Posted on Thursday, October 23 2008 @ 4:13 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
Rumour
has it that Apple's Mac Mini product lineup is near the end of its life. Apple is no longer shipping Mac Mini systems to at least two major European retailers and it seems unlikely that they're planning to release a refresh as a faster version of this cheap Mac will likely detract sales of the more expensive, and more profitable Mac hardware.
According to a post on Gizmodo yesterday at least two major European retailers have been denied any more stock of the diminutive MacOS X-based machine, which means one of two things: a new version is due to ship real-soon-now, or the system is to be discontinued in favour of its more popular MacBook and Mac Pro brethren.
Hopes for the former are likely dashed with the further news that Apple is warning customers to expect “no more” of the Mac Mini – at all, ever.
While the box was launched to critical acclaim, and represented a surprisingly affordable entry into the world of Macs, it has certainly never been a great seller for the company. The current generation of the Mac Mini – last refreshed in 2007 – is pretty poor compared to the rest of the Apple stable, with no support for the faster 802.11n wireless networking standard and an older Intel 945GM chipset powering it all. If it's not due to die a death, then it is in sore need of a serious overhaul if it is ever to challenge its more expensive counterparts in sales figures.
