According to this new information we received, the Mac mini will see a dramatic change in its form factor, with a design that is ‘less than half the size’ of the current offering. The mini will also see modest speed increases, with significantly larger storage.

This seems a bit excessively rumour-y to me but hey, they have “reliable sources” so there must be something to it right? At least some of the peeps over at the MacRumours forums seem to think so. I’ve been inside my Mini(s) a few too many times to recount and I’m not sure they could shrink the thing that much without taking something out that differentiates the Mini from the AppleTV (like oh, I dunno – the optical drive maybe???)

Matt Brinkhoff

No I cant say as 640×480 has me ready to box up all my physical media just yet but the big announcement of the show (as far as I’m concerned) could have much bigger implications. Apple’s iTV set-top box with 802.11(?) wireless networking, USB2, ethernet, HDMI connector, component video and digital audio outputs could signal even higher resolutions for movies from iTunes, or perhaps something even more compelling.

The iTV set-top box would seem to indicate Apple is taking a wiser, dare I say safer path to the digital living room forgoing the very un-consumer-friendly, HTPC route. While I would have preferred a max-mini I can definitely see the logic with a move like this.

B.Greenway

Obviously the invitation doesn’t spell out any specifics on what will be presented but the header image of the flyer might be telling as to the presentations subject matter.

The invitation displays a white Apple logo with the words “It’s Showtime” underneath. A dark gradient background descends from black to navy, with crisscrossing white rays evocative of the spotlights often used to draw attention to Hollywood movie premieres.

Interesting stuff, while I can’t say as I’m totally disinterested in full-length movies from Apple (especially if they look as good as the 480p movie trailers) I cant help but wonder if something along the lines of a beefed up mini to go along with this announcement isn’t in the works as well. You know my line, time will tell.

B.Greenway

Quote: Apple is working on other projects built on the same end-to-end model as the iPod: a media-playing cellphone and a home-media hub.

As with all Apple rumors time will tell but I have to believe that this one if true, will definitely be worth the wait.

B.Greenway

The chip, which is being jointly designed by IBM, Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp., has nine separate computing engines, known as “cores,” to carry out multiple functions at once.

The press release I cited mentions no times or places other than “Barcelona Spain” nice and vague just the way I like it.

B.Greenway

Every OS X release has been compiled for both PPC and Intel for the last 5 years, this entire WWDC 2005 presentation ran from a P4 at 3.4GHz

Job’s goes on to state the transition will be painless from a developer’s standpoint, the tools are already in place. Ok so what did we really learn, the transition to Intel processors is already underway, but what about future products?

While no specifics were mentioned I’d have to speculate that a mini running at over 3 GHz would certainly be a step in the right direction for a full fledged HTPC. Is it in the pipe-line? I think it would be safe to assume so, combine this with an advanced ATI GPU and now we’re really talking. Viva la Mac.

Apple Press Release:
Intel Press release:

B.Greenway

One quote in particular from the article that leaves me a little skeptical is:

Apple plans to move lower-end computers such as the Mac Mini to Intel chips in mid-2006 and higher-end models such as the Power Mac in mid-2007, sources said.

If any of this is even true, I have a harder time believing that the lower end machines would be first in line for an apparent speed boost, with the “Power PC” line getting their overhaul afterwards, as late as 2007? Like I said, I’m skeptical, we’ll see Monday.

B.Greenway

I’ve never been a fan of litigation over innovation, but in this case I hope Apple keeps a close eye on these jokers, and drops the lawyer bomb, if the word mini or anything with the letters m-i-n-i are ever used to describe it.

Hat tip: Silent PC Review

B.Greenway

So what will it be this go-round? New iBooks (maybe, but they just saw a small upgrade) The much rumored Apple two-button mouse? Hardly seems keynote worthy. Oh I know how about dual-core G4 PowerBooks? Ok that’s a possibility, hard to say for sure. Or if we wanted to dream big dreams, maybe the announcement of the mythical HDVN Apple hi-def video network. The smart money wouldn’t be on a HDVN announcement, but it sure would make for a great keynote.

If I had to guess, as if I’m doing anything else, I’d say we’ll see something unique but far from revolutionary announced on June 6th. To be honest I couldn’t even form a guess as to what it might be, hey it might be… nothing, time will tell. How about you guys lets hear your speculation for Monday June the 6th, no G5 PowerBook guff, we all know that’s a year away…. right? Most accurate guess wins a cookie

B.Greenway

The first episode of Systm is about viewing unencrypted wireless video feeds, not exactly something I’d spend my free time riding around doing, but it was an eye opener as to just how in-the-open some of these feeds are. Overall I thought the show was informative, if a little lackluster; no harm no foul as it was the first episode. I really miss the old Screen Savers; even if the content wasn’t ground breaking it was always good for a laugh. Hey who knows, maybe Kevin Rose and crew can spin this off into a viable “ShowCast” format.

B.Greenway