Yes! Apple Answered Our Wish with the New Mac mini Core Duo--It's On Its Way

Yesterday we wrote:

"We have no inside scoop but we'd like to see a Mac mini Core Duo with decent graphics hardware so we can retire our much upgraded but aging (going on 6 years) workhorse G4 Cube and relegate it to the bookcase or coffee table to be revered and admired as it deserves."

And Apple answered with two new MacIntel mini's, one with a 1.5GHz Intel Core Solo CPU, combo optical drive and 60GB 5400 RPM 2.5" hard drive for $599 and the other with a 1.66GHz Core Duo, 8x double-layer SuperDrive and 80GB 5400 RPM 2.5" hard drive for $799. Apple also claims that they run up to four times faster than their predecessors. The full specs are on this Apple Web page.

Yes, the under $500 Mac is history with the low-end MacIntel mini coming in at $599. But the $499 model was a real stripper and the $599 is loaded with extras. Let's look at the additions from the previous $499 G4 Mac mini in the new $599 model:

Faster CPU at 1.5GHz
Faster graphics processor (see below)
Faster system bus at 667MHz
Faster RAM at 667MHz
• IR Remote controller
• IR port
• Optical digital audio in/out ports
• 2 more USB 2.0 ports
• 1 more RAM slot
• Built-in AirPort Extreme
• Built-in Bluetooth
• Gigabit ethernet

These additions are easily worth well over the extra $100 asking price. We bought the initial 1.25GHz $499 model but we eventually added AirPort Extreme, an external Bluetooth module and a 512MB RAM chip for more than $100. Apple has given up the appearance of value for real value, a move that is consistent with what Apple CEO Steve Jobs constantly refers to as Apple's DNA.

The high-end model goes from a 1.42 GHz single-core G4 CPU at $699 to $799 with all of the above added features plus a faster dual-core CPU at 1.66GHz and a double-layer SuperDrive. Again, the difference is well worth it. The addition of Apple's Front Row media software plus the upgraded iLife '06 suite, including the new iWeb, are just frosting on the cake.

There are some potential negatives.

• No dedicated VRAM and the graphics use a minimum of 80MB of system RAM
• No modem

But they are easy to dispel.

We have never used the modem on our low-end Mac mini, nor on any other Mac (including our PowerBook G4) for a very long time so it is no loss.

The lack of dedicated graphics RAM is a bit troubling as is the new Intel GMA950 integrated graphics chip set but we'll dispel the latter in a bit.

If the graphics unit is going to use 80MB of the 512MB system RAM, that leaves 432MB and less depending on the graphics task in a computer. We have shown that the G4 Mac mini really doesn't need more than 256MB RAM for entry-level use but the MacIntel mini may be using emulation via Rosetta on some key applications for some time. Rosetta's speed is dependent on abundant RAM. However, it is easy to fill the MacIntel mini with 2GB RAM because of it having two RAM slots rather than one if that much RAM is really needed and we don't know that it does at this time (stay tuned).

What really caught our (and many others') eye in the new MacIntel minis' specs are that they use Intel's GMA 950 graphics processor. What's that? Aren't these integrated chipsets used in the low-end el cheapo Wintel PCs? Yes and no, i.e. yes they are and no, not this particular model. The Intel GMA 950, where "GMA" stands for Graphics Media Accelerator, is the high-end Intel graphics chipset in the high-end Intel 945GM integrated chipset used in fairly high-end Wintel laptops.

Here are the specs for the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator GMA 950:

• 256-bit graphics core running at 400MHz
• Up to 10.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth with DDR2 667 system memory
• 1.6 GPixels/sec and 1.6 GTexels/sec fill rate
• Up to 224 MB maximum video memory
• 2048x1536 at 75 Hz maximum resolution
• Dynamic Display Modes for flat-panel, wide-screen and Digital TV support

Here's what Intel says about the GMA 950:

If you want to watch video on your PC, then utilize Intel GMA 950 graphics for smooth video playback, native 16:9 format support for wide screen flat panels, motion compensation for smooth DVD playback and support for popular HDTV display formats.

and,

Stunning Video Playback

• High Definition Hardware Motion Compensation to support high definition hi-bitrate MPEG2 media playback
• Up and Down Scaling of Video Content
• High Definition Content Decode - up to two stream support
• 5x3 Overlay Filtering.

Alright, enough of the Intel self puffing. Just how do the Intel GMA 950 specs compare with those of an ATI card that we know about?

The closest performance match that we could find is the relatively new ATI Mac & PC Radeon 9600 Pro and it is nearly identical. It has a 400MHz engine clock speed, produces a fill rate of 1.6Gpixels/sec and uses up to 256MB VRAM via 128-bit memory interface. The ATI Mac & PC Radeon 9600 Pro is no slouch. It is much faster than the ATI Radeon 7200 graphics used in the G4 Mac minis but falls short of the more recent ATI 9800, X800 and X1600 Radeons for the Mac.

So our conclusion, on paper, is that Apple has answered our wish for "...decent graphics hardware..." that is likely to do well with everything just short of high-end video processing and fast 3D gaming.

We'll soon see how the 1.66GHz Mac mini Core Duo actually performs when ours arrives and, of course, we'll post the results here. [Bill Fox]