BigHugeRant! The 2011 Mac mini

So it's been a while since my last slew of blog posts, and while I'm currently unable to include photos of hardware hotness for the time being, I am still able to write, - or at least form words that are somewhat coherent. 

With that out of the way, here comes one of a series of postings on what's gone wrong at Apple as of late. This will focus on hardware and/or software issues that just seem to be a little out of character for a company so focused on design and functionality.

So let's start with the 2011 Mac mini...

I have a very special place in my heart for the Mac mini. I really do. It's always been such a curious piece of hardware, almost smugly proclaiming that it doesn't care about the latest specifications or about blazing fast 3D graphics. Humbug, it says, as it purrs along. Actually, even that description does a disservice to just how quiet every Mac mini has been. Purring is cacophonous by comparison to this little sleeper.

2010 brought about the first redesign since its inception in early 2005, and what a redesign it was, and still is. Stylish unibody aluminum casing, - such a looker! The large external power brick from the previous models disappeared, with the mini housing it internally. While doubtless some might think such a source of heat being relocated to the internals of the mini as a questionable decision, I've not read of any problems related to the change.

For 2011, the mini received a tremendous upgrade in power to Intel's "Sandy Bridge" line of processors, along with Thunderbolt capabilities and an upgraded GPU for the mid-range mini. A quad-core mini also arrived for the high-end version.

But this is where things turn a little sour. The optical drive has been removed from all minis for 2011. In 2010 it was just the server model that had no DVD drive as the space was taken up by two internal hard drives. In 2011, if we discount the server model, the low-end and mid-range minis have had their DVD drives replaced by... nothingness.

Now, this wouldn't be such a bad thing if the mini itself had been redesigned. After all, this is Apple we're talking about. With Steve Jobs' resignation as CEO, numerous stories have been emerging about just how anal the man was when getting things done. One of these accounts notes that Steve Jobs messaged Google's vice president of engineering, on a Sunday in early 2008. Jobs wanted him to phone his home to discuss how the yellow gradient in the second "O" in GOOGLE wasn't satisfactory when displayed on the original iPhone. 

Is this surprising? Perhaps not. So then it comes as a great surprise not that the DVD drive has been tossed out the window, but that the Mac mini design has not changed, at all. It feels like a bit of a slap in the face, really. There's this huge, empty space in the aluminum casing after you take one apart and see where the DVD drive used to be. So let's reiterate here. I have no real issue with the DVD drive being removed from the Mac mini. I do, however, take issue with the mini not having changed shape to reflect this decision.

Now, you were able to purchase one model of the 2010 Mac mini without a DVD drive but with an extra hard drive instead, known as the server model. You can continue to do this with the 2011 model, but  since the majority of sales will not be the server model, Apple needs to continue to do what they do best and that is to cater to the masses. Now we're not saying Apple should adopt Blu-ray, since this would just compete with its streaming domination known as iTunes, and is, after all, just a bag of hurt. But can you imagine the MacBook Pro line with no DVD drive, and nothing else there to fill the space? Just an unfilled cavern of technological nothingness? Didn't think so!

So with that said, give it back or change your design! We expect better!