mac mini, which now has Sandy Bridge processors and Thunderbolt ports, starting at US $ 600, available now at the Apple Online Store (including in Brazil, where they start at R $ 1,800 ) and leaving the factory with OS X Lion pre-installed. Now an unexpected novelty: the little one lost the optical drive and I'm not just talking about the Server version!
"The Mac mini offers the speed and expandability that make it perfect as a desktop, in the living room or in your office," said Phil Schiller. “With faster processors, more powerful graphics and Thunderbolt in an incredibly compact aluminum design, the new Mac mini is more versatile than ever.” However, the “versatility” drops a little, when you have no way to read or write even DVDs.
The new Mac mini is available in two configurations, both with dual core Core i5 processors. The 2.3GHz basic, with 2GB of RAM and integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics, costs $ 600 / R $ 1,800, while the mini with 2.5GHz processor, 4GB of RAM and AMD Radeon 6630M GPU with 256MB of GDDR5 memory goes for $ 800 / R $ 2,700. Both have a 500GB HDD of 5,400rpm, four USB 2.0 ports, a Thunderbolt port, an HDMI, a FireWire 800, Gigabit Ethernet and SDXC card slot, in addition to audio input and output.
The Server version of the mini, in turn, has a Core i7 of 2GHz, 4GB of RAM, two 500GB HDDs of 7,200rpm and integrated Intel graphics, leaving for US $ 1,000 / R $ 3,300. Models built to order (BTO) can be configured with up to 8GB of RAM, 2.7GHz Core i7 chip, 750GB HDD and addition or replacement of a 256GB SSD. As always, keyboard, mouse, trackpad and other peripherals must be purchased separately.
As we mentioned, the new mini Macs now have no optical drive in any model, which severely reduces its usefulness as a digital entertainment center, especially for those who usually watch many DVDs, something that confirms Apple's position in the face of optical media, mainly Blu-rays.
