Because there was so much discussion about the Mac Mini in the launch thread I thought some here would find this interesting, especially about the hard drive configuration.
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Mac+Mini+Late+2014+Teardown/30410?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Apple+teardowns+galore&utm_content=Apple+teardowns+galore+Version+A+CID_aa34ac57a60ec97d9067b331c7da6d43&utm_source=CampaignMonitor
So it looks like overall they really cleaned up the interior configuration of the MacMini and made it more like a laptop and less like a desktop. This has both it's good and bad points I suppose.
The bad is that it is confirmed that you can not replace or upgrade the RAM yourself, it is soldered to the motherboard. The good is that means faster and more responsive RAM though. The upgrade price isn't unreasonable either though. Since the 4GB version would come with 2x2GB cards anyways to upgrade to 8GB would have meant buying 2x4GB cards, which would cost you almost the $100 that Apple charges for the upgrade anyways.
The most interesting thing, and best IMO that I see is that instead of 2 SATA connections for hard drives now you get 1 SATA and 1 PCI-e. Adding an SSD to the base model HDD version should be as easy as purchasing a compatible PCI-e SSD. Of course these SSDs ARE more expensive, but they also perform much better than SATA SSDs.
So there, that's my 2 cents and my summary of the new MacMini. I think it is without a doubt the best $500 desktop PC on the market right now, and it's not even close.
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Mac+Mini+Late+2014+Teardown/30410?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Apple+teardowns+galore&utm_content=Apple+teardowns+galore+Version+A+CID_aa34ac57a60ec97d9067b331c7da6d43&utm_source=CampaignMonitor
So it looks like overall they really cleaned up the interior configuration of the MacMini and made it more like a laptop and less like a desktop. This has both it's good and bad points I suppose.
The bad is that it is confirmed that you can not replace or upgrade the RAM yourself, it is soldered to the motherboard. The good is that means faster and more responsive RAM though. The upgrade price isn't unreasonable either though. Since the 4GB version would come with 2x2GB cards anyways to upgrade to 8GB would have meant buying 2x4GB cards, which would cost you almost the $100 that Apple charges for the upgrade anyways.
The most interesting thing, and best IMO that I see is that instead of 2 SATA connections for hard drives now you get 1 SATA and 1 PCI-e. Adding an SSD to the base model HDD version should be as easy as purchasing a compatible PCI-e SSD. Of course these SSDs ARE more expensive, but they also perform much better than SATA SSDs.
So there, that's my 2 cents and my summary of the new MacMini. I think it is without a doubt the best $500 desktop PC on the market right now, and it's not even close.