Does anyone know what Apple is going to do about multiple remotes?

I have an Intel iMac and it's in the same room as my TV. If I decide to get a Mac Mini to put on my TV or I ever buy a Macbook Pro and I decide to use Front Row in that room...aren't they ALL going to go off?

Just thinking ahead...this could be a problem for a lot of people unless they have someway for each computer to recognize the difference between each remote.

You can pair and unpair remotes with each computer.

You can select which Mac responds to which remote for Front Row on up to (if I recall correctly) three machines in a room. - Brutusfly

It says in the manual to lock the remote you hold one of the reemote buttons for 3 seconds, I cant remember which, to lock the remote to a particulllar computer.

Tim in Chicago

Now that's a real bargain. An extra $200 buys dual-core, more storage and a DVD writer. Who's gonna buy the basic model?

One concern is that there's no Firewire listed?

I was quite excited by the prospect of buying one of these for the living room and streaming video and music from my iMac, until I got all sensible. $599 at least to do this, and I wouldn't be able to use the Mini for anything else if it's connected up to the TV permanently.

So, I want an extremely cheap and simple machine that can do this ... unless the Mini has PVR software and can record from cable, and I see no evidence of that.

Never fear. FireWire is still here.

you can use it as a PVR if you use Elgato eyeTV

So like an airport express w/ video. Yeah I could see that. Maybe that will be on the way soon.

I just told my brother about the new Mac Mini, his first question was: (remember we're English)

"Does it do the pause telly thing?"

"Nope"

He was less interested then, even though I said you can, if you add additional stuff.

Maybe it'll come later? (PVR functionality), or maybe we're meant to download TV from iTMS? (not that you can in the UK at the moment).

Wow, they included intel graphics with shared memory. Can someone tell me if this is good?? Seems like a step back to me.

still no core image ability, apple if you put a technology into your OS you should build hardware that can use it. plain and simple. No core image, no mac mini for me. It is the only mac that gets no love...

The iMac and MacBook Pro perform very well on H.264 Decode because of the graphics chips hardware acceleration. Will the mini perform well? I would be pefectly happy if the thing can play back 720p full frame rate without a glitch.

Eye TV is still not UB. They released updates that allow it to run under rosetta fairly well but stil not Universal. I would think you would at least need the core duo with 1 GB of ram to run Eye TV under rosetta.

Well, it looks like the integrated graphics do support Core Image...at least I think. This is from Apple's website:

Mac mini features a graphics processor integrated into the system, and one that's no slouch, to boot. The Intel GMA950 graphics supports Tiger Core Graphics and the latest 3D games. It shares fast 667MHz memory4 with the Intel Core processor, for an incredible value proposition.

Well, it looks like the integrated graphics do support Core Image...at least I think. This is from Apple's website:

Mac mini features a graphics processor integrated into the system, and one that's no slouch, to boot. The Intel GMA950 graphics supports Tiger Core Graphics and the latest 3D games. It shares fast 667MHz memory4 with the Intel Core processor, for an incredible value proposition.

disappointed! a media event "fun gadget"-- dosen't get even close for me. Frivolous would have been a better label. This truly is a black day in Apple history.maybe I'm just not seeing clearly the big picture here because of blind fury

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Small White Car wrote:
Does anyone know what Apple is going to do about multiple remotes?

I have an Intel iMac and it's in the same room as my TV. If I decide to get a Mac Mini to put on my TV or I ever buy a Macbook Pro and I decide to use Front Row in that room...aren't they ALL going to go off?

Just thinking ahead...this could be a problem for a lot of people unless they have someway for each computer to recognize the difference between each remote.

I just got an iMac G5 iSight. It includes instructions for "pairing your remote" if you have multiple devices:

1. Move the remote close to you iMac.

2. Point it at the apple logo...

etc. That remote will then only work for that computer.

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Guest wrote:
Wow, they included intel graphics with shared memory. Can someone tell me if this is good?? Seems like a step back to me.

It's bad. Dell bad. Not only is it going to be seriously underpowered compared to machines with dedicated cards, but it also robs the system of main memory, so it will slow down everything else, too.

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Guest wrote:
Well, it looks like the integrated graphics do support Core Image...at least I think. This is from Apple's website:

Mac mini features a graphics processor integrated into the system, and one that's no slouch, to boot. The Intel GMA950 graphics supports Tiger Core Graphics and the latest 3D games. It shares fast 667MHz memory4 with the Intel Core processor, for an incredible value proposition.

Hmm. Core Graphics and Core Image are not the same thing, though. I can't find any definite answers an Apple's site. Time will tell, I suppose.

