Apple on Tuesday updated its Mac mini — its US$499 consumer computer first introduced at Macworld Conference & Expo in January. While the core specifications of the system haven’t changed, Apple has doubled the amount of RAM included with the system to 512MB. Apple has also included AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth on some models.
The $499 Mac mini is clocked at 1.25GHz, and includes a 40GB hard disk drive, 512MB RAM DVD-ROM/CD-RW optical drive, Firewire 400 port, two USB 2.0 ports, DVI interface, ATI Radeon 9200 graphics processor and 32MB VRAM, 10/100base-T Ethernet and 56K V.92 modem. The system comes pre-installed with iLife ‘05, Mac OS X v10.4 “Tiger” and a suite of third-party software.
The $599 system adds a 1.42GHz processor, 80GB hard drive and built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth. A $699 model now includes a SuperDrive — Apple’s nomenclature for an optical drive that can burn DVD media as well.
Apple continues to make the SuperDrive, additional RAM, AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth available as build-to-order options on systems that don’t include them.