Mac Mini - hype/fad/toy?

About a year ago, Apple's release of the Mac Mini G4 was groundbreaking news, both to the Macintosh and PC camps. True to Apple's repuatation for innovative yet functional designs, this gadget is merely the size of a stack of CDs, but yet functions as a real computer. (Though one of the reasons they had managed to shrink it down so much was to make the power supply unit a separate external box.)

In addition, it sold at a price point of USD$500, putting it in direct competition with budget PCs. Needless to say, many PC users were tempted to jump ship. Macs no longer were lifestyle products for the yuppies. The Mac Mini was well-suited for practical computing.

However, the hype rapidly fizzled out after the technical limitations became known:
1. A G4 chip was sadly underpowered even for a computer of that size

2. There were only 2 USB ports - use 1 one for the keyboard/mouse and you have only 1 left

3. Wifi was an option you had to pay extra for

4. There's no way you can reasonably upgrade it

These were enough for many to dismiss the Mac Mini as just a lifestyle gadget that appeals only to a niche market.

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Now, 1 year later. Apple is undergoing its switch to Intel processors, after deciding that their PowerPC chips were underpowered for their needs. The iBooks and Macbook Pros with Intel chips performed admirably, but only on the condition that the software was rewritten for Intel CPUs. Software originally written for the PowerPC still ran albeit slowly.

It was only natural that Apple releases a new Mac Mini. And they did, with some changes. They added in Wifi and Bluetooth into their base model, they used Intel chips that essentially doubled the raw computing power, they added a remote control, and made incremental upgrades to RAM and hard disk space. This was done at a slight price premium of USD$100 for the base model though.

Not only that, they provided 4 USB ports, which means that they solved 3/4 of the issues I had mentioend above, except for the issue of it having limited upgrade potential (that's inevitable I guess.).

So what's the verdict on real-world performance like? Not good. (hyperlink)

Software optimised for the Intel CPU ran admirably, but the fact remains that much of the software around is still optimised for the PowerPC, and we aren't going to see new versions in the the very near future.

This is exceedingly sad, a great piece of hardware marred by the software's inability to fully utilise it.

I think it's a better idea to wait for the next Mac Mini. Let the software guys catch up.