Hard Drive

The larger the capacity of your hard drive, the more space is available to store your files and applications. A typical application today takes 10 to 50 megabytes (MB); graphics files can occupy more than 100MB; and video files are often many gigabytes in size. With files growing larger and hard drives becoming bigger, faster, and more affordable, it makes good economic sense to buy a hard drive with enough capacity to last. Capacity is typically measured in gigabytes (GB).

A variety of hard drive capacities are available for Mac mini. All Mac mini models include standard Serial ATA hard drives featuring data transfers up to 1.5 Gigabits per second. All hard drives run at 7,200 revolutions per minute (rpm).

Your hard drive will come already formatted with the Mac OS Extended file format for efficient storage of your data.

*For hard drive capacity measurements, 1GB = 1 billion bytes; actual formatted capacity less.

Integrated graphics? That is so Dell...

It's really the price hike which is the step backwards. The original Mac mini was a groundbreaking product that broke the $500 barrier for the first time, but this new x86 Mac mini is breaking the ... $600 barrier.

It's going to look worse when customers compare it directly to Dell machines using the same processor, clock speed, crummy integrated graphics, memory, etc., if not the same nice enclosure.

On the mini's "What
s Inside" page, it says "60GB or 80GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard disk drive"

In the store, when you click "Learn More" regarding hard drives, it says "All hard drives run at 7,200 revolutions per minute"

Perhaps upgraded drives are 7200 vs. standard drives at 5400

Given the amount of first time buyers that are warned to avoid shared memory graphics like the plague, and combined with Mac users (apparently) bad reaction to the mini, I'm left wondering if this will be the first Mac in recent years to completely bomb.

I certainly know that this in not the under-the-telly Mac for me, especially when I saw the UK price, we are being screwed even more brazenly than usual, it doesn't cost an extra 50 odd quid to ship from China to UK.

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miranderm wrote:
This truly is a black day in Apple history.maybe I'm just not seeing clearly the big picture here because of blind fury

Hmm ... if this is a "black day" for Apple that fills you with "blind fury" because Apple didn't introduce the products that you personally wanted to see, then yup, you're not seeing the big picture. Definitely.

Ah, sub-$500 Macintosh, I hardly knew ye...

I am fairly sure that Apple would not have raised the price of a PowerPC-based update to the mini. Unfortunately it looks like either the supply of Core Solo/Core Duo processors is highly constrained, so that they can charge a premium price, or the [intel, and other] component costs have gone way up...

Generally customers do not react well to price hikes. Especially while the competition keeps lowering prices.

However, if this machine had come out at $399, people might have been willing to forgive the integrated graphics (especially if a separate GPU was available as an upgrade or a build to order option.)

Let's hope that Apple has some true low-end offerings in the pipeline...

you have a point there guest, but my passion is for products that the populace would scream for not from ie not $350 sound speaker gadgets, macmini that decked out ~$1000
I really sense that generally this event is being widely perceived as having bombed still could be you are right.

it's called pairing, actually an apple remote has to be paired with it's host. It can be re-paired at any time

You are really not seeing the bigger picture here. This is a HUGE push from apple to get into your living room. You need to really read up on the event and the product before you get irate! Your anger will turn into pure joy!
Take a hint from Apple and "THINK DIFFERENT"!!

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miranderm wrote:
disappointed! a media event "fun gadget"-- dosen't get even close for me. Frivolous would have been a better label. This truly is a black day in Apple history.maybe I'm just not seeing clearly the big picture here because of blind fury

Begin Rant.....

Fun gadgets? I think not, how about more expensive stuff Media Event. The Mac Mini was to be Apple's low cost solution, they've put so much hype into how good the Intel stuff is that they missed the bus by trying to make the Mini compete with the iMac. I have a 1.25 G4 Mini that I use as a media server and it does a heck of a job for the $450 I paid for it, sure it has a 5400 rpm ide drive inside WHO CARES, people buy these things based on price not on performance, they included no keyboard, mouse or display, did they really need to use Serial ATA 7200 RPM drives? If you need more speed from the HD use an external Firewire or USB2.0 drive. They should have stuck to IDE drives, far cheaper and keeps the Mini within the $500 mark.

Whats with this Integrated Graphics by Intel, My god tell that developer to stop licking the windows and put him in a program! But since Roseta needs so much memory to run PPC optomized code, I guess Apple felt it appropriate to add an extra Memory slot, cause you know you will need it and sacrificed the dedicated graphics. While im on that note, perhaps they needed the 7200 RPM drives to cope with all the page swaps in VM.

