UPDATED. According to live coverage of MacWorld in San Francisco by Mac enthusiast sites as well as official Apple information, three of the most pervasive Mac rumors in recent weeks will come true and soon. In his keynote speech today, Jobs announced the company's new office suite, low-cost Macintosh and USB key iPod would be available on January 22.
The new Mac comes after years of speculation that Apple would dive into the low-cost PC market. Apple had been price competitive in low-end systems with the introduction of the original iMac in 1998, but has not followed the continuing trend of falling prices as aggressively in recent years. The new system will come with a 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 processor and 40 GB hard disk for $499. An upgraded system, with and 80 gig hard disk and 1.42GHz G4 will be available for $599, according to the company. The popular Mac news site MacCentral reports Jobs describing the system's packaging as “ship[ing] in a box smaller than the regular iPod box.”
Information provided by Apple says that the Mac mini is a mere 6.5 inches wide and 2 inches tall, making it look somewhat like a scrunched down variant of the old PowerMac G4 Cube. It will ship with the complete Apple SOHO software package, including Mac OS X 10.3, iLife '05, several games, an encyclopedia and Quicken 2005. Support will follow the standard Apple policy of 90 days of phone assistance and one year of hardware coverage; both upgradable to three years with the purchase of AppleCare.
It offers support for Firewire 400, a DVI/VGA display, and includes a modem and 10/100 NIC. It will be driven by an ATI Radeon 9200 with 32 megs of RAM. A slot-loading combo drive DVD-ROM/CD-RW) will come standard, with a SuperDrive (DVD-RW) available as an upgrade. AirPort Extreme 802.11b/g will be available as an add-on, as with other desktop Macs; Bluetooth will be available in Build-to-Order units or using a standard USB Bluetooth “key.” The new Mac will include an internal speaker, ideal for tight spaces and office usage, but does include an audio-out jack for adding speakers or using headphones with the system.
Jobs also unveiled the successor to AppleWorks, named iWork, as rumors had indicated in recent weeks. The suite will include an updated version of Keynote as well as a new word processor known as Pages, both sites confirmed. MacCentral reports that Pages will have “advanced typographical capabilities” as well as support for images with alpha-channel transparency.
Apple also announced a $99 variant to the iPod, called the iPod Shuffle, which holds up to 250 songs and does not include a screen. The unit will come in 512 megabyte and 1 gigabyte variants that connect directly to a computer's USB ports like a USB key.
SOURCES:
“Mac mini - Technical Specs.” Apple.com. 2005 Jan 11
“Macworld Expo SF 2005 Keynote Coverage — Live Update.” MacCentral. 2005 Jan 11
“Live Keynote Coverage at Macworld San Franscisco 2005.” MacNN. 2005 Jan 11