Aaron Adams’s Blowhard Blog

Since publishing my first two Mac mini case studies, the biggest criticism I’ve received is that adding the 512MB DIMM to the configuration is often unnecessary and shouldn’t be so easily added to the cost of the machine. It seems that Apple would disagree with that opinion, because when it sends machines to reviewers, it supplies 512MB RAM.

From this review at PCWorld.com:

The test unit that Apple sent us has 512MB of RAM (DIMM), plus built-in 802.11g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. These extras bump the price up to $703 from the base of $499, but that’s still a reasonably good deal.

And from this review from CBS News:

So how did the Mac stack up? Apple sent me the basic $499 system except it was upgraded to 512 megabytes of memory…

Apple sends machines to reviewers, in part, to set expectations about the machine in readers’ minds. Those machines are shipped with 512MB RAM, and purchasers of the machine should anticipate needing equally as much. What Apple and the press consider acceptable for themselves is acceptable for consumers as well.

As you may be aware, one of my contentions about the Mac mini subject is that most folks simply don’t have all this unused hardware around the house to plug into the Mac mini. The CBS News review comes to a conclusion similar to mine when users missing the display, keyboard, and mouse, consider the Mac mini:

Speaking of extra expenses, $499 gets you a bare bones machine. It’s usable Ñ once you plug in the required peripherals Ñ so there’s no bait and switch here. However, most users will be better off spending an extra $75 for a unit with 512 megabytes of memory and, while you’re at it, you really ought to consider getting the $599 version that has a roomier 80 gigabyte hard drive and a slightly faster processor. By the time you equip that with 512 MB of memory, you’re up to $674. If you want the Apple keyboard and mouse, add another $58. The SuperDrive (that also writes DVDs) adds another $100 so Ñ for many buyers Ñ this “$499″ Mac will wind up costing $832 plus another $300 or so for a flat panel monitor. In other words, by the time you’re out the door, you could easily wind up spending more than $1,100. For a couple of hundred more you could buy an Apple iMac with the faster G5 processor and a built-in 17 inch flat panel display.

Or, alternately, a nicely equipped eMac or iBook for the same money or less.

I’m not opposed to the mini. I don’t dislike the mini. I don’t want the mini to fail. I wish Apple would sell 10 million of them this year. Reality, however, is a little bit different, despite the exuberant and sometimes absurd expectations the Mac community has placed on the mini. The primary thing that sets the Mac mini apart from other Macs is price, and when the numbers are added up, the Mac mini often times is no more compelling than Macs that have been for sale for quite a while.