As for this iPod Hi-Fi, what a joke. $350 and the ipod doesnt even fit flush in the face of the unit. This thing looks more like and altar to the ipod. I'll stick to my $250 JVC Kaboombox with the ipod in the nice pocket on the strap hooked the the AUX input on the back, ohh did I forget to mention that I still get MP3 CD, Tape and an AM/FM radio for that $250 bucks?

Forgive this rant but I think Steve was on one of his Acid flashbacks when he approved these two items, or he is delusional and thinks that we will buy anything Apple produces. Its no wonder my stock dropped $2.50 today.

Damn shame indeed...

I really wonder if Apple is actually trying to have lower sales this year. They've already given a profit forecast warning, which causes their stock to drop significantly, and now another drop in stocks after today's announcement. What are they doing? Do they have something up their sleeve? I guess we'll have to wait and see if these do well.

The Mac mini isn't meant for existing Mac users. It's meant for switchers. This little box is a big step forward over the previous mini, and as such I think it's great.

Regarding the integrated graphics. Maybe you all forget that Steve Jobs demo'd OSX on Intel at WWDC last year on a computer with integrated graphics. Seemed quick enough as far as the GUI was concerned. It even had the ripple Core Graphics effect.

If you don't like it, there's always the iMac and hopefully before too long a range of Mac Pros to choose from. But this is a low end device. Why do Mac users always have to wail like banshees when the rumour sites let them down? It's a sign of mental illness if you ask me.

because any performance gains will be lost in Rosetta emulation bah no thanks no way not yet

Maybe you are right that the mac mini is a low-end consumer product and apple shouldn't be too concerned with graphics performance. But why raise the price $100 (something low-end consumers are very sensitive to)? You are dropping a graphics card and switching to intel chips that are suppose to be cheaper. I would have expected price to remain at least flat.

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jharwood21 wrote:
You are really not seeing the bigger picture here. This is a HUGE push from apple to get into your living room. You need to really read up on the event and the product before you get irate! Your anger will turn into pure joy!
Take a hint from Apple and "THINK DIFFERENT"!!

Quote

miranderm wrote:
disappointed! a media event "fun gadget"-- dosen't get even close for me. Frivolous would have been a better label. This truly is a black day in Apple history.maybe I'm just not seeing clearly the big picture here because of blind fury

What "Think Different" are you referring to? The price hike? yeehaw. I understand the concept of shared memory in the cases of HD Movies and such, but in practice shared memory is abysmal. My laptop at work is a comcrap nx9010 that shares video memory with the main RAM. It sux. Dedicated cards, IMO, are the only way to go.

There is no significant difference between the older G4 and the newer Intel-based minis. Yet, the price hike is 20%! That's not progress. Is THAT what you mean by Think Different?

the price hike is because of making the bluetooth and wifi built in to the unit as standard, which was previously optional. They slowly made that transition with the imac G5, and I figure that jobs may think that by this token, someone with a current imac from the last year or so could get themselves a mac mini connected instantly to their ibook or whatever it may be, which would be nice (expecially in making the 'push to the living room', which seems to be a slow progression mixed with a flanking manouver with the ipod video with docking station and s-video out).

there will come a time when this happens, and my friend and I dream of the day when the Mac Mini may turn into an HD Nintendo console with multimedia capabilities and a nice big hard drive (something I've loved oh so much with my xbox) I mean, think of being able to play something like World of Warcarft in your living room with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse. If the integrated graphics doesn't impair that ability, then the Mac Mini does have potential.

Future iterations would be neccessary to play future games, but then in the future this may become something of the norm, depending on where technology ends up in the next few years with the whole hdtv thing (remember, Nintendo is shunning HD for now, thinking that it isn't time yet for it to be that much of a deal breaker for many people, meanwhile Apple is at the ground floor with Sony on the Blue Ray bit). Ok, that's enough of a rant for now, hope someone enjoyed that.

There has been lots of talk here about the mac mini being in the living room, that it could become a Nintendo console and that "the mac mini is a low-end consumer product and apple shouldn't be too concerned with graphics performance."

People who buy low end computers, computers for the living room and certainly a "Nintendo console" to be able to play games. That is obvious. That takes a graphics card.

I'm not talking about top of the line performance. Many games will not work without a graphics card. And saying that people can buy an imac is not the answer. The imac is a different form factor, a computer in a video monitor at a higher price.

What customers will do is buy sub 1000 Wintel boxes that have decent graphics performance. Bottom line consumer computers need to be able to play games. IMO at least.
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